Physical and Mental Fatigue is the new normal of the modern world

Do you feel that your energy is very low these days, that you cannot get enough pleasure from the things that used to bring you happiness and joy, that you cannot find motivation even to meet with your loved ones, that you have difficulty sleeping at night and waking up in the morning? Do you have moments when you feel tired and drained, both physically and mentally?

The year 2020, in which the difficulties never cease, has made our already tiring lives even more difficult. The new rules of the 'new normal' added to our lives, where we are constantly trying to reach somewhere, where we live with the dream of completing something and taking a sigh of relief, and where we make extra efforts to fulfill our accumulated responsibilities, financial difficulties, negative life events such as earthquakes suddenly weigh on our shoulders. doubled it.

The extra workload that comes with working from home, the information pollution we are exposed to through social media, the consumption frenzy that grows exponentially despite the difficulties that economic uncertainty creates in our quality of life and purchasing power, the unlimited options, the constant notifications pouring into our phones, the need to stay in touch with other people for fear of missing out on developments. Many reasons such as chronic fatigue, burnout, lack of energy can manifest itself.

We will share with you our suggestions on how to cope with the feeling of chronic fatigue, thanks to the many physical and mental factors that cause the feeling of fatigue throughout the week, as well as the changes you can make in your lifestyle and habits.

What is fatigue?

Fatigue, which is a very common symptom in the society, can be defined as feeling sluggish, low energy and mood, avoiding activity, reluctance and decreased performance. Although it is not defined as a separate disease or problem on its own, the feeling of fatigue can be a symptom of many diseases as a symptom. Although physical fatigue is the first thing that comes to mind when fatigue is mentioned, research shows that fatigue has mental symptoms and causes as well as physical.

Physical dimension of fatigue: Sleep quality, eating habits and inactivity

We know that one of the most important formulas of being energetic and not feeling tired during the day is the trio of adequate sleep, healthy eating and exercise. Getting the nutrients our body needs during the daytime, which is bright in accordance with our biological rhythm, maintaining habits that will contribute to our productivity, and ensuring energy storage and renewal by putting the metabolism into rest and relaxation mode during the dark hours in the evening and at night are among the most important requirements of not feeling tired.

Eating late at night, depriving the body of water by not drinking enough water, sleeping irregularly and insufficiently, not moving at all during the daytime hours when energy is high, following a pattern opposite to the biological rhythm that has been maintained since the day of humanity but deteriorated with the transition to modern life, the body tries to produce energy. Many habits, such as not getting the nutrients they need, can cause us to feel physically tired. You can find detailed information about the factors that cause physical fatigue and our suggestions for coping with physical fatigue in our articles that we will share in the coming days.

Mental dimension of fatigue: Stress, worry, fear and overthinking

The feeling of fatigue can manifest itself as mental as well as physical exhaustion. Behaviors such as thinking too much about any subject, problem, negative life experience or relationship, having indecision too often, trying to live fast, impatience; The thoughts and feelings that accompany these behaviors can make us feel tired.

Many stress factors such as the fear of earthquakes, the fear of epidemics, financial uncertainty, unconscious use of technology, added to the existential 'survival' anxiety that humanity has brought with it from the past to the present, with the transition to modern life, can make him feel more tired. Similarly, the fact that there are too many options today can cause our minds to experience decision-making fatigue. Mankind, who used to eat whatever he could find, now has to make an extra mental effort to fill his stomach, to choose one of the hundreds of options on the menu in order to eat. From the tiny needle we buy to the person we want to marry, we 'have to' make decisions in every moment of our lives. While making a decision alone is a cause of mental fatigue, our mental fatigue increases exponentially with the addition of stress, fear and anxiety. You can find detailed information about the factors that cause mental fatigue and our suggestions for dealing with mental fatigue in our articles that we will share in the coming days.

Generation Y: The Tired Generation

Many studies on chronic fatigue, which is one of the most talked about topics of the 21st century, define the "Generation Y", whose age ranges from 22 to 37, as the "Tired Generation". According to a report published by the American Psychological Association, today's adult individuals, the Y generation, are under much higher stress than any generation ever before. Many negative emotions such as anxiety and anxiety that come with increasing stress levels, and physical problems such as sleep disorders are the main reasons why we feel much more tired, exhausted and lacking energy both mentally and physically.

The physical and mental fatigue caused by the increasing stress can cause us to be unable to focus on our responsibilities, not be able to find the motivation to finish the tasks we need to complete, to increase the number of tasks on our to-do list, and thus to be trapped in a never-ending cycle of stress-fatigue.

Not being able to meet the expectations of the age, excessive and unconscious use of technology that is relatively new in human history, fast and hasty culture, and most importantly, not knowing how to deal with stress, which is one of the most important causes of fatigue today, can make us feel more tired.

1. Both a physical and mental burden: Unconscious use of technology and social media

Researches point out the unconscious use of technology as one of the most important causes of fatigue, burnout and lack of energy today. Notifications raining down on our phones every minute, e-mails falling one after the other in our inbox, our lives indexed to social media, the fact that we have to do almost all of our work on the computer make a life without technology almost impossible.

A scientific study investigating the life habits of the new world on the axis of technology has revealed that 8 out of 10 people today go to bed with their smart phones and spend a long time on social media, share photos, text messages, make phone calls, clean their e-mails or read news before they sleep is showing. So, although we actually went to bed to sleep, our minds are not asleep, but on the phone.

Exposure to artificial light emitted by the screen before going to sleep creates physiological responses in the body to be awake, making it difficult to go to sleep. All natural or artificial light sources send signals to the brain to be awake and alert. Artificial light sources such as tablets, smartphones, computer screens and televisions can also make it difficult to go to sleep by giving the message that the body should stay awake, just like daylight. When our body has difficulty sleeping, it spends the rest period it needs to rest and renew itself. This can make you feel tired both physically and mentally. For this reason, for a quality and regular sleep cycle, you need to get away from all your devices that are artificial light sources at least 2-3 hours before going to sleep. Circadian rhythm and sleep relationship: Listen to your biological clock for a quality and healthy sleep. You can find detailed information on this subject in our article.

In addition to all these physiological effects, excessive and unconscious use of technology can negatively affect our psychological state and cause us to feel tired. The negative news we are exposed to, the problems in the country, seeing other people in the world face negative situations such as discrimination, marginalization, and injustice causes us to think constantly, try to control the emotions created by our thoughts, make extra efforts to continue our life in the normal course, thus making us feel much more tired. and it can make us feel exhausted.

2. Anxiety about not catching up: The hasty mentality and the culture of being fast

It is an inevitable fact that we spend most of our lives at work and we organize our habits according to our working order, due to the mentality of 'the one who works the most', which is one of the most prominent features of today's business life.

One of the most important reasons for our mental fatigue is the conflict between our expectation that we can change the world when we use our potential at the highest level, and the reality of life, which is the opposite of this expectation. Situations where we start with a high belief and motivation that we can do it, consume our energy to the last drop, but face the fact that our expectations are unrealistic, are among the reasons that increase the feeling of burnout. In addition to our unrealistic expectations, our impatientness and our desire to finish our work quickly can cause us not to achieve the results we expect.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to relax and fall asleep, to live in accordance with the circadian rhythm, to sleep adequately and in a balanced way, in a scenario where we sit in front of the computer the moment we return home from work, and we are busy with our e-mails day and night in order to stay in touch with our colleagues while working from home, and we are busy with the tasks we need to complete. Although the idea of ​​completing some of our work while lying down may sound like an attractive idea, the mental connection we inadvertently establish between work and bed can make it much more difficult to fall asleep over time. Our sleep, which we compromise in order to be faster, to finish our work faster, to be the best, returns to us as a lower energy and fatigue.

3. Poor coping skills

Since one of the most important causes of fatigue and burnout is intense stress, not knowing effective and healthy ways to cope with stress brings with it the feeling of more fatigue and burnout. Developing addiction to substances such as alcohol and cigarettes that help the person to relax in a short time to cope with intense stress, trying to suppress his fatigue with caffeine, developing an unhealthy and unbalanced diet, watching too many TV series and movies or spending time in front of the screen to distract his mind. It can cause low energy and fatigue because it is closely related.

Fast foods that we rush to snack on to increase our energy and mood, foods with high carbohydrates and fiber, and junk food with no nutritional value can cause our blood sugar to become unbalanced and make us feel more tired. In addition to fluctuations in our blood sugar, the inability to take vitamins and minerals, which are extremely important for metabolic activities, into the body due to poor eating habits can disrupt metabolic activities and cause us to feel tired.

The habits brought by modern life, high stress level, overthinking, a lifestyle that is not suitable for biological rhythm, unhealthy meals that are eaten fast, especially all our habits that affect our sleep quality are the main reasons why we feel tired and lack of energy. In our articles that we will share with you throughout the week, we will examine the causes of fatigue in its physical and mental dimensions, and include suggestions on how to deal with the feeling of chronic fatigue, burnout and low energy. Stay tuned!