The Culture of Being Tired 24/7.

As an upcoming junior in high school, I feel the need to always stay up late and finish all

My work early. The next morning. Dead tired. I can confidently say I am not the only teenager struggling to survive the whole day. Obviously, this is due to lack of sleep; however, many feel extremely tired even after sleeping for 10 hours. There are days I go to sleep at 9 PM to treat myself, and wake up the next morning at 8:30 AM just as tired as if I had gone to bed at 3 AM. Why is this? Why is it that high school students feel constant fatigue throughout their day?

Chronic tiredness affects everything. Personally, as a student athlete, I find rest to be extremely important. Having a rough day at school affects my playing outside of school and also in school. However, it's easy to say that the reason I have a rough day at school is because of my lack of sleep or constant stress. Constant fatigue means low energy, causing low effort. Energy is a key factor for good grades, a good mood, and good quality of play for sports. Research shows that most teenagers get around 7 hours of sleep, while 9 hours of sleep is needed for their age.

The root cause of our fatigue is more complicated than we think. Just like the recent TikTok trend, cortisol levels actually affect our fatigue. High cortisol levels are our stress hormone. I hope we all know what hormones are. Too much or too little cortisol levels can lead to exhaustion. Another biological cause may be our thyroid hormones. To explain this in the simplest terms, think of it as your body's control system. When these hormones are running low, metabolism slows down. This makes your brain foggy, constantly tired EVEN AFTER SLEEPING. Vice versa, when these hormones are too high, your body is in overdrive, and you can't fall asleep.

Let's think mentally. Mental exhaustion is always one of the root causes of physical exhaustion. Emotional exhaustion comes from dealing with heavy emotions like grief and anxiety. Additionally, stress puts your body into a fight or flight mode. It releases hormones that give you temporary energy, but end up making you more tired. More specifically, depression causes 90% of cases of extreme fatigue. As high school students, it is so easy to be in a burnout and be in a mental slump. However, to avoid feeling constantly tired, it is so important to reach out to others for help. Bottling up emotions and letting your opinions go unheard only grows resentment.

On top of all of this, our lifestyle and our environment impact our energy greatly. Some days, I just love to snack all day and not eat real meals. However, we all know that doing that brings great consequences. Our diet is so important to our energy. My go-to meal would be a good meal from Chick-Fil-A. Although those kinds of meals can sound so good, high-carb meals only provide temporary energy and make you more sluggish.

Many high schoolers enjoy consuming energy drinks or coffee in the morning. I definitely also partake in this, as I love making myself a matcha latte or iced coffee latte in the morning before school. It's easy to think lightly of the consequences of this, but did you know caffeine blocks your adenosine receptors? Adenosine receptors basically tell your brain, "Hey, we need to rest". This prevents you from feeling sleepy, but over time, your body adapts to this. If you regularly consume caffeine, your body produces more and more adenosine. This means your body is going to need caffeine now to feel "wakened up". Obviously, from this, many students feel so tired all day when they don't have a caffeinated drink in the morning, even after having a full 8-10 hours of sleep. So, is caffeine still worth the temporary energy?

After learning all of this, you may wonder how to change your habits. First, focus on changing things that are more near you, your diet. Consider packing a healthier lunch that gives a good balance of protein, carbs, and fats if you currently purchase your lunch at school. Maybe it's time to try those greens you've been avoiding for so long! Look into new ways to sleep earlier. If you have sports late into the evening, just like me, and have to do your homework at midnight, find a new time to do your work. Spend your office hours/tutorial usefully and work on your homework for the day, or finish up your work during the time you bed rot.

Additionally, balance your cortisol levels by taking some time to do things you actually enjoy. It's okay sometimes to just stop working and go take a walk when things start to get too stressful. Also, find a comfortable adult you can talk to. It doesn't have to be your parents, maybe your teacher, coach, pastor, sibling, or relative. As high schoolers, it's so easy to be overwhelmed by the amount of work and responsibilities we have. Look for a relaxation method for you. Everyone is different and finds joy in different things. For me, I'm extremely extroverted, so I love spending my time with people I love to get my mind off. It's okay to just take a moment for yourself.

Being tired all the time shouldn’t be normal. If your body is asking for something, it’s worth listening. Because the goal isn’t just to get through life, it’s to actually feel awake while you’re living it.