When people ignore the warnings of stage one and stage two stress breakdown and keep going under the stressful circumstances, breakdown is inevitable. Everyone has a breaking point. When people break down under stress, the reasons for persisting in the stressful circumstances can be divided into two.1. The stress breakdown victim has chosen to ignore the warnings of breakdown.2. The stress-breakdown victim has been unable to escape from the excessive stress and responsibility.The first question in the great coping debate concerns itself with the personality of the coping person. What are the characteristics of the coping personality, and is there anything that can be done to alter this person’s attitudes towards an approach to life less likely to cause stress breakdown? In my experience, coping people have some personality characteristics in common.• They have high standards which they expect from themselves and others.•   They tend to have low self-esteem and often feel they need to earn the approval of others.•   They tend to use a method of relating to other people where they tend to put the needs of other people ahead of their own needs.•   While they put other people’s needs ahead of their own, they resent having to do this, but they tend to feel guilty about the resentment they feel.The factors which contribute towards the development of the coping personality are multiple and complex. Firstly, coping is much prized by our society. From infancy we are tempted, cajoled, blackmailed and forced into competition with others. Our society awards us badges, qualifications and rewards for excellence, for winning. However, winners are always losers. Before a winner is a winner, he has failed to win top place, and after he loses top place, he is a loser.Thus, our society teaches its children to value competition and ambition to succeed, and in doing so teaches them fear of failure and the possibility of being less popular if we’re unable to win a place in the race of life.
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Kerry is a 54′year’old community health worker who lives in a Victorian seaside town.My asthma history is quite unusual, according to my doctor. I was a chronic asthmatic as a child and spent a lot of time in bed. I was unable to exercise and missed a lot of school. I always seemed to have a bad cold or bronchial infection and I have clear memories of lying on the kitchen table waiting for the ambulance to come and take me to hospital.I remember my mother taking me to a Dr Sinn in Collins Street. He suggested I try swimming, and I used to go regularly to the old Olympic pool. The swimming was very difficult at first, but gradually I became quite a good swimmer. I was never completely free of asthma, but my attacks became less frequent.Then I took up long distance running and, to my amazement, I was a good athlete. Sometimes I could not train due to asthma, but between attacks I was very fit. Then I moved to an area where there were dusty, unmade roads and lots of wattle trees. I assume it was the pollen in the early spring and the dust from the roads, because my asthma got much worse. One day when I was nearly 28,1 had a massive attack and nearly died. I was in a critical condition and when I finally recovered and left hospital, the doctors told me I would have to be very careful.The amazing thing is, I have never had another attack. Since then I have had pleurisy a number of times, terrible colds and flu, but never any asthma. Today I lead a healthy lifestyle. I feel good and I don’t expect to have asthma again. I am aware, though, that it could return unexpectedly. If it does, I’ll be pretty wild.*56\148\2*

So, what are the treatment options for psoriasis? Well, the first requirement must be to ensure that internally the body is in a sufficiently good condition to allow healing to start. This means that the basic condition for effective psoriasis treatment is a balanced diet. For many years my patients have had a high rate of success with the following diet, where a choice can be made between items listed under each section.Breakfast:Compote of stewed apple, dates, blackberries and prunes.Mixture of dates, apple and blackberries.Porridge sweetened with molasses or honey, and soya milkor prune juice only. Brown rice and/or barley (cooked) served with soya sauce orstewed apple. Rye crispbread.Lunch:Salad of any raw vegetables except tomatoes or peppers. Raw apple, grated carrots, onions and garlic, cress and alfalfa seed sprouts are especially good in a salad.Four to eight ounces of grated carrots every day for carotene.Blended vegetable soup with Plantaforce used for stock. Two slices of rye crispbread or one slice of pumpernickel bread.Jacket potato, brown rice and/or barley, millet, or millet and potato.Dinner:Lamb – only once a week.Beef – only once every 10-14 days.Fish – once or twice a week.Take pulses and whole grains for protein requirement including soya, haricot, aduki and kidney beans, lentils, chickpeas or Tofu – in at least three meals per week.At least two meals per week should consist of brown rice and vegetables and bean sprouts only.Potatoes, brown rice, barley, millet or millet and potato.Pumpkin.Any fruit, except bananas and oranges.Beverages:China or Earl Grey tea without milk or sugar.Herb teas – drink one cup of sage tea per day. Elderflowertea is good. Try an infusion of elderflower and peppermintwith a sprinkling of hops for flavour. Drink one or two cups of fresh carrot juice per day.Dressings, oils and condiments:Dress salads with Molkosan, olive oil or cider vinegar. Use garlic frequently in cooking and dressings. Use only safflower, sunflower or olive oil, sparingly. Use ample herbs, especially sage. Use Herbamare salt.Foods to be avoided:Chocolate, cheese, eggs, cow’s milk, butter, yoghurt, processed foods, white flour, white sugar, cakes, biscuits, bread, citrus fruits, coffee, white flour products, red wine, excess alcohol, malt vinegar, smoked or pickled foods, yeast extracts, animal fats. Smoking is prohibited.
Supplements:Soya, lecithin and riboflavin (vitamin B2) are especially beneficial. A daily dose of 50,000 IU of vitamin A is often used in psoriasis therapy. The use of oil of evening primrose is also advisable.In this diet I have been careful to avoid any foods which may act as an allergen to psoriasis sufferers, as I regard this as a distinctly possible cause of the condition. This approach cannot eliminate all possibilities, because the food we eat or the water we drink are not the only factors, pollution of air and environment are also relevant. In my book Nature’s Gift of Food I have given detailed examples of the suitability of low protein or high carbohydrate diets and such knowledge is important for a successful approach to psoriasis. High protein is thought to aggravate the condition and therefore pork in any shape or form is not allowed. I must emphasise the use of carbohydrates and already I hear worried voices that this will cause an increase in weight. Nothing is further from the truth, because the diet is so well worked out that it will not cause weight gain. The diet is also aimed at being toxin-free, and in order to gain success as quickly as possible, I would further recommend that, wherever possible, organically-grown food should be used. If there are indications of a slight weight gain, take three or four Kelpasan tablets with a glass of hot water first thing in the morning. This is an excellent prevention for food poisoning or food toxicity.As usual, efficient digestion and absorption are of great importance and so the food pattern must be right. If constipation is a chronic problem, I advise patients to follow Dr Vogel’s Rasayana Programme, or ‘Spring Cleansing Course’. Together with the diet I have often found this a good foundation for a psoriasis programme. Cleansing should be comprehensive, beginning with the liver, gallbladder, kidneys, and bloodstream. Sometimes a raw food diet, combined with zinc and essential fatty acids and herbs, like burdock, stinging nettle, dandelions, and skull cap, is of great help.Let me remind you again that every effort should be made to control this condition, because psoriasis can spread at a most alarming rate, often thought to be even faster than cancer. It is quite amazing that statistics point to a psoriasis incidence as high as two to three per cent. The naturopathic view, that has been held for some time, is that the cause of psoriasis lies in a thinning of the small intestinal walls which allows poisons to enter into the circulatory system, and therefore the lymphatic system, manifesting itself in irritations on the skin. Whatever the cause, the sooner the problem is recognised and action is taken, the better for the patient.*42\147\2*