About Brain Fatigue
About Brain Fatigue Syndrome
Brain Fatigue Syndrome affects people’s entire lives, reducing their ability to work and participate in social activities. Unlike normal fatigue, it is not alleviated by rest or healthy sleep. This specific type of fatigue is characterized by an inherent inability to remain mentally active over time, limiting the duration and frequency of activities. We emphasize the origin of fatigue from the brain and the symptom cluster involved, including cognitive, emotional, and sensory aspects, all closely related to extreme exhaustion.
- Physical Fatigue: Occurs after physical exertion and is alleviated by rest.
- Emotional Fatigue: Common in depression, relatively constant, and not significantly affected by rest.
- Brain Fatigue: Occurs after mental exertion. While rest helps, it does not cure it.
Brain fatigue is not a normal fatigue that everyone experiences; it is a profound exhaustion lasting months, years, or even a lifetime. It may be prominent immediately after an injury or disease and often declines gradually. The degree of fatigue and the time required to restore energy do not appear to be related to the severity of the trauma or disease.
Brain fatigue is common and can occur after:
- Traumatic brain injury (mild or severe, including concussion)
- Stroke or TIA (transient ischemic attack)
- Multiple sclerosis (MS)
- Parkinson’s disease
- Brain tumors
- Meningitis and encephalitis
- Exhaustion disorder
- Endocrinological diseases
- Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME)
- Etc.
People with rheumatic diseases, which involve widespread inflammation in the body, also often describe these symptoms clearly. Brain fatigue is also common in neuropsychiatric conditions and many other diseases.
Brain fatigue is difficult to understand for those not affected and can easily be misinterpreted as laziness. Often, the person wants to do more than they can endure, making it challenging to realize and understand how much the activity level needs to be lowered for everyday life to function a little better.
Brain Fatigue Syndrome includes a vast group of diseases, similar to post-concussion syndrome, but is not limited to traumatic brain injury.