Disability and Fatigue

            Among other challenges, fatigue in disabled people is rarely understood. While some people who are disabled may not experience significant fatigue many others do. Fatigue can be the result of physical disability, mental health challenges, and neurodivergence. Some disabled people who experience fatigue are unable to sleep, or more challenged around sleeping as the result of their disability. Others may need greater amounts of sleep to combat physical and emotional disabilities. Some people can’t sleep any more, but experience fatigue all day, every day. For many people living with disability, rest does not alleviate their fatigue, even when they can get a good night’s sleep, it may not be helpful in terms of feeling refreshed the next day. Another element that I will mention is pain. Pain is wearying and in addition, can impact the ability to get meaningful rest.

Parlee Beach, New Brunswick

            For some folks experiencing burnout (which can be a disability, particularly in Neurodivergent people), sleep can become dysregulated. As tolerance for inputs decreases in burnout, sleep may be impacted. Either sleeping much more to escape intolerable sensory issues, or sleeping much less as coping strategies fail and anxiety rises. On top of the fatigue that many ND people feel, sleeplessness can become overwhelming.

            When people live with ongoing fatigue, they may find their lives becoming smaller. Activities they used to enjoy, gatherings they used to attend, work and family events may all become reduced. People in better health sometimes misunderstand what fatigue is. Equating it to tiredness, which can be fixed by getting a bit more sleep for a few nights. This misunderstanding can be deeply damaging to relationships.  Fatigue can be a whole body experience including mental fog, joint stiffness and pain, appetite changes, depression, and dizziness. Chronic fatigue, regardless of the cause is not easy to address, and it can be very difficult for even well meaning people to understand the devastating impacts of long term fatigue.

            Some disabled people are able to find some relief from fatigue through multifaceted approaches addressing medical issues, lifestyle changes and accommodations to enhance well being. For others, learning to live with fatigue becomes necessary. There is a therapy called Cognitive Behavioural Therapy – Insomnia, that some (but not all) people find useful if they are unable to sleep, but this is dependent on cause.

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