Are you one of the many people feeling stuck daily because of anxiety? Instead of turning to pharmaceuticals, use herbal remedies for anxiety that are created from natural botanicals. By choosing herbal remedies, you will be eliminating all the unwanted side effects that accompany medications.
30% of women suffer from anxiety. That’s a big number! If you are anything like me, you are trying to find a healthier way to help you deal with anxiety in a more holistic way rather than relying on medication.
There are two types of anxiety: occasional circumstantial anxiety and chronic anxiety. Everyone experiences occasional circumstantial anxiety. With this type of anxiety, it only occurs occasionally and only because a certain situation has come up such as a major change happening in your life.
The other type of anxiety is chronic. This type is not something that everyone experiences and can be very debilitating. Chronic anxiety can make it hard to move forward, always feeling like your world could crumble at any time.
The most common remedy people take for chronic anxiety (medication) causes other problems and unwanted side effects. I wanted to share some herbal remedies for anxiety with you in hopes that you can tackle this struggle in a more holistic way to keep your body in a more healthy state overall.
This post is all about herbal remedies for anxiety.
Holistic Approaches
Lavender
A common type of herbal remedy known to cause calmness in anxiety is lavender. Anxiety can cause sleepless nights. To use this herb to assist in sleep, take about an hour before bedtime. Research shows that lavender is especially helpful for those who are about to have surgery as well as before and after chemotherapy.
There are a few ways to use lavender. You can make a tea out of the blossoms. Take 1/2 tsp lavender flowers, 1/2 tsp lemon balm leaf, and 1/2 tsp chamomile flowers. Steep in 1 cup of hot water for about 2o minutes.
You can also use lavender as a tincture. 1-2 mL in 1/4 cup of water, up to 4 times a day.
Use lavender oil in a diffuser. This is especially good for children to be able to benefit from this herb too!
Lavender flowers found in eye masks are super helpful to help fall asleep. You can find the eye masks that my family uses here so you can get your own as well!
If drinking a lavender tea, be careful of the possible side effects of it causing a headache or constipation. If taken with other sedative medications, it could have more impact on your body.
Turmeric
Turmeric is a very interesting herb! Like so many other herbal remedies, it has a wide array of benefits. I even used this for my dog when he had arthritis! Turmeric is a root similar to ginger. It is a very bright color though and stains easily, so keep that in mind if using this in loose form.
Curcumin is an active ingredient that is derived from turmeric. The extract of this is the part of this plant that you need to use in order for this herbal remedy to help anxiety. You can find it in capsule form ranging from 80-500 mg daily.
Turmeric is used for culinary purposes (spice) as well. Turmeric as a spice as well as curcumin can be used while breastfeeding. However, you should avoid curcumin if pregnant. Also, if you have iron deficiency anemia, you should avoid this herb.
Lemon Balm
Lemon Balm is a very easy herb to grow. In fact, it will take over if you aren’t careful! It is recommended to grow this herb in container. Lemon balm isn’t the most effective remedy on its own compared to the other herbal remedies listed in this blog, but it is a very nice companion to other herbs such as lavender or chamomile tea. This herb has a very calming effect that can slow down processing speed and alertness due to its mild sedation, so proceed with that little bit of caution. Lemon balm has been shown to reduce anxiety in people who are recovering from heart surgery and severe burns.
Passionflower
The passionflower plant has a beautiful and complex-looking flower! Passionflower is one of the more recently discovered herbal remedies for anxiety. Research shows that passionflower is just as effective as the medications used to treat people who suffer from high anxiety. By using this flower rather than the medications, you will be avoiding all of those unwanted side-effects.
You can consume passionflower in a tea (dried flowers), as an extract (up to 800 mg a day for up to 8 weeks), tablet (90mg daily), or capsule (400 mg twice daily, up to 8 weeks).
Native Americans have used passionflower to help aid in boils, wounds, earaches and liver problems! It also helps restlessness, agitation, and insomnia.
This herbal remedy for anxiety is not safe for pregnant or breastfeeding women.
Chamomile
Chamomile is a wonderful herb to use to not only make you tired, but also to relieve stress and help improve your mood. It improves clinical anxiety on a moderate to severe level. This herbal remedy for anxiety is also safe to ingest while pregnant and breastfeeding! Just make a chamomile tea, mixed with some honey to sweetened if desired, and enjoy. You can also take chamomile capsules: 500mg 3 times a day.
Something to know about chamomile before you take is that it can react with blood-thinning medications or medications that prevent a rejection of organ transplants. If you are someone who is allergic to ragweed, you might be allergic to this flower as well.
Chasteberry/Vitex/Chaste Tree
Chasteberry, Vitex, or Chaste Tree are all the same thing, just known in different ways. This herbal remedy is good for anxiety with pms. Studies have shown to significantly reduce over-all symptoms aligned in pms, including anxiety. Take in capsule form, 180 mg twice daily or in tincture form 3-5 mL daily.
Ashwagandha
Ashwagandha is an herbal remedy that really reduces the symptoms of anxiety. To consume this herb, you use the root extract. There are three different ways to consume this. 1. Mix ashwagandha in a powder form into smoothies. 2. Take 300 mg capsules twice a day. 3. Tincture: 2-4 mL twice daily. If anxiety is keeping you up at night, this is a great remedy to take before you go to sleep.
Reishi Mushroom
The reishi mushrooms have a calming and relaxing effect to them making them a very effective herbal remedy for anxiety. It also helps you sleep if taken right before bedtime. This is also a safe remedy to take while breastfeeding. There are two different ways I recommend you consuming the reishi mushroom: 1. 3-9 grams of dried mushrooms placed into capsules similar to the ones you can find here. 2. 2-4mL of reishi mushroom tincture mixed in water. Drink 2-3xs per day.
American Skullcap
American skullcap has been used in traditional medicines to help as a sedative and also assists with insomnia and anxiety. Research studies show that American skullcap contains antioxidants which help in neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimers.
To help relieve stress and get a better night sleep, consume American skullcap 1 hour before bedtime. You can consume this herb in a tincture (1/4 tsp diluted in 1/2 cup warm water 3 times daily), tea (2-3 cups daily) , or capsule form (1,050 mg daily).
To really see the effects of American skullcap, you should consume this herb consistently.
Echinacea
Echinacea is a beautiful flower that is commonly used to help treat colds and the flu. However, newer research has shown that the root extracts of echinacea also help with reducing anxiety! The extract should be consumed twice daily (40 mg) for seven days. You can also make a tea out of the roots: 1 cup up to 4 times a day.
Do not take echinacea with caffeine. The side effects of caffeine could be increased: headaches, increased heart rates, and feeling jittery.
Conclusion
If you are one of the many people who suffer from anxiety, whether it be chronic or occasional circumstantial, there are plenty of herbal remedies available for you to use in many different forms. I encourage you to try going a more holistic approach to ease your anxiety before jumping into the pharmaceuticals which commonly have unwanted side-effects.
If you suffer from anxiety, chances are you have headaches as well. Read here to learn how to use 10 relief-giving herbal remedies for headaches too!
This post was all about herbal remedies for anxiety.
