Are women more tired than men? This is a question that's impossible to answer objectively, given that tiredness and fatigue are such subjective qualities.
Nevertheless, in studies that have asked people how fatigue rates as a problem in their lives, significantly more women than men rate it as a major problem. Why is this so? The starting point might be the essential difference between men and women — hormones. A woman's life has always been subject to an ancient rhythm.
At the basic level there is the monthly cycle of hormones waxing and waning; at the highest level is a woman's intimate relationship with the production of the next generation. Women often relate their own experience of fatigue to a hormonal or reproductive event.
In some situations — such as the arrival of a baby — the cause is fairly obvious. Many women's rosy expectations of motherhood are shattered by sleepless nights, painful breasts and mind-numbing fatigue.
Premenstrual women often complain of tiredness and menopause can be a difficult time for some women; about two-thirds experience symptoms such as hot flushes, insomnia, lack of concentration, muscular aches and pains and — you guessed it — fatigue.
But the cause is not always so apparent, or even physical. Some women are in a state of almost perpetual anxiety about the adequacy of their contraception. Worrying about fertility or, perhaps, an abnormal pap smear can also lead to a state of chronic anxiety, leading to a merry-go-round of insomnia, depression and fatigue.
When fatigue is a feature of so-called "women's problems", treatment varies according to the particular problem.
All material is © Media 21 Publishing, and originally appeared in the January 2006 issue of GoodMedicine magazine.
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