Natural Remedies for anxiety

Everyone feels anxious from time to time. But if you feel anxious for no reason and it is starting to effect your day to day life, then you could be suffering from generalized anxiety disorder. This disorder can become so severe that you will be unable to leave your home.

Symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder include, poor concentration, restlessness, irritability and just generally feeling tense. Some people may develop general changes in their health such as increased headaches, jaw pain, fatigue, insomnia, chest tightness and indigestion.

If you have any of these symptoms, you should see your doctor before you start a natural treatment. You want to make sure that you rule out any physical cause of these symptoms.

If your doctor says that you have anxiety, you may want to try an herb called passionflower. In one study, this herb was found to be just as effective as a prescription benzodiazepine drugs but with less drowsiness. Passionflower can produce some side effects. They may include, nausea and vomiting, drowsiness and a rapid heart beat. If you are pregnant or have kidney or liver disease, you should not take passionflower. You should also not take passionflower with other sedatives. (1)

If you do not want to try internal supplement to reduce your anxiety, you may want to try massage and mind and body relaxation techniques. Massage therapy can reduce your stress levels significantly and promote sleep. Techniques such as yoga, tai chi and meditation can reduce the stress that induces anxiety. You need to experiment to find the one that works for you and your busy schedule.

Hypnosis can help reduce your level of anxiety significantly if done properly. Hypnotherapy is used as an aid to psychotherapy and counseling to reduce anxiety. It can be used in one of two ways. It can be used as suggestion therapy where the hypnotic state will make the person more open to suggestions to help overcome unwanted behavior such as anxiety, nail biting, over eating or smoking.

Hypnosis can also be used as an analysis to get to the root cause of the anxiety. Once the root cause is discovered, it can be addressed in counseling sessions. Hypnotherapy is not dangerous. It is not brainwashing or mind control. The therapist cannot make the person that is hypnotized do embarrassing things or do things he or she does not want to do. But you should only explore hypnotherapy with someone who is a certified mental health professional that is trained in hypnotherapy.

If you feel that you are suffering from anxiety, the best thing you can do is to start eating right and get plenty of sleep. Do not turn to caffeine, cigarettes, alcohol or illicit drugs to try to get your anxiety under control. This will only make things worse. Take care of yourself physically and you will be better equipped mentally to control your anxiety.

(1) Georgetown University Medical Center: http://pharmacology.georgetown.edu/

RESOURCES

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center: Passionflower

MedlinePlus: Passionflower

University of Maryland medical Center: Passionflower