Why does Post Traumatic Stress Disorder make you so tired?
“I always thought napping was the past-time of children and the elderly… now I know it’s for people with PTSD too.”
Your mind and body are more connected than you may realise: It’s been estimated that the human mindis capable of producing 50% more stress than your body can handle. If your brain is producing more stress than your body can deal with, it’s going to let you know – this is usually through sheer and utter exhaustion!
Hormones:More specifically, cortisol, the stress hormone.During a trauma,cortisol helps desensitize us so we feel less pain, increases short-term memory function, and acts as a quick energy boost. However, when cortisol is present in higher levels for a prolonged period of time (as it is for PTSD sufferers) itcan be responsible for memory loss, fatigue, and reduced serotonin levels.
Hypervigilance:The hyper vigilance that often accompanies PTSD can cause you to wake up repeatedly throughout the night. This broken sleep is likely to cause fatigue during the day.
Theadrenal system:Cortisol and otherstress hormones,are produced by your adrenal system. When there’s an overload on the adrenal system, someone with PTSDmight experience a variety of symptoms such as fatigue, exhaustion and an overload of stress.
The bottom line is that fatigue (and often inexplicable fatigue) very often accompaniessymptoms of PSTD. If this is the case for you, begood to yourself– give yourself the rest your body calls for.
Image from Flickr userDaniel Guimarães
Rebellious Rebirth – Oran: Guest Blog
Rebellious Rebirth – Oran: Guest Blog In this moving guest blog, PTSD UK Supporter Oran shares her personal story after a traumatic event brought childhood traumas to the surface. Dealing with Complex PTSD, Oran found solace in grounding techniques and
Ralph Fiennes – Trigger Warnings Response
Guest Blog: Response to Ralph Fiennes – Trigger warnings in theatres This thought-provoking article has been written for PTSD UK by one of our supporters, Alex C, and addresses Ralph Fiennes’ recent remarks on trigger warnings in Theatre. Alex sheds
Please don’t tell me I’m brave
Guest Blog: Living With PTSD – Please don’t tell me I’m brave ‘Adapting to living in the wake of trauma can mean maybe you aren’t ready to hear positive affirmations, and that’s ok too.’ and at PTSD UK, we wholeheartedly
Emotional Flashbacks – Rachel
Emotional Flashbacks: Putting Words to a Lifetime of Confusing Feelings PTSD UK was founded with the desire to do what was possible to make sure nobody ever felt as alone, isolated or helpless as our Founder did in the midst
Guest Blog: Calming the ‘riot’ in my head
Guest Blog: ‘Calming the riot’ in my head: Anna In our collective journey to navigate the complexities of PTSD and C-PTSD, finding peace and space within the internal turbulence is vital. In this insightful guest blog, author Anna sheds light
Morning Mile March Challenge
events | walk PTSD UK’s Morning Mile March Challenge Sign up now PTSD UK’s Morning Mile March Challenge The challenge We all know ‘exercise is good for you’, and even a small amount can make a big difference. There are
Are you looking to fundraise for PTSD UK?
THANK YOU!! We are a small charity so our main goals at the moment are to increase awareness that we exist (so people can get the support and information they need) and to maximise fundraising to allow us to achieve our missionof supporting everyone in the UK affected by PTSD, no matter the trauma that caused it.
