Fatigue

rest is neededI’m just back from a trip to California for a friend’s wedding, and the time change ~ while some may think nothing of it ~ has wiped me out. I’m exhausted! And my dream of lots of caffeine to help wake up was crushed when I broke my coffee pot this morning. Sheesh. Let’s hope the happily married couple Liz and Brian are doing better on their honeymoon. In the meantime, I’ve read the following, from Elements of Healthful Living, and have decided to go to bed immediately.

1942: Fatigue

The most striking effects of fatigue are upon the nervous system, where it produces irritability, nervousness, restlessness. Trifles become disturbing. Enthusiasm is gone; attention distracted; judgment warped. The whole world looks drab. The most amiable disposition is ruined by it. . . .

Caffeine has long been used as a stimulant to offset fatigue, and, except for the nervousness and insomnia which it causes in some persons, no known ill effect results from its use. The same cannot be said for the so-called ‘pep pills’ . . . these tablets are more powerful stimulants than caffeine but they make some persons so nervous and jittery that they are unable to sleep or do concentrated work for several days. A few serious toxic results have been reported from their use.

Clearly, the attempt to obtain relief from fatigue by drugs, either depressant or stimulating, is unsound. Fatigue is nature’s warning that rest is needed. To silence this warning signal or to whip one’s body along in spite of it can only lead to catastrophe.

Source: Diehl, Harold S. Elements of Healthful Living. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1942.
~ pp. 107, 08 ~