Homeopathy for Anxiety, Fear, and Panic Attacks: How It Works

 

Roughly 56 million Indians suffer from depression, and nearly 38 million experience some form of anxiety disorder. India has one of the highest cases of mental illnesses all over the world. The National Mental Health Survey in 2016 found that nearly 14 per cent of India's population found the need for active mental health interventions.

 

What Are Anxiety Disorders?

Anxiety is a very normal emotion. It is your brain’s way of responding to stress and informing you of potential dangers ahead.

Everyone feels anxious every now and then. For example, you might worry when faced with a problem at your office, before making an important decision or even before taking a test.

Occasional anxiety is acceptable, but anxiety disorders are different. They are a number of mental illnesses that bring upon constant and overwhelming anxiety and fear.  Excessive anxiety can sometimes get so severe that you might avoid family get-togethers, work, school, and other social situations that might trigger or worsen your symptoms.

With proper treatment, many people with anxiety disorders can manage their emotions.

 

Types of Anxiety Disorders

There are several types of anxiety disorders:

·         Generalized anxiety disorder: When suffering from generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), you feel excessively tensed and unrealistically worried with almost little or no comprehensible reason.

·         Panic disorder: In the case of panic disorder, you feel a sudden and intense fear that brings on a panic attack. During a panic attack, you may start sweating out of nowhere, have chest pains, and have a pounding heartbeat. Sometimes you might even feel like you are choking or having a heart attack.

·         Social anxiety disorder: Social anxiety, also known as social phobia, is when you feel overwhelmingly worried and self-conscious about social situations that actually occur on a daily basis. You start obsessively worrying about others judging you or being embarrassed or ridiculed by them.

·         Specific phobias: Phobia refers to an intense fear of a specific situation or objects like the fear of heights or flying. The fear normally goes beyond what is appropriate and may cause you to avoid situations perceived as ordinary by others.

·         Agoraphobia: In agoraphobia, you have an intense fear of being in a place where it seems hard to escape or get help in case of an emergency. For example, you might panic or feel anxious when on an airplane, in closed and compact spaces, on public transportation, or standing in line with a crowd. 

·         Separation anxiety: Little kids aren’t the only ones who feel anxious or scared when a loved one leaves. Anyone can get separation anxiety disorder. If you do, you will find yourself feeling very anxious or fearful when a person close to you leaves your sight. You’ll always worry that something bad may happen to your loved ones. Contrary to this you find it rather peaceful when they are around you.

·         Selective mutism: This is a type of social anxiety usually found in kids which can be suspected when they talk normally with their family and don’t speak in public, like at school. This is also found in elders but it is mostly children who experience this and eventually grow out of it over the years.

·         Medication-induced anxiety disorder: Using some particular medications or illegal drugs, or experiencing a withdrawal from certain drugs, can be held responsible for triggering symptoms of anxiety disorder, leading to a medication-induced anxiety disorder

Anxiety Disorder Symptoms

The main symptom of any form of anxiety disorder is excessive fear or worry. They can go as far as making it hard to breathe, stay still, sleep, and concentrate. Your specific symptoms will depend on the type of anxiety disorder you have but the common anxiety symptoms are:

•              Feelings of panic, doom, or danger

•              Panic, fear, uneasiness, and inability to concentrate

•              Feeling cold, sweaty, a numbness, or tingling in hands or feet

•              Intensely or obsessively avoiding objects or places associated with the fear

•              Sleep problems, tense muscles and difficulty staying calm and still

•              Breathing faster and at an unusually fast pace (hyperventilation)

•              Dizziness and shortness of breath

•              Thinking about a problem repeatedly and unable to stop the train of thoughts

•              Heart palpitations, dry mouth and nausea

 

Causes of Anxiety Disorder

Some causes of anxiety disorders are:

·         Brain chemistry: According to some research, anxiety disorders can be linked to faulty circuits in the brain that controls our fear and emotions.

·         Genetics: You have a higher chance of suffering from anxiety disorder if it runs in your family.

·         Drug withdrawal or misuse: Certain drugs can be helpful in hiding or decreasing certain anxiety symptoms. Anxiety disorder is often found in people who also exhibit alcohol and substance use.

·         Medical conditions: Some lung, heart and thyroid conditions can trigger symptoms similar to those seen in anxiety disorders or worsen the already present anxiety symptoms.

·         Environmental stress: This refers to stressful events you have witnessed or lived through. Such stressful events often linked to anxiety disorders include childhood abuse, neglect death of a loved one, being attacked or seeing violence. 

 

Homoeopathic remedies

·         Aconite

Aconite is a recommended homeopathy medicine in cases of intense, sudden anxiety, panic, or fear. Panic could be associated with past trauma. Symptoms of this type of panic include dry mouth, dry skin, and a fast heartbeat.

·         Argentum Nitricum

At times, Argentum Nitricum is recommended for people with anxiety that happens because of the uncertainty of things. It includes claustrophobia, fear of heights, hypochondria or fear of everyday things. Uncertainty-based anxiety could go hand in hand with digestive disturbances like diarrhoea, and sweets cravings.

·         Pulsatilla

This is for people who experience childlike anxiety (irrespective of their age) and might need a lot of reassurance and support from others in order to feel better.

·         Arsenicum Album

Arsenicum Album is a recommended medicine for those with anxiety due to fear of darkness, loneliness, or being imperfect. People with this type of anxiety fear being alone and may relieve anxiety by controlling or criticizing those around them which factors in their fear of being imperfect and projecting it on others, eventually isolating them from others in some cases. They may also feel cold more often.

·         Silica

Silica is for people who have a fear when it comes to experiencing new things, getting a lot of attention, and talking in front of people. There is a possibility that they might become workaholics to soothe their fears.

·         Calcarea Carbonica

Those who are recommended Calcarea Carbonica may be similar to those who would find Arsenicum beneficial to their case. They develop a fear of breaking out of any safe and systemic routine. In this case, the anxiety worsens when plans are changed, and they show difficulty in “going with the flow” as they need it all figured out in advance to be mentally prepared for it.

·         Phosphorus

Homeopathic Phosphorus is believed to be an effective homeopathic treatment for anxiety. When anxious or furious, their thoughts get scattered and they have a difficult time focusing on things or even getting things done. Their anxiety can be associated with a need for approval in social circles or from romantic partners.

·         Ignatia

Homoeopathic doctors recommend Ignatia for those experiencing anxiety brought on by grief or loss. People who match this description are often very sensitive by nature and prone to mood swings and suddenly moving from laughter to tears. It is also recommended for those with depression.

·         Lycopodium

As with Gelsemium, Lycopodium is prescribed to people with a lack of self-confidence. Though they fear speaking in public and have stage fright, they manage to hide it well. They might cover it up by talking loudly or too frequently.

·         Kali Arsenicum

Kali Arsenicum is for anxiety that is related to health where the conditions include hypochondria, excessive grooming, and even fear of heart attacks. People with health-based anxiety may experience racing thoughts and difficulty sleeping. They might also fear death or dying. They are prone to feeling cold and more vulnerable to experiencing panic attacks.

·         Kali Phophoricum

This is suggested to those who are vulnerable to stress or becoming easily overwhelmed. Their anxiety stems from having too much to do or very daunting ambitions. Their anxiety tends to take a mental as well as physical toll on them as well.

 

A lot of people suffer from anxiety, but there is nothing wrong with it as long as you have it under control. It only becomes a threat when it goes undiagnosed or the patient receives improper treatment. Make sure to have your symptoms checked out if you suspect anxiety as it is one of those conditions that are better contained that ignored.