What’s your “type”?
Finding out may help with stress levels
Each of the Five Types has its own strategies and strengths, as well as vulnerabilities to specific stressors. Power of the Five Elements provides techniques for each of the Adaptation Types to overcome their specific vulnerabilities and utilize their own adaptive ’toolbox.’
Stress has a way of blindsiding all of us if we are not well prepared to adapt to changing circumstances. In fact, one definition of a healthy person is adapting well to changing life circumstances. My patients that adjust to difficult situations and recruit their own adaptive abilities are much more likely to maintain normal stress hormones and avoid chronic disease. It’s no coincidence that there is an epidemic today in our highly stressed society of diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and heart disease all of which are made worse by elevated cortisol, the body’s main stress hormone.
Cortisol helps us to survive a stressful experience through raising blood sugar, mobilizing free fats, shifting blood flow from the digestive tract to the muscles, and eventually breaking down muscle for energy. With the type of stress we all deal with in modern society, often the midbrain continues the secretion of cortisol at high levels even if the original challenge is resolved. Cortisol increases appetite and weight gain around the middle, and leads to fatigue, and anxiousness. Over time, elevated cortisol levels are a major risk factor for diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, arthritis, and cancer.
Resetting the levels
To prevent these health catastrophes, a method of resetting the cortisol level is needed. Studies have shown that the brain can remodel and regain a healthy level of cortisol through psychotherapy and greater self-awareness. The Five Adaptation Types (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water) provide a guide, based on the traditional Chinese medical system of the Five Elements, to understand the unique tools each of us has to manage stress. Each of the Five Types has its own strategies and strengths, as well as vulnerabilities to specific stressors. Power of the Five Elements provides techniques for each of the Adaptation Types to overcome their specific vulnerabilities and utilize their own adaptive ’toolbox.’
The Types
Every person has a predominant Type, though we all have aspects of every Type in our makeup. The Wood Type adaptive powers include great creativity and vision, organizational skills, and decisiveness. Under stress, the Wood Type stays angry and doesn’t forgive easily. The Fire Type, where generosity, passion, and enthusiasm are strengths, under stress, anxiety and fatigue are common. They are most vulnerable to loss of intimacy and relationship issues. The Earth Type often shines with empathy, understanding and consideration, but when maladapted become self-absorbed, worried and dwell on problems. They are most vulnerable to feelings of insecurity and disruption of home and family. The Metal Type’s adaptive abilities include a strong moral compass, preciseness, and a sense of self-worth. Under stress they withdraw, get depressed and cynical. They have difficulties with letting go of loss and holding on to regrets. The Water Type is resilient, with a deep sense of trust and faith as adaptive tools. When poorly adapted they feel overwhelmed, fearful, and exhausted, and are vulnerable to unexpected events.
My patient, Judy, is an example of how these insights can be used. She grew up with a demanding father who expected perfection and as so often happens, instilled in her a perfectionist and rigid approach to life. She is typical for the Metal Type, lacking self-esteem, vulnerable to losses in her life and feeling a lack of respect from colleagues and friends. This led to increased stress responsiveness, elevated cortisol levels, and chronic colitis. (Each of the Elements has organ correspondences that can lead to specific vulnerability for medical problems. The Metal is associated with the lung and colon.) With Judy’s poor stress coping from a lack of self-knowledge, her midbrain continued the secretion of cortisol at high levels even after some of the earlier stressful experiences had resolved. Cortisol elevation leads to fatigue, depression, and anxiousness and increases appetite and weight gain around the middle that in turn increases cortisol production by the visceral fat cells. This vicious cycle is one reason for the obesity epidemic today and reinforces the importance of improving adaptation to control cortisol.
Judy had become better adapted through understanding the power and pitfalls of her Type leading to lower cortisol. She was finally able to take off the prisms through which she viewed her world. In the past, she had made several life decisions to find the respect and purity that the Metal Type so often craves, often leading to increased cortisol response. Through her work with the Five Types, Judy became mindful of the traits of the Metal Type, learned to accept imperfection and appreciate what she did have, and connect to her own sense of the sublime. She was able to completely recover from her medical problems.
The Five Adaptation Types is one method of resetting the cortisol level. There is no magic pill or medical therapy that will help to overcome poor adaptation. Every person needs to find his or her own path to deal with stress effectively. With a diet to control cortisol, relaxation techniques, and the right exercise routine, using the adaptive skills of each of the Adaptation Types is one way to stop the stress-induced epidemics of obesity, anxiety, insomnia, and chronic disease.
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"What’s your “type”?
Finding out may help with stress levels"
authored by:
Charles A. Moss, M.D., has been practicing integrative medicine and Five Element acupuncture in La Jolla, California, since 1978, when he established The La Jolla Clinic of Integrative Medicine, one of the first holistic health medical clinics in the...
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