Often, one of the first signs of burnout manifests as the inability to sleep, leading to excessive or unexplained fatigue. In some people it means they have the ability to sleep all the time. They end up not being able to sleep due to being up all night long. Often they have circular thoughts that won’t stop coming. When this happens over a long period of time, more than a few weeks, insomnia is feared.
Insomnia will cause you to be tired all day long, but no matter how tired you are, when you get to bed, the stress of knowing you need sleep and the other issues you’re experiencing that started the sleeping issues to start with come back and cause problems all over again. Then due to the lack of sleep at night, you’re tired all day long, and a horrific pattern is born.
While this is absolutely a sign of burnout, it can also be a sign of depression or other illnesses. Therefore, it’s imperative that if you experience insomnia with fatigue for more than a few weeks that you should consider getting a full physical and health workup by your primary care physician.
Let them know why you need the exam so that they know what to look for. Some of the issues that may be causing your insomnia and fatigue aside from burnout are:
Vitamin Imbalance
Your doctor should order a full panel to find out what your vitamin levels are. Being low in vitamin B12, D3, and other vitamins and minerals can manifest as insomnia and other health issues, including brain damage and severe body pain. Once you know what you need, take a good supplement that has third party studies to certify it.
Poor Sleeping Habits
If you’re not going to bed at the same time (as much as possible) every night and getting up in the morning at relatively the same time, you may be causing disturbances in your circadian rhythms, a key culprit in unexplained fatigue. This is true especially if you’re not exposing yourself to daytime sunshine, drinking enough fluids, exercising, and eating right. Try setting up your sleeping area as dark, cool, comfortable, and quiet, void of technology and made for sleeping. Let’s face it – there are only two things that need to happen in that bed, and neither one require technology.
Hormone Issues
When your doctor does the blood test, they’ll also be checking your hormone levels. If your hormones are out of whack, it can cause you to have insomnia, heart palpitations, and other problems, even circular thoughts. If you do have an issue, your doctor will recommend hormones for you or a new diet to help.
Financial Problems
If you have allowed your budget to get out of control or something external has caused you to experience financial problems this can cause anyone to end up burned out, stressed, and not being able to sleep. Try to do what you can to fix what you can and let go of what you cannot fix. If it’s awful, you may need to find a bankruptcy attorney. But start with a financial advisor. Your bank probably offers these services for free.
Illness
Whether you are sick, or someone you care about is sick, it can affect you in many ways, including causing insomnia and unexplained fatigue due to lack of sleep. If you know you’re ill, talk to your doctor about your issues. If it’s a family member, you may need to talk to a professional counselor or life coach to help you deal with it more healthily.
So what happens if it turns out to be burnout, which you may know deep down? You’ll still end up with a clean bill of health, which is worth the trouble. Being healthy will help you, even if it only gives you the strength to fight burnout and get your life straight. Once that happens, you can avoid repeating the actions that caused you to end up burned out in the first place.
When you find out you’re doing okay healthwise, check back next week for some strategies for dealing with burnout. You’ve got this! In the meantime, you might want to check out this quick read on how to Stop Waiting to be Happy.