How To Overcome Mental Fatigue According To An Expert
Do you constantly feel overwhelmed? Emotionally and mentally drained most of the time? If so, chances are you might be suffering from mental fatigue.
Mental fatigue is a condition triggered by prolonged cognitive activity. Basically, it sends your brain into overdrive, leaving you exhausted, hampering your productivity and overall cognitive function.
The most common symptoms include mental block, lack of motivation, irritability, stress eating or loss of appetite and insomnia. Mental exhaustion can affect you for both short-term or long-term.
If left unchecked, it can lead to all sorts of serious health problems, including anxiety and burnout. Research suggests that constant mental exhaustion can also impact your physical endurance.
What exactly causes mental fatigue?
Other potential causes include medication, stress and ailments such as depression, fibromyalgia and autoimmune disease. Emotionally challenging experiences like divorce or death of a loved one can also contribute to brain fatigue.
So, how can you beat mental exhaustion?
Adopting the following strategies can help ease mental fatigue:
Other than that, eat healthy, cut back on caffeine, exercise regularly and get enough zzz’s .
Lastly, here are some surefire strategies to prevent brain fatigue and improve mental clarity:
And remember, “the more you work on systems for reducing stress and excess decision-making, the more mental energy you’ll have,” adds Dr Boyes.
Think Of Three Words: Cats Chocolate And Coffee
I actually got the idea of cats, chocolate, and coffee, from a friend going through breast cancer, says Rachel M., 46, of Houston, Texas. She calls it the 3 Cs and I know its kind of a joke but it really does help to cuddle up with my dog, a bag of Doves, and a hot cup of coffee. Its not just about comfort either. Studies have shown that petting an animal reduces stress, dark chocolate is an anti-inflammatory, and coffee can obviously give an energy boost.
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Talk To Your Colleagues
We often feel like socializing when we have a lot to do is wrong and unproductive, but this simply isnt true. Taking social breaks to chat with your colleagues about topics that dont relate to work can actually help reduce stress and boost your mood. Having a heavy workload can feel isolating, so this is a mutually beneficial way to reduce both yours and your colleagues stress and to check-in on others to see how theyre doing in general. Better yet, head out on a walk outside with your colleagues to reap the fresh air and social benefits together.
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Using Central Governor Theory
- Use interval training sessions theyll not only produce desirable physiological changes, theyll help to teach the brain that higher intensities are OK for your body, leading to lower fatigue perception at normal training pace
- During more challenging training sessions/races, remind yourself of even harder and longer workouts that youve successfully achieved in the past to try and put your current workout into context according to central governor theory, this should feedback into the your brains processing loop, reducing fatigue
- For high-intensity sessions on the turbo-trainer or ergo, try riding to punchy, uplifting music
- Try using positive imagery techniques, which can favourably affect your brains feedback processing and reduce fatigue perception
- For racing or to achieve a PB, try experimenting with caffeine. Dont neglect the basics however good nutrition and adequate rest and recovery!
References
Where Can I Get Support
Even in its mildest form, chronic fatigue can have a significant emotional and financial impact on your life. A lack of understanding and awareness about CFS/ME means patients can experience disbelief, and even discrimination, from friends, family, health and social care professionals and employers.
People need wider support in order to continue to manage aspects of their life. Information on entitlements to welfare benefits, accessing health and social care and others sources of support for patients and carers are available from Action for M.E.
Action for M.E. has a number of booklets that may be useful for people living with CFS/ME, their families and their health professionals. They also offer resources and services for children and young people affected by chronic fatigue and their families.
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Treatment For Fibromyalgia: The Big Picture
Theres not necessarily a straightforward or universal way to treat fibromyalgia, as the condition affects each patient differently and many fibro patients are also managing other co-occurring diseases at the same time, such as different kinds of arthritis. Many treatment options are available to address fibromyalgias various symptoms, so treatment for fibromyalgia should be multifactorial, individualized, and based on what specific issues and symptoms are affecting you most.
Not everyone gets the same fibromyalgia treatment, says Dr. Hackshaw. We figure it out based on the symptoms that are most concerning for that patient. He adds that doctors aim to use medications that treat multiple symptoms instead of prescribing multiple medications. The key is that you need to find your magic combination that works for you, says Stackelhouse.
If You Think Youve Tried Everything For Managing Fibro You Might Find New Advice Worth Testing Here
Fibromyalgia is the best fake disease ever. I get to lie in bed all day, I get to see my doctor every month, I get to take handfuls of meds that cost a lot and seem to do very little, I dont have to socialize, and I get to mooch off loved ones instead of working! says Shelley of Houston, Texas, who has fibromyalgia, Lyme disease, and chronic fatigue syndrome, and blogs at Chronic Mom. Arent I just the luckiest person in the world?!
Shes joking, obviously, but it comes from a place of real pain, of feeling like no one from friends to her doctors really understands what her illness is, much less how it feels to live with fibromyalgia every day. People sometimes think that because she doesnt look sick then she must be exaggerating her symptoms. Even worse, shes been accused of making up or faking her disease all together.
Shes hardly the only fibro patient who feels this way.
Fibromyalgia might be the most common disease youve never heard of unless youre living with it, that is. The chronic illness, characterized by widespread pain throughout the body, affects more than 10 million people in the United States alone and three to six percent of the worlds population, according to the National Fibromyalgia Association. Up to 90 percent of patients are women. All of which is to say that if you have fibro, youre most definitely not alone.
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Talk To Your Doctor About Medications
Medications used to treat secondary complications of brain injury such as spasticity can cause fatigue. Make sure to speak with your doctor about the potential side effects of medications youre taking and whether there are other options worth considering.
Some doctors may prescribe stimulants to counter fatigue. If you do decide to try stimulants, make sure you do so under close medical supervision.
What Is Mental Fatigue
When your brain feels exhausted and unable to function properly, it leaves you mentally and emotionally drained. This is commonly known as brain fog or mental fatigue.
According to recent research, an overstimulated brain impairs your cognitive abilities. This affects your productivity, , or memory. For example, brain fog makes it hard to concentrate. Even simple household tasks like washing dishes or doing the laundry seem cumbersome.
Mental fatigue is a state of tiredness that sets in when your brains energy levels are depleted. Mental fatigue is usually the result of prolonged stress. Long-term stress can be brought on by a variety of factors, including a challenging life event, a demanding job, or procrastination.
Additionally, a period of chronic stress can be taxing on your mental well-being, leaving you feeling overwhelmed, irritable, and detached.
Long-term mental exhaustion also affects your professional life. When your symptoms arent managed, it leads to workplace burnout. Symptoms of workplace burnout include a lack of belief in your abilities, decreased job satisfaction, and a lack of motivation.
The Covid-19 pandemic has turned mental fatigue into a widespread global issue. The World Health Organization describes this pandemic fatigue as demotivation, alienation, complacency, and hopelessness. As this feeling has become the norm for many people, its increasingly important to learn how to cope with mental fatigue and its symptoms.
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Engage In Regular Exercise
Regular exercise is one of the best tools to minimize the effects of mental fatigue. According to a recent study, higher physical activity results in less fatigue regardless of your age or gender.
Staying active through outdoor or virtual workouts gives you a boost of positivity, energizes you, and improves your sleep. Aerobic and muscle-strengthening workouts also help treat fibromyalgia and prevent other health conditions.
Causes Of Fatigue After Brain Injury
Fatigue is one of the most long-lasting and common effects of brain injury. In fact, up to 73% of individuals report fatigue up to 5 years after sustaining their injury.
Various factors can contribute to increased fatigue after TBI. One reason fatigue is so prevalent is because, in the early phases following a TBI, the brain focuses most of its energy on healing. While this is essential for stabilizing the brain after injury, it also leaves less energy to be devoted to other tasks.
Another explanation is the coping hypothesis, which suggests that individuals are more likely to experience fatigue after brain injury because the brain must work harder to compensate for impaired functions.
Moreover, feelings of fatigue may not be directly related to brain injury at all. Instead, they can stem from secondary effects of TBI, such as depression, pain, poor-quality sleep, and endocrine dysfunction.
In the following section, well discuss different types of fatigue that an individual may experience after brain injury.
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What Is Mental Fatigue And What Causes It
Mental fatigue or mental exhaustion is just that, the sense that your brain is running on empty. You cant think clearly. Its a challenge to process even the simplest information. Youre mentally and emotionally drained.
For many individuals, they feel like their mind is in a constant fog.
A few examples of mental fatigue might include:
- Asking someone the same question twice, without realizing it
- Having to review basic information multiple times before grasping it
- Snapping at unsuspecting friends, family, or coworkers over petty irritations
Concentration on any one task is nearly impossible, you have trouble focusing or maintaining focus, and even small things seem impossible.
Mental fatigue can happen to anyone at any time, especially those whove experienced very little rest over a certain period. Stress is a common trigger and the brain fog can last anywhere from a few hours to a few days.
For many people, rest is the solution to mental fatigue. In other instances, by simply stepping away from the source of stress for a while, you can take back control of your mental state.
For others, however, mental exhaustion may prove debilitating. If not dealt with properly, it can cause serious health issues that go way beyond brain fog.
In extreme cases, mental fatigue may lead to detachment and isolation from others, deep feelings of anger, apathy, or hopelessness.
Fix Your Circadian Rhythm
Lack of sleep is a common cause or a side-effect of brain fog. If youre not getting enough sleep, take steps to reset your sleep clock and improve your sleep hygiene.
Improving your sleep alleviates anxiety and stress, lessening the symptoms of mental fatigue. If youre struggling with insomnia, you can reach out to a mental health provider for medical advice or treatment.
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Physical Symptoms Of Mental Exhaustion
The characteristics of mental fatigue are not just emotional. They can also show up as physical symptoms that may impair your physical health and well-being. Some of the symptoms are:
Poor Eating Habits
Unhealthy eating habits are common among people suffering from mental exhaustion. According to the National Library of Medicine, when under pressure, stress, and mental fatigue, most young adults are more likely to engage in emotional eating or eat less.
Failure to get the proper nutrients and indulging in sugary junk food impairs cognitive abilities and contributes to emotional disorders like anxiety and depression.
Lack of Sleep
Most people suffering from mental exhaustion often have trouble sleeping adequately and may even suffer from insomnia. These complications arise due to the emotional side effects of mental fatigue, such as anxiety or depression.
Always worrying about other things apart from the present, and staying alert, makes it harder to get a good nights sleep. On the other hand, clinical depression causes you to oversleep, leading to various health conditions.
Illness
A weakened mental state can lead to physical complications, which lead to various illnesses, including muscle aches and tenderness, headaches and migraines, stomach problems, and a weakened immune system.
Physical Fatigue
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A Little More Than Psychology : What Is Mental Fatigue
Were all familiar with the term fatigue in the context of exercise, particularly muscular fatigue. You can conjure what it feels like as your legs grow heavy and your ability to generate forward momentum diminishes.
For a long time, fatigue impacting athletic performance was thought to be solely a physical phenomenon. Over the last decade, this theory has been tested with research . Led by Dr.Samuele Marcora, science has shown how the brain is responsible for some of our experiences with fatigue as it collects those physical sensations and decides how much is too much . This is what we now call mental fatigue.
Mental fatigue is a psychobiological state, an interaction between biology and behavior, caused by long periods of demanding cognitive and/or physical activities. Examples include studying for an exam, a rigorous workday, a multi-week period of non-functional overreaching in training, or in the case of many research projects 30 to 90 minutes of computer tasks . Mental fatigue of this nature can manifest subjectively , behaviorally , and physiologically .
The exact mechanism for the increased perceived exertion is not completely understood, but its possibly a result of the accumulation of adenosine and a decrease in dopamine in your brain .
Mental fatigue causes a decrease in endurance performance due to higher than normal perceived exertion. Image: Ylmsportscience.com/2017/01/10/the-effects-of-mental-fatigue-on-physical-performance/
Structure Your Day To Match Rising And Falling Energy Levels
One of the first steps to reducing mental fatigue is getting in tune with how your energy levels rise and fall. Even at your most rested, you deal with ebbs and flows of energy throughout your day.
Everyone does. You have periods of high-energy and moments when that energy wanes. These up and down cycles are called ultradian rhythms, and each cycle lasts somewhere between 90 to 120 minutes.
In their book The Power of Full Engagement, Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz note:
These ultradian rhythms help to account for the ebb and flow of our energy throughout the day. Physiological measures such as heart rate, hormonal levels, muscle tension and brain-wave activity all increase during the first part of the cycleand so does alertness. After an hour or so, these measures start to decline. Somewhere between 90 and 120 minutes, the body begins to crave a period of rest and recovery.
Youre at your most productive in 90 to 120-minute peak energy cycles and your least productive during 20-minute troughs in between.
To take advantage of your bodys natural rhythms, figure out when your peaks and valleys occur and schedule your days task around them. To learn your ultradian rhythms, keep a log for a few weeks of your energy levels each hour. This will give you a fairly good feel for when your energy is at its highest and when you need to take breaks. Alternatively, you can use the Rise sleep app to help you calculate your ultradian rhythms.
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Connect With A Friend
Connecting with a good friend may provide a fresh perspective on your work or life and the things causing you stress. Plan a catch-up session â either in person or over the phone â with someone you trust. As you talk about what you have going on, actively listen to their take on the situation. Maintaining connections and good friendships helps develop work-life balance and objectivity to overcome mental fatigue.
Think Of 3 Things To Be Grateful For
Its easy to get wrapped up in daily to-do lists and not focus on our surroundings. Focusing on the negative can cause a resentment if things are one-sided, but with some time, its easy to fix. Try setting three reminders throughout your day to think of something grateful. Dont be too hard on yourself if it takes a while to come up with something. I believed I had to think of new things every day. It became more stressful than good. Its ok to remind yourself to be grateful for the same things, youll find your brain fog lifting in no time!
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