Tag: Stress

Fatigue: the problem most people don’t understand

If you’ve never experienced extreme fatigue, then it’s difficult to appreciate. It’s all too easy to say that someone is “lazy” if they complain of no energy or go for a lie down at two in the afternoon. For a long time, many doctors haven’t understood it. For people who are constantly exhausted, us doctors would scrawled ‘TATT’ in the medical notes when someone said they were ‘tired all the time’. They are letters I had often scribbled, but until I felt real fatigue after brain tumour surgery nine years ago, I didn’t truly understand it. Read more

The Science of the Midlife Crisis – a modern myth?

They say that life begins at 40. If that is true, then I have four and half years coddled up in the womb of young adulthood before I am birthed into the cold harshness of ‘middle age’. We tend not to think too much of being ‘middle aged’, and we all know someone who has gone through (or is going through) the dreaded ‘midlife crisis’. About a quarter of adults aged over 40 say that they have had such an episode and the story usually goes something like: a 40- or 50-something man splashes his lifesavings on a flashy sportscar or noisy motorbike, starts a rock band, and/or quits his job to swan off with a younger woman. What on Earth could possibly possess a responsible grownup show such sudden reckless abandon? Read more

‘Leisure sickness’ – why you get ill when you stop work (and how not to)

Warming feet by the fireIt must be Murphy’s Law. You soldier through the cold, dark months of winter, working your fingers into stumps trying to get everything finished before the holidays and then… the day after you down tools, you’re struck down with a cold. Of all the luck – another Christmas Day wrapped up in bed with a thermometer in your mouth!

A sickly yuletide is a situation that no one wants to face; but no doubt many of you will. Symptoms of headaches, muscle aches, fatigue and a bunged up nose are usually more common at the weekends and during holidays. And while it’s all too easy to assume that our suffering is due to bad luck or seasonal bugs, it may be neither; for up to 3% of us experience this phenomenon of getting unwell when work stops. It’s called ‘leisure sickness’ and there are many causes. Read more

Ofsted Head says Teachers don’t know Stress. Perhaps Sir Michael Wilshaw should have done his homework.

Source: Ofsted

Teaching is an incredible privilege. It’s hard to underestimate the importance of inspiring and motivating young people – helping them achieve and grow. It was therefore more than a little surprising when Sir Michael Wilshaw, head of the UK schools inspectorate Ofsted, started a finger-wagging tirade accusing teachers of being shirking whiners.

“You youngsters don’t know you’ve been born!” Teachers today surely don’t know what stress is – real stress, he lambasted. “Why, when I was a teacher, I had to walk to work in the wind, rain and snow…” Ok, he didn’t say that, but it was close. Rather than face up to their responsibilities, he says that bad teachers blame ‘stress’ and blame everyone else for their problems.

As an ex-hospital doctor, I can say with some authority that teaching is far from stress-free. But personal experiences and emotions aside, has Sir Michael Wilshaw made some important – if uncomfortable – points? Let us take a, hopefully unbiased, look at his actual statements and whether or not they are justified… Read more

How much 9/11 TV footage is too much?

UA Flight 175 hits WTC south towerTen years on from the fateful and tragic day, once again our TV screens relive the moments when the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon came under terrorist attack.

Footage of planes exploding into skyscrapers, crumbling buildings and billowing dust clouds are all now indelibly etched into all of our psyches. It was a watershed moment for countries, world religions, and citizens the world over – and now it is right that due homage is paid for the lives wasted and suffering that resulted. For each of us, September 11th 2001 will hold different meanings.

But is repeated coverage of towers tumbling, bodies falling and people dying truly helpful? It may serve to educate the young and provoke solemnity within the rest of us – but continuous looped footage (as some news channels have opted for) accompanied by increasingly tenuous documentaries is possibly doing those who suffered that day a great disservice – and increasing their mental anguish… Read more

Scientific Proof: Why stress gives you grey hairs!

“All work and no play…” Words immortalised by Jack Nicholson’s character in ‘The Shining’

Last week it felt like I’d been hit by a mental sledge-hammer.I’d been working hard for weeks; every evening and weekend spent doing paperwork and assignments. Finally the truth of the proverb “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy!” became real to me: I suffer from epilepsy which can be triggered by tiredness and stress and my body had reached its limit.

The irony is that I was about to write a blog article about a research article that shows how relaxation (and meditation) can boost the immune system, and slow aging. Today’s blog explores how stress causes grey hairs, wrinkles, and worse. But giving time for your body to rest could very well make you appear younger and even live longer. I wish I’d learnt this sooner… Read more