Overfatigue in a child: symptoms

The beginning of the academic year in children is associated with increased mental activity, because classes at school, in sections and clubs begin. It is at this time that schoolchildren experience the first symptoms of overwork: drowsiness, lethargy, apathy. Sometimes this happens due to the child’s immaturity when he is sent to school early, sometimes it is due to a disruption in the daily routine, or how busy the child is with lessons and other developmental activities. And here it is important to understand that no matter how much you would like to invest in your child everything that the parents themselves did not have time to do at one time, just as it is simply impossible to embrace the immensity. Therefore, it is important to be able to recognize the first symptoms of overwork in children, so as not to aggravate the situation and not become the cause of the development of neuroses, because the child’s psyche is still very unstable. In this article we will talk about the causes and signs of childhood overwork, ways to reduce the load, and how many clubs and sections are the norm for children of different ages.

The causes of overwork in a child are divided into several categories, depending on social, psychological and physiological factors:

Social factors determine the following causes of overwork:

transfer to a new school or educational institution in which the child has not yet gone through the adaptation process and is not accustomed to new peers;
divorce between parents;
the child’s failure to comply with the daily routine schedule, making it difficult for him to control the degree of fatigue.

Psychological causes of overwork include:

incorrect adaptation process of the child in a new educational institution;
constant stressful situations that have become chronic;
the child’s clearly expressed temperament and characteristics of his character;
unstable nervous system and constant nervous state;
bad family relationships - single-parent family, drinking parents.

Physiological factors that cause fatigue are:

incorrectly set power mode;
pressure disturbances in the brain part of the head;
disturbance of sleep and rest patterns;
discrepancy between the child’s workload and his abilities;
the presence of diseases that contribute to rapid fatigue of the child - malfunction of the thyroid gland, a disorder in the circulatory system, signs of diabetes;
the use of medications that affect the child’s body in such a way that it causes increased fatigue;
disturbance of the mental and nervous system of the child.

The consequences of child overwork can include insomnia, bad mood, development of diseases into a chronic state, lethargy and indifference, and lack of appetite.

Symptoms of fatigue in children

The process of overwork in children is accompanied by a number of symptoms that are typical for any age category:

The child has a lethargic, drowsy state and leads a sedentary lifestyle.
The child has no desire to learn homework, do homework, help parents around the house, or play with friends.
The child has a reduced level of attention and time to concentrate on one thing. He exhibits symptoms of poor memorization and forgetfulness; it is sometimes difficult for him to remember what he was told in class at school.
Signs of irritation appear at any actions and words spoken to the child. In response, peers and adults may hear rude and offensive words that break out on a subconscious level against the backdrop of general aggressiveness. An irritable state borders on a weak state, which begins to cover most of his time. This leads to the fact that the nervous system is undermined and the child requires medical attention.
It becomes more difficult for the child to study; he cannot absorb school material in the volumes in which he was taught before.
He increasingly cannot sleep and constantly wakes up at night due to nightmares. But during the daytime he sleeps soundly and for a long time.
Changes in mood and emotional state occur quite often and abruptly. It ranges from an irritable mood to sudden crying and sadness.
Due to the fact that the child’s body is constantly in a state of overwork, his immune system malfunctions, and he often gets sick. Diseases can range from common colds to extensive allergic diseases.
The child constantly suffers from pain in the head, which can be accompanied by dizziness, sudden surges in pressure, pain in the abdomen, sweating, and shortness of breath.

Thus, the most important thing is to constantly monitor the child’s behavior. Thus, this will allow us to determine in time the presence of fatigue and the level of its development. As a result, it is necessary to contact a medical institution for qualified help and undergo all prescribed tests.

What is overwork?

Overwork occurs when overtime hours worked, week after week or year after year, begin to have a detrimental effect on a person's health, family, community and economy. What happens is that fatigue and stress accumulate, leading to a greater risk of errors, accidents, injuries, health problems, reduced product quality, and decreased productivity.

Working hard is to some extent a competitive advantage for both employees and management. However, the resulting fatigue also leads to poor health in the long term.

Overwork is a self-destructive condition. A situation where there is too much work, not enough time to complete the required tasks and not enough resources will certainly not lead to anything good.

The body's response to overwork varies from person to person, but ensuring industrial safety in such conditions is difficult. Ideas about overwork of an individual are of great importance, since each working person reacts differently to overwork.

Endurance and the ability to cope with stress are individual for each working employee and depend on his needs, grievances, ambitions, lifestyle and expectations.

How to reduce the load?

In order for the child to stop being in a state of constant overfatigue, it is necessary to ensure that the level of stress is reduced. First of all, you need to start with the emotional load. When parents come home, they need to avoid talking about a difficult day at work and how tired they are. Since children are very susceptible and take on the emotional fatigue of their relatives.

Also, you should not scold your child rudely and quite often for his misdeeds and poor performance at school. It is necessary to try to understand what is bothering him, talk to him, have a conversation and analyze the problem in more detail.

The next stage is to reduce the level of physical stress in the child’s body. Initially, it is necessary to find out what disease prevents the child from developing normally and transfers his condition to the stage of overfatigue. This may occur due to an improperly organized diet and nutrition menu, as well as due to the lack of vitamin complexes and foods in his diet. In this regard, you will have to work hard and develop an optimal menu that will help strengthen the child’s overall emotional and physical condition.

Also, optimal time spent in nature and fresh air plays a huge role in children’s lives. To do this, it is necessary to review the child’s daily routine and plan it in such a way that he is outside more often. To keep him interested, you can come up with outdoor games for him.

To ensure that your child does not have sleep disturbances, it is necessary that he goes to bed before 10:00 p.m. This will contribute to a stable metabolic process, and will also be accompanied by a surge of cheerful and wonderful mood when the child wakes up in the morning.

Relevance of the problem

According to some reports, about two tens of millions of people suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome in the world. At the same time, scientists note that approximately the same number are simply not diagnosed with it.

People first started talking about chronic fatigue syndrome in 1988, and it was from that time that it began to be regarded as a disease, which is also fraught with complications.

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“Given the modern pace of life, the problem of overwork is extremely relevant. Irregular working hours, typical for many, require full dedication and lack of free time not only on weekdays, but also on weekends and holidays,” says Evgenia Parshina, head of the department of allergology and immunopathology of the Central Clinical Hospital of the Russian Academy of Sciences, allergist-immunologist, assistant of the department of immunology of the Russian National Research Medical University. . N. I. Pirogova .

The following factors also contribute to the development of overwork:

recent infectious diseases, including a new coronavirus infection;
lack of sleep and poor quality of sleep;
unbalanced nutrition and lack of a structured diet;
lack of physical activity with daily mental workload and multitasking.

In addition, daily stress at work and at home aggravates the situation, notes Evgenia Parshina.

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How to understand how many circles are normal

In order for the child to be fully developed and not deprived of anything, parents try to involve him in many clubs and activities. It turns out that in addition to schoolwork, the child rushes to other clubs instead of rest and has no free time. In this regard, he plunges into a state of overwork. Many parents do not immediately notice this condition of the child, since the main thing for them is academic performance in all these clubs.

There are no specific standards for assigning the number of clubs for a child. Each parent, when determining the number of circles, should proceed from the child’s abilities and capabilities, as well as his physiological characteristics. Each child is individual - some may be involved in clubs and activities all day, while some children have difficulty mastering school lessons. The most important thing after classes in the circle is to monitor the child’s condition and ask how he likes visiting it and what emotions and knowledge it gives him.

How to deal with the situation?

If there are symptoms of fatigue, both physical and mental, you need to act. In the first case, as the doctor said earlier, you need to give yourself a good rest. The only thing you should understand is that, for example, you won’t be able to get enough sleep - you must definitely adjust your regime and always rest normally.

If we are talking about mental overstrain, we need to act more comprehensively. “First, you need to try to organize your day so that you have time for quality sleep of at least 8 hours. Naturally, you should take care of your diet and make it more balanced. You should also not forget about physical activity - various walks and physical exercises,” notes Evgenia Parshina.

In addition, the immunologist advises, in order to normalize the condition and overcome chronic fatigue syndrome, to devote time to those activities that you have wanted to get interested in for a long time, but did not have enough time and energy. For example, this could be embroidery, knitting, watching movies, as well as other hobbies. “The most important thing in this matter is to have fun and positive emotions,” the specialist concludes.

What can you do to prevent fatigue?

To save a child from the possibility of overwork and eliminate its occurrence, it is necessary to carry out preventive measures based on the following:

Do not overload the child with clubs and activities. Determine a sufficient number of them, among which the child will have personal time to relax and do what he wants.
You should not encourage your child to memorize large amounts of information. It is necessary to distribute classes in such a way that they alternate from memorization to classes on attentiveness, memory development, logical tasks, analysis and summarizing what has been learned.
If there are sporting events in a child’s life, then a suitable training regime and training process should be selected individually for him. So that they are aimed at developing and strengthening the child’s health, and not worsening or undermining it.
The child must live according to a developed daily routine, starting from nutrition, playing sports and studying home material, and ending with sleep patterns. If he follows a regimen tailored specifically for him, he will feel cheerful and full of energy.
You should not allow your child to watch TV for a long time, play gadgets and computer games. The child not only undermines the condition of the organs of vision, but also overworks his body.
Spend as much time outdoors as possible, engage in an active lifestyle, participate in sports activities, do exercises and exercises to maintain immunity.
Develop a system of proper diet and nutrition menu for the child. Include all necessary foods and vitamin complexes in your diet. The diet should be varied as much as possible with healthy foods - dairy products, meat, fish, herbs, mushrooms, several varieties of nuts and seeds, seafood, eggs, fruits and vegetables.
It is necessary to carry out procedures to harden and strengthen the child’s overall immune system. To do this, you should select a number of sports activities and hardening procedures, which may include dousing procedures, morning jogging, and exercises. In addition to the health promotion program, include the use of vitamin complexes, especially in autumn and spring. In order to correctly develop a set of measures, you can contact a qualified specialist who will competently develop and advise everything.