Effects of Tiredness

After moving your belongings into your new home, after a long drive or after playing an enthusiastic game of football, it is normal for you to feel tired. Some forms of tiredness can be serious and have negative effects on your life. If you feel tired after waking up in the morning and if your fatigue is making it difficult for you to function, you could need to talk to your doctor.

The Facts

• Tiredness is more than a feeling of drowsiness or a desire for sleep. Tiredness also include a component of being drained of energy and lacking the ability or the desire to continue functioning. It can be caused by physical exertion, by illnesses like anemia, by conditions such as depression, by lack of sleep, by stress and by medications such as those used to treat cancer. Tiredness can have both physical and mental effects.

Physical Effects

• Physical effects of tiredness can include aches in your muscles that can make walking and other movements painful. You might find yourself out of breath while performing easy physical tasks like household chores or work duties. Tiredness can make it difficult for you to fall asleep or get a good night of sleep. You could find your appetite suppressed, so you do not each much.

Mental Effects

• The mental effects of tiredness often interfere with your motivation and your ability to perform tasks. You might find that you have little desire to get out of bed in the morning and that few things engage your interest. When you are tired, you could find it difficult to concentrate on either work or entertainment. Tiredness can reduce your reaction time and your coordination, so ordinary actions like putting away dishes or driving can be more difficult.

Treatment

• Tiredness brought on by exertion or lack of sleep can be treated with time and rest. If you get enough sleep and make your environment less stressful, you should soon feel better. If your fatigue is a symptom of an underlying issue such as a disease or a condition like depression, then treating the issue will help relieve the effects of tiredness. If cancer treatment is causing the tiredness, then you can cope with the effects by improving your diet, getting some exercise and changing your routine to accommodate your increased need to rest.

Considerations

• Because tiredness can be a symptom of a serious illness, you should talk to your doctor about it if it lasts longer than a few days. Fatigue can be a chronic condition. The effects of tiredness can impair your ability to perform complex tasks, such as driving, to the point it could be dangerous for you and people around you to attempt them. Resting before trying to complete a complex task can make things much safer for you and for others.