Student mental fatigue is a disorder that we all know about, and have even experienced at some point in our lives. In the case of young children, modern culture dictates that parents must be aware of their hygiene and mental health to promote the process of intellectual and cognitive growth. Sometimes the pressure can be too much.
Due to parental pressure, sometimes children’s performance is impacted and delayed, there are homework-related fatigue and learning.
And it is what we will talk about in this post today, is it possible that the brain gets tired after studying so much? We will answer these questions and give you some tips to combat mental fatigue.
Why your Brain is tired from studying?
The more we use our brains, the more energy is used. This low blood glucose level makes you feel extremely exhausted after long hours of studying.
The “mental fatigue of the schoolchild” is a psychic phenomenon that can manifest itself at different levels, if it reaches extreme levels it takes the name of surmenage, and can generate serious health disorders including depression, which can harm teachers and entire families.
On the part of the teachers, there is a certain responsibility to locate these ills and treat them in the best possible way, they must have a special and specific preparation so that they can locate the psychic specifications of the occurring disorders.
Symptoms are specific in the same way and appear for various reasons including workload, poor graduation of pedagogical methods, type of diet, lack of hygienic care, among others.
School mental fatigue is, in simple terms, extreme exhaustion of routines and student work. It causes a decrease in work skills and a clear opacity of the individual’s intellectual functions (will, memory, attention and perception); the solution for the treatment of this disorder is known and usual: rest.
Specialized biologists admit that this disorder occurs as a defense mechanism of the body against the exhaustion of routine, it works in such a way that it executes a decrease in the faculties, in simple language, the organism is wise.
Why does the brain tire?
Excessive workloads, stress, lack of sleep and poor diet are not the only factors that can cause mental fatigue. A state that can cause important disorders in the emotional and professional life of the individual, since they lose part of their ability to assimilate information and, consequently, make more mistakes.
Excess of serotonin
According to research carried out by the University of Copenhagen, when the body is at its limit after a hard and prolonged exercise, the brain responds with fatigue. Serotonin that activates muscles can also act as a brake, a safety measure that the brain puts in place to prevent them from becoming hyperactive.
Specialists suggest that excessive exercise can generate an unfavorable increase in serotonin, which causes symptoms such as tiredness or drowsiness.
Learn new routine
Like studying, learning a new movement or exercise requires the presence of various neuromuscular, metabolic, and enzymatic mechanisms.
Learning a new routine requires the attention of the cerebral neocortex in a process very similar to that used when studying something complex. Here there is a great energy expenditure which generates mental fatigue.
If the same neural circuits are always used; For example, to perform the same exercise routine, fatigue is generated in the brain. Fatigue that in the long term causes atrophy in their functions to face new challenges.
According to the World Health Organization, exercising for half an hour a day is perfect for maintaining the body’s physical and mental health; however, remember that excesses can be harmful.
Symptoms of mental fatigue
Whatever the cause, the symptoms of this momentary situation, which should never be confused with the disease of depression, are the following:
- Difficulty to sleep. It is the whiting that bites its tail. Lack of sleep can cause us mental fatigue which, in turn, causes insomnia.
- Difficulty maintaining concentration, which leads to poor performance at work and in everyday life in general.
- Apathy and decay. If you feel more unfriendly and with less strength than normal and you cannot find a logical reason, it may be because you suffer from mental fatigue and lack of energy.
- Headaches. It is logical to think that the continuous flow of thought, 24 hours a day, ends up leading to a very annoying headache.
- Muscle pains. The feeling of mental fatigue is closely related to a lack of energy. You may notice heavier muscles and, in general, it takes more work to move and stay active.
Fortunately, mental and emotional exhaustion can be avoided by coping with the stress that causes it.
How to combat mental fatigue?
Below you can find natural ways to combat this phenomenon without having to resort to drugs.
The first rule of thumb to fight fatigue is to improve your eating habits. Each nutrient plays an irreplaceable and necessary role in the body, which is why it is so important to eat everything in moderation.
Eat five meals a day (breakfast, lunch, lunch, snack, and dinner) and try not to skip any. The body needs the energy to get going and a full breakfast is the best way to give it. Dairy, cereals and fruits are the three pillars of the most important meal of the day.
Hydrate yourself well
Drink at least two litres of fluid a day and don’t wait until you’re thirsty to drink; your physical and mental performance will thank you.
If possible, go for carbohydrates. These nutrients provide sugars, the critical energy you need to make up for studio wear and tear.
Be careful with sweets
They burn very quickly and can cause you a physical ‘downer’. And don’t forget about vitamins, mainly some of the B group and vitamin C. The former help reduce tiredness and fatigue and produce energy and release it when the body needs it.
As if this were not enough, they participate in the manufacture of red blood cells, those responsible for transporting oxygen throughout the body.
Whole grains, fish, meat, liver, eggs, dairy and green leafy vegetables are rich in vitamin B, so make them essential ingredients in your diet during exam times.
Vitamins are essential micronutrients for the body. In fact, its importance and utility in regulating metabolism is such, and its ability to transform food into energy is so necessary and vital, that thanks to them the body can function.
With vitamins there is the paradox that, except in the case of vitamin D, the body is unable to manufacture them by itself and needs a varied and balanced diet to achieve the daily intake of essential vitamins to function like clockwork.
And when food is not enough, in the pharmacy you have at your disposal food supplements rich in vitamins and minerals that reduce your fatigue and favor your intellectual and cognitive performance, an ideal help to face the exam period with the energy you need.
Take care of body and mind
To perform more and better you need to take care of your body and your mind. Banish negative thoughts that block you and play sports, an exceptional ally during exam time.
Physical exercise improves concentration and memory, reduces back and neck discomfort, helps you sleep better, reduces muscle and nervous tension and therefore the level of stress and releases endorphins, substances that increase the feeling of well-being. And whenever possible, go for exercise outside.
Sleeping is essential but there is no ideal number of hours of sleep, each person is different. In any case, fatigue is not a good learning companion: if you ‘sleep’ on what you have studied, you will remember more and better about it.
Planning well all the tasks or lessons to be studied is essential to achieve the objectives set and perform adequately. But in this planning, it must be taken into account that some breaks should be included throughout the day to disconnect and rest.
These breaks should be established according to the needs of each one, although, as a guide, they can be ten minutes every 90 minutes. However, it is always best to pause before you start to feel tired. In addition, it is also important to set schedules.
If you don’t want the exam season to become a real nightmare, the first thing you have to do is a study program in which you have to specify not only the time that you are going to spend in front of the grades, but also the time that you are going to book to rest, play sports and go out with friends.
Ideally, the exam season would only serve to consolidate what you have learned, to review, so the less new things you have to assimilate at the last minute, the better.
Don’t get caught up in the most difficult subject. Start the day with a task of intermediate difficulty, when you have ‘warmed up’, move on to a more difficult one and when you see that your strength is weakening, end the day with a simple one.
Set small goals for yourself and tackle them one at a time so you don’t get overwhelmed. And if little by little your nerves are taking over you, try relaxation and concentration exercises, they will come in handy.
There are moments that should be dedicated to rest and only to rest; In them we can make plans (because to rest mentally it is not necessary to stand or lie down), but without these being a source of constant pressure. You don’t have to cross the globe or the world to do this; we’ve been with each other for a couple of years now to know what drives us.
Ideally, we can all have a decent number of free hours to do more than put the house in order, sleep or eat. You can at least count on them once a month if this is not feasible.
As we can see, there are steps that we can take on a regular basis to combat mental exhaustion, and some that though, we will have to space out further in time. Both forms are just as important, and they are part of a healthy mental health plan together.
So, in this post we talked about mental fatigue and we gave you some tips to combat mental fatigue. You know, take your breaks.
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Bills, A. G. (1931). Blocking: A new principle of mental fatigue. The American Journal of Psychology, 43(2), 230-245.