Causes of tiredness

Causes of tiredness

Tiredness (fatigue) is a symptom, not a disease - and the cause matters more than the complaint. The common causes fall into a few groups.

Lifestyle causes (the most common):

• Poor sleep - too little, broken sleep, late-night screens, irregular timings, or sleep apnea (loud snoring with pauses, unrefreshing sleep and daytime sleepiness).
• Overwork and under-recovery - long hours without breaks, shift work.
• Stress, anxiety and low mood - mental tiredness is real tiredness; depression often shows first as exhaustion.
• Poor diet and dehydration - skipped meals, crash dieting, too little water, excess caffeine and alcohol.
• Too little - or suddenly too much - physical activity.

Medical causes:

• - especially iron deficiency, very common in Indian women; also vitamin B12 and folate deficiency (common in vegetarians).