Extreme tiredness possibly burnout

Hi, hope it's okay to message here. My brother is 26, he went through mental breakdown in 2020-2021 during which he was sectioned wrongly, we got him home again but fear the effect its had in him was bad. 

The last couple of months he's been really tired. He's no longer able to play games, do much activity like he used to. I have autism and have had burnout so thought it was this at first but last couple of days he has said his eyes are tired and heavy and he's unable to open them so is more less blinded by his tiredness. I've not experienced this. Could this be burnout? Is it different for each person who experienced it? He's very reluctant to go to the gp after what happened to him with mental health team. I hope you can help put some light on our situation. 

Thanks in advance. 

Parents
  • Hi- It could be burnout- but it would probably be a good idea for him to see a GP to check whether there could be a physical cause for his exhaustion or that could contribute to it. Could you maybe go with him to the GP? I have been reluctant to see GPs due to some bad experiences in the past and I have found that sometimes what helps most is to state your concerns at the very beginning to make the GP aware of them. That way it's out in the open and I find that can help. I even put it into the online consulting form when requesting the appointment that I was concerned about xxx due to past experiences. 

Reply
  • Hi- It could be burnout- but it would probably be a good idea for him to see a GP to check whether there could be a physical cause for his exhaustion or that could contribute to it. Could you maybe go with him to the GP? I have been reluctant to see GPs due to some bad experiences in the past and I have found that sometimes what helps most is to state your concerns at the very beginning to make the GP aware of them. That way it's out in the open and I find that can help. I even put it into the online consulting form when requesting the appointment that I was concerned about xxx due to past experiences. 

Children
  • Hi Ann. Thanks for replying and I'm sorry it's taken me so long to thank you.

    It was burnout. I had a doctor who was good enough to come to me as getting out of bed was almost impossible at the time. Nothing untoward going on. Just my body and brain shutting down and trying to run from real life.

    I'm a lot better now though, thankfully.