Overwork and, yes, social media can tire you out
HACKENSACK, N.J. — Marie Sullivan says that she knew something “wasn’t quite right” during a doctor visit, five years ago.
“I thought I might be anemic, but the results of my annual physical were fine,” the Paramus resident recalls. “All my numbers were in the normal range. The blood work turned up nothing. I said to my doctor, ‘Are you sure? What’s wrong with me?’”
Her doctor told Sullivan, “You’re getting older.” But Sullivan, 60, wasn’t buying it. “I’m not that old,” she says. “I used to have tons of energy. I know you slow down as you age, but I’m physically exhausted all the time.”
Recurring tiredness seems to be the new normal for a growing number of people, regardless of their age or background. One cause is the increasing overuse of technology and its implications on our mental well-being. Yes, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram can wear you out, says Dr. Patricia Bratt, a therapist and psychoanalyst with offices in Livingston and New York City.
“Social media can run the gamut from being fabulously uplifting to being totally depressing and exhausting,” Bratt says,
Bratt works with young adults who check their social media constantly — at all hours of the day and night — and they all complain about being tired.
“It impacts their sense of themselves and their identities, and makes them anxious,” she says. “Social media has created a new sense of impulsivity and urgency, it can make them feel overwhelmed by what is happening in the world, and all of these factors can be fatiguing and can impact how they sleep.”
In July, a survey conducted
by the National Safety Council found that 97 percent of Americans have at least one of the leading risk factors for fatigue, which include working at night or in the early morning, working long shifts without breaks and working more than 50 hours per week. Forty-three percent of respondents said they do not get enough sleep to think clearly at work, make informed decisions and be productive.
While social media overuse is easy to diagnose, other forms of chronic fatigue are not.
Dr. Maria Vila, a physician at Atlantic Health System’s Chambers Center for Well Being in Morristown, says fatigue is one of the most common complaints among her patients. Vila says, “I start by looking at the patient’s history, their diet, exercise, sleep patterns and stress levels. Vila checks for vitamin deficiencies, elevated cortisol, food sensitivities and dehydration.
“All of these things can cause fatigue,” Vila says,” and we address all of them, without medications. We use supplements, lifestyle changes, stress relief, massage, yoga … until those numbers come up . ... We don’t want normal, we want optimal.”