homeopathic remedies for anxiety

Homeopathic Remedies for Anxiety

Anxiety is a natural response to potentially difficult or dangerous situations. But when it feels too intense it can affect our ability to think and function optimally. Find out more about homeopathic remedies for anxiety, and when they might be able to offer you support.

Using Homeopathic Remedies for Anxiety

Why Do We Feel Anxious?

Anxiety is a natural part of our make-up, to look ahead and anticipate potential problems or danger. It is there to help to keep us safe – to alert us and motivate us to take action. One could say that anxiety can be quite a useful response. The key, as always, is balance. Is it an appropriate and proportionate response to the issue or situation we are facing?

If we feel anxious about something, an exam or driving test, a trip to the dentist, a presentation at work, an impending surgical operation that anxiety can be understandable. There may well be potential difficulties or risk and the anxiety response can help us to prepare.

homeopathic remedies anxiety image 1But is our anxiety so pronounced that the response is disproportionate to the potential issue? Does it stop us from thinking and functioning happily and effectively? If so, it becomes self-defeating. This is when we need to find ways to calm that internal storm, heading back in to calmer waters.

When to Seek Further Help

When your anxiety is a short-lived reaction, you can understand why it has been triggered and are not experiencing issues with your health or long term happiness as a result – some straightforward self-help measures might be good to consider.

If an anxiety response is longer-term, deeper or you have symptoms that concern you, and you are doing all the right things but not responding, then it’s time to see a healthcare professional to just check something is not being missed

Individually Tailored Remedies for Anxiety

We all have different things that we do or don’t worry about, and different ways of responding. Travelling by the London Underground or by plane might be a breeze for one person, and a horror for another who may regard the other’s aversion to public speaking as unfounded. One might withdraw, paralysed with fear and others seek out company and activity to reassure or ease the feelings of anxiety.

When using homeopathy to support someone with anxiety, we try to make the remedy match as best we can for that individual. This is as true for self-help remedies for minor and self-limiting conditions as it is for the individually tailored deeper constitutional support when a homeopath is prescribing for you.

Homeopaths work holistically, looking at the individual and their lives as a whole in order to find the most suitable remedy. The homeopathic approach is detailed and considered, respectful of our individual experiences, and our health.

The remedies themselves often have extensive profiles, covering an array of physical symptoms, emotional responses and individual traits. This can mean that the same remedy might be used by a person when they have a cold, or feel nervous about going to the dentist – such as Gelsemium, because the remedy suits that person and the responses they have.

 Homeopathic Remedies for Anxiety

globuli-medical-bless-you-homeopathy-163186I draw on a wide range of remedies when working with patients who need support with their anxiety. There are hundreds of homeopathic remedies that include anxiety within their Materia Medica profiles. Here are some that I have found to be useful in my practice over the years, and my experience with each.

  • Aconite – this is the remedy I think of for people who have feelings of pure panic. Their fright might have been triggered by a shock or bad experience. Their anxiety feels immediate and intense, and they may feel as if they are going to die, that they will not survive. These feelings can happen at any time but may be much worse at night – the four o’clock in the morning meltdown!
  • Argentum-Nitricum a good remedy where someone is worried and anxious, but not terrified. This can be around an upcoming event or journey for example. There may be a fear of heights, flying or claustrophobia. They can be the sort of person who does things quickly, rushing around in a hurry. When they feel nervous, it may give them diarrhoea.
  • Arsenicum-Album – this remedy comes to mind when someone feels anxious, needs company and a lot of reassurance. Their worries may be varied and immediate, or concerning bigger issues such as their health. They may be restless and find it hard to settle. This is another remedy where night times may feel much worse.
  • Gelsemium – this can be supportive when someone has anticipatory anxiety. That exam or dentist’s trip looming in the future. Or it may be that they have been thrown into a state of anxiety after a shock or bad news. They may feel wobbly and shaky, and can have that “rabbit in the headlights” feeling of being paralysed by fear.
  • Lycopodium – this is another remedy that can help to support someone when they have anticipatory anxiety. There may be a really strong sense of dread around a particular event such as giving a speech or presentation, perform on stage, take a test, etc. A situation where they may feel at risk of being exposed, getting it wrong, failing; although once they are in that situation they perform well. They may find these nerves can go to their stomach and they may feel butterflies or have an upset stomach beforehand.

You can find some homeopathic remedies for anxiety at your local independent health food shop. They often stock remedies in a 6c or slightly stronger as a 30c. You can start with a lower strength, taking it two, three or four times a day depending upon how you feel and how you respond. It is best to start gently and build up to the level you need to help you. You can increase the strength and frequency if you feel you need a little more support, and reduce the dose, or stop, when the remedy is needed less or not at all.

Just as choosing the remedy is very individual, so is the dosage regimen. You can alternate remedies and use combinations. You can tailor it to what works best for you. Homeopaths and homeopathic pharmacies  will have access to, and work with, a greater range of remedies in a wider selection of potencies than you can buy off the shelf.

Practical Support Measures

It is also important to check if you are inadvertently doing anything that is raising your anxiety levels unnecessarily.

For some, widely fluctuating blood sugar levels can contribute to feeling on edge, nervy or fuzzy headed. Making sure you are eating healthily, regularly and finding foods that release their energy slowly over time can help.

coffeeIt can also be worth considering your caffeine intake. Whilst it might not be the root cause of anxiety (unless you drink strong coffee by the bucket-load every day!) it might be fuelling feelings of anxiety. If you think it might be, don’t go cold turkey, notch it down gently over a few days and weeks and see if you notice a difference.

Are there things you do that may exacerbate your worry levels but are just part of your daily routines that you do on auto-pilot? For example, a holiday from news media can be refreshing. Making changes like having a no TV night when you chat with your family, bake cakes, play board games, read, listen to music or a play on the radio, go to the cinema, a concert or see friends – whatever gives you a boost and allows your system to relax and reboot.

Anxiety – Considering the Bigger Picture

Anxiety has a function, and when experienced at an appropriate level to the situation and for a short period is not usually an issue. Self-help homeopathic remedies for anxiety are one way to find some support for everyday challenges.

However, when anxiety becomes too intense or too prolonged it has implications for our happiness and health in the short and long term. Anyone who has experienced a full blow panic attack can tell you of the sheer power of the chemicals that are released in our system that make our hearts and minds race.

It can wear us out. Our adrenal glands respond to stress by releasing a number of hormones – including adrenaline and cortisol. This is the flight, fight or freeze response and whilst it might keep us alive in moments of real danger it is not good for us in the long run. Read more about this, and why relaxation is important for our health and happiness in my post on self-hypnosis for relaxation.

Most people will have things that worry them, but if you feel it is more than you can manage, then it can be good to explore ways to work with why you feel anxious and how non-habit forming approaches such as homeopathy to support you.

If you would like to find a homeopath who is local to you for individually tailored advice and health support, Find a Homeopath draws upon the main professional registers across the UK, and you can read from many positive testimonials from people who found homeopathy helped them with their anxiety.

I hope you have found this post on Homeopathic Remedies for Anxiety to be helpful. If you would like to book an initial free 15 minute phone or mini-consultation to see if my approach might suit you please do contact me.

References and Resources:
[1] What Happens in a Homeopathy Session?

[2] National Center for Homeopathy – Materia Medica for Anxiety

[3] Homeopathic Pharmacies

[4] Self-Hypnosis for Relaxation

[5] Positive Testimonials from People with Anxiety

[6] Find a Homeopath