Why Chronic Fatigue is a Big Deal

Do you feel moody or irritable around your family, children, and loved ones? Do you have trouble performing at school at work? Have you lost your drive to spend time with friends? Have you been struggling with erectile dysfunction (for men) and/or reduced sex drive? Do small tasks feel like a big deal? If these sound familiar, you might be struggling with chronic fatigue.

Each of the above issues can be caused by chronic fatigue - and though it looks rather bleak and obvious put in those terms, it's a lot hard to identify these issues in real life. Especially if you are getting 8 hours of sleep, you might not identify that sleep is the underlying cause. There are a number of sleep conditions where your clock might tell you that you received 8 hours of sleep, but your body is telling a different story.

In this article we will focus on common sleep conditions that give the illusion that you are receiving a full night's rest when in actuality you aren't, which may help you start to evaluate causes of your fatigue.

Signs of Sleep Deprivation

Experiencing extreme tiredness during the day is a clear indication that you are lacking sufficient sleep. It is widely recommended that adults aim for at least 7 hours of sleep per night, as numerous studies have confirmed its importance. When you consistently fall short of this sleep goal, you enter a state of sleep deprivation.

Probably the biggest sign of sleep deprivation is excessive daytime sleepiness. Other common signs of sleep deprivation include:

• General, abnormal irritability and/or short temper
• Reduced ability to manage stress
• Onset/aggravated anxiety and depression
• Impaired cognitive ability – like chronic brain fog
• Impaired memory

Living with sleep deprivation is often compared to being intoxicated, as both intoxicated and sleep deprived individuals perform similarly on cognitive tests.

Why You’re Always Tired

Feeling constantly tired is often a sign of sleep deprivation, although it doesn't apply to everyone. Sleep deprivation occurs when you don't get enough sleep, which for adults should be a minimum of 7 hours per day. This lack of sleep accumulates as a "sleep debt," which means you'll need to make up for it by consistently getting more sleep in the future.

When you wake up in the mornings, you should feel rested and full of energy. However, if there are times that you wake up feeling tired, even after 8 hours of sleep, then you may not be getting restful sleep. Closing your eyes and lying in bed is not enough. There are other aspects of sleep that determine the amount of rest that you feel upon waking.    

If you wake up feeling like you hardly slept, even if you slept all night, it’s going to impact your life because you'll  be tired all the time. When you are tired all the time, you may find that you experience more mood swings, have trouble performing well at work or school, lose motivation to do fun things for yourself, and struggle in your interpersonal relationships. Life is simply more challenging when you have chronic fatigue.

It can be especially frustrating when you feel like you're trying to get enough sleep, and therefore, should be rested and happy. If you struggle with chronic fatigue, even after getting adequate sleep, some factors that may influence that are:

• Bad habits and/or cognitive conditions
• Sleep disorders
• Bad sleeping environment
• Medical problem

Let’s look at these in more detail.

Chronic Fatigue – Life Doesn’t Have to be Miserable

Being tired all of the time can have severely negative effects on your life. You may feel moody around friends and family, unable to perform well at school or work, have dissatisfaction in your physical or intimate life, and struggle to deal with minor inconveniences. 

If you know that you are not sleeping 8 hours a day, then you may be able to identify the cause of these issues. However, if you are getting the appropriate amount of sleep are and still having these symptoms, then you may be even more frustrated.  

If you find yourself in the latter category, you are not alone. There are conditions that will interfere with your rest regardless of how much sleep or rest you think you are giving. Overall categories include: 

• Sleep conditions
• Medical conditions
• Lifestyle conditions

In this blog post, we will discuss these three categories in more detail.

Chronic fatigue can significantly affect the quality of life. Small chores become a big deal. It’s hard to function at work or school. You lose the drive to spend time with friends and loved ones. In other words, chronic fatigue makes you feel like less of yourself.

Fortunately, there are usually identifiable causes for chronic fatigue. They tend to be either:

• Sleep conditions
• Medical conditions
• Lifestyle/emotion conditions

In this blog post, we will explore all of the various reasons that may be causing your fatigue. There may be a single identifiable reason, or a combination of factors for you to address.