Some types of fatigue are still there even after a good night’s sleep. This one, for example.
Most people have understood and accepted that we have to sleep when we are tired – and even when we are not. Sleep is used to regenerate, to process what we go through when we are awake, to relax and much more. In addition, it offers us a change from our waking experience. Yes, our time is limited, but getting enough sleep is not a waste of time, on the contrary.
But what do we do when we sleep well and enough and our tiredness still doesn’t go away? Or what if our tiredness doesn’t let us sleep properly? Both can occur, because sleep is not the solution for every form of tiredness. It is therefore important to know what exactly we are exhausted from and in what way so that we can choose an appropriate break and regeneration. The following types of fatigue are particularly common and widespread in our society – and they do not always get enough attention.
8 types of fatigue we are allowed to talk more about
1. Empathy fatigue
Put yourself in the shoes of other people, feel with or for them – wonderful skills that are fundamentally useful to us. But sometimes we underestimate how much strength empathy can cost us. We cannot empathize with the whole world, so we have no choice but to dose our sympathy and reserve it for the people who really mean something to us and who give something back to us – including ourselves.
2. Compliance fatigue
As part of a society, we enjoy numerous advantages and securities and in return, comply with certain rules and expectations. Occasionally, however, an imbalance can creep into this relationship and the joining together can become too much for us and exhaust us. When we suppress or back off too many or too important of our individual interests and needs for too long to do what is asked of us. To recover from this kind of tiredness, it can be useful to our own To clarify priorities in life and, if necessary, to take certain measures to give them more space. Some freedoms, which are essential to us, we have to demand or fight for, even if we may have to forego securities or privileges in order to do so. Because just getting in line and doing everything without exception can make you tired in the long run.
3. Helper: indoor fatigue
Helping other people basically gives us strength and a feeling of meaningfulness – if it does not exceed our individual tolerance range. People who care for relatives or who are there for friends in need know how much energy it can take to care for others intensively. How much it demands of us and how much it can exhaust us. We need breaks from helping, help with helping and a form of appreciation or thanks in order to recover from the helper’s tiredness – here too, mere sleep is not enough.
4. Emotional exhaustion
Emotional exhaustion typically occurs when we experience a feeling either particularly intensely or for a particularly long time. Mostly we perceive it as a kind of emptiness, joylessness and lack of drive, indifference and apathy. For example, if we experience a severe loss that deeply grieves us, or if we are in a state of fear or frustration (or happiness, because it can also make us tired) over a long period of time, this can result in us overall numb and become dispassionate about everything – because we are emotionally exhausted. We need variety, also in our emotional world. In any case, in order to get out of a state of emotional exhaustion, it is good to know the cause of our emotional state. Sometimes we can change something about it, sometimes we can only learn to accept it and deal with it. In a second step, it often helps to look for projects that please us or mean something, so that we can gradually get rid of the feeling of tiredness.
5. Mental exhaustion
Mental exhaustion often leads to insomnia because it can lead to brooding and problems switching off. The cause of mental fatigue is usually that we have a preponderance of mental activities (intellectual work, dealing with information and messages, virtual contacts and the like) and a lack of presence experience (you can find out more in our article “Signs of a lack of presence”) ). To recover from mental exhaustion, we can, for example, do sports (preferably with other people), go to a rock concert, cuddle our dog or meet up with friends more often. AND: Reduce our time on cell phones, laptops, televisions and the like.
6. Social fatigue
We are social beings and need closeness, contacts and relationships with one another. But most people also need time for themselves, some less, others more. Social fatigue can arise if we are too much with other people for our personal requirements, if we have too many relationships, or if we orientate ourselves too much towards others. It can make itself felt in different ways: feelings of loneliness, a feeling of dissatisfaction or being driven, exhaustion or the need to be alone. We can cure social fatigue by organizing and prioritizing our relationships and planning our social life in such a way that it does not overwhelm us.
7. Physical fatigue
Sure, sleep usually helps when you are physically tired – but sometimes you need more. There is a certain tendency in our society to view our body as a shell that houses the important things (for example our feelings, thoughts, goals and achievements) and which we have to keep healthy, but can shape and shape with the right means, as we like it. But that’s not true. Our body is the source of everything that is important to us. Our body is not just any part of us; we are our body. We need breaks, we need fats, we need satiety, we need touch and we cannot work on our optimization every day and use our smart watch as a guide and be driven by it to achieve our activity goals. We often recover from physical fatigue not just by sleeping, but by paying attention to and responding to our physical signals.
8. Purpose-Striving Fatigue
Whatever our goals – beating your depression, advancing your career, getting tidier, having a happy relationship – pursuing them non-stop can be tiring. Always having the same goals in mind is a monotonous prospect, and monotony wears you down in the long run. Against this kind of tiredness, it can help to allow us breaks on our way in which we look around and do other things, maybe turn into a side street, even if it throws us back, or just stand or lie and accept that we’re not moving as well or as fast as we’d like.
Sources used: multiplesclerosisnewstoday.com,