Radical Wellness Program

Is Stress and Fatigue a concern for you?

by DrADFeb 19, 2021

woman stressed and fatiqued pulled down covid mask

After the year that was 2020, it’s no surprise that stress and fatigue are amongst the most prevalent health issues in our society. As the global community continues to face the fallout from COVID-19, many individuals will experience ongoing feelings of uncertainty and hyper-vigilance; negatively impacting mood, motivation and overall well being.

Here are top 3 facts on how stress and fatigue can influence you brain health

1. New research has unveiled how mental fatigue influences behaviour and decision-making. Brain signals were assessed in fatigued patients which outline the flow-on effects of mental fatigue on physical health that can directly influence behavioural choices.

Hogan PS, Chen SX, Teh WW, Chib VS. Neural mechanisms underlying the effects of physical fatigue on effort-based choice. Nat Commun. 2020 Aug 12;11(1):4026. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-17855-5.

2. Excessive stress and fatigue predisposes individuals to social anxiety disorder and also major depression. Despite the differences between these two conditions, they display similar features of premature brain cell death caused by inflammatory changes in the brain.

Heeren A, Jones PJ, McNally RJ. Mapping network connectivity among symptoms of social anxiety and comorbid depression in people with social anxiety disorder. J Affect Disord. 2018;228:75-82. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2017.12.003

3. In the context of mental, social, emotional and physical wellbeing, a mind body exercise and along with a mindfulness practice create increased self-awareness, improved self-care habits, and better social relationships, while exercise improves mobility, resilience and strength.

Parra DC, Wetherell JL, Van Zandt A, Brownson RC, Abhishek J, Lenze EJ. A qualitative study of older adults’ perspectives on initiating exercise and mindfulness practice. BMC Geriatr. 2019 Dec 23;19(1):354. doi: 10.1186/s12877-019-1375-9.