Signs & Symptoms of Mental Fatigue

From: http://www.livestrong.com/article/19162-signs-symptoms-mental-fatigue/ This Article has been added to your favorites. View your profile You pulled an "all-nighter" getting ready for the big exam or you worked on your IRS tax returns all weekend or, maybe, that two-week project at work has overloaded your brain. The result of these draining activities is mental fatigue. You may have stressed your mind to the point of producing a headache or some other pain. You may not, however, even realize the extensive effects of all this furious mental exertion. Learning to recognize the signs and symptoms of mental fatigue can help you prevent serious consequences of letting your mind become too burdened. Inability to Focus You cannot focus on even mildly complicated tasks. Your mind wanders to other subjects and daydreams. You physically respond by yawning, rubbing your eyes trying to keep them wide open, or fighting to hold up your head. If you continue to try to focus intently you will become more fatigued and find it more difficult. Combat this by taking a break from the task at hand, clearing your mind and resting your eyes for 10 or more minutes. Memory Lapses Forgetting to return a call, attend an appointment or buy your best friend a birthday gift are all signs of mental fatigue. You are suffering memory impairment due to your mind being overly tired. Extreme mental fatigue can cause your short-term memory to become extremely unreliable. You may find yourself walking from one room to the next without knowing why you changed location. If you continue to stress yourself mentally you will discover more issues with memory impairment and may need to take a brief leave of absence from work or school while your brain recharges. Learning Difficulties When you are mentally tired it can be trying to learn new things. You may be unable to easily grasp the steps to a procedure or not be able to understand a new idea. This type of learning difficulty will impair your work or school performance. If possible take notes regarding what you are supposed to be learning so you can review them at a time when you are less fatigued. Some students use voice recorders in classes when they are too mentally tired to pay rapt attention. At work you can collect the information and, perhaps, take it home on the weekend to review when you are better rested. Reasoning Problems There are times when you can be so overworked mentally that you suffer in terms of reasoning ability. You may not be able to understand the rationale behind even simple issues. For example, you may be unable to process simple logic such as "If George is in Atlanta and Atlanta is in Georgia then George is in Georgia." This failure to reason is not a sign of true mental impairment but rather temporary mental fatigue. You are also likely to feel physically worn out from the mental exertion, as well. When you face such difficulties with your reasoning it is best to get a good night's sleep and return to it the next day with a fresh mind.Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/19162-signs-symptoms-mental-fatigue/#ixzz1IEFZ0zcv