In today’s world variety of health problems and issues are mushrooming. One of the newest one is Decision Fatigue. What is ‘Decision Fatigue’?
It is the concept that after taking many decisions the person finds it difficult to take good decision;
Meaning his decision taking capability worsens. It is a psychological phenomenon. It is also called Ego depletion. The condition suggests that taking too many decisions will leave the brain fatigued. It does not just apply to big decisions but also to small decisions. Simple thing like choosing a dress to wear can lead to fatigue. This phenomenon have been observed but not all the experts have concurred with it.
Ego depletion is not easy to quantify and not sharply categorized and so this has aroused a debate.
In one experiment, it was observed that nurses went on making worse decisions about patients
after continuously working without a break.
The causes mainly seems to an individual’s capacity to take stress and the number of decisions a person takes. Complex decisions also carry weight.
It is gumption that persons daily take large number of decision from waking stage to sleeping stage. Like what dress to wear, what to eat, decisions in office or business, social interactions etc. In fact, we all take numerous decisions per day. Complex decisions draw out more energy. Good decision taking capacity decreases or become worse. A person may drain out.
The effects are visible. It includes from tiredness to
brain fog to physical fatigue.
Impulse buying:- Let’s consider the Grocery store. When we have purchased what we need after making relatively important decision we will resort to buy whatever is ready at the cash counter like candy etc.
Trade-offs:- Sometimes decision has to be made between two options. Both the options have positive and negative sides. A person suffering from Ego depletion will hesitate to take a decision in this condition and may postpone or make wrong decision.
Decision Avoidance:- Some people neglect or ignore taking decisions because of fatigue. They may opt for easy decisions instead of correct decision.
Procrastination is another form of ego depletion. In this situation the person may keep on postponing till the necessity to take the decision vanishes.