Fatigue is a common health complaint. It is however, one of the hardest terms to define and a symptom of many different conditions. Fatigue is another word for extreme exhaustion of both mental and physical strength.

Weariness, tiredness, exhaustion or lethargy is generally defined as a feeling of lack of energy. Fatigue is not the same as drowsiness, but the desire to sleep may accompany fatigue. In general, drowsiness is feeling the need to sleep, while fatigue is a lack of energy and motivation. Drowsiness and apathy can be symptoms of fatigue.

Fatigue can be a normal and important response to physical exertion, emotional stress, boredom or lack of sleep. You feel you can’t go on or even talk to anyone, short breaks don’t help and you need to take a longer break to relax. Mental fatigue is caused by any prolonged activity along with high level of stress and emotions. It’s seen among individuals who work on tight dead lines for long duration and carry out tasks that require continuous attention and effort.

One can prevent fatigue by defining limits and sticking to them. Physical and mental threshold of work should be for eight hours and include some music, walk or reading in your routine then fatigue will rarely set in.

For sure-fire cures do this once a week:

Get a massage and listen to soothing music.

Eat light and go for brisk walk to pump up blood circulation.

Avoid phone calls.

Cut open, peel or deeply smell citrus fruits such as lemon, orange or lime between tasks.

Dab eucalyptus oil on a handkerchief or crush leaves by hand and inhale.

Keep a bunch of flowers like jasmine near your work space.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 22nd, 2009 at 2:23 am and is filed under Lifestyle, Stress Management, Health, Behaviour. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.