Maintain An Active Lifestyle
Do you really need studies and research to show whether daily exercise helps in combating fatigue or not?
If yes, then I think you are one of those people who use the gym elevator to reach the ground floor to get healthy.
Anyways, physical activity boosts your energy levels and keeps you more active. And without a doubt, it has nothing but only positive effects for both your mind and body.
And, as a matter of fact, being active throughout the day and doing regular exercise helps you get sound sleep at night.
Though, if you are not into a workout or regular exercise, try adopting these simple activities to stay physically active.
- Go for stairs instead of lifts for a couple of floors.
- Take a walk around the neighborhood.
- Do mild yoga stretch.
- Do some of the household chores yourself.
The benefits of staying active are inevitable. You get to sleep better and find relief from fatigue and, with that, some symptoms of mental illness as well.
What Does Brain Fog Feel Like
The definition of mental fatigue is open-ended, as is the list of signs that accompany it. Brain fog symptoms range from mild to severe and include:
- Lack of focus and clarity
- Impaired decision-making
- Slower learning time
- Low energy or fatigue
Any of these symptoms on their own can be draining. Combined, it can feel like youre operating behind a blurry glass window, watching the world go by but unable to fully participate. Were likely to forget the thread of a conversation, lose a common noun in casual conversation, feel like we should be on top of simple day-to-day tasks, or find ourselves getting more and more frustrated at our inability to remember task wed been planning for weeks.
Finally, brain fog is a human condition. Its not relegated to the old or the sick. Know that youre not alone in your experience with these symptoms of cognitive impairment.
How To Overcome And Prevent Mental Fatigue
Mental exhaustion can happen to anyone when stress accumulates over time with no outlet to let the steam out. It drains you emotionally, rendering you unable to perform even simple tasks without feeling overwhelmed. But, it can be easily prevented and treated. Here are some tips on how to overcome mental exhaustion:
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Conquer Stress And Anxiety
Unwarranted stress, anxiety, and negative emotions may make you handicapped despite being absolutely physically healthy.
Henceforth, you need to learn to manage your anxiety and minimize stress in order to get rid of fatigue.
- You must add yoga and meditation to your daily routine.
- You can also try talking treatments, such as counseling and cognitive behavioral therapy.
- Work out your personal issues with professional help if its causing you prolonged depression.
- Learn to shut down and try to do absolutely nothing at all. Simply relax.
- Take out some me time and pamper yourself.
Short-term stress issues like a work deadline, relationship problems, and academic stress can lead to long-term health complications including fatigue.
So, along with these dietary, lifestyle, and psychological changes, you must also be mindful of the medical reasons behind fatigue.
To elucidate, even after making changes in the above-mentioned basic way of living, if you continue to feel fatigued, its time you need to find out whether or not the fatigued feeling is because of certain medical issues.
Fatigue is, many times, a symptom of underlying health issues, such as:
Adding to this, sometimes, certain medications also cause drowsiness and fatigue.
Converse to your doctor if you feel your fatigued feeling is linked to any undetected medical issues.
Moreover, sometimes, only professional consultation can help you to know how to get rid of chronic fatigue.
Low Motivation And High Procrastination
Mental fatigue, according to some theorists, occurs when the energy cost of doing a task outweighs the anticipated reward of doing that task. If the cost of doing an activity is low and the reward is high, they will perform the task. This theory explains why people experiencing mental fatigue find it difficult to do simple tasks and lose motivation they often feel that doing the task is a burden and will take a toll on them. Sometimes, an exaggerated perception of how costly or effort-demanding a task is can lower motivation in those with brain fog. In many contexts, this is equal to procrastination the task is considered emotionally heavy because of possible negative consequences or perceived difficulty and we then avoid it to do something more fun and easy.
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Seeking Professional Help To Resolve Low Energy And Fatigue
Sometimes, persistent fatigue and low energy levels are your bodys way of telling you that something is not quite right inside your mind. If mental health is the culprit for your tiredness, speaking to a professional can be very beneficial, and at Brightside our expert providers are here to help you understand whats going on, and what you can do about it.
With Brightside, youll have unlimited access to expert psychiatric care, and well work with you to evaluate your symptoms and determine if depression or anxiety is a root cause. From there, well find a treatment personalized to you, including precision-prescribing where well match you with the right antidepressant medication based on what symptoms youre experiencing and what your needs are.
The first step towards getting a tailored treatment program is to fill out our free online assessment that helps us better understand your individual needs and concerns. From there, you will be matched with a psychiatric provider and/or therapist, setting you up to receive therapy, medication, or both depending on what youre going through and what treatment plan fits best for you. Either way, with Brightside, you can get the care you need in the comfort of your own home.
Now that the basics have been covered, lets talk about some other ways that you can reduce your fatigue and get your energy levels back on track.
General Suggestions For Exercise
- Regular, light exercise such as walking has been shown to reduce fatigue as well as nausea and vomiting, and can help some people to sleep better
- Plan some activity or light exercise into your day
- If exercise is impossible, try to stay active in your daily routine
- Pay attention to how your body reacts to exercise: how did you sleep? How did you feel the next day?
- Drink plenty of fluids before, during and after exercise
- Perhaps keep a record of your activities to share with your doctor or nurse, so they can help monitor your progress
- Its important to find a balance between activity and rest, and to exercise in a way that allows the muscles to recover after activity
- Dont exercise if you feel unwell, are in pain or have any other symptoms that worry you, such as feeling breathless. Let your doctor know if you feel unwell or have worrying symptoms
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It Can Be Hard To Recognize Mental And Emotional Exhaustion
One of the big problems with mental and emotional exhaustion is that you often wont realize youre experiencing these problems. Being mindful of triggers can help. We all tend to stretch ourselves in times of stress and transition, Dr. Dannaram said.
Changes can disrupt your system, so youre at risk of mental exhaustion when you start a new job or roleyoure likely to set unrealistic expectations at these times, and mental fatigue can set in. Youre at higher risk for emotional exhaustion when you experience interpersonal changes such as the end of a relationship.
Take Back Control Of Your Calendar
Whatâs the best way to get something done? Give it to a busy person. Except, in all likelihood, that busy person is you, and you donât have the time! But without defending your time on the calendar, thereâs nothing to stop people from stealing it from you for their priorities.
So how do you set boundaries in your calendar? Start time blocking your own priorities. Create time blocks for the tasks you want to get through this week, your regular habits like lunch, weekly planning, or exercise, even breaks after meetings so you and if you have a big meeting on the calendar, donât be afraid to block a short break for yourself afterwards so youâre not leaving yourself open for a back-to-back meeting.
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Try The Timebox Technique
‘Timebox’ is a term that originated in the software development industry. A timebox is a period of time in which a task must be accomplished. Many savvy entrepreneurs use timeboxing to manage work projects.
Because timeboxing forces you to limit time allotted to specific tasks, it counteracts perfectionism and ensures that you do the best you can within the set time frame. This helps you avoid falling too far down the rabbit hole.
You Feel Stressed And Anxious
Although mental exhaustion is not the same thing as stress, chronic exposure to stress can exhaust the body. Increased stress and anxiety are one of the most common signs of mental fatigue. High levels of anxiety over a long period of time can cause serious issues as well, for example, youll be more likely to experience panic attacks and suffer from diarrhea, nausea, jitters, and nervousness.
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How Do I Know Its Not Just Stress
Stress is something that happens to everyone. Mental exhaustion is not, necessarily, said licensed therapist Jor-El Caraballo in an interview with Greatist. Caraballo is the cofounder of NYC-based mental health practice Viva Wellness and has experience tackling issues faced by people identifying as LGBTQIA+ or BIPOC.
Everyone has to deal with to some degree. But mental exhaustion is the culmination and the outcome of stress when it feels like you cant really function as a result of all those factors, he said. You hit this psychological wall.
Similarly, while the symptoms like exhaustion might point to depression, that doesnt necessarily mean the person experiencing exhaustion is depressed.
However, Caraballo warned that if mental exhaustion continues for long enough, it could result in the development of a clinical diagnosis like depression, anxiety, or even PTSD.
Thats why Caraballo stressed the importance of being proactive and stamping out mental exhaustion before the consequences have too much impact on our lives.
Theoretically you could , he said. But as you do that, what is your quality of life during that time?
There are three main areas of life that may contain stressors. These are:
When To Seek Extra Help
Assar recommends seeking professional help if the mental exhaustion is persisting and worsening in your life and you’re not sure what to do to start feeling better. “Ultimately, people should reach out whenever they feel like they would benefit from additional support however, some signs that someone would benefit from professional support is if their distress is interfering with their day-to-day life functioning and quality of life.”
If a loved one is experiencing mental exhaustion, she encourages being a reassuring presence for them. Let them know you’re there and that they can always reach out to you if they need someone to talk to. “You can also discuss the benefits of professional support and help to reduce the stigma that a person may have in relation to mental health treatment.”
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Do Something You Enjoy
Depression can push you to give into your fatigue. It may feel more powerful than happy emotions.
Try to push back and do something you love something thats relaxing, but energizing. It could be playing an instrument, painting, hiking, or biking.
These activities can provide subtle lifts in your mood and energy, which may help you overcome your symptoms.
Research suggests people who spend time in nature have improved mental health.
Exposure to sunlight may offer some of the same benefits. It can increase your serotonin levels, which can provide a temporary mood boost .
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.
Did you know that 1 out of 7 individuals will suffer from depression symptoms at some point in his or her life? Today, depression is one of the main causes of disability in developed, as well as low and medium income countries. In fact, around 150 million people suffer from depression worldwide.
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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The Science Behind Mental Exhaustion
We all have experienced our brain getting more and more tired leading to burnout. So does that mean your mind gets tired just like your muscles do when you work out?
While your brain is not a muscle, it is an organ that requires energy. Your brain uses glucose as its primary source of energy which turns into adenosine triphosphate . When you use up a lot of the brains energy, the glucose levels drop, and it leads to the blocking of dopamine . According to a study published in Sports Medicine journal, this makes you less likely to stay on task.
Now you may be thinking that the solution is as simple as gulping down glucose in your body, but its a bit more complicated than that. Its true that eating food or drinking caffeine increases dopamine, but they wont recharge your brain like your phone gets recharged when you plug it in.
According to Gary Figiel, M.D., when youre mentally tired, the blood flow to your brain, and its electrical activity decreases. He says there are four steps to your brain getting energy:
When any of these steps dont work properly, you experience mental exhaustion. On top of that, if you experience too many stressors , the raised cortisol levels can make it worse, which may lead to burnout.
Win The War Against Distractions
Not getting distracted is hands down the biggest piece of the puzzle for preserving your mental energy. Every time you get distracted, you spend extra energy to deal with the new stimulus and then to get back to the task at hand.
Distractions break the state of flow which is crucial for focused deep work. As a result, you perform poorly and feel mentally tired. So whats the solution? You must win the battle before it even begins. That means you must prevent getting distracted. Heres how:
A) Keep A Distraction List
Every time you have an urge to get distracted from the task at hand, write it down to deal with it later so your brain can stop processing it. Then, when its the right time, reward yourself by dealing with the items on the distraction list one by one.
B) Take Breaks On Purpose
You cant ask your body to sprint at max effort for an infinite amount of time. Your body would need a break to recover for the next sprint. In the same way, you cant ask your brain to focus or perform demanding tasks all the time. It needs short mindful breaks that are better left empty or filled with something that relaxes your mind . A study has proven that even less than a minute long breaks help people stay focused while performing demanding tasks if they watched dog videos during the breaks.
C) Identify The Triggers
Identify where the distraction is coming from. As Nir Eyal explains in his book Indistractable, the triggers can be internal or external.
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Depression Versus Mental Exhaustion
Depression is a mood disorder that is characterized by a persistent low mood. People that are mentally exhausted often feel depressed, and those that are depressed feel mentally drained. Many symptoms, like lack of pleasure, sleep disturbance, and cognitive impairment overlap. However, the terms arent interchangeable. Depression needs to be diagnosed by a mental health professional. It is a serious mental health condition that needs to be treated by qualified providers.
Why Is Brain Fog Bad
Brain fog can make daily functioning difficult and can even be disabling in a personal, social, and professional context. Apart from the basic cognitive impairment associated with brain fog, its primary cause, which is typically fatigue or an immune or inflammatory issue, can create additional problems. Brain fog makes communication hard and interferes with tasks, which can lead to other problems like demotivation and lack of confidence.
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