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The Exhaustion Epidemic

Let's visit childhood once more. Remember bounding out of bed in the morning, eager to meet the new day? There were playmates to visit, games to play, trees to climb, and little place for boredom or exhaustion. Look at the kids around you – there is an abiding energy and an enthusiasm that keep them going. Even in the evening, while you might be collapsing, their squirming little bodies want "just five more minutes" or "one more story" before succumbing to sleep.

Most of us would pay a high price to feel such energy. We get more done, and have more fun doing it, when we're feeling alive and alert. But somehow, as adults, most of us have outgrown this early exuberance, and we can't always summon the energy we want. We may rely instead on the use of artificial energizers.

To a large extent, the roots of our dependency on stimulants can be traced back to the Industrial Revolution, which demanded brutally long hours from workers. To meet the grueling demands of industry, workers were fueled with tea, coffee, and tobacco to stimulate them to work faster and more efficiently. Soon sugar entered the mix, to sweeten the tea and coffee, followed later by the introduction of chocolate. Ever-increasing consumption of these stimulants continued into the twentieth century, rapidly becoming part of the daily ritual of millions of people throughout Europe. And this trend continues to grow in the new millennium.

These "workers friends" aren't the only stimulants around, of course. Amphetamines, cocaine, and even alcohol – both a stimulant and a relaxant – fall into this category, too. All of these affect the emotional center of the brain – the limbic system – to produce the cherished experience of pleasure. Issues of illegality or serious health consequences aside, these popular stimulants will simply compound our load of exhaustion.

We'll be looking at the wellspring of that exhaustion and the substances that offer a quick-fix solution – which ultimately becomes part of the problem. And we'll see how it's possible to get back our energy by using ancient herbs and natural nutrients.

Our own technological revolution has spawned a world that never sleeps. Markets are open twenty-four hours; television and the Internet call to us twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Many of us are trying to keep impossible schedules to meet work and family responsibilities. When we shave an hour off our sleep, we feel we've gained some small advantage.

This all has a cumulative effect. You struggle to find time with your kids, friends, and colleagues, not to mention your partner. You start off less alert than you'd like, begin to feel drowsy as the day wears on, and doze off if you sit down to read or watch TV in the evening. When you finally find yourself together with your partner at bedtime, neither of you has any energy left to do anything about it!

Too often today, we rely on chemical "helpers" to keep us going: the frequent coffee breaks, the doughnut to satisfy our hunger when we have no time to eat, the cigarette to calm our nerves. You will soon see why we use stimulants, how the common stimulants affect us, how we become dependent on them, and how to replace them with healthier, more effective alternatives.

To get an idea of how depleted your energy might be and how dependent you are on stimulants, check yourself out on the Energy Check questionnaire if you have not already done so.

What's Up with Stimulants?
If you give in to your cravings for stimulants, it does not necessarily mean you are weak or "bad," but simply that your chemistry is controlling you. You need the right fuel – foods, vitamins, and other micronutrients – to run your body's engine. You also need sufficient sleep to restore body and mind and to maintain your energy level. Chronic sleep deprivation is a major source of fatigue.

You might even have a medical condition such as a chronic viral infection (chronic fatigue syndrome) or an imbalance in your hormones such as an underactive thyroid gland that makes you feel exhausted. Turning to stimulants to rev up your engine only further depletes your already bankrupt system.

The Roots of Addiction
Addiction can also have genetic roots, since we know that addiction runs in families. Programmed by your genes, you may be hardwired for stimulant addiction. An inborn deficiency in the number of dopamine receptors can lead to feelings of depression, low self-esteem, low energy, irritability, and lack of motivation. Termed reward deficiency syndrome (RDS) by researcher Kenneth Blum, the deficiency may cause sufferers to "self-medicate" in the form of drugs, alcohol, or thrill-seeking, dangerous behavior to feel energized, motivated, or happy. Alcohol and stimulant addiction can be the unfortunate result. Note, however, that RDS creates a predisposition only: you are not a slave to your genes. There are ways to deal with the problem nutritionally, as you will learn.

My Parents Made Me Do It
We can also learn addictive behavior from our families as we're growing up. Joan's parents, for example, would give her chocolate as a treat or reward on special occasions. Since it reminds her of the simple pleasures of childhood, Joan still comforts herself with hot chocolate or a candy bar binge when times get rough. Many children are raised on sugared cereals and soft drinks full of caffeine and sugar, leaving them hooked. Jerry's experience is another case in point: his teenage friends smoked cigarettes, so he joined them to fit in and look cool. Now, at age forty, he is an addicted smoker.

Summary
We are living unnatural lifestyles that lead to excessive stress and use of stimulants. The neurotransmitter dopamine, from which we make adrenaline and noradrenaline, is released when we are stressed or use stimulants. Motivating and pleasurable, stimulants generate energy by mobilizing glucose. As a result, stimulants make us more alert, energized, cheerful, or even high. These include sugar, chocolate, tea, coffee, cigarettes, caffeinated drinks, amphetamines, and cocaine. Downregulation quickly steps in to stop the fun. As a result, we need more and more of the stimulant to feel good and to maintain our energy levels. This leads to a vicious cycle of stimulant dependence and fatigue. Fatigue (and resultant stimulant cravings) can have many sources, including poor sleep and diet, chronic infection, and hormone imbalances. Since the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol lead to release of dopamine, we can become addicted to our own feel-good hormones, so we create more stress to keep the cycle going.