The new pandemic: Fatigue

This article was exclusively written for The European Sting by Ms. Naida Salković, a fifth-year medical student at Bosnia and Herzegovina’s University of Tuzla. She is affiliated with the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA), cordial partner of The Sting. The opinions expressed in this piece belong strictly to the writer and do not necessarily reflect IFMSA’s view on the topic, nor The European Sting’s one.

After December 2019, everyone’s viewpoint altered. The whole world had the same enemy, we tried to fight it together. But even pandemic is over now, and even  sometimes it looks like we all forgot about it, we will carry this experience for the rest of our life with us. Our bodies have been strongly impacted by the stress we underwent during this time, as well as the worry we felt due to the ongoing lockdown.

Besides that, Globally, as of, 16 August 2023, there have been 769,806,130 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 6,955,497 deaths, reported to WHO. This data shows only reported cases, and we can’t even imagine how many people were asymptomatic. The period of healing is always variable and we can never say exactly what consequences a certain disease and infection will have on the body, but we are all aware that COVID-19 left physical, but also mental consequences.  

The latest research show increase in chronic fatigue, and patients that had COVID-19 infection are more likely to  develop it. Healthcare workers are aware of “stress hormones”, we study the impact of cortisol on our body and our immune system, but again, we all always put it aside and ignore importance of stress reduction. Impact of all external factors on our mental health and putting us in chronic state of fatigue is a problem not spoken enough, especially now after pandemic.

Currently population is more prone to developing burn-out, and symptoms such as exhaustion due to the fact that after pandemic we continue to be in stressed surroundings, due to the climate changes, world politics, inflation and financial burden. 

Post-pandemic world is struggling to adapt to new reality, we lived in fear of human interaction, but we want to forget it and return to previous “normal state”, but that doesn’t exist anymore. Again, we are facing inabilities to adapt adding to the stress levels and making our bodies weaker and more prone to new diseases.

The circle of fatigue due impossibility to overcome differences of what is normal to us and what is the new-normal is a never ending story, but we have to break it. 

About the author

Naida Salković is a fifth-year medical student at Bosnia and Herzegovina’s University of Tuzla. Naida has always been an active member of her community, whether as a volunteer at various initiatives and groups or as an organizer herself, during her studies. Currently Naida is working as part of Europrean Team of IFMSA as Members Engagement Development Assistant. Naida began writing articles over 3 years ago with the objective of teaching others and providing opportunities for them to learn and improve. She is passionate about reforming education and enjoys reading books to broaden her horizons.