Fatigue, its classification, and effects on students
It is usually seen that, when someone is engaged in the same job for a long
time, there occur physical and mental changes towards the job. The person who
experiences physical and mental changes towards the job also naturally
experiences a fall in their performance. This physical and mental change is
known as tiredness for fatigue.
So, fatigue refers to sloth in the working persons and reduction in their
performance. Reduction in the performance of individuals is the universal
cause of fatigue. Psychologists have defined fatigue in various ways.
Some said, “Reduction in performance is fatigue.” Another defined, “In a work
situation, a fall in working capacity or performance is fatigue” An analytical
definition is, “As a result of continuous engagement in the same type of job
for a long time, there appears a decrease in working capacity of individuals
and this decrease of working capacity may be termed as fatigue.”
Classification of fatigue
Psychologists have classified fatigue into two categories:
a) Physical fatigue
b) Mental fatigue
a) Physical fatigue: The fatigue that occurs because of physical labor
for a long time is called physical fatigue. This type of fatigue is related to
body muscles and senses. Every individual has got a limit, fatigue occurs. In
normal situations, the body fulfills all the physical needs required at work.
For example, the body meets the demands of additional oxygen by breathing
quickly.
Again, in case of rising blood pressure and heartbeat, the body discharges
additional starch. But fatigue occurs in an individual when the job is highly
laborious, or if the person is less endurable, or if the physical balance is
affected due to very cold or hot weather.
b) Mental fatigue: Mental capacity decreases and fatigue occurs when
someone does any mental work for a long time. For example, if we solve
mathematical problems for a long time, we see that our thinking power, logical
power, and power to correct the results of the problems gradually fall, and
thus we experience a decrease in our mental capacity.
This change of mental state or decrease of mental capacity is known as mental
fatigue. Besides, fatigue may also occur due to differences in personal
likings and change of mental condition, and environment. As physical and
dislikings mental work cannot be isolated fully, so in the case with physical
and mental fatigue. Therefore, mental fatigue may occur as a result of long
physical activity and similarly, physical fatigue may be caused by long mental
work as well.
Effects of mental fatigue upon students
The physical fatigue that occurs in students participating in physical
education programs depends on the volume of physical activities they do. As a
result of physical labor, a huge amount of sweet is discharged from their body
and it has an impact upon the movement of body organs and concentration in the
activity. While performing physical education programs, the students often
suffer from mental fatigue which is visible through the following symptoms:
- They may make mistakes in their performance of physical education programs.
- They may lose self-confidence.
- There lacks of coordination in their activities.
- They lose the rhythm of work and take wrong decisions.
- They become inattentive and cannot understand the techniques of implementing
the programs. - There decreases attentiveness to duty and they become mentally weak.
