Exhausted: A Research Story

Exhausted: A research story through Langsdale’s resources*
(*all links in this story take you to our various databases, which require a UB login)

We’re nearing the end of the semester -- prime time for fatigue to kick in. 

The Oxford English Dictionary gives four definitions for exhausted:

1. Consumed, used up, expended. 
2. Emptied of contents; chiefly said of a vessel or receiver: Emptied of air.
3. Of air, soil, etc.: Deprived of essential properties; effete, ‘spent’, worn out. Also, deprived of resources, completely impoverished.
4. Of persons or living things: Having one's strength, energy, etc. used up; tired out.

Assuming we're all living things (see OED definition #4), our library search has numerous scholarly articles on exhaustion …OR mental fatigue OR emotional exhaustion OR stress OR burnout, if you are looking for other keywords. Avoid the subject terms “soil exhaustion,” “patent exhaustion” and “T Cell exhaustion” (unless you're used OED definition #3). 

You might particularly relate to the study “Exhaustion in University Students and the Effect of Course Work Involvement.”

But it's not just school-related exhaustion: Psych Tests database has a number of survey instruments to gauge fatigue, like the Social Media Fatigue Scale.

Before we got tired of liking posts on Facebook, the Baltimore Sun [Historic] reported stories from the early 1900s when we were exhausted from the heat, working conditions, and dangerous situations. There's also a peculiar case of a Mr. Simon who was exhausted from being buried alive in August of 1901. 

If you've recently un-buried yourself and are looking for a pick-me-up (or research on who’s drinking Red Bull), Mintel Market’s Energy Drink Report found that 25% of adults drink energy drinks at work or school.

Wary of artificial drinks (after you’ve done some digging on our Medline database)? Try watching Relaxation Therapies from our Kanopy streaming video collection. Or just take a break.