Do I Need Health Insurance To Receive This Service
The referral service is free of charge. If you have no insurance or are underinsured, we will refer you to your state office, which is responsible for state-funded treatment programs. In addition, we can often refer you to facilities that charge on a sliding fee scale or accept Medicare or Medicaid. If you have health insurance, you are encouraged to contact your insurer for a list of participating health care providers and facilities.
Build Peace And Relax
CFS can be debilitating both physically and mentally. Suffering from persistent exhaustion, reduced brain cognition, chronic muscle and joint pain, stress, and even guilt takes a toll on the body, and psyche.
Long-term stress control and relaxation must be a vital portion of any protocol used to overcome chronic fatigue syndrome. While seemingly impossible, its imperative that sufferers of CFS do their best to effectively manage stress, and rest.
The Power of Rest
Rest means more than just sleep. Dedicate one day per week when you dont have any responsibilities or commitments. Truly commit to a full day of rest. This gives your body and mind a much-needed respite helping to fight stress, anxiety and exhaustion. Its also important during the week, if you are having a particularly difficult day, to not overtax yourself.
While regular exercise supports wellness and helps to diminish stress, individuals with chronic fatigue syndrome need to exercise at a controlled intensity. High-intensity workouts can leave you drained for several days.
Exercise Therapy
Exercise therapy has been shown to help with fatigue, mental clarity and depression in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. According to a study released in the European Journal of Clinical Investigation, individuals with CFS were recommended to perform aerobic activities, at the clinic twice per month, in combination with at-home exercises for roughly 5-15 minutes in duration, five days per week.
Sleep
Signs Of Depression At Work
Here are some signs that you may be working while depressed:
- Missing work:It could be you start calling in sick or make excuses for needing a personal day.
- Trouble concentrating:Just cant keep your mind focused on work? If it feels like youre in a fog all the time or in a hopeless state of mind, this can be an indication that youre trying to work while depressed.
- Missed deadlines and goals:Inability to get work done or complete tasks, avoidance of phone calls and meetings, failing to achieve personal or career goalsthese can be signs of depression at work.
- Feelings of depression only when youre at work:It could be that your workplace is the cause of depression. If youre largely overcome with depression while at work, but not as much elsewhere, it could be that feelings of depression are driven by your job. Serious workplace issues like harassment, discrimination, abuse, and bullying can eventually lead to feelings of depression, if left unaddressed.
- Fatigue and lack of energy:Tired all the time? Feel like you have no energy to do your job? Persistent fatigue can be a sign of depression.
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Do You Dread Having To Wake Up In The Mornings And Face The Day 3 Ways To Beat Morning Depression
Do you experience feelings of fatigue, extreme sadness or hopelessness first thing every morning? Perhaps these feelings fade as the day goes on, but theyre back again next morning.
You could be experiencing a symptom of depression known as diurnal variation of mood, commonly referred to as morning depression. People experiencing diurnal mood variation feel worse in the morning but gradually improve as the day goes on. Hence the name morning depression.
A specific cause of morning depression has not been clearly identified but there are thought to be a number of contributing factors. Some research suggests that morning depression may be a consequence of disturbed sleep-cycles or circadian rhythms, an internal body clock that signals, among other things, the sleep-wake cycle. Two hormones, melatonin and cortisol are important for this cycle. Melatonin helps you sleep while cortisol is released upon waking up. If melatonin is released during the day, you tend to feel tired and drained when you wake up. On the other hand, if cortisol is released during the night, you may suffer from disturbed sleep patterns.
Other factors thought to contribute to morning depression include recent changes in life circumstances such as the break-up of a relationship or the death of a loved one, a family history of depression, medical conditions such as chronic pain, anxiety, and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and substance addiction.
Sleep Problems And Depression Fatigue
If you have depression, you likely suffer from poor sleeping patterns as well. Insomnia , hypersomnia , and non-restful sleep are all common symptoms of depression.
A 2019 study on depression and sleep revealed individuals with depression are less likely to cycle through rapid eye movement sleep. And when you dont cycle through all four sleep cycles efficiently, when you wake up, youre not going to feel rested, even if you got enough sleep.
Another sleep disorder linked to depression is obstructive sleep apnea . According to the National Sleep Foundation , 18% of those with major depressive disorder have OSA, and 17.6% of those with OSA experience depression.
The bottom line is that when you dont sleep well, you cant think as clearly and have trouble controlling your emotions. In turn, these things can contribute to depression and depression fatigue.
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Sleepiness Fatigue Or Depression Mental Health Awareness Month Part 2
May is Mental Health Awareness Month! Project Sleep believes that mental health and sleep health are closely intertwined. We are excited to share interesting connections between sleep and mental health.
Why am I always so tired?
When your energy feels off, it can be hard to know whats wrong and what to do about it. Feeling sluggish could be a sign of many things including anemia, thyroid issues, a sleep disorder, diabetes, depression, nutritional deficiencies, and so on. You may also wonder, Will this go away or should I talk to a doctor about it?
In everyday life, we use various terms interchangeably feeling tired, exhausted, sleepy, fatigued, sluggish, weighed down, foggy, burnt out, like a zombie, or low-energy. But these terms may have different meanings.
For example, at Project Sleep, we often hear from people with sleep disorders who faced excessive sleepiness for many years before finding an accurate diagnosis of sleep apnea, narcolepsy, or idiopathic hypersomnia. Even when an individual mentions sleepiness to a healthcare provider, it may be easily confused for depression or fatigue.
Sleepiness, fatigue, and depression can all be invisible, sneak into a persons life, and be difficult to explain to loved ones or doctors.
Do Something You Enjoy
Depression can push you to give in to your fatigue. It may feel more powerful than preferred emotions.
Try to push back and do something you love something thats pleasurable or meaningful. It could be playing an instrument, painting, hiking, or biking.
The byproduct of engaging in meaningful activities can be a lift in your mood or energy, which can further motivate you to continue to engage in helpful activities that help with navigating symptoms.
Research suggests that walks in nature may improve depressive symptoms in people with clinical depression.
Time in natural spaces may improve mood and cognition, and lower the risk of mental health disorders. However, theres only limited research on the direct effect of nature on those with clinical depression.
Consider taking a walk at lunch among the trees or spending some time in your local park. Or plan a weekend hike. These activities can help you reconnect with nature and soak in some rays at the same time.
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Depression Acts On Neurotransmitters To Make You Tired
Depression is likely associated with changes in brain neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. These neurotransmitters play important roles in regulating energy levels, sleep, appetite, motivation, and pleasure, Ricke says.
According to Harvard Health Publishing, depression is a complex disease with many possible and interlinked causes, including genetics, medical conditions, stressful life events, and brain chemistry. And it can be challenging to tell the difference between everyday tiredness and depression-related fatigue.
Fatigue and depression can look quite similar, says Alex Dimitriu, MD, psychiatrist and sleep medicine expert, and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine.
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Dealing With The Winter Blues
For some people, the reduced daylight hours of winter lead to a form of depression known as seasonal affective disorder . SAD can make you feel like a completely different person to who you are in the summer: hopeless, sad, tense, or stressed, with no interest in friends or activities you normally love. No matter how hopeless you feel, though, there are plenty of things you can do to keep your mood stable throughout the year.
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Is An Irregular Schedule A Contributing Factor
Carmona says that, although the end of daylight savings time in November is often the named culprit for peoples sense of exhaustion, its not the whole picture. I think daylight savings time gets a really bad rap. People say that they feel very impacted by it, but something that we focus on in insomnia research a lot is the phenomenon called social jetlag, which is basically jet lag without travelling.
The more variability you have in your sleep schedule, the more itll leave you feeling drained, she says. If you go to bed at 11 p.m. on a school night and wake up at 7:30 a.m., but then go to sleep at 3 a.m. on the weekend and sleep in until 11 a.m., it creates jetlag within your body. So, on a week-to-week basis, people are creating a lot more variability than shifting their schedule by one hour from daylight savings. Keeping a regular sleep schedule particularly being consistent in the time you get out of bed in the morning can be helpful if you are noticing signs of insomnia and fatigue.
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Other Causes Of Depression
There are a number of things that can lead to developing depression.
- Stressful events big changes in your life, like bereavement, the end of a relationship or the loss of a job, can be difficult to deal with. When these things happen, it’s important to keep seeing friends and family instead of trying to deal with problems alone this increases your risk of developing depression.
- Giving birth pregnancy and birth can make some people vulnerable to depression. Postnatal depression can happen as the result of physical changes, hormonal changes, and the responsibility of taking care of a new baby.
- Loneliness your risk of depression gets higher if you aren’t in contact or spending time with family and friends.
- Personality some personality traits can put you at a higher risk of developing depression. These include low-self esteem or a habit of criticising yourself too much. These personality traits can come from your genes, which you get from your parents, or they can be as a result of experiences in your early life.
- Family history it’s more likely for someone to develop depression if a family member, like a sibling or parent, has experienced it before.
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Tell Me Something Good
A depressed person has earned a PhD in The Art and Science of Self-Hatred. When I ask, How do you see yourself? I get answers like: Im boring. Im a coward. Im ugly. Im not smart. To the speaker, these sentiments are absolute truths his or her sense of identity, a soul-less place to live that is familiar, thus offering a comfortable discomfort, with no exit door. As long as these annihilating beliefs rule your self-image, nothing good can break through. When I ask, Tell me good qualities about yourself, I am initially greeted by silence. Then I hear a halting, Im kind or Im caring.
If the patient gets stuck, I help out: Youre a loving mother. You are a survivor. You are a nurturer You are super considerate. You are reliable As we construct a list, I ask the patient to write down the wonderful attributes and keep repeating them when the toxic wheel of self-hating talk begins. I suggest asking friends and family members to email a list of positive qualities they value in my patient. The next step will be to compile, print out the list and carry it in your wallet like a talisman.
Burnout Versus Mental Exhaustion
Of all the conditions weve mentioned, burnout is the most similar to mental exhaustion. They share a significant number of symptoms, and both are caused by long-term stress. Burnout, though, is classified specifically as a workplace phenomenon.
On the other hand, mental exhaustion can be caused by anything not just work stress. Mental exhaustion in one area of life can often lead to job burnout, even if the initial stress wasnt work-related.
Mental fatigue shares many symptoms with burnout, depression, stress, and physical exhaustion. Because of that, we can use some of the same techniques to overcome it.
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Beating Chronic Fatigue By Improving Lifestyle
The effects of Chronic Fatigue cant be managed overnight. It requires small daily habit changes and lifestyle shifts to incorporate more activity, better rest, and improved dietary habit. By assessing and adjusting your daily activities, you can help determine what is contributing to your chronic fatigue, and make the appropriate lifestyle changes. Successfully managing these factors that contribute to Chronic Fatigue associated with Rheumatoid Arthritis, a patient can drastically improve energy levels and overall wellbeing.
If youre concerned about how chronic fatigue is affecting your life, talk to your rheumatologist about the options to beat fatigue and improve your wellbeing.
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How To Fight Depression Without Medication
For many people living with depression, prescription medications can be life-saving drugs. Antidepressants, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors like Prozac and Zoloft , are the most widely prescribed medication for depression, and while they are often effective, they can have side effects and be expensive depending on your health insurance coverage.
There are many ways to counter some of the symptoms of depression that don’t involve prescription medications. If you have depression, you might like to try managing it naturally without medication or supplement your antidepressant with other options. If so, check out these natural alternatives and then talk to your doctor about which might make sense as part of your treatment regimen.
This article discusses some natural treatments that may help fight depression including lifestyle changes and supplements. It also covers other strategies you might try such as practicing mindfulness or enhancing your home environment.
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Depression Versus Lifestyle Fatigue
In my post The Keys to Understanding High-Functioning Depression, I note that high-functioning depression can be hard to spot. Unlike major depressive episodes, high-functioning depression is low-level, chronic, and doesnt have a clear trigger.
“Lifestyle fatigue,” however, does have obvious triggers and is more likely the result of feeling stuck in a rut rather than a predisposition for depression.
What Causes Depression Fatigue
Depression impacts the neurotransmitters in your brain that are associated with alertness. So, scientifically speaking, depression psychologically affects your energy levels, leading to fatigue.
There is a bidirectional relationship between depression and fatigue. In other words, if you suffer from depression, youre very likely to suffer from fatigue. And when youre tired and exhausted all the time, it can make you feel depressed.
Its a difficult cycle to break.
But there are some causes of depression fatigue you can try to address on your own. Or, even better, you can work on them together with the help of a qualified mental health professional.
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Cause No : Dehydration
The fatigue that you regularly experience could be a result of dehydration. No matter whether you have a desk job or a work that requires physical effort, your body need water to keep the metabolism going and stay cool. If you feel thirsty for most part then understand that you are already facing dehydration.
Remedy: Keep yourself well hydrated by drinking water throughout the day at short intervals. Make sure your urine is light colored. Have at least two cups of water, an hour before any physical activity. Keep sipping little throughout the work and then drink at least two cups after the work out. This will ensure proper amount of water in the body.
Why Do I Have No Energy
Diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, anemia, and sleep apnea are some of the diseases that cause fatigue. You should talk to your doctor if you are tired. There are a lot of medications that can contribute to fatigue. Blood pressure medicines, antihistamines, and other drugs are included in this list.
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Ra Fatigue: How Do I Control Chronic Fatigue From Ra
Rheumatoid arthritis is a debilitating condition that causes a wide range of symptoms. One of the most prevalent symptoms experienced in suffering from rheumatoid arthritis is chronic fatigue. Fighting fatigue for rheumatoid arthritis patients seems like an ongoing uphill battle.
For those who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, feelings of fatigue and constant tiredness can make it difficult to get through each day. But there are some ways to help beat fatigue, stay alert, and feel more rested and happy.
