Homeopathy & the Treatment of Anxiety Disorders
/Anxiety disorders frequently cause intense, excessive and persistent worry and fear about everyday situations. Ongoing anxiety can make a person imagine that things in their life are worse than they really are, which in turn can prevent them from confronting their fears whilst and cause a lot of suffering.
Although anxiety isn’t uncommon, the way it’s experienced is unique from one person to the next. These diverse experiences are reflected in the wide range of homeopathic remedies used for its treatment. Many homeopathic remedies cover broad symptoms, such as fear and anxiety, but in order to find a truly effective remedy it must match the individualising symptoms of the patient’s case.
For example, the remedy Arsenicum by the feeling that the world is a threatening and chaotic place, the remedy Aconite feels acute and uncontrollable panic, and the remedy Stramonium feels they’re in a life threatening situation and responds with a flight or fight reaction(eg. PTSD).
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ANXIETY REMEDIES
Arsencium: The main feeling is that the world is a threatening and chaotic place and Arsenicum feels weak and defenceless within it. This vulnerable feeing leads to loneliness and dependency on others with a constant need for reassurance. Arsenicum has specific fears and anxieties of robbers, poverty and being left alone. There is also characteristic anxiety around health and dying, leading to a hypochondriacal anxiety. Restlessness can be strong in Arsenicum and it is also one of the main remedies for compulsive behaviour.
Aconite: The main feeling of Aconite is of a sudden and intense threat. This is an acute state of anxiety filled mental excitability and hurriedness. This can arise from a fear of walking across a busy street, of an accident, of suffocation, or that you are about to die. When triggered, fear and nervousness rise quickly leading to panic attacks and difficult breathing (shortness of breath). Often the feeling is one of a life and death situation. Aconite avoids crowds, crossing the street and any situation that would excite the mind.
Arg nit: Caused by a sudden danger where you must respond in a crisis, which excites impulsive, restless and nervous behaviour. This could arise in a crowd of people, in closed spaces, tunnels, bridges, aeroplanes, any place that is blocked or high places. Arg nit is anxious to be in control in critical situations so that they can find their way out, for example they will sit near an exit in a theatre or in an aisle seat of public transport to escape quickly. Any kind of situation where the Arg nit feels trapped will trigger an impulse to get out of this situation.
Stramonium: Causations include witnessing death, violence and life threatening situations (PTSD). Stramonium feels helpless, as though abandoned and left in a terrifying place. Fear of darkness and a longing for sunshine, light and company is strong. They don’t recognise anyone, they just cling to whatever and whoever is there. They feel alone, lost and try to escape a perceived terrifying situation. Stramonium lives in fear that there is some kind of immediate danger, they feel disorientated, they stammer, and will kick, bite and scratch to escape. Specific fears of violence, cemeteries, ghosts, water, suffocation, strangers, demons, tunnels and animals.
ANXIETY SYMPTOMS & DISORDERS
Common anxiety signs and symptoms:
Feeling nervous, restless or tense
Having a sense of impending danger, panic or doom
Having an increased heart rate
Breathing rapidly (hyperventilation)
Sweating
Trembling
Feeling weak or tired
Trouble concentrating or thinking about anything other than the present worry
Having trouble sleeping
Experiencing gastrointestinal (GI) problems
Having difficulty controlling worry
Having the urge to avoid things that trigger anxiety
Types of anxiety disorders:
Generalised Anxiety Disorder
Panic Disorder (regular sudden attacks of panic or fear)
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Social Anxiety Disorder
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Specific Phobias (overwhelming and incapacitating fear of a specific object, place, situation or feeling)
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