Show This to People Who Don’t Understand Why Mental Illness Makes You So Tired

If you live with a mental illness like depression, anxiety or bipolar disorder, chances are you know the meaning of tired.

Not the I-only-got-four-hours-of-sleep-last-night kind of tired, but the kind of tired you feel regardless of sleep, that manifests as both mental and physical exhaustion.

This is the kind of tired mental health advocate PJ Palits explained in an informative Twitter thread about why living with a mental illness can make us so tired.

“Chances are, if you know someone with a mental disorder or disability, you might have asked them or thought, ‘Why are you tired?’” she wrote. “Not many people ask me if I’m OK, but when they do my answer is always the same ‘I’m fine, just tired’ — and people seem to accept that reply. For me, ‘I’m tired’ is not a complaint or pessimistic. It’s merely a fact of life.”

Not many people ask me if I’m OK, but when they do my answer is always the same “I’m fine, just tired” — and people seem to accept that reply.
For me, “I’m tired” is not a complaint or pessimistic. It’s merely a fact of life.

— ⓟⓐⓛⓘⓣⓢ™ (@PJ_Palits) January 20, 2018

She then goes on to explain why living with a mental illness or disability can make people exhausted. For anyone who needs to explain what being tired means to you, we’ve summed up her points below:

1. Living with a mental illness can affect your quality of sleep.

“These are people who wake up feeling, at best, slightly more rested than they were when they crawled into bed in the first place — like a battery that has been damaged that never seems to recharge properly. These are people who for decades don’t feel rested after their slumber.”

For the “average” person, it takes seven minutes to fall asleep.
Imagine crawling into bed exhausted and it takes the average of an hour to fall asleep, instead of seven minutes. Every nap and bathroom break and the brain relaxation delay begins again.

— ⓟⓐⓛⓘⓣⓢ™ (@PJ_Palits) January 20, 2018

These are people whose sleep is frequently disturbed and who spend their nights tossing and turning instead of resting. Sometimes they’re awoken by noises, pain, an inability to keep body parts still, by loud noises inside of their heads, vivid dreams and many other reasons.

— ⓟⓐⓛⓘⓣⓢ™ (@PJ_Palits) January 20, 2018

These are people who wake up feeling, at best, slightly more rested than they were when they crawled into bed in the first place — like a battery that has been damaged that never seems to recharge properly.

These are people who for decades don’t feel rested after their slumber.

— ⓟⓐⓛⓘⓣⓢ™ (@PJ_Palits) January 20, 2018

2. It can be hard to focus.

“These are people who put an immense amount of effort into focusing on the task they’re supposed to do or perform, while their minds are trying to carry them down other paths or while they are struggling to remember just what those tasks are.”

These are people who put an immense amount of effort into focusing on the task they’re supposed to do or perform, while their minds are trying to carry them down other paths or while they are struggling to remember just what those tasks are.

— ⓟⓐⓛⓘⓣⓢ™ (@PJ_Palits) January 20, 2018

These are are people with working memory issues who — from school age on into adulthood — lack the skill to remember multi-step instructions in a world where they’re just expected to know how to do it.

— ⓟⓐⓛⓘⓣⓢ™ (@PJ_Palits) January 20, 2018

3. It’s exhausting battling your own thoughts.

“These are ppl who are in a constant war w/their own brain, ppl who are battling their own thoughts & fears; hearing every day from their brains they arent good enough,strong enough,skinny enough,that ppl dont like them or that they should hav done better just to list a few things.”

These are ppl who are in a constant war w/their own brain, ppl who are battling their own thoughts & fears; hearing every day from their brains they arent good enough,strong enough,skinny enough,that ppl dont like them or that they should hav done better just to list a few things

— ⓟⓐⓛⓘⓣⓢ™ (@PJ_Palits) January 20, 2018

4. It’s exhausting battling discrimination.

“These are people who are in a constant war with other people’s judgment and lack of understanding.”

These are people who are in a constant war with other people’s judgment and lack of understanding.

— ⓟⓐⓛⓘⓣⓢ™ (@PJ_Palits) January 20, 2018

Who are often asked questions or who hear comments like, “Why are you always tired?” “Just suck it up deal with it,” “It’s just a lack of discipline,” “It’s all in your head,” “Stop being so pessimistic” and “Stop being so lazy.”

— ⓟⓐⓛⓘⓣⓢ™ (@PJ_Palits) January 20, 2018

5. Sometimes you experience sensory overload.

“From the clothing they are expected to wear, the food they are expected to eat, the noise around them, the sights engulfing them & the odors surrounding them, these ppl’s senses are constantly under attack.”

These are ppl who experience sensory overload that mentally exhausts them. From the clothing they are expected to wear, the food they are expected to eat, the noise around them, the sights engulfing them & the odors surrounding them, these ppl’s senses are constantly under attack

— ⓟⓐⓛⓘⓣⓢ™ (@PJ_Palits) January 20, 2018

6. You often have to advocate for yourself.

“These are people who are exhausted from self-advocating to people who don’t understand and don’t care to understand.”

These are people who are exhausted from self-advocating to people who don’t understand and don’t care to understand.

— ⓟⓐⓛⓘⓣⓢ™ (@PJ_Palits) January 20, 2018

7. You sometimes have to battle fears people don’t understand.

“It’s like living on a rope bridge swaying in the wind over a canyon while you’re afraid of heights, and hearing, ‘I don’t understand what you’re complaining about, the bridge is secure.’”

These are people who spend most of every day dealing with fears that others sometimes find silly and irrational.

— ⓟⓐⓛⓘⓣⓢ™ (@PJ_Palits) January 20, 2018

It’s like living on a rope bridge swaying in the wind over a canyon while you’re afraid of heights, and hearing, “I don’t understand what you’re complaining about, the bridge is secure. Suck it up and deal with it. I can do it, so you can too.”

— ⓟⓐⓛⓘⓣⓢ™ (@PJ_Palits) January 20, 2018

8. It can be hard to communicate.

“It’s like those who don’t have a strong artistic talent being instructed to create a sculpture using the items around you to present how they currently feel within the next five minutes.”

These are ppl who are struggling to communicate their experiences bcoz communication is a skill that needs to be taught and exercised.

— ⓟⓐⓛⓘⓣⓢ™ (@PJ_Palits) January 20, 2018

It’s like those who don’t have a strong artistic talent being instructed to create a sculpture using the items around you to present how they currently feel within the next five minutes.

— ⓟⓐⓛⓘⓣⓢ™ (@PJ_Palits) January 20, 2018

These are people who expel a large amount of energy trying to understand body language and emotions. It would be like showing you a picture of my cat and expecting you to identify what he’s feeling based on his facial expression and pose within minutes, multiple times a day

— ⓟⓐⓛⓘⓣⓢ™ (@PJ_Palits) January 20, 2018

9. You often have to deal with side effects of medication.

“These are people who are tired from the side-effects of medication, or self-medicating to cope with the symptoms of their diagnosis and the expectations of society.”

These are people who are tired from the side-effects of medication, or self-medicating to cope with the symptoms of their diagnosis and the expectations of society.

— ⓟⓐⓛⓘⓣⓢ™ (@PJ_Palits) January 20, 2018

10. It can sometimes take energy to distinguish what’s real.

“These are ppl who are struggling w/their brains to differentiate whats real and whats not, bcoz their brains present everything to them as reality.”

These are ppl who are struggling w/their brains to differentiate whats real and whats not, bcoz their brains present everything to them as reality.
These are ppl who hav physical manifestations from their mental struggles bcoz being on high alert takes a physical toll on a person

— ⓟⓐⓛⓘⓣⓢ™ (@PJ_Palits) January 20, 2018

11. There are physical symptoms.

“These are people whose muscles ache constantly or whose muscles are tired from being tense too often, who get frequent headaches or migraines, whose appetite is affected and whose immune system becomes impaired… just to name a few things.”

These are people whose muscles ache constantly or whose muscles are tired from being tense too often, who get frequent headaches or migraines, whose appetite is affected and whose immune system becomes impaired… just to name a few things.

— ⓟⓐⓛⓘⓣⓢ™ (@PJ_Palits) January 20, 2018

Considering all of this, Palits says when someone with a mental illness tells you they’re tired, sometimes you need to look beyond their answer. Although they might need sleep, they also might need support:

Do they need somebody to look them in the eyes and tell them they’re not fine but that you’re there for them? Do they need someone to realize they’re not OK and to offer them a hug? Because I know when I say I’m tired, that’s what I need. So please, the next time someone with an invisible disability says that they’re tired, please don’t treat them as if they’re lazy or irrational. Instead, imagine living your life on a rope bridge over a canyon, or imagine how you would feel if someone jabbed you and woke you up several times a night for just one year, and the physical and mental impact it would have on you. I beg of you, on behalf of all of us fighting our own silent battles, please be patient and empathetic. Just because you don’t experience it doesn’t mean that it’s not a reality for someone else.

To see more from Palits, you can follow her on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, where you can check out her artwork and find more words of wisdom.