Why Adaptogens Are Worsening Your Chronic Stress & Burnout

Did you know that you can be both completely wired, tense, and anxious while also being totally fatigued, burned out, and depleted? This seeming contradiction in stress patters is one that’s all too familiar for clinical herbalists- we see it often and usually in people who have tried taking herbs for stress and fatigue but ended up worse off than when they started. Even though the pattern seems all over the place and even impossible in the same body, there’s a great deal of intelligence and power behind it which I’d like to share with you here. Understanding how we can be simultaneously wired and tired also shows why many of the most popular and effective adaptogens and relaxing herbs will simply make things worse.

Long-term chronic stress leads to burnout. Over time, the body’s reserves of adaptive energy start to deplete and aren’t able to replenish because stressful situations come one right after the other. While our bodies are great at helping to keep us upright in the face of stress, even intense stress, eventually they simply cannot keep up. In the fast-paced world we live in there are often no breaks between anxiety-inducing events. As soon as we clear one thing, another thing follows right behind it. In a short time we tap out our stored bank account of adaptive energy and the body starts losing its ability to heal and replenish. We can consider this situation a type of core burnout or deep deficiency. It’s like a car that’s run out of gas from being driven too far, too long, and too fast with no chance for a refill.

But even in burnout we have to keep moving! The heart must keep beating, we have to show up to work tomorrow, our family needs us, and our bodies are still fighting off seasonal illnesses, inflammation, and the damaging effects of stress. This creates a tense-and-tanked pattern. It’s like pushing a car that’s out of gas- we have to keep moving even though the gears are not longer able to fuel themselves.

In this analogy, the car represents our depleted and exhausted body while the person pushing represents that part of us that activates and tenses up to try and keep things together, protected, and moving. The further into collapse we get, the more the body stresses out about how we’ll survive. It tenses up more, floods us with more stress hormones, and then we end up even deeper in burnout.

Rhodiola rosea is one of our most cherished western adaptogens- and one that can dramatically aggravate many fatigue, burnout, and anxiety patterns

For folks who are interested in herbal medicine, the effects of wired-and-tired living might inspire them to work with specific herbs and formulas that can help support their bodies and minds while protecting them from the damaging effects of stress. They will often turn to popular and well-loved adaptogens like Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera), Eleuthero (Eleutherococcus senticosus), Rhodiola (Rhodiola rosea), and Cordyceps (Cordyceps militaris). These herbs are celebrated for their ability to help protect us from the damaging effects of everyday stress, help us build up adaptive energy for the future, nourish essential body and mind functions, and give us calm, clean daytime energy while helping deepen our sleep at night. Some folks will experience great effects from taking these herbs, while others will feel like things either don’t change at all or get worse. This latter category is actually more common than you think- and in my clinical practice I often work with individuals who have tried every herb, formula, and format of herbal medicine only to feel they’ve wasted their time and money.

The reason for this is simple: not every herb is appropriate for every body.

Just because an herb is good for stress doesn’t mean it’s good for the kind of stress you have the kind of body your stress is happening in, the way you experience stress, the places where your body is most affected by stress, or how your stress is rooted. When we break it down like this we start to see herbal medicine in the way it’s been practiced since time immemorial. Every person is unique and will need a particular herb or harmonized formula to address their healing needs.

Choosing the right adaptogen requires a deep understanding of each herb, a complete picture of the individual person, and understanding of the way chronic stress patterns are emerging for them. When these three things are clear, a qualified clinical herbalist can help define which herb or carefully formulated collection of herbs will best work for the person. Most herbalists spend dozens of hours in deep research, exploration, and connection with each of the herbs they work with in clinic- and they are able to bring this to the client as part of their work.

So, the right herb for the right person in the right situation with the right patterns is important- but there’s another level to this that often gets overlooked by even the most experienced herbalists…

Schisandra chinensis berries are known poetically in Chinese Herbalism as Wu Wei Zi; the five-flavored fruit, and are a powerful harmonizing spirit in many of our most potent adaptogenic formulas.

now that you know a bit about how important it is to connect the right herbs with the right person, let’s go a bit deeper and explore how herbal medicine approaches mixed presentations where someone is both wired and tired, tense and tanked, fired up and fatigued all at the same time.

Many people who experience this pattern will either go toward a calming herbal formula to address the anxious feelings or a stimulating and gathering formula to address the fatigue. They’ll choose Ashwagandha or Reishi or Holy Basil based on what they read online or in a book, or Rhodiola, Eleuthero, Cordyceps, or Ginseng to help them get through the day without so much fog and fatigue. Here, the person is only addressing one part of the pattern. The calming adaptogens lower the anxiety but don’t address the fatigue. The stimulating adaptogens address the burnout but don’t tackle the anxiety.

And something truly problematic also happens. The person sees a small improvement in the area they’re addressing, and a core worsening of the area they aren’t. This can’t be solved by just adding another herb to the mix because then the formula is pulling their body in two different directions which creates added stress.

Relaxing adaptogens will push the person deeper into a collapsed fatigue, stimulating adaptogens will increase anxious energy and leaking of vital force from the body. One step forward, ten steps back.

SO how do we address these mixed pattern situations? Through the graceful nuances of formulation. By choosing appropriate anchoring herbs for the individual person, then buffering the formula with various strong and gentle herbs that address their core, the patterns, affected body systems, and energetic alignment, we create something that can lower the tension and stress while also refilling their tank and supporting them in replenishing adaptive power.

For some clients who notice this pattern early, we can do both things at once. For others who may be further into hidden collapse, we might work on one thing for a few weeks and then ease into something deeper. Either way, the herbs and supportive practices like heart rate variability training and meditative tea ritual can be truly transformative.

Cordyceps militaris is a powerful medicinal mushroom that helps guide complex herbal formulas deep into the nervous system for repair and replenishment.

Adaptogens and the herbs that support and empower their effects such as nervines, antispasmodics, sedatives, and nutritives, are such a powerful support for the stressful world we live in. When chosen to suit each person individually and harmonized to settle into your life, patterns, and goals in a way that goes with the intelligence of your body instead of against it, their effects can be truly life changing!

If you’ve been navigating chronic stress, anxiety, worry, burnout, or depletion, I would love to help connect you to the herbs and custom formulas that will speak to your wellness. Reach out with any questions you may have or schedule a visit at our beautiful herbal apothecary in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah.