Posted on 15 Apr, 2009 -
Always exhausted or tired? Suffer general fatigue?
Why are we all so tired and weary?
Which of these 8 major causes of fatigue are creating your particular cocktail of tiredness?
Why the method you’re probably using to cope with stress right now is the least effective of all…
A recent survey commissioned by Legal & General found that 42 per cent of the 5,000 people asked said that lack of sleep was their biggest health concern, followed by 34 per cent worrying about low-level, general fatigue.
But then are you surprised? There are few of us, I think, who’d say we never really felt fatigue or exhaustion. But what exactly do we mean by it?
At one end of the scale, fatigue can be a medial problem that means a person lacks the energy to go about normal life. Somewhere near the other end of the scale, one definition my dictionary gives me for ‘fatigue’ is ‘weary’.
So why are we all so ‘weary’?
Weary of life? Weary of our situation? Weary of worrying? Or simply worn out and crushed by the sheer VOLUME of life and stuff and telly and news and traffic and even the thousands of products we have to choose from when we visit our local supermarket? (Oh why oh why do I have to get up AGAIN this morning?)
So where do I start in tackling a question like this? Well obviously I’m not going to manage to cure 34% of the population from fatigue by simply fluttering my fingers over my keyboard and doing a bit of research on Google (and for my next trick I will walk on water) but I do hope that among this list of ideas on the subject below there might just be something to lighten the burden or find the solution for YOU.
So here we go…
Excessive work load is one of the major causes of exhaustion. Short of asking Gordon Brown to bring in the same rules for a maximum working week as they have in France (which even then doesn’t include parenting), then there’s little I can do to help you if you’re simply working too many hours. But is there something you could do?
Excuses… excuses. When it comes to hardship we human beings are very good at putting up with it but notoriously bad at taking truly constructive measures to rid ourselves of it. Sometimes you might even think we’re gluttons for punishment.
Many illnesses can also cause fatigue - as can prescription drugs including betablockers. Illnesses that can trigger fatigue include glandular fever, anaemia, ME, Hypothyroidism, Hepatitis, chronic pain, Coeliac disease, and heart problems.
Psychological causes abound as well - including depression, anxiety, grief and stress. If you suffer from any of these problems then it is worth talking to your doctor if you haven’t already. You could ask, for example, to be put on a waiting list to receive free Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Counselling or similar. Investigate ways to relax more and reduce your own stress. (See below.)
Your diet and lifestyle choices could have something to do with it, of course. Make sure you eat a good breakfast with whole grain cereal and fruit. The food you eat should be full of nutrition rather than just ‘empty calories’. If you smoke too much or drink too much caffeine or alcohol then find ways of reducing these.
Aromatherapy can help. For mental, emotional & physical exhaustion try benzoin and lavender essential oils. For nervous or physical exhaustion try clary sage. For emotional & nervous depletion try eucalyptus and juniper.
Exhaustion can also be caused by a food allergy. In order to cope with an ongoing allergy to a food, the adrenal glands produce adrenalin and cortisone to keep the body working. Over time the adrenal glands gradually become exhausted from the continuing effort of having to cope and this will leave you feeling exhausted and suffering from fatigue.
The first foods to suspect are milk products or wheat products although almost any food can become an irritant. If there is a kind of food that tends to make you feel better or that you crave, it may well be that food that is causing the problem.
Eat protein FIRST to fight afternoon fatigue. You can prevent the typical afternoon slump by eating a little bit of protein first during lunch, then carbohydrates. The protein triggers an energy-promoting amino acid called L-tyrosine to reach your brain before the L-tryptophan. Do make sure you eat carbohydrates as well, however, as they are your body’s main source of fuel.
Is it perhaps not your body that’s exhausted but your soul? When our soul is exhausted life seems more difficult and often even meaningless. We find it harder to find joy in life and lose enthusiasm for our lives or for the future. We lose our connectedness with the natural world and feel isolated and sterile. So what can we do about it? Treat yourself to silence, meditation and time out with nature. Go for long walks or even on a retreat if you are able. Explore the joy of mindfullness or being in the NOW.
Life can be exhausting if we are constantly bracing ourselves against the onslaught of it. If you feel like you are constantly in a stance of battle towards life then one solution may be to try and get some perspective on or awareness of your life. Try to get a new view of your life so that you are slightly removed from it rather than caught up in it as if in the midst of a raging battle. See my previous email, for example, about the saying ‘And this too will pass’. Alternatively, imagine that you are sitting on the top of a mountain, peacefully watching what is happening in your life below.
Slow down, do less, think small. Modern life demands a lot from us and sometimes it can leave us feeling that we’re not up to the task. “Think big” we are told. “Achieve more.” My motto for the moment, however, is ‘Think small’. If I can achieve one good small thing each day that is good - even if it is just smiling more or teaching the kids to make daisy chains . The smaller the goals you set yourself, the more amazing the results might be? Pick an area of your life or hidden desires and set a small but wonderful goal for yourself to achieve…
Fatigue can also be a result of boredom. Start something new or call someone out of the blue. Change your job, your hair or make a set of new resolutions for the way you (and your family) spend your time.
It is said that one of the main causes of fatigue is our inability to switch off and relax. We are too busy to stop. Too busy to rest. Too wound up inside by the stresses we put on ourselves as well as the stresses placed upon us by our work, our families and the society that we live in. So what can you do?
6 top methods for coping with stress.
1. Meditation (Learn through a book or class).
2. Yoga. (Ditto)
3. Practice visualisation techniques for relaxation. (Put those words into Google for more information).
4. Invest in a relaxation CD (Cheaper than a bottle of wine and lasts a lot longer!).
5. Avoid or alter the situations or factors that cause you stress. (The website http://www.helpguide.org has some good information on this).
6. Kava is a good herbal remedy for stress and anxiety that many people find effective and with no side effects.
The most common method for coping with stress? Doing nothing about it at all except soldiering on. Probably not as effective as any of the above but weirdly the one that most people opt for - even after reading about solutions that could help them more…
Express your inner rage. According to Dr Sarno, most of us suffer from subconscious rage that we may not be aware of but which may be draining us of our energy, health and resources. To express your inner rage, take a piece of paper and start writing as much as you can down about all the things you are angry with. You may be surprised by what comes out - and hopefully feel a little lighter from the process. Repeat on a regular basis.
If you spend all day giving of yourself and working… then ask yourself what more you could to recharge your batteries? A walk by the sea? A day spent doing nothing? Twenty minutes a day to spend meditating? A trip to an art gallery? A bath with candles and a good book or music?
When a person is sapped by fatigue, the last thing he or she wants to do is exercise. But… new research shows that regular, low-intensity exercise may help boost energy levels in people suffering from fatigue. In a study carried out by researchers at the University of Georgia, sufferers of persistent fatigue benefited most from a programme of low-intensity exercise equivalent to a leisurely, easy walk. Indeed, the low-intensity group reported a 65% drop in feelings of fatigue, compared to a 49% drop in the group doing more intense exercise.
Consider whether you may be suffering from Adrenal Fatigue. Adrenal fatigue often develops after periods of intense or lengthy physical or emotional stress, when over-stimulation of the glands leave them unable to meet your body’s needs.
The adrenals produce hormones that help to balance your blood sugar to manage your daily ebbs and flows of energy. They also release hormones when you’re under stress to give your body the extra energy it needs to fight this ‘stressor’ or danger. If you’re always under stress, however, there’s too much call on the adrenal glands until they eventually stop producing sufficient hormones.
One way of supporting your adrenal system more is to eat a low sugar diet as sugar and simple carbohydrates put stress on the adrenal glands. Concentrate on fruits and vegetables, protein and high-fibre carbohydrates. Another idea, of course, is to take action to reduce the amount of stress you are feeling.
Above all, do less and take it easy unless you already do too little in which case you need to do more. Life, eh? Why do we take it so seriously?
