Dealing with fatigue

The word, “fatigue”, literally means extreme tiredness. When one works beyond his capability, fatigue sets in. After working for a long time continuously, cells are deprived of oxygen and products of metabolism tend to accumulate inside the body tissues and cells. This is the cause of a sense of fatigue. Capability to do work varies from person to person. Some people are able to work for hours simultaneously, while some may feel tired just after an hour of work. This depends on multiple factors: Physical health, nutritious diet, any addictions, concurrent illness, mental makeup, are some of the factors which influence ones ability to work. One can feel tired easily if suffering from some chronic disease like cancer, T.B. or diabetes. People addicted to alcohol or smoking are also not able to work for a long time without interruption. Their body craves for the intoxicating substance intermittently, failing to find which, they feel tired. Drugs like glucocorticoids and diuretics lead to fatigue when taken for a long period. Mental causes are also responsible for fatigue or undue tiredness. At times one may feel very tired in middle of work or do not feel like working at all.In most of the cases, fatigue is a state of mind. When in a happy state of mind, one can do a lot of work. But if there is depression of any sort, even a small task seems to be very tiring. This can happen on encountering some difficult work also. If we analyze the word, “fatigue”, we can better understand the mental factors causing or aggravating fatigue. Fatigue is related to fear, anxiety, tension, irritability, greed, unrest and envy. With any of these conditions prevailing, a person has mostly a very low or high esteem of himself. In case of over esteem, without putting in the determination and necessary hard work, he wants the best results. On not getting the expected results, he loses interest in work. Very soon the same work starts seeming to be a burden and fatigue sets in. On the other hand, a person who lacks self confidence feels afraid to even start the work. While working he is always under stress thinking that it will not be done correctly. Result is the work seems to be burdensome and tiring. Due to mental stress an individual does not eat and sleep properly which further contributes to easy exhaustion.A person with peaceful mind remains tranquil in face of any kind or quantity of work given to him and does not feel tired easily. While one with a mind disturbed by anger, anxiety, e.t.c., does not feel like working and even if he works, he feels exhausted very soon. So what can be done to remove fatigue? Intake of nutritious well balanced diet keeps the body healthy and capable of working hard. Addictions like alcohol, smoking, e.t.c. should be avoided. Drinking tea or coffee to drive off fatigue is not very healthy. In fact excess tea and coffee can cause other problems like gastritis. Physical exercise is very important to keep the body healthy and work efficient. Howsoever busy a person may be but he should do some exercise for at least for 20 to 30 minutes every day. Deep breathing is very useful to remove fatigue and make an individual feel fresh. Because it removes carbon di-oxide and supplies fresh oxygen to the lungs and from there via blood to whole body. In fact, when one starts feeling tired during work, he can sit straight and take few deep breaths. This will refresh him immediately and he can restart work with fresh vigor. Mental problems causing fatigue are more difficult to handle because the concerned person fails to understand the root cause of fatigue. A person has to look around in nature. All the birds and beasts remain happily moving, frolicking all day doing the work intended for them by nature. That is how nature has made us all. Because of various reasons we make our lives complicated and complaint of fatigue. Do your work happily and think of it as a pleasure, you will soon start enjoying it. Relaxation should always be in the form of some creative past time like gardening, reading, e.t.c. This keeps a person happy mentally, thus keeping tiredness away. Frivolous entertainment like watching T.V. in leisure time, bars and discos, do not provide the sense of accomplishment which a completed task provides. Hence a person does not feel very cheerful after these activities; rather he may go into depression soon after coming home.Learn to control your mind and keep it calm all the time. Remember that nothing is more important than life or death. Any affair not threatening life should be considered mundane. It is not easy to do so but can come with practice. Over the days you shall realize that you do not feel tired at all, whatever amount of work you do. A person need not suffer from fatigue anytime, if he leads a disciplined life. Try to improve general health and put off fatigue. Pande is a specialist-Internal medicine