By Vaughn Gray,    updated 10/14/08

One of the most common complaints people have these days is lack of energy. There are a number of reasons for this. For one thing, most people don’t sleep enough. The average American sleeps less than 7 hours per night. Yet study after study has confirmed that at least 95% of people absolutely require at least 8 hours of sleep to function at their best. In addition, most people don’t sleep on the right schedule. Our bodies have a natural wake/sleep rhythm that is tied to the rising and setting of the sun. When we disrupt this rhythm by staying up late and sleeping in, the sleep we do get isn’t as effective (see Sleeping Well and Stay Energized Naturally for more on getting a good night’s sleep).

Beyond not getting enough sleep, the poor quality of most people’s diets leaves them with a lot less energy than they should have. Failing to get enough exercise also contributes to fatigue. All of these factors have a negative impact on mood as well as energy levels. Getting enough sleep, eating a nourishing, whole foods diet, and exercising regularly is as critical to our emotional well being as it is to our physical health (see Food and Mood and Healthy Mind, Healthy Body).

But these physical factors – sleep, diet, and exercise – are only one side of the coin when it comes to our energy levels and emotional health. Psychological factors are just as critical. Stress or feeling frustrated or overwhelmed can undermine our energy and mood just as surely as a terrible night’s sleep or a junk food binge (check out Stress Busting for a comprehensive guide to stress reduction). In addition, most of carry around some level of frustration, anger, and/or sadness about events from our past - even as far back as early childhood. And these supressed feelings can rise up and sabotage our energy levels and mood as well (see Maximizing Emotional Health for more). Ultimately, the way we feel as we go about our lives is powerfully influenced by both physical and psychological factors, and if we want to function at our best, with overflowing energy and focus, emotional resilience, and a positive outlook on life, we need to address both.

This is why a lot of people hit the wall when trying to find more energy and/or better their emotional health. They only focus on one side of the coin – either the physical or the psychological. Imagine someone who feels depressed and exhausted all of the time because their junk food diet has left their brain deficient in many of the chemicals that it takes to produce serotonin and other feel good neurotransmitters (again, see Food and Mood). This person could spend years with a great therapist, and work through every psychological issue that they have, but it still wouldn’t help them to feel happier and more energized.

On the flip side, someone with a highly stressful life and a lot of repressed anger and pain will tend to feel depressed and exhausted regardless of how good their physical health habits are (Check out Maximizing Emotional Health). Ultimately, there is no purely physical solution (no supplement, or exercise or nutrition routine) to an emotional/psychological problem, and no purely psychological solution to a physical problem – both spheres have to be addressed in order to achieve maximum physical and emotional health.

At this point you might object that their seem to be plenty of chemical solutions for whatever ails us, psychological or physical, when it comes to our energy levels and mood. From Red Bull to Prozac, there are a slew of supplements, energy drinks, and prescription drugs out there that promise to rev us up and keep us energized, and/or banish feelings of sadness, depression, and anxiety from our lives. Many of these drugs and supplements do work…sort of. But all of them are stop gap solutions. They all have  negative side effects (some very serious), and none of them address the real sources of fatigue, lethargy, sadness, or depression. We’re not here to argue about the costs and benefits (and there are both) of looking to drugs and supplements to feel better . We simply want to make the point that for most people, addressing the fundamental physical and psychological causes underlying a lack of energy and/or a depressed mood state offers a path to a real solution.