Are you exhausted? You aren’t alone.
A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) found that 71.5 percent of American adults said they were fatigued on multiple days in the last three months. This is the first study about fatigue from NCHS. They surveyed about 27,000 adults about their health and daily routines.
Fatigue goes beyond being tired. It’s defined as “physical or mental tiredness or exhaustion that does not improve with additional sleep or rest.” General fatigue can be a symptom of other problems or a side effect of medications. It’s often linked to difficulty concentrating and can limit a person’s social life, as it can cause depression and anxiety. It is different from chronic fatigue syndrome.
Over 50 percent of people in the survey with frequent fatigue reported difficulty with at least three functional areas, such as mood, mobility or memory. More than a third said it limited their ability to work. And 29 percent said they had cut back on their social lives.
Fatigue is “one of the most frequently reported health concerns in primary care visits in the U.S.,” said sociologist Natalie A.E. Young, lead author of the report. She added that “it’s not just that fatigue is common, it’s that fatigue is common and those with fatigue are facing limitations in their daily lives.”
"Fatigue can be caused by numerous issues," Dr. Earnest Lee Murray, a board-certified neurologist at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital. "A vast majority of fatigue people experience is probably related to poor sleep quality as well as psychosocial stress, which a lot of times go hand-in-hand."
However, underlying factors can also be hormones, heart concerns and neurological conditions. Some contributing factors can be workplace culture and being constantly online.
“So much of life is spent on high alert: checking messages, reading bad news, multitasking, and worrying about what we have to do next,” said Dr. Sanam Hafeez, neuropsychologist and director of Comprehend the Mind. “When your nervous system is constantly fired up, you may start to feel drained emotionally, foggy mentally, and tired physically. We’ve gotten so used to operating from this stressed-out mentality that we don’t even realize how exhausted we are until we crash.”
Dr. Hafeez recommended taking breaks throughout the day to reduce stress. Stop multitasking and take time for yourself to avoid burnout. Doing less at times will allow you to do more in the long run.
