Sue Vaughan - De-Stress Your Life: How to Help Your Adrenals Help You

De-Stress

Your Life

How to Help Your Adrenals Help You

SUE VAUGHAN, DHH, DCN, RMANM

ORIGINAL eBOOKS

2012 SUE VAUGHAN

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any meansgraphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or information storage and retrieval systemswithout the prior written permission of the author.

For permission to reproduce any content of this publication, contact Sue Vaughan at www.svaughan.co.uk

All case histories in this book have the names changed in order to protect anonymity.

ISBNS

EPUB: 978-1-78215-024-4

MOBI: 978-1-78215-025-1

ePublished by ORIGINAL EBOOKS, a division of Original Writing (UK) Limited - an Original Writing Group company

INTRODUCTION

Adrenal depletion is one of the most under diagnosed illnesses in western society. However, I would imagine that the majority of adults at some time in their lives would have suffered or are suffering from a degree of adrenal depletion. It is also known as Hypoadrenia, and is a condition of the adrenal glands whereby there is a diminished production of adrenal hormones that adversely affects your day-to-day functioning especially your resistance to stress.

Stress has become an integral part of all of our lives. Life seems to be getting more and more hectic and the health problems, both mental and physical, which stress can cause are definitely on the increase. But we can lead busy lives and cope with stress without distress. Stress doesnt have to lead to illness, wreck our relationships or prevent us from enjoying our lives to the full.
We can all learn how to recognize when our bodies are telling us to slow down and, when we have over-stretched ourselves, how to recuperate without resorting to tranquillisers, caffeine, alcohol or recreational drugs. We just need the right information to do this. This book will give you the practical tools you need not only to understand how stress may be affecting you but also how to overcome it and maintain a healthy body and a positive mind. You will learn how to identify whether your adrenals have been depleted by the stresses in your life with symptom checklists and you will be given simple tests that indicate adrenal depletion. And most important of all, if you recognise that your adrenals are flagging, you will also learn what to do to help bring them back into balance.

The worries and strains of our lives can affect our physical self in many ways. It can lead to high blood pressure, headaches, stomach ulcers and even cancer. It is now known that stress is more powerful than diet in influencing cholesterol levels. The body has a couple of custom-built barometers on stress in the form of the adrenal glands. They act as the first line of defence in helping the body to adapt to the all the stresses that life presents us with but theres only so much they can take. I really dont think they were meant to cope with the long hours of work, the amount of caffeine and fast food, traffic jams, jet-lag and late nights that many of us will subject them to.

Prolonged stress of any kind, which is not dealt with in a positive way, will deplete the adrenals and once this happens, symptoms of anxiety, insomnia and maybe panic attacks will ensue. It is a kind of chicken and egg scenario. Stress affects the body and the body affects the mind.

One of the most common complaints I encounter in my practise is that of panic/anxiety attacks. When the only tools I had were psychotherapy and hypnotherapy, treatment would usually take place over a period of ten to twelve weekly sessions to get the panic attacks under control. During this time, I would teach the client various relaxation exercises, look at the possible causes contributing to the condition and give advice on how to control the anxiety in everyday situations. This was a time consuming and expensive process for the client.

After a year in practise I started to feel a bit lopsided just treating the mind and emotions so I went back to college to do a two-year holistic health diploma which covered kinesiology, clinical nutrition and holistic anatomy among other things. This was where I discovered that mood can affect hormone production and hormones affect mood. The endocrine system has held immense fascination for me ever since. It seemed to hold the mind/body link. Adrenals are part of this system.

Abraham Maslow once said, If the only tool you have is a hammer youll see every problem as a nail and my task for a few years was to try to get as comprehensive a toolbox as I could get in order to diagnose and treat my clients. I have now been in practice for twenty-five years and I have seen thousands of people suffering from anxiety and panic attacks at my clinics. It isnt just most of those had adrenal problems but every single one! In treating the adrenal glands with the appropriate diet and supplementation as well as helping the client to become aware of appropriate ways of handling stress, panic attacks can be brought under control within four weeks.

Panic attacks and anxiety are not the only symptom to depleted adrenals. Nausea, sensitivity to bright lights, dizziness, swinging from anxiety to exhaustion or simply a feeling that your get up and go has got up and gone are among the other symptoms to the condition. We dont have to accept a low level of health and energy. We can do something about it.

Many of you will have read about the adrenals in the plethora of stress management books that are on the market. Most of these will rightly say how relaxation will prevent the adrenals from becoming depleted but for many of you this will be like bolting the barn door after the horse has bolted. You may find that you identify with the many case histories of clients (names have been changed to safeguard anonymity) who came to me with their adrenals already depleted. Chapter One is devoted to Fionas story.

Fiona had suffered from panic attacks for six years, was on tranquillisers and had tried to pull herself together and just relax, dont worry so much but to no avail. For Fiona, learning that there was a physical cause to her symptoms and she wasnt crazy was, as you can imagine, a huge relief. Following the guidelines set out in this book, her panic attacks subsided within a few weeks and gradually her energy levels and her confidence returned to normal. She is now leading a full and happy life.

Chapter Two will give you an introduction to the function of the adrenals; the fight or flight syndrome they are responsible for and the three stages of the stress adaptation process they are involved in. I have attempted to explain this as simply as possible.

In Chapter Three, you will find out how to recognise if your adrenals are suffering from overload with a checklist of symptoms and explanations of why they are happening to you. In this chapter, I also include three really easy but reliable test to check your adrenal function. Chapter Four will looked at the various causes to this condition with case histories to help illustrate them. Chapter Five will explain how adrenal depletion can lead to allergies and weight gain. There are many other related problems such as Seasonal Affected Disorder (SAD), Post Natal Depression, etc associated with depleted adrenals and Chapter Six will look these in detail.

Part Two is devoted to the solution. In Chapter Seven I will give you help with an adrenal recovery diet with a few sample recipes to choose from and in Chapter Eight advice on the supplements available to support the adrenals. In Chapter Nine, I give you information about two main behaviour types Type A and B and a simple questionnaire designed to help you to recognise your responses to stress and suggestions to change those that are negative. Chapter Ten contains relaxation techniques to refresh mind and body and Chapter Eleven, advice on how to communicate your feelings and needs to ensure a backlog of emotions do not spoil your involvement in the pleasures to be found in the present moment. Chapter Twelve looks at the power of positive thinking to help keep body and mind healthy. Chapter Twelve will give you tips on cultivating the habit of self-nurturing and the final chapter is just putting it all together. The days are long gone when we put the whole responsibility of our health and well-being into the hands of others, however reputable their profession. We are taking that power back and making informed choices about how we look after ourselves and what kind of treatment we may need at times. However, to do that we need to understand a little about the workings of our bodies, the ways we affect this with how we act and think and feel about our environment and ourselves. This book will empower you with the ability to balance body, mind and emotions in order to become whole and healthy.