Masters of Health Magazine April 2019 | Page 49

Burn-out, Energy Depletion and Depression

The inability to sit still, which is characterised as ADHD, results from excess levels of stress hormones unable to be dampened down because magnesium is deficient. Low magnesium itself causes an increase in release of stress hormones.

They make us want to get up and move around constantly. It becomes difficult to focus or concentrate because adrenalin and cortisol are fight-or-flight hormones that restrict our ability to use the calm reasoning part of the brain – the pre-frontal cortex. There is not much time to think reasonably when your body is being flooded with stress hormones. The body becomes primed for flight and fast movement.

After we’ve run out of puff from all that anxiety and fight-or-flight, the body experiences energy crashes. As the brain consumes more energy than any other organ in the body, it starts to slow down and ration reserves. It’s pretty hard to be happy when your energy is depleted because we use a lot of energy to express happiness and enthusiasm. Without enough energy we just want to sleep all the time.