Constant fatigue often leads to burnout. The syndrome of burnout has both psychological and physiological components which come about from continued stress at work. People who suffer from chronic fatigue have many stress related conditions. For many, job stress leads to job burnout and is the last of a long line of insults leading to constant fatigue.
Burnout leads to mental withdrawal from the job due to:
* job dissatisfaction
* work demands
* strain of your job
Some of the main symptoms include:
* withdrawal from contact with people
* too little motivation
* too little energy
* declining attitude
Studies of burnout in the workplace indicate that about 25-35% of workers suffer from it. Research has looked at the function of the stress response system to understand its role but these results have been inconsistent. Tests of this nature are not good at detecting shades of gray and, as a result, cannot discriminate differing degrees of system function.
In other words, the dysfunction must reach a certain threshold of having broken down before conclusive decisions can be made. But our bodies function over a continuum from optimal to sub-optimal.
The feelings and sensations that the individual experiences are real, but tests most often cannot detect why. The failure of the tests to find anything, leads to a poor outcome in patient care.
It’s well understood, not by medicine, that most diseases have multiple causes. Chronic fatigue is a great example of a condition arising from multiple causes. Lower functioning in the immune system is another factor involved in burnout.
Further studies are needed to define the contribution of other issues to burnout such as post-viral syndrome, cellular toxicity, depression, muscle weakness, inadequate diet, and the lack of exercise.
As in all fatigue syndromes, such as chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, multiple chemical sensitivity, and all the milder, non-diagnosable fatigue complexes that millions suffer from, there are no known therapies within the framework of modern medicine.
Interest in alternative therapies grows exponentially. Spending on alternative treatments is actually exceeding the expenditures in using conventional medicine. I work in this area and I can assure you that there are some very powerful modalities available to combat fatigue.
Today, many people are turning to treatments outside of medicine for what ails them because medicine has no solutions for complex, ecological diseases. Medicine decries this practice and looks down on any patient who turns to these methods. Most patients deal with this by simply not informing their doctor of the choice they’ve made to look elsewhere.
Medicine is against the use of nutritional supplements and admonishes those who support their use. It formed opinions based on a belief system that supplements were of no value, not based on facts. In respect to diet, medicine still promotes low-fat eating despite the fact that it contributes to obesity, diabetes, and inflammatory diseases. Medicine doesn’t explore or do research on any of these topics and often makes unsubstantiated claims while accusing the other side of exactly the same action.