Anxiety

According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of American and the National Institute for Health, “Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults in the United States age 18 and older, or 18% of the population.” (https://www.adaa.org/about-adaa/press-room/facts-statistics).   

All of us have anxiety in our lives to one degree or another.  There are many ways to deal with anxiety and one should consider all options and base his or her choice of intervention based on severity and frequency of the anxiety.  Often using a combination of methods and protocols works best.  Here are some ideas from the National Institute of Health (https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/anxiety-disorders/index.shtml):

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Support Groups

Stress Management Techniques

Medication

In addition to the above The Anxiety and Depression Association of America also included some “Complementary and Alternative Treatments” which include:

Stress and Relaxation Techniques

Yoga (one of my favorites and here’s a free plug for Yoga with Adriene.  She's the best!)

Acupuncture (I love this one, too, after my initial fear)

Kava

Homeopathic or naturopathic medicine

St. John’s Wort

Massage therapy

Art, music, or dance therapy

Dietary supplements or herbal products

Meditation, prayer, or pastoral counseling, including mindfulness

Biofield therapies or bioelectromagnetic-based therapies

(https://www.adaa.org/finding-help/treatment/complementary-alternative-treatment)

With all these fabulous ideas I easily find two important areas that have been left out.  The first and most important being diet.  Our diet is vital to every chemical reaction in our bodies.  The importance of diet cannot be overstated, that’s why it will be a topic for another blog post on anther day.  But seriously, whatever your issue whether it be anxiety or something else, start with your diet.

Still another very powerful tool that has been left off the lists above is essential oils.  Pseudo science you may think.  They just smell good, so maybe that makes you happy for a minute.  While that may be true, there is so much more to essential oils than just the initial burst of happiness from a delightful smell. There are numerous scientific studies regarding essential oils especially as they relate to various types of anxiety.  You can find many of them on the National Center for Biotechnology Information website under “Pub Med Health” and “PMC” (Pub Med Central). 

Essential oils are one of the few substances that can cross the blood brain barrier because of the “natural fat soluble substance such as sesquiterpenes, a compound found in many essential oils” (the Essential life p 279).  Using essential oils aromatically in supporting the body to handle anxiety is very powerful because “the natural aromatic compounds enter the olfactory system and pass the olfactory bulb, which leads directly to the limbic center of the brain…Inhalation is the fastest way to get an essential oil into the body and has significant benefits on mood as it alters the chemical messages being relayed within the limbic system.”  (The Essential Life p 279).  If you need a quick review of the limbic system (I know I did) here it is in 2 minutes or less.

Oils can also be used topically to assist mood.  Applying the oil as close to the limbic system as possible is ideal:  directly below the base of the skull, on the mastoid bones behind the ears, across the front of the forehead, directly under the nose, and on the roof of the mount (place an oil on the bad of your thumb and then press your thumb to the roof of your mouth).

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastoid_part_of_the_temporal_bone)

 In addition, oils that are of the highest grade of purity available and made for therapeutic purposes are safe to take internally.  This is not recommended for oils off the supermarket shelf – many have fillers and other unknown substances.   You want to make sure your essential oils have no added fillers, synthetic ingredients, or harmful contaminants that would reduce their efficacy.   You can email me to find out what I use that meets all of these qualifications.

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To get you started using essential oils as part of your overall effort to reduce anxiety in your life, let me suggest 4 specific oils that have effect on various aspects of Anxiety:

Lavender – clams and relaxes, increase the ability to express feelings

Wild Orange – melts away anxiousness and energizes

Cedarwood – ground, promotes a sense of belonging and being connected socially

Bergamot – helps increase self confidence

(The Essential Life p. 280)

This is just the beginning. 

To receive a pamphlet about Essential Oils & Depression and Anxiety with 10 specific oils for anxiety and more specific protocol on how to use specific oils please enter your email here:

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See you next week for further discussion of this topic as we take a closer look at depression.