The Root of Illness - Chronic Stress
Many of the clients I see here in the herbal clinic in Salt Lake City, Utah are dealing with more than just one tidy illness pattern. In fact, I’d say most people have an average of five things they list in the ‘primary reason for visit’ section of our intake form! These folks are often frustrated, fatigued, and feeling a little hopeless as they try and negotiate with each illness individually while slowly depleting in vital energy, patience, and resources themselves. One of the best things I get to tell these clients is that, from the ancient perspectives of herbal medicine, their five things likely have just one shared root, and by addressing the root we can support the intelligence of their body in moving toward healing, wellness, and resilience.
From the perspective of herbal medicine, there is a radical trust in the body’s innate ability to heal itself, preserve health, and want to be healthy. So, when we see patterns of illness we know that somewhere along the line the body is being prevented from doing what it wants to do and is capable of doing.
I often visualize this as a kink in a hose. The flow of vital energy, life force, that inspires the body to do all it does and be all it can be is cut off and so the body struggles to be where it would like to be. By un-kinking this hose, we restore the flow of life energy back to the body and see that it begins to heal and protect itself in ways we might not have expected to be possible.
There are many ways this hose can get blocked off, but by and far the most common is chronic stress. Even low-grade, normalized, and under-the-radar kinds of stress can drastically limit how much energy can flow to and through the body. Stress is such an important factor in whole-person wellness that we see the following statistics relating to American healthcare:
Chronic stress affects 50%-80% of all adults
Around 75% of adults experience regular physical or emotional stress with negative impacts on their life
83% of American workers report experiencing workplace burnout and fatigue
The CDC estimates that over 75% of all doctor visits are related to stress complaints
19% of Americans report having their sleep disturbed because of stress
Chronic stress is linked to some of the most problematic illnesses in our country including hypertension, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, arthritis, addiction, mood issues, depression, anxiety, obesity, metabolic syndrome, and fatigue.
As you can see, even though we tend to minimize stress as something that’s just part of life- the damaging effects of even low-grade chronic stress can set us up for serious health issues over time- ones that can usually be avoided!
When the body is dealing with chronic stress, it takes precedence over many other crucial functions. When the stress alarms are activated, even just a little bit, the body diverts energy and resources to attending to the alarm, engaging with the threat, resisting damage from it, and then recovering from it. All the while essential functions like digestion, immunity, inflammation control, metabolic processes, detoxification of tissues, repair and rebuilding of the body, and mood stabilization all get deprioritized. The body says ‘we’ll get to that stuff later, after the danger has passed’, but that never happens because we are constantly surrounded by things the body interprets as threat.
In a short time, primary functions of the body begin to deplete, degrade, and misfire. Performance wanes as the body is unable to fully rebuild and nourish itself. Soon after disease patterns begin to manifest as a result of the diverted energy.
While all of this sounds dire, and it is, there’s good news here. If stress is at the root of so many of our illnesses and patterns, then addressing the stress can help relieve those many varied patterns! Rather than having to play whack-a-mole with one thing after another, we attend to the stress through the wisdom of herbal medicine and soon the body is able to restore, replenish, and rebuild.
In other words, most cases we see here in our herbal apothecary in Salt Lake City are not five different issues- but a cascade of issues with chronic stress as the upstream root cause of them all. By addressing the stress, replenishing reserves, creating space for the body-mind to heal, and empowering the intelligence of the body, we see see true wellness emerge.
If you’re ready to see what’s underneath the tense layers of stress and burnout, I would love to work with you!
The plants are, by nature, deeply regulating being who can help us re-align to the wisdom of nature, the intelligence of our bodies, and the natural flow of life energy… all while helping us feel more calm, centered, and powerful on our paths.
If you are experiencing a mental health emergency, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline immediately. It is free, confidential, available 24/7, and connects you to trained counselors who can provide support or dispatch a mobile crisis unit if one is available in your area.
