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Differential diagnosis

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

The young frequent attender is more likely to have psychological cause than the elderly infrequent attender.

Below are some characteristics of that may suggest tiredness being secondary to an organic cause or psychological cause. Note though that none of the characteristics are definitive in discriminating between these two causes of tiredness.

ORGANIC TIREDNESS

PSYCHOLOGICAL TIREDNESS

Recent

Lifelong

Sustained

Intermittent

Later on in the day

Wake feeling tired

Factual description

Exaggerated description associated emotional trauma

Weight loss?

Weight gain suggests boredom Depression may present with tiredness - atypically with weight gain.

 


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