Re: Adrenal Fatigue and Mental Illness (Quick Poll)

I do agree that AF does have a very large mental component to it. I was never diagnosed with a mental disorder, but I have always been a bit OCD. A total perfectionist, type A personality who always had to do everything big and would never settle for anything mediocre in my life. I have found that this is a common personality type among AFers.

Interestingly enough, I never had anxiety or social issues. If anything, I was overly confident in myself, leading me to repeatedly take on much more responsibility than I was capable of handling at work, home, and in my overall life.

Yes, there is a mental component that needs to be addressed, but sadly, many of us with AF have a plethora of physical issues that have played a larger role in the demise of our adrenals. Also,many of us have been burdened with heavy metals since childhood (from fillings or vaccines that they force you to get when you start school) that create a good majority of mental disabilities.

Personally, I have a heinz 57 case of dysautonomia (I fit into multiple categories on and off), a few nasty chronic infections, a genetically weak liver (thanks grandma), and some fun autoimmune conditions to add to the mix. I had been dealing with these issues on and off for years, often ignoring them and believing that if "I just thought myself well" it would happen. Often times these internal pep talks would keep me going through the day, but not addressing these things truly hurt me in the long run.

My mental issues were actually the least of my problems, but certainly did not help things.

I'm all for the "let's beat AF!" pep talks, and I'm not trying to be a Debbie Downer. I'm just saying that AF is often just the icing on the cake, and the real cure is not focusing on beating AF, but focusing on beating the things that cause the body to go awry. Many of us have been here awhile, and I shake my head every time I see a new person come around and talk about how they are going to easily beat their AF by doing X,Y,Z. Eventually they learn.

Lam failed me, just like a good number of others here on CZ. Why? Because he focuses primarily on adrenals and not on anything else. It's pointless. It's like trying to remove a tick without removing the head. It will keep growing back healthy as ever unless the entire head is removed. Just like the mental issues, for many, will not go away until the metals are eliminated.

The journey to health is like an onion. The more layers you peel back, the more hidden stuff you're going to find. Sadly, this is the most difficult undertaking that a person could go through in their entire lives. Eventually, we learn to accept to remove the pharse "well if I just deal with (my mental issue/my candida infection/ my parasites/) then I will be all better!"

That's why I am partial, like Seattle, to nutritional balancing. It is not a guarantee, but it is the best approach I have seen so far being that it addresses the body on a cellular level, works to eliminating toxic metals, and promotes an overall healthier lifestyle.