The most prevalent mental health condition in the US is anxiety disorder. Anxiety affects 40 million adults in the United States. That represents nearly 5% of the total population. Many people have been using anti-anxiety medications to combat this epidemic. Nevertheless, due to the numerous negative effects and health risks associated with these drugs, even medical professionals acknowledge that this is not a long-term solution.
Thankfully, bay leaves have proven to be an effective natural remedy for anxiety that doesn’t come with harmful side effects.
Anxiety and Medication
Anxiety is something that everyone has dealt with at some point in their lives. Every person is impacted by it in a unique way, and some people experience it more than others. Anxiety disorders can cause sufferers to experience such intense distress that it interferes with their ability to lead regular lives.Anxiety attacks frequently result from increased distress and panic experienced by those with anxiety disorders. An intense sensation of fear or terror is the hallmark of anxiety attacks, and many patients claimed to feel as though they were about to have a heart attack. Additional indications of an anxiety episode include sweating, racing heart rate, chest pains, tingling or numbness in the fingers, and sweating.
Anxiety attacks can be caused by social anxiety disorder, specific phobias, panic disorder or a general anxiety disorder.
Social anxiety disorder is a phobia that is characterized by overwhelming self consciousness during common social situations. The anxiety generally stems from the worry of being judged by friends or peers, or behaving in a way that would cause embarrassment in front of others.
Specific phobias are intense fears of specific objects, situations or certain animals. Common specific phobias include a fear of flying (or heights), a fear of dogs, a fear hospitals and many more.
General anxiety disorder is the constant feeling of excessive worry and tension, even if there is not a lot to be worried about.
Panic disorder is generally characterized by a feeling of intense terror that strikes without warning and usually has no specific cause.
In an attempt to combat the crippling symptoms of anxiety, many people turn towards pharmaceutical medications to help calm themselves and cope with everyday life. However, these medications come with a variety of unpleasant and harmful side effects that can actually worsen a person’s anxiety symptoms rather than improve it (experts call these the “paradoxical” effects of anti-anxiety drugs).
Common side effects include:
- Drowsiness/ lack of energy
- Slow reflexes/ clumsiness
- Confusion and disorientation
- Depression
- Memory loss
- Blurred vision
Some of the paradoxical effects of anti-anxiety drugs include:
- Mania
- Hostility and rage
- Aggressive or impulsive behavior
- Hallucinations
Aside from the fact that these drugs are seriously harmful and can actually worsen symptoms of anxiety, many of them are highly addictive too, meaning that if one would want to stop taking them they would have to experience withdrawal symptoms as well. This inefficiency and danger of these drugs highlights the need for natural remedies for anxiety.
What are Bay Leaves?
Bay leaves are aromatic leaves of the laurel tree that have been used throughout history for tradition, medicine and culinary purposes. Recent research has shown that inhaling compounds found in bay leaves have soothing effects that are able to reduce symptoms of anxiety.Bay leave’s soothing properties come from a naturally occurring compound found in it called linalool. One study found that rats who inhaled linalool during aromatherapy sessions showed increased social interaction, and decreased aggressive behavior.
Now that you know how effective bay leaves are as a natural remedy, here is a way to naturally relieve anxiety at home using them.
Start by heating up a piece of charcoal and placing it in a small fire-resistant bowl. Then burn five to ten bay leaves and place them in the bowl. Then leave the room for five to ten minutes (make sure the bowl of fire isn’t going to burn your house down) and return to the room after waiting.
The room will be full of the fragrance of bay leaves and you should start to feel relief from anxiety after spending ten to fifteen minutes in the room. Let us know if this helped with your anxiety in the comment section.