If you have ever dealt with bad anxiety, you may try medication after medication and realize that nothing is ever going to be a permanent fix. Something may work for years and then completely stop working. When that happens, you need to do your best to keep pushing on and do everything in your power to cope the best you can. One thing you may want to experiment with is aromatherapy to help reduce your anxiety. Although aromatherapy is not going to be as potent as taking something like a benzodiazepine, it still could greatly improve your situation and keep you feeling natural instead of drugged up.
Using Aromatherapy to Overcome Anxiety
What is aromatherapy?
Aromatherapy is type of alternative medicine that uses essential oils from plants to help change an individuals’ mood, mind, and state of consciousness to improve health, vitality, and wellbeing. Although there isn’t a lot of evidence supporting aromatherapy as a valid medical treatment option for things like viral infections, there is evidence that it could have therapeutic effects for conditions like anxiety disorder, high stress, as well as depression. For the individuals that don’t want to hop on anti-anxiety medication right away, aromatherapy may be a good first option.
Aromatherapy for anxiety disorders and stress
There are certain oils from plants that emit fragrances that soothe our nervous system and calm us down from high stress and anxiety. Typically these oils are massaged onto the body and/or inhaled with a room diffuser. With the careful selection of a scent or group of scents, they stimulate the olfactory system and trigger the production of certain endorphins as well as hormones.
Most people that try aromatherapy report feeling a sense of calmness and relaxation by the time they are finished. This in turn helps stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system and increases the production of relaxation hormones, while decreasing cortisol and epinephrine. In some cases it helps reduce blood pressure, breathing, and overall balance within your body.
Examples of common fragrances to treat anxiety
- Lavender
- Jasmine
- Bergamot
- Sandalwood
- Clary sage
(For more information read: 9 Best Essential Oils for Anxiety and Stress)
Consider consulting a licensed aromatherapist
If you have severe anxiety and are interested in trying aromatherapy to help with its treatment, it may be beneficial to contact a qualified aromatherapist. An aromatherapist is someone who has been educated in helping to treat others with aromatherapy. Due to the fact that they have likely seen and treated a lot of different individuals with this type of therapy, the aromatherapist will likely have an idea of what oils and scents are most effective for the treatment of anxiety. So if you want some advice on what scents to choose, how to perform the therapy, etc. you could consult a professional.
Aromatherapy works! Especially with essential oils, there are quite a few studies that show this. I’m fairly sure the ones you mentioned above have all been included in studies that showed they were effective.
I asked quite a few stress and anxiety therapists if they use it in their practice and they all said yes. I find it works for me as well even with a scent that just brings back a happy memory, holiday by the beach, etc. :)