What do you do when you are feeling “tired” to the point of exhaustion?  Tiredness is one of the most common complaints of people seen in primary healthcare. How many of you have heard this? “I’m tired all the time.” “I have no energy.” “I’m not myself.” “I’m always dragging.” “I’m falling asleep at work.” “I drove through a red light.” The first two comments are kind of fatigue related; the last two comments sort of relate to sleepiness.

What gets people to that point IF it is not related to a medical condition?  The answer is “there are too many reasons to put in this blog”!  What is the impact of chronic fatigue? In psychological terms, people report decreased motivation, inability to concentrate, and poor memory. Half report feelings of sadness, frustration, and irritability. Would you want to spend much time around these people?

Finding ways to take better care of yourself on a day to day basis is a necessity.  Stay away from addictions; eat healthy; get to bed at a decent time; work a little bit less; exercise more; count your blessings daily; and so many more things are helpful!

Awareness of your mental (and physical) self is quite important, too.  Often we disregard the signs of fatigue and simply keep pushing ourselves to do more and more.  This leads us down a horrible path of destruction which is difficult from which to recover.  We have all seen that in our friends, colleagues even ourselves.  It is time to “Stop the madness!”

Recognize your own importance and begin to do nice things for yourself.  Take moments in your day to re-energize and recognize when your “plate” is full to overflowing.  Be aware of the stress that comes with making major life decisions and take your time in coming to conclusions.  Value your time and energy; your life.  For all we know this is the only one we will get so make wise use of your days.  We feel so much better when we have energy and we are much nicer people to be around.

“The energy of the mind is the essence of life.” ― Aristotle