Chronic Nervous System Disruption & Herbal Management
Introduction
Saralyn Bellmer is an herbalist, life-long plant lover, and founder of Heilbron Herbs. Almila Kakinc is our founder, author of the book The Thirlby, and a Johns Hopkins-trained Labour & Delivery nurse with a background in Integrative Health from Duke Medicine. Below is a Q & A conversation between Almila and Saralyn on resilience.
Q The world is an increasingly overstimulating place—from COVID and social media to dating or even navigating our health. What are some ways in which overstimulation manifests itself that you’ve seen in your practice?
A You’re right, we live in a time when our lifestyles and societal expectations are really misaligned with how our bodies have evolved to function. Information - one form of stimulation - has never been more available to us, and because our brains are programmed to pay attention to rapidly changing stimuli, a survival instinct, not only is it hard to limit our exposure because of the way technology (and our society) have evolved, we actually gravitate toward it. Even if we don’t have negative associations with some of these experiences, our bodies experience it as stress.
When we’re exposed to stress, our bodies’ sympathetic nervous system is activated to stimulate the release of stress hormones (like cortisol and adrenaline), which prepare us to “fight or flight.” These hormones are meant to be processed/burnt off by physically engaging in these survival tactics but in most of our lives we are not actually processing these stress hormones and they can build up. So stress can affect us in acute ways but also over time it affects us chronically. This manifests in a variety of ways including the classic modern health heavy hitters like heart disease, obesity and diabetes, but chronic stress can also significantly alter our actual stress response mechanism - this is called HPA (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal) axis dysregulation. This dysfunction can influence anxiety, depression, insomnia, poor memory or focus, deep exhaustion… things I’m sure a lot of us can relate to!
Q What are some ways we can re-stabilise the nervous system long-term and adapt to stress better?
A Well, no one ever likes to hear this but first and foremost we have to identify stressors in our lives and try to reduce the amount of stress we are under.
Herbs can be really helpful, though. There is a whole category of herbs called nervines - herbs that work with the nervous system. Some are more calming, some a bit more sedative, and some that are specifically nourishing. Milky Oats is my all time favorite tonic nervous system remedy, it acts like food for the nervous system for people who are chronically overwhelmed, frazzled, or burning the candle at both ends - and it’s gentle enough for just about everyone. Some others I love for calming and grounding are skullcap, anise hyssop, lavender, chamomile, maypop (passionflower), motherwort, and lemon balm. Each nervine has different qualities - for example, I find maypop and skullcap to be really pacifying, motherwort to be sort of fiercely grounding, and lemon balm quite uplifting.
Another category of herbs used here are adaptogens. Adaptogen is a super trendy term these days and it’s often misused - all sorts of companies are using the word on their packaging in incorrect ways, so watch out for that! Anyway, an adaptogen is a non-toxic herb that produces a non-specific resistance to stress, and has a normalizing, or balancing, effect on the body - so whether the system is hyper or hypo, over or under active, an adaptogen brings it back to the middle. There are only a couple dozen herbs in the category, some of which are still classified as “possible adaptogens”. Some of these herbs that people may have heard of include ashwagandha, reishi, licorice, ginseng, tulsi and maca. Each adaptogen is used pretty differently - some are calming, some are energizing, some are drying or moistening or have affinities with different body systems - but used correctly and matched with the right physiology, all work to build resilience to stress by re-regulating and normalizing endocrine, immune, and nervous system functions.
Q Beyond herbal support, what practises do you suggest for frazzled nerves?
A Ultimately, herbs will mostly act as a bandaid if lifestyle is not addressed. Whether we like it or not, balancing the nervous system really comes down to reducing stress where possible, sleeping a lot and doing things that bring us pleasure, make us laugh, and help us feel relaxed. Also getting outside in green spaces regularly - there is some really interesting research on this - even looking at pictures of nature has some effect. Of course, this is all a constant struggle for a lot of us, myself included, when we live in a society that expects us to prioritize production and rewards us for being ‘busy’. Also: Therapy!! Therapy has helped me gain such a valuable understanding of the traumas I’ve experienced, what triggers my fight or flight response, what that means for me, and how I can regulate that better.
Q How can we manage nervous system disruption after an acute situation, such as a panic attack?
A Some of the nervines I mentioned above can be helpful, there are also stronger, low dose botanicals that can be very effective in these sorts of intense triggered states - anemone is one. I would suggest working with an experienced herbal practitioner for low-dose botanicals since some of them can cause unpleasant side effects if not used correctly.
Q Nervous system disruption is often most palpable through symptoms like anxiety, depression, or burnout. Are there other manifestations you look for, such as skin breakouts, and how do you manage them?
A Our body is an ecosystem! It’s all connected! There’s a huge connection between the nervous system and the gut, and the gut and the skin. So yes, symptoms displayed across many systems can totally be related - often are. In a situation like this, a clinical herbalist would try to gain as much information as possible, looking at the whole range of symptoms, a person’s constitution, disposition, habits, and other markers and find herbs and lifestyle changes that treat the symptoms but also the body as a whole. With enough homework, a person can notice patterns and devise a protocol for themselves too - even just making a commitment to noticing how and when symptoms display can be helpful in getting a better understanding of what’s going on and how the body is connected.
Q What are three accessible things that readers can incorporate into their days for nervous system support?
A Get a lot of rest. Watch your caffeine intake, which can be really hard on the nervous system if it is already strung out - it can exacerbate symptoms like anxiety and insomnia and further cycles of exhaustion. Try taking Milky Oats daily. And remember to be patient and go easy on oneself - regulating the nervous system is like building a muscle, it takes consistent practice over a longer period of time to make it a natural feeling response!
