Posted by Dr Wilson's Adrenal Fatigue Team on Mon, Feb 22, 2010
I am often asked why I formulated dietary supplements for adrenal fatigue. During my practice, the idea had been on my mind for a number of years. I saw early in my clinical work that most people suffering from adrenal fatigue need more than just lifestyle changes and alterations in their food intake. When the adrenals respond to stress, cell metabolism has to speed up, burning through many times the number of nutrients normally needed. By the time the adrenals reach the state of adrenal fatigue, the cells have used up much of the body’s store of certain nutrients and are in desperate need of new supplies to continue to minimally function, let alone recover. Normally, good quality food is the best source of these nutrients, but once depleted, the adrenals need more than diet alone is likely to provide. I found, clinically, that supplementing with specific concentrated nutrients markedly increased my patients’ ability to strengthen adrenal function and
recover their health.
I began using adrenal extract tablets with my patients with adrenal fatigue and found that they slowly improved over time, but their progress was too slow for my liking, no matter which adrenal concentrate they took. However, by combining concentrated, hormone-free extracts of the glands most involved in the stress response, we were able to achieve much better outcomes than we had using them singly. Applying my knowledge of nutrition, I started adding specific nutrients one at a time, and through trial and error discovered that most people suffering from adrenal fatigue and similar stress related health problems need much more of some nutrients than others. As nutrient after nutrient was added, people began responding and recovering more and more quickly, and then recovering more fully. At first, I treated each person individually, trying to determine their optimum dosage for each nutrient. Over time, though, it became apparent that most people with adrenal fatigue need the same nutrients, only varying in quantity depending upon severity. The more severe the adrenal fatigue, the more of these specific nutrients they needed to sustain themselves, function well and recover fully.
At the time, the dietary supplements on the market that focused on adrenal health lacked the clinical effectiveness I wanted and deemed necessary for my patients. To obtain adequate nutritional support for sustained improvement, it was often necessary for my patients to take 17 to 24 different supplements (60 to 80 tablets or capsules) per day – a regime that became very frustrating for both them and me to manage and maintain. Frequently, I would prescribe a particular supplement but my patient would walk out of the drugstore or health food store with a different one that was on sale or promoted by an employee or another customer. Inconsistencies among different brands in ingredients, potency, quality, raw materials sources, processing methods and other factors that affect clinical effectiveness undermined the reliability of results I was after. I was frustrated in general by the inconsistency of dietary supplements from one bottle to the next of the same product from the same company. Even formulas that appeared to be excellent, from reputable companies, often performed unreliably. In any recovery program, it is important to limit variables to clearly track the program’s effectiveness and make meaningful improvements. To better do this, I soon began carrying supplements in my office as a way of controlling which products my patients were taking and monitoring their compliance with the program by checking their reorder rates. This improved our results, but also made me aware that some companies change their formulas periodically, often without notice, and that my patients’ progress and recovery varied with these changes.
I decided to formulate a single dietary supplement and an herbal supplement specifically to support patients with adrenal fatigue. From my previous years of formulating, I knew that it is not just the individual ingredients, but how they act synergistically that produces the best and most effective supplements. Drawing on this formulating expertise, scientific research and years of clinical experience, I incorporated the ingredients that I found to be most useful for my patients in forms and proportions that enhanced their effectiveness. My goal was to create adrenal fatigue supplements that would work comprehensively in the body, show improved clinical effectiveness, significantly help recovery, and be compatible with a daily program that was easy for patients to consistently maintain.
The resulting supplements were Adrenal Exhaustion Formula and Herbal Adrenal Support Formula®, which I formulated while writing Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome and mention in the book. Through the book I wanted to help people understand the effects of stress on their bodies and adrenal glands, show them how to determine if they were experiencing adrenal fatigue, and provide a comprehensive self-help guide for recovery. By making Adrenal Exhaustion Formula and Herbal Adrenal Support Formula® available in addition to the book, I hoped to optimize the ability of people to fully recover from varying degrees of adrenal fatigue and increase their stress hardiness.
To make Herbal Adrenal Support Formula®, I drew on scientific research, my years of clinical experience with natural medicine and my formulating skills to combine four high quality, organically grown, adaptogenic herbs that each offer benefits to the stressed body. Taken together two to three times a day and once before bedtime, they help balance functioning of the hypothalamic/pituitary/adrenal (HPA) axis that regulates the stress response and adrenal activity. The result of this balance is an increased inner calmness and steadiness that allows people under stress or with adrenal fatigue to function on a more even keel during the day and sleep more soundly at night.
Unfortunately, just before the book came out in November, 2001, the company that was to manufacture and distribute Adrenal Exhaustion Formula opted out. This was a problem as the book had already gone to press and I could not find another company to handle the supplement. To keep my commitment to with the people who would read and use my book, I decided to produce it myself. After considerable searching, I found a small company willing to manufacture 200 bottles of Adrenal Exhaustion Formula at a time. I placed my first order in the early spring of 2002, paying for it with my personal credit card. I thought most of the 200 bottles would end up sitting on the shelf until the expiry date, and that would be the end of it – but at least I had maintained the integrity of what I said in the book.
Surprisingly, Adrenal Exhaustion Formula began to sell. My wife and I have reflected on this and to this day we do not know how that happened. Only a few copies of the book had sold, the shopping cart on the website did not work, and the phone seldom rang, but somehow those first 200 bottles disappeared from the shelf. I ordered 200 more and, low and behold, those sold too, so I ordered 500 more thinking that would be the last order. When I saw that these were selling, I realized that this formula was meeting a real need, and I began to look at what more I could do to create and provide the best products and program that would allow doctors to deal effectively with adrenal fatigue and help the many people who suffered needlessly from it.
I decided to split Adrenal Exhaustion Formula into two supplements: a nutrient formula and a glandular. This would make it easier to adapt to individual requirements. Some people experiencing the effects of stress only need nutritional support, and proper nutritional support will keep them from slipping into adrenal fatigue. Whereas people who have already developed adrenal fatigue would get the most benefit from the glandular extract component of the product plus the nutrient portion. So after those 500 bottles of Adrenal Exhaustion Formula sold, I split it into two products: Adrenal Rebuilder® and Super Adrenal Stress Formula®.
Adrenal Rebuilder® contains concentrated glandular extracts, processed to have their hormones removed, that provide bioavailable building blocks to strengthen structure and vitalize function at a fundamental level in the adrenals, hypothalamus, pituitary and gonads – the main endocrine glands involved in the stress response. The glandular extracts work so deeply that it usually takes several weeks, or even months, to notice their effects, but these effects are profound and form the foundation for lasting results.
Super Adrenal Stress Formula® contains specific nutrients required in adrenal hormone production and needed by cells throughout the body to maintain healthy function and recover when under stress. The actions of these nutrients are much quicker to produce effects and people tend to notice a difference within a few days.
By creating two separate supplements out of Adrenal Exhaustion Formula, the quantities of the nutrients and/or glandular extracts could be adjusted more precisely to individual needs. My intention was that when adrenal fatigue was present, doctors could use the Adrenal Rebuilder® to help their patients’ run-down adrenal glands build up strength, sound structure and function along with the Super Adrenal Stress Formula® to supply the nutrients needed for healthy adrenal hormone production. If their patients were under stress but adrenal function was adequate, they could use just Super Adrenal Stress Formula® to replenish the nutrients rapidly used up during stress, thus helping to maintain adrenal function and avoid adrenal fatigue.
I found the two formulas together worked beautifully for adrenal fatigue, and Super Adrenal Stress Formula® soon proved to be a stand-alone supplement that supported people under stress better than anything else I had ever used. Observing their effects, I began to refer to Adrenal Rebuilder® as the “mechanic” and Super Adrenal Stress Formula® as the “accelerator” for the adrenals. While Adrenal Rebuilder® works down in the “engine” repairing and tuning, Super Adrenal Stress Formula® provides the nutrient “fuel” input that speeds up adrenal output. In most cases, taking Super Adrenal Stress Formula® made people feel much more in balance and calm. If they took too much, the B vitamins made some people a little jittery or speedy, but in those cases it was simple to reduce the dose until they felt balanced. People started writing and calling to tell us how much they were benefitting from these two products, and this became the most important reason, to me, for forming a company that could continue and expand this work. I realized that if we did not, there was nowhere else people could get products that worked like these. Since I had seen the suffering of people experiencing stress disorders and adrenal fatigue for many years, I became even more committed to establishing a successful company that would never compromise on quality or effectiveness. I wanted people to be able to always count on us to provide them with products that worked harmoniously with the natural processes of their bodies to maintain and noticeably reinvigorate their health. It was – and is – important to me to help as many people as possible to once again be in balance and know sustainable health, regardless of how long they have experienced the discouragement of struggling alone with adrenal fatigue or related health problems.
As I began looking at what else I could do to support this rapidly growing group of stressed people, I noticed an interesting paradox. The adrenal glands use more vitamin C per cell than any other organ or gland in the body, especially during stress, but people with adrenal fatigue are mildly acidic and vitamin C is acidic in its most common ascorbic acid form. The adrenals do not need more acid, but they do need more vitamin C. So the question was how to resolve this dilemma. I soon realized that if I balanced the pH of the ascorbic acid with minerals needed for adrenal hormone production and the stress response, I could not only balance the pH of the vitamin C supplement but also provide a valuable source of minerals essential to adrenal function. In addition, bioflavonoids could be added to the formula in a 2:1 ratio of ascorbic acid to bioflavonoids that is similar to the ratio found in nature. Bioflavonoids in this ratio almost double the activity of the vitamin C and also have their own wonderful uses in helping modulate stress. This formula provided a unique vitamin C designed for people experiencing stress and/or adrenal fatigue that was pH-balanced, provided needed minerals and the bioflavonoids that enhance and always appear with ascorbic acid in nature. The resulting supplement, Adrenal C Formula®, is the complete stress vitamin C that I mention in the book and has proved to also be a superior vitamin C that can be taken by anyone. People soon began reporting another advantage – it did not burn their stomachs like other vitamin C supplements had. Some said it was the only form of vitamin C they could take, and took it even though they did not have adrenal fatigue. This was welcome, but unexpected.
As I reviewed the supplements, it struck me that both the Super Adrenal Stress Formula® and Adrenal C Formula® contained water soluble vitamins. I knew from my studies in nutrition that when a large amount of water soluble vitamins are consumed at once, the body spills the excess out into the urine and sweat. This elimination happens as a reflex response, often before the cells can absorb as much of these nutrients as they may need. My challenge was to convert both the Adrenal C and Stress Formula into a sustained release format that would make the nutrients more bio-available at the cellular level. After several months of research and collaboration with a new, more knowledgeable manufacturer, we developed an integrated sustained release mechanism that allowed the nutrients to be absorbed gradually over four to five hours and the caplet to retain its sustained release properties even when it was cut into smaller pieces (as some people liked to do). It was more expensive to manufacture and took more work to develop, but was worth it because we now had two products that facilitated better cell saturation for optimal availability and performance.
This completed what we now call the Adrenal Quartet: Adrenal Rebuilder® is the deep acting restorer that provides bioavailable raw material for the glands of stress to build and strengthen their structure and function; Super Adrenal Stress Formula® is the energy controller that provides an optimal balance of sustained release nutrients essential for more energy through better adrenal hormone production and for healthy cellular stress recovery throughout the body; Adrenal C Formula® is the protective antioxidant that provides pH balanced, sustained release vitamin C optimally enhanced by bioflavonoids and minerals needed during stress; and Herbal Adrenal Stress Formula® is the calm, steady balancer and sleep soother that combines herbs specially selected to help balance the HPA axis, which is central to the stress response and healthy adrenal function.
As I worked with various people taking these supplements, I developed protocols for their combined use that maximizes their therapeutic value, and codified these protocols as my Program for Adrenal Fatigue and Stress. Together these four supplements used according to the guidelines of this program achieved my goal to create adrenal fatigue supplements that would work comprehensively in the body, show improved clinical effectiveness, significantly help recovery, and be compatible with a daily program that was easy for patients to consistently maintain. This program, accompanied by the lifestyle improvements and dietary changes
described in detail in the book, has been the best way I have found to help people with adrenal fatigue – making recovery from adrenal fatigue is not only possible, but probable. The benefits of strong, healthy adrenals include steady energy, sound sleep, responsive immune function, proper hormonal balance, the ability to concentrate, and the ability to handle and rebound from stress.
For more than 20 years in my practice, I witnessed the impact of helping people recover from adrenal fatigue on many levels. My intention with these formulas was to facilitate my patients’ recovery from adrenal fatigue, and provide a better, easier way for them to receive the highest quality, targeted nutritional support on a deep and effective level. Never did I imagine the demand was such that those original formulas would actually grow into what has now come to be known as the Future Formulations brand of dietary supplements. My desire is to use my knowledge and experience to help others put their health into their own hands – which is why the Future Formulations mission reads, “To help people help themselves to health with doctor designed dietary supplements that enhance the body’s own natural processes for health.” I continue to pursue this mission through educating health care professionals and developing equally unique and effective formulas targeted to areas of health that are currently underserved, such as blood sugar balance and long-term immune enhancement.
Yours in health,
Dr. James L. Wilson
Posted by Dr Wilson's Adrenal Fatigue Team on Wed, Jan 20, 2010
The letdown that almost invariably follows an illness, a stressful event or even the holiday season is largely attributable to adrenal fatigue. However, with proper adrenal support you can often minimize or avoid the letdown and maintain a healthy ability to handle stress.
To understand why letdown occurs, it is helpful to know a little about the pattern of physiological adjustments your body makes in response to stress -- regardless of its source.
Primarily through adrenal hormones, you prepare for the same physical "fight or flight" reactions as did primitive man, even though modern day stress rarely requires that you physically fight or flee.
Your initial stress reaction produces a large rise in cortisol, adrenaline and other adrenal hormones that mobilize your energy, mental and physical resources to take action. This lasts for a few minutes to a few hours -- essentially how long it might take you to fight or run away from a threat. At the end of this alarm phase there is a recovery period lasting a few hours to a few days (depending upon the magnitude of the stress) when levels of cortisol and other adrenal hormones drop and remain low. This is a natural letdown phase during which you likely feel more tired and listless and want to rest. At this time your adrenals are temporarily fatigued and less able to respond to stress. The more fatigued or depleted your adrenals were at the time of the initial alarm, the longer and more debilitated your letdown.
If stress continues, your adrenals adapt to handle it by producing slightly elevated levels of hormones, particularly cortisol, in a kind of constant semi-alarm phase. This phase can last for weeks, months or even for many years. However, your body's prolonged biochemical readiness for "fight or flight" without commensurate physical action causes increasing problems in your body the longer it goes on, and it becomes another source of stress. If stress persists beyond your adrenal's capacity to maintain this higher function, or another stressful event occurs, your adrenals may eventually become depleted, leaving you in the more lasting letdown of adrenal fatigue and no longer able to respond adequately to stress.
Stress intensifies the demands on your body -- nutrients are used up faster than they can be replaced by food, toxic by-products rapidly build up, and every organ and gland (including your brain) is asked to work harder. Your adrenal glands must respond to every stress you experience by producing hormones that help your body cope with the stress and maintain homeostasis.
When you can anticipate stressful times, you can make a significant difference to how you will feel and the amount of letdown you will experience by paying attention to what your body needs and stepping up your level of self care. The following tips should minimize letdown, and help you bounce back more quickly, become more stress hardy, sustain good energy, experience more refreshing sleep, and remain calm, clear-headed, focused and steady.
- Eat what your body needs to function optimally by choosing fresh, wholesome food. When your adrenals are stressed, it is especially important to eat regular meals morning, noon and evening which each contain protein, healthy fat and complex carbohydrate.
- Avoid foods that stress your body, such as sugar, white flour/refined grains,hydrogenated oils, excessive additives and junk food.
- Minimize substances that over-stimulate your adrenals, such as caffeine.
- Exercise regularly and make sure you get up and move around frequently throughout the day to help keep that “fight or flight” reaction from creating further internal stress.
- For at least ten minutes a day take a mental break – concentrate on your breathing, meditate or focus on something peaceful.
- Take dietary supplements specifically designed to support and strengthen your adrenal glands for at least a month leading up to the anticipated stressful time, as well as for as long as needed afterward. Look for supplements, like the ones suggested below, formulated by an expert in stress to provide your adrenals and stressed body with precise forms, amounts, and ratios of high quality, natural ingredients they can optimally assimilate and utilize to enhance your health and minimize letdown. The right supplements can make a world of difference.
- If you are stressed and having difficulty staying balanced during the day, tend to feel anxious or mildly depressed, or are having trouble sleeping, look for a combination of organic herbs designed to support the Hypothalamus/Pituitary/Adrenal (HPA) axis and adrenal function to help balance you during the day and promote sound sleep at night.
- Adrenal hormone production is very nutrient intensive, so supplementing with the precise nutrients your adrenals need to make these hormones can help you feel good and maintain a healthy response to stress. To enhance your response to and feel better while under stress, look for a combination of vitamins and minerals formulated in precise ratios, forms and amounts to replenish the specific nutrients used up by stress, facilitate the production of adrenal hormones, and support adrenal health.
- To replenish the vitamin C that gets rapidly used up during stress, look for a true sustained release supplement that provides a steady supply of an optimal amount of vitamin C, plus a 1:2 ratio of bioflavonoids to vitamin C to enhance the vitamin C activity and help protect your tissues from the oxidizing damage of stress, as well as trace minerals to neutralize the acidity of vitamin C so it’s easier on your stomach.
- If you have been depleted by stress, your adrenal glands may need deep replenishment and extra support to maintain healthy function and adequately respond to further stress. Look for a hormone-free multiglandular that contains adrenal, hypothalamus, gonad and pituitary concentrates designed to provide natural building blocks that fundamentally support and strengthen the structure and function of the adrenals and other glands affected by stress.
- Many people who feel stressed also experience energy lows at in the morning, mid-afternoon, or after exertion. To help temporarily bolster your energy at these times, look for a caffeine- free energy booster that is designed specifically to both provide support to your adrenals and naturally enhance your energy levels.
By taking steps to bolster and protect your health from stress, you can minimize the debilitating letdown that often occurs during and/or after a stressful event, and discover a new level of steadiness and stamina that allows you to enjoy life more fully, even in stressful times.
Posted by Dr. James Wilson on Mon, Jan 04, 2010
Looking forward to the New Year with optimism doesn’t always come easy for those with adrenal fatigue. In the midst of the holiday’s social gatherings, late nights, rich food, and magnified financial considerations, stress can affect even the heartiest person. Everyone has a different capacity to handle stress, and that capacity varies over time and events. Adrenal fatigue occurs when the amount of stress overextends the body’s capacity to cope with and recover from it. In addition to the usual stresses of this season, the twists and turns of one of history’s greatest economic storms has hit many people hard, ending 2009 with an overwhelming stress load for adrenals to handle.
Despite how burned out you might feel right now, I want to assure you that the new year can be better; that the past doesn’t necessarily equal the future. It IS possible to recover from the debilitating symptoms of adrenal fatigue – with some knowledge, the right tools, and a commitment to feeling good again. Even in adrenal fatigue, the body is still wonderful, beautiful and incredibly wise. We may not able to change outside events or society, but we can learn to use better judgment when it comes to taking care of ourselves and to respond to stress in healthier ways.
As a New Year and a new decade begin, it is an opportune time to review – and renew – your life, to realize how important health is in the overall scheme of your life and to make your own health a top priority. Honestly ask yourself: “How much would I sell or trade my health for? How hard would I work if I could earn good health?” One of the few saving graces about adrenal fatigue is that you can do most of what is necessary to recover and regain your adrenal health, yourself. Being in charge of your life is important for adrenal health; researchers have found from earlier scientific experiments that rendering an animal helpless is one of the most rapid ways to deplete its adrenals. Putting yourself in charge your health does not mean doing it all yourself, however. Solicit the help of anyone or anything that will lead to your healthy recovery – as long as you retain control of your own recovery program.
Taking your health into your own hands is very empowering but not without its challenges. There are no magic pills for adrenal fatigue. It takes time and dedication to embark on a recovery program, but there are certainly key lifestyle changes and nutritional supplements that will greatly facilitate your recovery. What you eat and drink, the thoughts you feed your mind, the beliefs you base your life on, the attitudes that guide your choices, the people you spend time with and the way you spend your time all have a potent influence on your health.
The precise, comprehensive program I developed to address all of these different aspects of adrenal health and stress has been gratifyingly successful at empowering many people to effectively help themselves. I hope you find the following “D-E-S-T-R-E-S-S” acronym useful as a guideline for starting the new year with a fresh outlook and a positive frame of mind, making 2010 your time for establishing adrenal health and attaining greater happiness and health:
D-E-S-T-R-E-S-S
- Define who and what are important in your life and Decide to live accordingly.
- Energize yourself with foods that nourish, and Exercise to increase circulation, optimize function and eliminate toxins.
- Support your body with dietary Supplements designed specifically to help compensate for the effects of stress on your body and supply nutrients used up during stress.
- Take Time to breathe deeply and fully, to find a moment of calm, and to enjoy something each day.
- Reframe events that stress you in order to Release yourself from paralysis so you can discover what you can do, and how you can benefit from these events or turn them to your advantage.
- Eliminate energy robbers and health drains, and Establish clear boundaries.
- Sleep to give your body a chance to recharge and heal, and your mind a few moments of Silent Solace each day so you are refreshed and ready to take effective action.
- Smile and See the Soul-fullness in your life. The physical action of smiling changes how you feel inside, which changes how you behave and how your body reacts.
Your in health,
Dr. James L. Wilson
Posted by Dr Wilson's Adrenal Fatigue Team on Wed, Dec 23, 2009
By Eric Bakker, ND
Which came first, the depression or the pessimistic thoughts? The answer may surprise you! In many cases, depression actually is the result of habitual negative thoughts. When bad things happen, we begin chastising ourselves with thoughts such as: "I’m no good, I’m a total failure" or "Nothing ever goes my way", or "I’m fat, stupid, lazy", etc. Our feelings constantly follow what we are thinking, and negative thoughts like these can send us spiraling down into anxiety and depression. Your thoughts are your world; they create a blueprint for how things will turn out for you in your life. This article (below) is excellent and so relevant for many patients I see in general naturopathic practice. Print it out and read it carefully. Which category do you slot into? Are you like Rhonda, or maybe like Donna? Look at your "self-talk", you may be too hard on yourself or maybe have an unreasonably high expectation of yourself and others. We are all guilty of this – because we are all human beings. People with adrenal fatigue people often experience depression, anxiety and generally feelings of unhappiness at some stage. Understanding why and how you think and react to a given situation allows you to "reframe" as Dr. Wilson mentions in his book: "Adrenal Fatigue The 21st Century Stress Syndrome." Our practice has sold hundreds of copies and I can’t recommend this book highly enough for anybody to read either for themselves or to give to a friend or family member who has fatigue or suffers from stress. If we think something often enough, we begin to believe it’s true and our feelings match what we are thinking about ourselves. To conquer depression, we must stop those automatic negative thoughts and replace them with more positive, truthful ones. By nipping these thoughts in the bud, we can halt depression before it even starts.
~ Eric Bakker ND
From "Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy"
See if you recognize yourself in any of these 10 common cognitive distortions or faulty thought patterns that send us into depression.
1. All-or-Nothing Thinking: John recently applied for a promotion in his firm. The job went to another employee with more experience. John wanted this job badly and now feels that he will never be promoted. He feels that he is a total failure in his career. He thinks it is all over for him and he will never get an opportunity like this again. Of course he won’t, this is what he is projecting to others.
2. Overgeneralization: Linda is lonely and often spends most of her time at home. Her friends sometimes ask her to come out for dinner and meet new people. Linda feels that that is it useless to try to meet people. No one really could like her. People are all mean and superficial anyway.
3. Mental Filter: Mary is having a bad day. As she drives home, a kind gentleman waves her to go ahead of him as she merges into traffic. Later in her trip, another driver cuts her off. She grumbles to herself that there are nothing but rude and insensitive people in her city.
4. Disqualifying the Positive: Rhonda just had her portrait made. Her friend tells her how beautiful she looks. Rhonda brushes aside the compliment by saying that the photographer must have touched up the picture. She never looks that good in real life, she thinks.
5. Jumping to Conclusions: Geoff is waiting for his date at a restaurant. She’s now 20 minutes late. Geoff laments to himself that he must have done something wrong and now she has stood him up. Meanwhile, across town, his date is stuck in traffic. "what a bitch, she has stood me up" thinks Geoff.
6. Magnification & Minimization: Scott is playing football. He bungles a play that he’s been practicing for weeks. He later scores the winning touchdown. His teammates compliment him. He tells them he should have played better; the touchdown was just pure "dumb luck."
7. Emotional Reasoning: Laura looks around her untidy house and feels overwhelmed by the prospect of cleaning. She feels that it’s hopeless to even try to clean.
8. Should Statements: David is sitting in his doctor’s waiting room. His doctor is running late. David sits stewing, thinking, "With how much I’m paying him, he should be on time. He ought to have more consideration." He ends up feeling bitter and resentful.
9. Labeling & Mislabeling: Donna just cheated on her diet. "I’m just a fat, lazy pig", she thinks.
10. Personalization: Jean’s son is doing poorly in school. She feels that she must be a bad mother. She feels that it’s all her fault that he isn’t studying.
If you recognize any of these behaviors in yourself, then you’re halfway there. Here’s a homework assignment for you: Over the next few weeks, monitor the self-defeating ways in which you respond to situations. Practice recognizing your automatic responses. Now, we will take each of the above cognitive distortions and discuss some powerful coping strategies that will help you dispel the blues before they even start.
All-or-Nothing Thinking:
John recently applied for a promotion in his firm. The job went to another employee with more experience. John wanted this job very badly and now feels that he will never be promoted. He feels that he is a total failure in his career.
This type of thinking is characterized by absolute terms like always, never, and forever. Few situations are ever this absolute. There are generally gray areas. Eliminate these absolute terms from your vocabulary except for the cases where they truly apply. Look for a more accurate description of the situation. Here’s an example of self-talk that John could have used to cope with not getting that promotion:
"I wanted this job a lot, but it went to someone with more experience. This is disappointing to me, but it doesn’t mean I’m not a good employee. Other opportunities will be available in the future. I’ll keep working on my skills so that I’ll be ready for them when they arrive. This one setback does not mean my career is over. Overall, I have excelled in my work."
Overgeneralization:
Linda is lonely and often spends most of her time at home. Her friends sometimes ask her to come out for dinner and meet new people. Linda feels that that is it useless to try to meet people. No one really could like her. People are all mean and superficial anyway.
When one over generalizes, one takes an isolated case or cases and assumes that all others are the same. Are people really all mean and superficial and could never like her? What about her friends who are trying to get her to go out? Obviously she does have someone who cares about her. The next time you catch yourself over generalizing, remind yourself that even though a group of people may share something in common, they are also separate and unique individuals. No two people are exactly the same. There may be mean and superficial people in this world. There may even be people who dislike you. But, not every person will fit this description. By assuming that everyone doesn’t like you, you are building a wall that will prevent you from having what you crave the most — friendship.
Mental Filter:
Mary is having a bad day. As she drives home, another driver cuts her off. She grumbles to herself that there are nothing but rude and insensitive people in her town. Later, a kind gentleman waves her go ahead of him. She continues on her way still angry at how rude all the people in her city are. When a person falls victim to mental filters they are mentally singling out only the bad events in their lives and overlooking the positive. Learn to look for that silver lining in every cloud. It’s all about how you choose to let events effect you. Mary could have turned her whole day around if she had paid attention to that nice man who went out of his way to help her.
Disqualifying the Positive:
Rhonda just had her portrait made. Her friend tells her how beautiful she looks. Rhonda brushes aside the compliment by saying that the photographer must have touched up the picture. She says she never looks that good in real life. We depressives are masters at taking the good in a situation and turning it into a negative. Part of this comes from a tendency to have low self- esteem. We feel like we just don’t deserve it. How to turn this around is simple. The next time someone compliments you, resist the little voice inside that says you don’t deserve it. Just say "thank you" and smile. The more you do this, the easier it will become.
Jumping to Conclusions:
Geoff is waiting for his date at a restaurant. She’s now 20 minutes late. Geoff laments to himself that he must have done something wrong and now she has stood him up. Meanwhile, across town, his date is stuck in traffic. "what a bitch, she has stood me up" thinks Geoff. Once again, we fall victim to our own insecurities. We expect the worst and begin preparing early for the disappointment. By the time we find out that all our fears were unfounded, we’ve worked ourselves into a frenzy and for what? Next time do this: Give the person the benefit of the doubt. You’ll save yourself a lot of unnecessary worry. If your fears have some basis in reality, however, drop that person from your life like a hot potato.
Magnification and Minimization:
Scott is playing football. He bungles a play that he’s been practicing for weeks. He later scores the winning touchdown. His teammates compliment him. He tells them he should have played better; the touchdown was just dumb luck. Ever looked through a telescope from the wrong direction? Everything looks tinier than it really is. When you look through the other end, everything looks larger. People who fall into the magnification-minimization trap look at all their successes through the wrong end of the telescope and their failures through the other end. What can you do to stay away from this error? Remember the old saying, "He can’t see the forest for the trees?" When one mistake bogs us down, we forget to look at the overall picture. Step back and look at the forest now and then. Overall, Scott played a good game. So what if he made a mistake?
Emotional Reasoning:
Laura looks around her untidy house and feels overwhelmed by the prospect of cleaning. She feels that it’s hopeless to even try to clean. Laura has based her assessment of the situation on how it makes her feel not how it really is. It may make her feel bad to think of the large task ahead of her, but is it really hopeless? In reality, cleaning her house is a doable task. She just doesn’t feel up to it. She has reached the conclusion that it is useless to try based on the fact that it overwhelms her. When a situation feels overwhelming, try this: Break down the task down into smaller ones. Then prioritize what is most important to you. Now, do the first task on your list. Believe it or not, you will begin to feel better and ready for more. The important thing is to just do something towards your goal. No matter how small, it’s a start and will break you out of feeling helpless.
Should Statements:
David is sitting in his doctor’s waiting room. His doctor is running late. David sits stewing, thinking, "With how much I’m paying him, he should be on time. He ought to have more consideration." He ends up feeling bitter and resentful. We all think things should be a certain way, but let’s face it, they aren’t. Concentrate on what you can change and if you can’t change it, accept it as part of life and go on. Your mental health is more important than "the way things should be."
Labeling and Mislabeling:
Donna just cheated on her diet. I’m a fat, lazy pig she thinks. What Donna has done is label herself as lazy and hopeless. She most likely will reason that since she can’t lose weight, she may as well eat. She has now effectively trapped herself by living up to the label she placed on herself. When we label ourselves, we set ourselves up to become whatever that label entails. This can just as easily work to our advantage. Here’s what Donna could have done to make labeling work in her favor. She could have considered the fact that up until now she has been strong. She could then forgive herself for only being human and acknowledge that she has been working hard to lose weight and has been succeeding. This is a temporary setback that she can overcome. Overall, she is a strong person and has proven it by her successful weight loss. With this type of positive thinking, Donna will feel better and be back to work on her weight loss goals in no time.
Personalization:
Jean’s son is doing poorly in school. She feels that she must be a bad mother. It’s all her fault that he isn’t studying. Jean is taking all the responsibility for how her son is doing in school. She is failing to take into consideration that her son is an individual who is ultimately responsible for himself. She can do her best to guide him, but in the end he controls his actions. Next time you find yourself doing this, ask yourself, "Would I take credit if this person were doing something praiseworthy? Chances are you’d say, "No, he accomplished that by himself." So why blame yourself when he does something not-so praiseworthy? Beating yourself up is not going to change his behavior. Only he can do that. The solutions I’ve presented here are some of the common situations we find ourselves in.
Take these as examples and create your own positive solutions to your negative thoughts. Recognizing that you do it is the first step. Then play devil’s advocate and challenge yourself to find the positive. Turn your thoughts around and your moods will follow suit. Remember, you are what you think!
Burns, David D. "Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy". Avon Books : New York, NY, 1999.
Posted by Dr. James Wilson on Fri, Nov 06, 2009
Whether
or not to get a flu shot is an individual decision, even if you have adrenal
fatigue.
My reservation about the HINI flu shot is the same as it is about any
other flu shot in any other year. Each flu vaccine only protects against one or
two specific strains of influenza. However, there are many viruses and bacteria
that make people ill, especially during the winter months. Vaccination against
only one or two strains, albeit common or particularly virulent ones, does
nothing to protect against the many other causes of flu and respiratory
infections. I have had the same question posed to me by my staff and what I
told them is that the most important thing you can do to protect yourself from
this virus or any other cause of the flu or other upper respiratory ailment is
to continually strengthen your immune function. Arm yourself by doing the key
things that lead to a strong and responsive immune system:
• Be proactive by regularly using (especially in the months preceding and
during cold and flu seasons) the supplements that enhance and build your body’s
own natural immune processes over time.
• In addition, take approximately 2,000 mg per day of the best vitamin C you
can find (sustained-release, pH balanced, with 1 mg of bioflavonoids for every 2
mg ascorbic acid), and 15 to 30 mg per day of zinc gluconate or
picolinate.
• Keep a quick-acting, natural immune booster on hand to help nip things in the
bud in case something slips by your immune defenses.
• Adopt an immune-hardy lifestyle by getting eight to nine hours of sleep a
night; eating nutritious foods with abundant vegetables, whole grains and some
fruits; avoid junk foods and driving yourself with caffeine; and exercise
within your tolerance but without exhausting yourself.
It is true that if you are going through adrenal fatigue, you are more
vulnerable to respiratory infections. However, the steps listed above combined
with proper adrenal support will go a long way toward helping you stay healthy
during the winter. If you do get the flu, it will probably be much milder and
shorter-lived than had you not taken care of yourself in this way. By
continuing to support your adrenals, your recovery should be better, faster and
stronger. An important thing to remember during the recovery phase is that once
you begin to feel better, not to push yourself. Already this fall I know of two
incidences where people with adrenal fatigue got the H1N1 virus, but with
continued adrenal support recovered very quickly -- only to over extend
themselves too soon, get exhausted and further weaken already challenged
adrenals, and then become ill with another virus. Had they taken two more days
to rest and recover, or had they also strengthened their immune systems, they
would probably both have been fine.
Having a flu shot can give you a false sense of security and lull you into
believing you are protected from all flus, when in fact you are only protected
from one or two specific pathogens. Taking care of your body and personal
responsibility for your health, including preparing for the winter by
strengthening your immunity as well as maximizing adrenal support if you have
adrenal fatigue, is an important concept to understand.
Yours in health,
Dr. James Wilson
Posted by Dr. James Wilson on Tue, Sep 29, 2009
Here are some general guidelines to follow and things to avoid to help you recover from adrenal fatigue. Use this list as a reference guide and adapt it to your particular situation.
- Make your lifestyle a healing one
- Do something pleasurable every day
- Be in bed before 10PM
- Sleep in until 9AM whenever possible
- Look for things that make you laugh
- Eliminate the energy robbers (things in your life that drain your energy)
- Take action on one of the "three things you can do" whenever you are not enjoying your life - first locate the energy robbers and then 1) change the situation, 2) change yourself to adapt to the situation, or 3) leave the situation. Notice at least one small, everyday thing that you are grateful for each day
- Take your dietary supplements, regularly
- Move your body and breathe deeply
- Believe in your ability to recover
- Use your mind as a powerful healing tool
- Keep a journal - jot down your experiences each day
- Eat the foods your body needs
- Learn which foods make you feel bad (keep a list of them)
- Read/Re-Read Part 3 of "Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome"
- If you do not have high blood pressure, try having a glass of water in the morning containing ½ to 1 teaspoon of salt stirred in until dissolved. If this makes you feel better, continue doing it. Note: On mornings when you exercise fully, you may not want as much salt. Be mindful of your cravings for salt and potassium containing foods (e.g. bananas, melon, potatoes, tomatoes, beans) during the day. These desires may serve as rough indicators of adrenal function during the day.
- When you eat fruit, have something with salt before or after the fruit and chew very well
- Combine starchy carbohydrates, protein and fats at every meal, including breakfast
- Always eat breakfast - it is very important for people experiencing adrenal fatigue
- Eat an abundance of whole foods - those foods which are eaten like nature grows them
- Eat lots of colored vegetables
- Chew your food well
- Take the power and responsibility of your health into your own hands
- Make whatever lifestyle changes you need to make to regain your health
- Laugh several times every day
- Enjoy your recovery
- Take 1,000 mg of Vitamin C complex with 200mg magnesium and pantothenic acid at approximately 2PM every day along with a small snack containing protein, complex carbohydrate and fat in order to help avoid the 3-4PM low
- Follow my Program for Adrenal Fatigue and Stress
Avoid These Things- Getting overtired
- Caffeine, sugar, alcohol, and white flour products
- Coffee, even decaf
- Staying up past 11PM
- Pushing yourself
- Energy robbers
- Being harsh or negative with yourself
- Feeling sorry for yourself
- Foods you are addicted to
- Foods you suspect an allergy or sensitivity to
- Foods that make you feel worse, cloud your thinking or pull you down in any way
- Skipping breakfast
- Avoid fruit in the morning
- Never eat starchy carbohydrates (breads, pastas) by themselves
- Do not eat foods that adversely affect you in any way, no matter how good they taste or how much you crave them
Posted by Dr. James Wilson on Fri, Sep 18, 2009
It is important to be able to distinguish which things in your life are contributing to your health and which things are detracting from it. So the first step in helping yourself obtain a lifestyle you love is to make a complete and thorough list of all the things that are beneficial to you life and health, and all the detrimental things in your life.
To help you get clear on this, I use the following, very simple but informative exercise. Take a piece of paper, date it and draw a vertical line down the center. At the top of the left column write "Good For Me," and at the top of the right column, write "Bad For Me." These can be physical or leisure activities, eating patterns, exercises, relationships, work, family, emotional patterns, attitudes, beliefs, dietary supplements, and any other things that make you feel good and contribute to your sense of well-being.
In the "good" column, list all things that bring you pleasure and add to your life, even if you haven't done them for a while. Reach into your heart and health and find what makes you feel good and what you love in life.
In the "bad" column, list everything that seems detrimental to your health and well-being. Again, they can be physical, emotional, or attitudinal; they may be work or family related situations, relationships, eating and drinking patterns, or anything you are doing or are involved with that is not good for you.
If some aspects of a situation are good and some bad, separate them out. For example, you may have a job that you love, but the grueling hours and the fast pace are exhausting. In this case, put your job in the "good" column and the excess hours and high pressure demands in the "bad" column.
This is not a test. There is no maximum or minimum number of items to include. There is no pass or fail, no right or wrong answers. The more forthcoming you can be with information, the more you can help yourself.
Locating the Energy Robbers
Finding out what drains you and tires you out will help uncover the external factors using up your adrenal resources. In most cases of adrenal fatigue, there are life situations that are draining, such as being around a certain person or group, in a particular building or environment, at work or at home or in some other specific situation that leaves you feeling excessively tired or stressed.
These external factors are what I call the energy robbers. Energy robbers are like holes in the barrel preventing you from being full of energy. It is detrimental to keep demanding more and more energy from your body instead of just plugging as many of the holes as possible. Every time you eliminate or minimize one of these energy robbers in your life, it is like plugging one of the holes in the barrel, allowing your energy reserves to begin to rebuild. As you become aware of what is robbing you of your energy and make the necessary changes, you will see significant differences in your energy levels. Freeing yourself from the energy robbers in your life is much easier once you have identified them.
On a fresh sheet of paper, make a heading "Energy Robbers" and list everything and everyone in your daily life that takes away your energy. Many of these will be the same as the items you listed in the "bad" column earlier, but in this one, look at your life in terms of what makes you feel more tired or worn out. What or whom do you feel drained around? It can be anything from a food to a perfume, an activity, a nagging memory, a co-worker or a spouse. It may be a building, a room or a situation. There may be many heads to this dragon but it is worth the effort to see them clearly.
Three Things You Can Do
Now that you are more aware of what and who is taking your energy, we can talk about some ways to deal with them. The most valuable thing I learned in Psychology 101 is that there are three things that you can do when you are in a difficult situation:
1. You can change the situation
2. You can change yourself to fit (adapt to) the situation
3. You can leave the situation
Remember, stresses are additive and cumulative. Removing or neutralizing your largest source of stress will make a very significant difference to your adrenal glands and to you health and well-being. Most of the time, if you take care of the big ones, the smaller ones will take care of themselves. Your body has a natural ability to handle stress and remain healthy. It is only when the stresses are overwhelming in quantity, duration or intensity that the systems in your body start to break down.
Posted by Dr. James Wilson on Tue, Sep 15, 2009
LONDON (Reuters) - Work really can kill you, according to a study providing the strongest evidence yet of how on-the-job stress raises the risk of heart disease by disrupting the body's internal systems.
Read post and commentary by Dr. Eric Bakker, ND here.
Posted by Dr. James Wilson on Fri, Sep 11, 2009
One of my chief concerns is the overall decline in health of the US population, and specifically the health of working America that keeps US companies afloat. All too often, I have witnessed the detrimental effects of stress on the health and productivity of key company employees and leaders. The unnecessary waste of talent in American businesses due to health concerns caused by stress is costly, and in epidemic proportions. Research shows that the workplace accounts for about 75% of the stress in someone's life. We know that health care expenditures are nearly 50% greater for workers who report high levels of stress.[1]
In fact, in a study of over 46,000 working individuals, the Health Enhancement Research Organization (HERO) showed that stress is the most costly factor in health care expenditures (even greater than tobacco use or obesity).[2] In 1992, The United Nations dubbed stress the "20th-century epidemic." In 2005, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NISOCH) reported that workplace stress is estimated to cost American companies $300 billion a year in poor performance, absenteeism and health costs.
Contrary to popular belief, it is not necessary to sacrifice one's body for the job. The keys are to know how to protect yourself from the negative effects of unavoidable stress, and to avoid the impact of stresses that can be managed.
Although the body is not a mechanical device, using a car as a metaphor provides a good conceptual -- albeit not entirely accurate -- analogy to the body and its response to stress. When a car is maintained properly and not driven beyond what it is designed to do, it usually holds up well, meets performance expectations and lasts for a long time. However, if the car gets irregular maintenance, poor quality oil, the wrong kind of fuel, is loaded beyond capacity, or driven hard on rough roads, it starts to break down and wears out more quickly. One car may blow a gasket, a second burst a water hose, a third bend a valve, and a fourth break a spring as a result of mistreatment. This analogy holds true for any person exposed to amounts of stress the body was not designed to handle. Each body may have its own particular pattern of decline, but in most instances its systems start breaking down in the ways we have learned to recognize as the symptoms and signs of stressed adrenals. The more you ignore the maintenance schedule and the warning lights on the dashboard, the more serious the problems that develop. Once adrenal fatigue sets in and that day of reckoning arrives, your body will no longer be able to respond the way you want it to do when you push it like you are used to doing.
To continue the car metaphor, just imagine the difference between the requirements of driving of your car around town at 30 miles an hour and around a racetrack at 180 miles an hour. In a race, your vehicle needs better fuel along with better and more frequent care. Our bodies are the same. During stress your body is in a race, and to finish the race in good shape it is essential to pay attention to what your body needs and to step up your level of self care.
It is important that you take care of yourself now to not just survive, but to strengthen your health during this time so you will always be ready for whatever lies ahead.
[1] Goetzel RZ, et al. The relationship between modifiable health risk and health care expenditures: an analysis of the multiemployer HERO health risk and cost database. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 1998: 40(10); 843-54.
[2.] Anderson DR< Whitmer RW, Goetzel RZ, Ozminkowski RJ, Dunn RL, Wasserman J, Serxner S; Health Enhancement Research Organization (HERO) Research Committee. The relationship between modifiable health risks and group-level health care expenditures. Am J Health Promot. 2000 Sep-Oct; 15(1):45-52.
Posted by Dr. James Wilson on Wed, Sep 09, 2009
A meta-study on the cost of stress to business revealed that 75 to 80% of the stress in a person's life is work related. Much of the stress at work is actually unnecessary and can be eliminated or minimized. Many people are not aware that the typical work-related behaviors listed below actually stress their adrenals and can lead to health problems that will eventually interfere with their ability to work. The following are warning signs that you are mistreating your body and are risking some aspect of your health breaking down on you:
- using caffeinated beverages to keep going instead of taking proper nourishment or getting enough sleep
- missing meals
- eating non-nourishing foods
- continually working through lunch hours and past the hours of a normal work day
- coming to work sick
- not exercising regularly
- not taking time to relax and enjoy life
In addition, there are many common workplace situations that increase stress. These fall into two categories:
1) The physical environment:
- poor lighting
- air quality
- noise
- inadequate tools for the job
- lack of access to facilities, etc. and
2) The work culture:
- insufficient job training
- office conflicts
- inadequate access to resources
- low compensation
- responsibility without commensurate power (common with middle management)
- unrealistic expectations and deadlines
- absence of positive feedback, etc.
Your health is a very valuable, but often ignored, aspect of success. Consciously redesigning your lifestyle and work place with the goal of decreasing these stress factors can profoundly affect your long term success as well as your health. When you are healthy and work in a physically and psychologically healthy environment, you are capable of greater productivity, a higher level of cooperation, more enthusiasm for work, and a deeper commitment to your job. You get to spend more time getting work done rather than trying to cope with stress fallout. Discovering how to minimize and manage stress in your personal and work life so you can avoid or recover from adrenal fatigue could turn out to be one of the most worthwhile lessons learned.