Exhaustion

Exhaustion - Life Energy 

Have been wondering about Life energy.  This could have amounted out of  experiences of exhaustion , both physically and mentally. Both physical and mental exhaustions have an antecedent cause of exertion  At the end of a long day we are physically drained of energy which equates in strength to the lack of energy right after waking up on a depressing day. When a parent talks us down we are not exactly drained of energy but we lack the power to go on with what we had been insisting. When an opponent mentally hits at us at a more than optimum stress dose we are drained of energy.   

Looking around to unearth and understand the pathway of where the energy goes in these cases led to some classics on the web. On the surface it appeared the causes of physical exhaustion was different from mental exhaustion. But after some searching around it has dawned that the antecedent cause for both cases are the single master organ of our body the brain.  Nevertheless things are more concrete and clearer when discussing things at a biochemical level like looking at metabolic pathways as explanations for exhaustion. When we see what is happening its easy to believe and we take it in readily . When the explanations are at a mental level, the level of conviction and faith in the matter determines the clarity. The subjectivity and observer dependent nature of the matter makes it complex to have a hold over it. The abstractions that are applied in the field of cognitive sciences, psychology, metaphysics give valid explanations to this intriguing matter.   

The mind - body connection has brain as the major connector.  There is so much of an interconnection between mind and body that it is difficult to discern between events related to the mind from the body. The body cannot be exclusive of the mind.  Psychoneuroendocrinoimmunology , the brain - gut axis, Hypothalamo-pituitary axis are all important works in this area of mind - body connection. When we are mentally tired , brain fogged ,  focus is lost, are distracted easily , have a low mood , are easily angered, irritable, anxious , in a state of dread, detached, cynical, pessimistic. Though mainstream science is yet to consolidate its data on the causation of physical illnesses like autoimmune disorders and cancers to a factor in the mind, there are works and scientists pioneering their way through in this field of mind-body connection. 

Mental exhaustion in simple terms is caused either due to cognitive overload or lack of resources (1). Cognitive overload means the brains processing capacity or its working memory is overwhelmed. Instances of less resources could be when your central nervous system is compromised.  For example a stroke, jet lag or lack of sleep. A look at the symptoms of mental exhaustion points us to an affectation of the mind. This take us to the realm of science called the consciousness.    

Physicists have proposed theories based on physical sciences on what is consciousness. The causation and nature of consciousness have been explained based on the concept of energy. A definition of energy that resonates is that it is the ability of a system to do work. This article from frontiers in psychology by robert pepperel (2) made an interesting read although it took some effort and patience to go through. The proposed theories and reasonings are just swirling in the head but it all seems to be closer to the ever evading truth and a manageable to understand answer to the intellectual challenge of an explanation for consciousness. There are some abstractions and inferences made about consciousness as a physical process caused by the  organisation of energy in the brain. Energy is looked upon as actualised differences of motion and tension. So that would mean the differentiation and integration of the differences that leads to an organisation of energy in the brain causes consciousness,  These have supporting evidences from brain scans which measures energy levels in the brain. A detailed analysis and study into the complexities of energy variations in different phases of sleep namely the Rapid eye movement and non rapid eye movement phases of sleep, impaired levels of consciousness states , vegetative states and deep anaesthetic induced states have been instrumental in the proposal of this theory of causation of consciousness. 

Scientists have tried to understand the complexities of the brain by first understanding the relatively simple nervous system of a worm. Looking at the worm it was found the chemical gradient in the environment lead to activation of electro chemical apparatus in the worms external surface which in turn drove the chemical changes in the muscles of the worm to enable its locomotion.The chemical gradient in the environment is received by the chemosensory neurons and then sent through the interneurons in to the muscles. Any nervous system does two main things - discriminating between variations in the environment and then moving into a safer space as part of survival and self interest.  

  Conclusion : 

Exhaustion could be explained as a phenomenon occuring due to disorganisation of energy in the brain and a resulting disturbance in the consciousness or the mind. The manifestation could be at the lower physical level or higher central level.  At a physical level there are the biochemical metabolic pathways through which energy is produced and energy utilised ( like Glycolysis and Krebs cycle ) by the cells in the body. A disruption in the metabolic pathways explains weakness on a physical level. The Biophysical model has done the explanation in the reductionist way and have explained biological processes by making observations at a cellular and sub cellular level. 

References

1. https://www.betterup.com/blog/mental-exhaustion

2. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02091/full