CHRONIC (PATHOLOGICAL) FATIGUE

The wrong way to fight fatigue is by indul­gence in chemical stimulants. The reason? Too often, when taken in sufficient dosage to have any genuine effect, they create a "re­bound reaction" and, after a short while, you end up feeling more fatigued than before you took the drug.

Probably the best known and most widely used stimulant drug is caffeine, which is the active   ingredient   in   coffee,   tea,   chocolate drinks, some cola drinks, and many non-pre­scription "stay awake" drugs.

There are, of course, many other drugs known to stimulate the central nervous sys­tem, including amphetamines (such as Ben­zedrine) and whole new series of psychic stim­ulants that have been developed in the 1960's. When prescribed by a physician upon proper indications, these are valuable medications.

Many college students, however, have the mistaken idea that they can take these so-called pep pills indiscriminately and without harm. Pep pills are often used by students to cram for exams or to drive all night to get home or back to college after an exciting weekend. This is a dangerous practice, be­cause all potent stimulant drugs may have side effects (in addition to rebound reactions) and untoward reactions that were not antici­pated by the indiscriminate self-medicator. There are better ways than chemicals to deal with fatigue; notably by better organization of one's time, by recreation, relaxation, good sleeping habits, and the control of factors and problems which induce needless psychic stress and muscular tension.

In summary: This chapter has covered the sequence of normal personality development, from infancy onward. It has presented the concept and the construct of the unconscious mind, divided conventionally into id, ego, and superego. It has discussed the conflicts in the unconscious mind and described a number of the "ego-defenses," also called mental mecha­nisms and mental dynamisms, by which the ego protects itself for example, repression, regression, rationalization, etc. The impor­tant subject of anxiety and several ways to relieve it have been discussed; notably through sharing and communication and by means of tranquilizers. The topic of chronic or pathological fatigue, akin to anxiety, has also been presented. In conclusion, the uncon­scious mind is a powerful force in deter­mining human personality and behavior.