In this blog, we will cover all about feeling tired and lacking motivation, fatigue, the relationship between tiredness and motivation, causes of fatigue, treatment of the condition, and also answer frequently asked questions
Do you feel tired and lack motivation? It might be Fatigue.
If you are feeling tired most of the time, feel a lack of motivation, it might be more than just tiredness and low motivation as it is a sign of fatigue that often affects a lot of people.
You should seek treatment and work on your concerns as they can impact your physical and mental health deeply.
Let us understand more about fatigue in the further sections.
What is feeling tired?
Tired all of the time is a typical complaint, and exhaustion and weariness are widespread difficulties. It is frequently not a medical problem, but rather one that can be resolved with a change in lifestyle.
Fatigue can have a detrimental impact on work performance, family life, and social interactions. It reduces your self-assurance to the nadir. Fatigue has a reputation for being a nebulous and difficult disease for doctors to study, and many people who suffer from it do not seek medical help.
Doctors who are aware of the condition take it seriously and try to find an underlying reason. There are a variety of reasons why people grow tired, and as a result, there are a variety of solutions.
Fast facts on fatigue and tiredness
Tiredness, low energy, physical or mental depletion, or a lack of motivation are all terms used to describe fatigue.
Fatigue can be caused by psychological, physiological, or physical factors.
A doctor will ask questions and take a sleep history to determine the cause of fatigue, as well as do a physical examination, blood and urine tests.
The focus of treatment is on the underlying cause of weariness, it can be a physical reason or sometimes a mental condition like depression.
What is fatigue?
Simply described, fatigue is the sensation of exhaustion. It differs from the sleepy sensation of drowsiness, as well as the psychological sensation of apathy, which can both accompany weariness.
Other terms for exhaustion include:
- decreased or non-existent energy
- fatigue, either physical or mental
- lack of enthusiasm
Relationship between tiredness and demotivation
According to a study, people’s motivation is affected by their level of weariness, which eventually hinders their efforts on a certain task.
The willingness to labor is not static, according to researchers from the University of Birmingham and the University of Oxford. It is dependent on the varying rhythms of exhaustion.
A study was carried out by the research team to see how exhaustion affects a person’s decision to exert effort. They discovered that those who were tired were less motivated to labor and exert effort, even if it was for a reward. The findings have been published in Nature Communications.
Fatigue, or the sense of being exhausted after performing strenuous work, is something we all face on a regular basis. It demotivates us and makes us want to take a break.
Surprisingly, the researchers discovered that two distinct types of weariness were recognized in different areas of the brain. In the first, weariness is perceived as a transient sensation that may be overcome with a brief rest.
However, with time, a second, longer-lasting emotion develops, which prevents people from wanting to work and does not go away even with brief naps.
“We discovered that people’s willingness to exert effort ranged from moment to moment, but eventually reduced when they repeated a job over time,” explains Tanja Muller, the study’s first author. “Such shifts in job motivation appear to be linked to exhaustion – and occasionally lead us to decide not to continue.”
The team put 36 young, healthy participants to the test.
They were put through a computer-based activity in which they had to perform the physical effort in exchange for varying sums of money. The individuals conducted over 200 trials, in which they were asked whether they would rather ‘work’ – which involved squeezing a grip force device – and earn bigger incentives, or rest and earn a little reward.
The researchers devised a mathematical model to estimate how much weariness a person would experience at any given time throughout the experiment, as well as how much fatigue would influence their decision to work or rest.
The individuals had an MRI scan while executing the task, allowing the researchers to examine for activity in the brain that matched the model’s predictions.
They discovered that parts of the frontal cortex in the brain fluctuated inactivity in accordance with the expectations, while the ventral striatum signaled how much exhaustion was influencing people’s motivation to keep working.
Causes of tiredness or fatigue
Fatigue is a typical occurrence in people; we all become fatigued. This, however, is not generally linked to illness. Fatigue can be caused by a variety of medical and non-medical factors, including personal nutrition and lifestyle choices.
The following elements, alone or in combination, can contribute to fatigue:
- Stress, anxiety, and depression are psychological and psychosocial issues.
- Anemia, diabetes, glandular fever, and cancer are all physical ailments.
- Pregnancy, breastfeeding, insufficient sleep, and excessive activity are all physiological factors.
Some sorts of exhaustion aren’t usually considered medical issues, such as tiredness caused by:
- physical exercise
- stress on the mind
- boredom
- sleep deprivation
The following lifestyle choices, according to the National Institute on Aging, might cause tiredness and fatigue:
- consuming too much caffeine
- consuming too much alcohol
- consuming junk food
Some people are more susceptible to weariness than others. Women, for example, are more likely to report weariness. People in poverty, as well as those suffering from mental or physical sickness, are more likely to experience weariness.
Medical reasons of tiredness/lack of motivation
Physical, psychological, and physiological factors can all contribute to weariness. Because there are so many physical or medical causes, it’s critical to see a doctor for a precise diagnosis based on a person’s personal and medical history.
The following are some of the medical causes of fatigue:
- obesity
- obstructive apnea (sleep deprivation)
- treatments with sedatives and antidepressants
- insomnia
- anemia
- cancer caused by iron deficiency
- renal failure
- liver ailment
- failure of the heart
- thyroid problems
- diabetes
- Addison’s disease is a condition that affects the adrenal glands.
- Other eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa
- Rheumatoid arthritis is one type of arthritis.
- SLE (systemic lupus erythematosus) is an example of an autoimmune disease.
- fibromyalgia infection, especially if it has been present for a long time
- Malnutrition caused by AIDS, TB, and mononucleosis
Sleep history and tiredness/lack of motivation
To determine whether a sleep issue is causing the weariness, the doctor may obtain a “sleep history”:
- How much sleep do you get on a regular basis?
- Do you have difficulties falling asleep or waking up in the middle of the night?
- Have you been told that you snore?
- Has anyone noticed that while you sleep, you stop breathing for small periods of time?
The purpose of these sleep history questions is to determine sleep quality, amount, patterns, and routine.
Physical examination for tiredness/lack of motivation
A doctor may also perform a medical examination or assess a patient’s mental state in order to determine physical and mental causes. If no specific reason can be identified, a series of conventional tests can be conducted to narrow down the diagnosis. These may include the following, depending on the patient’s complaints:
- a complete blood count
- C-reactive protein or erythrocyte sedimentation rate
- Tests of liver function
- electrolytes and urea
- Thyroid-stimulating hormone and thyroid function tests are two tests that are used to diagnose thyroid problems.
- urine and blood tests for creatine kinase urine and blood tests for glucose urine and blood tests for protein
Chronic fatigue syndrome
Chronic weariness can refer to any exhaustion that lasts for a long time, but medical articles and recommendations define chronic tiredness as fatigue that lasts at least six months.
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS, commonly known as myalgic encephalopathy or ME) is diagnosed when weariness lasts for more than four months and no other cause can be found.
One or more of the following symptoms must be present in a person with CFS/ME:
- muscular or joint ache – multi-site without indications of inflammation – difficulties sleeping
- headaches
- lymph nodes that hurt
- cognitive dysfunction due to sore throat
- In the absence of heart disease, physical or mental activity exacerbates symptoms such as general malaise or flu-like symptoms, dizziness or nausea, and palpitations.
If none of the following symptoms are present, a CFS/ME diagnosis should be reconsidered:
- After effort, you may feel tired or nauseous.
- problems with the mind
- sleep disruption
- persistent discomfort
Treatment of tiredness and lack of motivation
Lifestyle changes
If the testing process reveals no underlying medical cause for your weariness, make the following lifestyle and nutritional changes to see if they help:
- Improving sleep patterns and getting enough rest.
- Regular exercise and a healthy balance of relaxation and activity.
- Caffeine abstinence and plenty of water are recommended.
- To avoid getting overweight or underweight, eat a nutritious diet.
- Setting realistic workload and timetable expectations.
- Allowing yourself to unwind, perhaps through meditation or yoga.
- Identifying and addressing stressors by taking time off work or resolving interpersonal issues, for example.
- Using alcohol, nicotine, and illegal drugs in moderation.
Psychotherapy and counselling
Doctors may consider referring some persons with exhaustion to counseling or cognitive behavioral therapy, which is a type of talking therapy (CBT).
If you’re facing this, it may be a good idea to seek the help of a therapist or other mental health professional. You can find a therapist at BetterHelp who can help you learn how to cope and address it.
Fatigue specialists
Even if you don’t fulfill the criteria for chronic fatigue syndrome (or myalgic encephalopathy), certain specialists specialize in chronic fatigue syndrome (or myalgic encephalopathy) services, and they may be a good referral.
They may provide a specialist opinion for occupational fatigue or an organized, multidisciplinary management approach, which may include supervised graded exercise therapy.
Take care of your mental health
Sometimes there is no physiological cause for feeling tired and lack of motivation and that can be a sign of suffering from a mental health condition like major depressive disorder which makes you feel tired all the time, low on motivation, sleeping habit changes, etc.
Conclusion
We covered all about feeling tired and lack of motivation, what fatigue is, what are the causes of fatigue, various treatment options, and also tips on lifestyle changes, and discussed chronic fatigue syndrome in detail too.
Frequently asked Questions (FAQs): Do you feel tired and lack motivation? It might be Fatigue.
What causes tiredness and lack of motivation?
The following elements, alone or in combination, can contribute to fatigue:
- Stress, anxiety, and depression are psychological and psychosocial issues.
- Anemia, diabetes, glandular fever, and cancer are all physical ailments.
- Pregnancy, breastfeeding, insufficient sleep, and excessive activity are all physiological factors.
What deficiency causes extreme fatigue?
Being tired all the time can indicate a vitamin deficiency. This could include low levels of vitamin D, vitamin B-12, iron, magnesium, or potassium.
How do you overcome lack of motivation and fatigue?
The following lifestyle and nutritional changes to see if they help:
- Improving sleep patterns and getting enough rest.
- Regular exercise and a healthy balance of relaxation and activity.
- Caffeine abstinence and plenty of water are recommended.
- To avoid getting overweight or underweight, eat a nutritious diet.
- Setting realistic workload and timetable expectations.
- Allowing yourself to unwind, perhaps through meditation or yoga.
- Identifying and addressing stressors by taking time off work or resolving interpersonal issues, for example.
- Using alcohol, nicotine, and illegal drugs in moderation.
What can I use for energy and motivation?
Multivitamin supplement, some motivating Ted talks, and interviews along with energy drinks can definitely boost your energy and motivation levels!
What are the 3 foods that cause fatigue?
Highly caffeinated drinks, sugary foods, and oily/baked junk food can cause fatigue.
Which fruit gives you the most energy?
Bananas are a good source of carbohydrates that you can consume for an energy boost.