Tiredness is often confused with laziness in our postmodern lifestyle. Sure, every once in a while anyone can be tired. But if anyone keeps saying they feel tired most days, we deride them for just being lazy. But what most people dismiss as laziness might actually be chronic fatigue.
Laziness can be distinguished from tiredness by virtue of the fact that the fatigue is nearly always accompanied by lack of sleep, poor diet, stress and sometimes unhappiness. We can be quite sure we’re just lazy and not tired when we sleep and eat well, don’t have a lot of stressful situations and
yet don’t feel like doing anything. It’s a purely psychological issue caused by a lack of interest in our daily activities. On the other hand, the causes of fatigue can be psychological and or physical.
Sometimes, being tired might just be the tip of the iceberg. The reason why we’re tired after all, might not be simple fatigue. Chronic fatigue is a medical issue, and it can be caused by any one of several reasons:
Food sensitivity
Eating processed foods and a high amount of red meat can cause leaky gut syndrome- the intestine becomes a porous structure instead of a closed tube. This causes proteins to leak out into the bloodstream directly. It creates an inflammatory response which can cause chronic fatigue to set
in.
Adrenal fatigue
This occurs when adrenal insufficiency happens in the body due to an imbalance, or lack of hormones produced by the adrenal glands. Stress, poor diet, alcohol or drug abuse can cause such an imbalance.
Diabetes
A high level of glucose in the blood can impair blood circulation. This can cause the same problems like anaemia and reduce the level of oxygen in cells. The end result is the same — always feeling tired.
Anaemia or a Thyroid Disorder
A feeling of tiredness can be induced by a lack of the basic vitamins and minerals necessary to keep the body going. A lack of iron can lead to loss of haemoglobin, which in turn can cause insufficient oxygen to be carried by the blood to different parts of the body — this is Anaemia. Anaemic people
may also experience irritability and headaches because of the lack of oxygen in the brain. Another reason for tiredness could be hypothyroidism — an underactive thyroid gland. In this case, very dry skin and constipation are the indicators. Simple blood tests can detect both these issues.
Depression
Depression and lack of activity go hand-in-hand. Feeling tired and lack of sleep can happen simultaneously when we’re depressed, forming a vicious cycle that’s hard to get out of.
If any of these issues persist, then getting professional help can be a very positive step. We can be on the path to actually solve the problem instead of just lamenting the fact that we feel tired all the time (which is after all just a symptom), Most of the time, laziness and tiredness (including the medical conditions that lead to chronic fatigue) are results of poor habits and lifestyle choices. In such scenarios, we must take control of our lives and become responsible. But if our lifestyles work out well, then the priority is to check up with doctors. Since fatigue is already present, it would be just another bad decision to expend what little energy we have in treating the symptom instead of the disease.
