Generally, the term fatigue refers to physical exhaustion: It can result from a hard day’s work at the construction site or the office, or a strenuous physical workout at school or the gym. Other types such as chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome require medical attention.
Another form of fatigue that is alarmingly commonplace today is the ongoing fatigue and exhaustion resulting from the wear and tear of everyday life. Millions of people in many of today’s societies have become adapted to the rapid pace of their lives and the weariness that comes from juggling multiple and demanding lifestyles. Knowingly or not, they suffer from a fatigue that won’t subside. (See our Recommendations).
Closely related is burnout, which also is marked by long-term exhaustion and is further defined by Webster’s New World Dictionary as "a state of emotional exhaustion caused by the stresses of one’s work or responsibilities."
"Twenty-six percent of workers said they were often or very often burned out or stressed by their work."
—Families and Work Institute
Though certain categories of workers – teachers, police officers, doctors and nurses, among them – seem to turn up frequently on those occasional listings of high-stress jobs that can lead to fatigue or burnout, many researchers today instead place greater emphasis on the individual, regardless of the line of work. They say what is most important is how each individual responds physically, mentally and emotionally to the unique pressures and working conditions of his or her job.
Our National Stress Malaise
Institute of HeartMath researchers who’ve conducted extensive studies over many years say stress is a key contributor to many debilitating conditions, including fatigue and burnout. Regardless of the various social, occupational and medical nuances used to define extended fatigue and burnout, it is certain one truth applies: These are very modern maladies. The fast-paced world in which live seems to constantly accelerate, all the while inflicting an ever-increasing toll as we try to stay stride for stride with those around us, or to reach some mark set by us, our bosses, relatives or others.
Nearly 38% of U.S. workers complained of "low levels of energy, poor sleep or a feeling of fatigue" in a survey published in January 2007. Almost 66% of those reported health-related LPT – lost productive work time – costing employers $136.4 billion annually. Of workers who did not have fatigue, 26.4% reported lost productive work time, for an annual LPT cost of about $100 billion less than the fatigue group.
— Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
A total of 52% of employees say people in their workplace need help managing stress.
— 2004 poll conducted by Harris Interactive for The Marlin Company
HeartMath founder Doc Childre and others recognized the debilitating effects of stress on our lives many years ago, around the time a national stress alarm began ringing in earnest. Since then, IHM researchers have been conducting scientific studies at the institute’s facilities in Boulder Creek, Calif., elsewhere in the United States and overseas to reveal the causes of our stresses and the antidotes to manage them. They’ve made some important discoveries along the way. Here are two important ones you should know about:
It is not our perceptions of events that cause stress, as many have believed until recently, but our emotional response to those perceptions.
The solution to the riddle of stress lies in your heart, as the poets and sages through the ages seemed to know intuitively and researchers and scientists in modern times have established through study.
When you’re stressed – feeling anxiety, anger or other negative emotions – your heart processes that information and sends it to your brain in the form of disordered heart-rhythm patterns, leaving many of your body’s systems out of sync. This is what HeartMath calls a state of heart incoherence, but the research shows you can regain and sustain heart coherence by intentionally feeling and focusing on positive emotions such as appreciation and caring.
HeartMath’s widely praised Freeze-Frame® Technique has helped many people who are experiencing fatigue and burnout to achieve heart coherence and literally get back on their feet. (See our Recommendations).
A HeartMath TIP: We start each day with a certain amount of energy. If that energy is continually spent in stress reactions, there won’t be enough left to replenish our reserves or to maintain a healthy immune system. When we allow our energy to be drained by stress on a regular basis, we set ourselves on a path toward fatigue and exhaustion. Try this simple one-day exercise to stop the energy drain of everyday stress:
Think of five things that stress you out each day, things you could change fairly easily if you put your heart to it. Think of these things as deficits, each one sapping a share of your valuable energy. Here are some possibilities to get you started.
Driving in traffic
Your state of mind before meetings
Looking at your overbooked schedule
Communicating with a particular family member
Thinking about money issues
OK, create your own list, tailoring it to your lifestyle and the things that regularly trigger your stressful emotions. Now, do your best to reduce the negative, stressful responses to the items on your list. When you start to tense up during the day, notice how you’re feeling and try to shift to a more positive feeling of ease or appreciation. Stay conscious of what you are feeling and you’ll gradually reduce those energy-draining deficits and accumulate energy assets. Remember to evaluate how you feel at the end of the day.
HeartMath Studies State Government Workers
Researchers investigated the impact of HeartMath’s Inner Quality Management program on managers and staff within the California Personnel Retirement System’s Information Technology Services Division, which had recently initiated profound changes to meet new realities in the information services marketplace. Learning new technology skills proved quite challenging.
The results suggested that by facilitating increased self-management of the participants’ mental and emotional turmoil, the HeartMath intervention enhanced employees’ capacity to defuse personal and organizational stress. The division’s qualitative reports to researchers indicated these improvements were sustained over time and enabled a more efficient and harmonious change implementation process.
Benefits of Reducing Stress
Lower risk of fatigue and burnout, better health
More energy
Lower risk of heart attack
Greater clarity
More rewarding life
Benefits of Reducing Fatigue and Burnout
Improved health and well-being
More resiliency and adaptability in life
Increased vitality and energy, less tiredness
Clear thinking and decisiveness
More get-up-and-go, liveliness
Recommended
Tools For Easing Fatigue and Burnout
It comes down to too much to do and too little time to recuperate, and the prescribed remedies have been fairly predictable: Take time off, get psychological help or drug therapy. IHM offers an alternative: HeartMath tools have had profound and sustained success for many people suffering from or at risk of fatigue and burnout:
emWave® Personal Stress Reliever: Here is a convenient, handheld device that is the first step in reducing stress in your life and increasing your energy. The emWave PSR utilizes an easy-to-understand-and-use technology that is scientifically validated and designed to help you balance your mind, body and emotions by teaching you heart coherence and how to use the intelligence of your heart to make you feel better – all the time.
emWave® PC / emWave® Mac Stress Relief System:† The emWave PC/Mac allows you to see how emotions affect your heart-rhythm patterns and trains you to intentionally experience feelings beneficial to you so you can stop the drain of energy in your life.
HeartMath’s acclaimed Freeze-Frame® Technique will guide you in shifting to a positive emotional state. You’ll witness for yourself on your computer screen changes in your heart-rhythm patterns as you move toward heart coherence. † Formerly known as Freeze-Framer®.
Transforming Anxiety: Childre, Rozman, 2006. If you worry excessively, have exaggerated dread or fear over certain things or have other symptoms of anxiety and you’re getting inadequate rest or the rest you get doesn’t give you sufficient energy to make it through the day, you could be on the verge of or already suffering from anxiety fatigue. The Transforming Anxiety book can help.
Hospitals Are Being Revitalized With HeartMath: HeartMath LLC designed this stress-intervention program to improve staff retention and patient satisfaction at a San Jose, Calif., hospital. Read the surprising results.
