How Herbal Medicines help Restore a Shattered Nervous System
- Sarah-Jane Cobley
- Oct 19, 2023
- 5 min read
As a home educator, I’ve been with my children a lot over the years. It’s a high responsibility, high demand job and has at times left me feeling shattered. This was not much fun and led me to investigate what was actually going on in my body and what I could do about it.
“Gone All to Pieces Syndrome”
Feeling wiped out physically is one thing, and provided our sleep and nutrition keeps us adequately restored and ready, can even feel satisfying if it’s after fun adventures or intentional healthy physical activity.
But what about when the source involves constant or repetitive bursts of high intensity emotional interactions? Followed by heightened mental activity, and the need to recover from what’s left over?
I remember coming across the term, ‘All Gone to Pieces Syndrome’ in Bartram’s Encyclopaedia of Herbal Medicine, and thinking, ‘yes, that’s it!’ That’s how I feel’. I felt jaggedy, confused, reactive, teary and in scattered pieces.
Nervous System overstimulation
I suddenly understood that it all related to an overstimulated nervous system whose resources were being depleted daily by chronic overstimulation.
There have been periods in our home-ed life that involved ongoing low-grade activation of the stress response, interspersed with intense nervous system activation. This happens during high tension situations where there’s conflict, misunderstandings or simply an excess of tiredness or hangryness.
The adrenal glands, which work in synergy with the nervous system, are also being overused and end up taxed of resources. These systems, (collectively know as the neuro-endocrine system) cannot continue to meet the repeated demands, hence, ‘Gone All to Pieces’. With short reactions that can be snappy, teary or even to the point of giving up, or simply having nothing left in the tank to even try.
In my next post I’ll cover adaptogenic and adrenal tonic herbs for building stress resilience. For now, I’ll concentrate on restoring the nervous system segment.
Nervous System Restoration
When I learned about the restorative power of nervous system herbs I was intrigued. When I started taking them and experiencing my own restoration I was pretty much in awe of their ability to rejuvenation.
They act very differently to conventional drug treatments for mental health issues, which generally act to suppress processes within the nervous system.
Conversely, herbs being food, nourish the nerve cells, and the blood capillaries that serve them. They are complex foodstuffs containing a vast array of phytonutrients, (phyto = plant), and due to having evolved together, our bodies know exactly what to do with them. I imagine it like a celebratory feast going on in the cells after a period of starvation.
It seems that some plants have a particular affinity for certain organs, offering them the very substances needed to vastly improve their functioning.
Herbs provide the resources required for carrying out an efficient job.
Gradually over time, the system strengthens and regains its integrity.
Nervous System Restorative Herbs
To name but a few, these herbs include chamomile, well used to ease shock, St. John’s wort for supporting big life transitions, skullcap for overthinking and Californian poppy to reduce anxiety.
All feed the nervous system directly with what it needs to thrive. Each one bringing with it its own unique package of care:
- Chamomile as Mother of the Gut
- St. John’s wort reducing nerve pain & herpes outbreaks
- Skullcap easing menstrual tension & cramps
- Californian poppy to treat insomnia
This means a herbalist will create a prescription based upon the whole picture of the individual through the blending of 4 or 5 herbs in one bottle.
The herbal prescription gives a much needed boost to the nervous system and helps to restore a sense of calm capability. It can then be kept in tiptop condition by incorporating a range of whole foods and culinary herbs into the diet.
Foods for the Nervous System
There is a fine line between herbal medicines and foods, (provided those foods are of the healthy nutritive kind). Herbs are simply concentrated to provide higher doses of the nutrients.
They act as restorative medicines to treat a whole host of diseases, or better still to strengthen the body and prevent disease.
Attending to the diet provides a treatment approach that is very empowering for the individual. It’s always nice to know there is something we ourselves can do to contribute to our own healing. For example, oats sooth irritated and inflamed nerve endings when used by internally and externally.
Oats contain calcium, as does tahini, (a household fav!), and dark green leafy veg, including seaweed. Calcium helps prevent insomnia, nervousness, and irritability.
B vitamins are needed for proper nervous system functioning, hale the kale again with the dark green leafy veg, plus nuts, seeds, beans and molasses.
Fatigue, insomnia, memory and concentration issues can be down to a deficiency in omega 3 fatty acids. Foods containing this essential nutrient includes oil rich spinach, linseeds, hempseeds, chia seeds and walnuts. Also, salmon, sardine, herring, and eggs.
Culinary herbs that are great for supporting the nervous system are often ones that are highly antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, as this reduces the likelihood of nerve damage. Think rosemary, thyme, oregano and basil. Fresh is best!
Nervous System Lifestyle hacks
Learning to regulate my nervous system has been a huge game changer for me. Not only recognising when I’m in fight or flight, but also more awareness about what things trigger me so that I can approach things differently.
Salt baths are always a go to for me, soothing away muscular tension at the end of a day. The magnesium in the salts is better absorbed via the skin, and muscles cannot relax in the absence of magnesium! This is a whole-body soothing that brings the body out of the fight or flight response and into rest and restore.
Other items you could put on your self-sooth menu could include massage from the children, dancing, singing, visualisation, reading stories, anything that lifts your spirits gently. Journaling and the NVC, (nonviolent communication), process has been huge form me.
Essential oils like patchouli, lemon balm and rose directly meet the brain to sooth via inhalation. My favourite scent by far is that of soil damp from rain! It contains bacterium that is thought to stimulate the production of serotonin and gives me an instant uplift.
Reducing stress in our lives is not just about finding the time to take ourselves away from stressful environments to recover or reduce exposure. It’s also about addressing the cause of the stress. As a home-educating family, we spend a lot of time together. On the flip side we feel more able to express ourselves, however, we can often react without much of a pause, and so conflict arises.
In our household and community we’ve found the process of Compassionate Communication (NVC) massively helpful in our ability to listen to each other, find understanding and be better able to work things out together. Thankfully, it has enabled our interactions to slow down, so that we can press the pause button, and choose how to respond rather than simply reacting.
Holistic Approach
When feeling that sense of having ‘Gone All to Pieces’ we can take a restorative approach using herbs, diet and lifestyle to strengthen and build the nervous system back up to optimal functioning. This then places us in a more resilient state for managing whatever comes up in the way we would like.
If this is something you’d like to address with me, please get in touch! I can’t wait to get creative with the herbs and give you that boost you need!
Free Webinar!
I'm excited to invite you to a free webinar I'm hosting next week, (Thurs, 26th Oct. '23 at 10am), to find out how to create fresh new energy for yourself as a home-educator!
Next blog piece: How tonic herbs & adaptogens can restore adrenal gland functioning
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