
6. Stress
Those who experience stress regularly may notice that they feel exhausted after a particularly stressful situation. They want nothing more than to go to bed and close their eyes. That isn’t a defense mechanism to get away from the stress; it is a biological response to what the body is doing. During stress, the body releases cortisol, a stress hormone, which flows through the rest of the body. Elevated cortisol levels can then lead to decreased energy and interfere with sleep.
Stress is the number one cause of insomnia, a widespread sleeping disorder. That is because cortisol puts the body in a heightened state that takes a while to recover from, affecting the other brain chemicals needed for the body to function normally. Furthermore, because stress is more likely to lead to insomnia, the lack of sleep further exacerbates the fatigue a person can experience.