Do you find yourself asking ‘why am I so tired all the time’?
It’s not your normal ‘I’ve had a long day tired’ it’s something on a completely different level.
The kind of tired that’s hard to put into words.
You go to bed tired, you wake up tired.
It’s a struggle getting through the day you’re so tired.
Early nights don’t fix it.
Lie ins don’t fix it.
Extra rest doesn’t fix it.
Going on holiday doesn’t fix it.
I know this feeling well, as I’ve been there, so tired all the time, in fact I was utterly exhausted!
The impact of being so tired
The way I was feeling impacted so many things
The way I felt every day (which was pretty crap to be honest).
It affected my mood, being irritable and snapping at the slightest things, which had a knock on effect to my relationships.
Being so tired also affected my ability to get things done, I just wasn’t very productive, everything took longer and felt harder.
There are many so things that can cause us to feel tired, for me it was down to STRESS.
What I now know, is that being tired all the time is one of the most common signs of stress.
Why does stress make us feel so tired?
Stress triggers our ‘fight or flight’ response which in turn drains our physical and mental energy reserves In the following ways:
- Stress Hormones: high levels of the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline keep our body stuck in a state of high alert which eventually depletes our energy reserves and causes tiredness.
- Sleep Disruption: Elevated cortisol levels impact our deep, restorative sleep, causing us to wake up just as exhausted as when we went to bed.
- Constant Muscle Tension: When we feel stressed, our muscles stay locked in a tight, hyper-vigilant state, which burns extra energy and leads to physical heaviness or soreness.
- Cognitive Fatigue: The mental load of constant worrying that comes with stress overworks the brain, resulting in brain fog and mental exhaustion.
- Systemic Inflammation: Long-term stress triggers low-grade inflammation and strains your immune system, forcing your body to spend vital energy just trying to manage the internal wear and tear
So you can see what a huge impact stress has on the body, it’s no wonder it makes us feel so tired!
Could stress be causing you’re tiredness?
Feeling tired is just one of the signs of stress, there are many more signs and symptoms, download the full Stress and Burnout Symptom Checklist to see how many sound like you.