The Fatigue Bank Account

My Mum recently reminded me of this analogy, which does a good job of describing fatigue. It involves money so it's particularly appealing to the economist in me. :-)

Fatigue is like a bank account. To make withdrawals from it (do stuff requiring concentration), I need either a positive bank balance or a credit rating to borrow. A positive balance comes from resting. I have a particularly good bank balance in the morning after a restful sleep and I can increase my balance during the day by neuro-resting.

Early on after my TBI, I had no credit rating at all. So there was no way I could borrow and make withdrawals without first having a positive bank balance. I couldn't have a tiring day and expect to get away with only a good night's sleep that night. Instead, I'd continue to feel tired for days afterwards. Nor could I have a shortened sleep one night and expect to operate properly the next day. I was almost completely reliant on having a good bank balance.

Slowly, my credit rating improved and I could get away with doing more without resting adequately first. That has been a long process and three years on, I still think I'm 'sub-prime' or, if you want to get more technical, at least non-investment grade. Slowly, though, I'm getting back up there.

Cheers,
Mike