Anxiety can present in many different ways and forms. The “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders” (DSM-IV), published by the American Psychiatric Association, discusses the various conditions within the anxiety spectrum ad nauseam,and is beyond the scope of this article. It describes the spectrum as including everything from panic attacks to phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and generalized anxiety and its subsets. Anxiety is even more prevalent than depression (and many times these go hand in hand). It is important for organic causes of anxiety, such as hyperthyroidism, carcinoid syndrome and pheochromocytoma, to be ruled out.
Anxiety can be acute (lasting more than 2 days and less than 4 weeks) or chronic (occurring more days than not for at least 6 months). It can be a beneficial part of our existence on a short term basis, alerting us to danger, for example. But sometimes it can take over one’s life and interrupt daily activities, sleep, diet and lifestyle, even to the point where one doesn’t even want to go out and socialize. This can lead to serious health concerns and cause relationship issues.
Anxiety can stem from a myriad of causes, alone or in combination. Caffeine, inadequate sleep, poor diet, lack of exercise, and other reasons, some of which are listed below, can all be factors.
Let’s face it: We live in very stressful times. The economy, our jobs, inclement weather, our health or the health of loved ones, and even our pets can take deleterious tolls on us. For example, numerous studies have linked anxiety with cardiovascular disease. Anxiety increases the occurrence of cardiovascular disease, and increases the risk of an adverse cardiovascular event (stroke or heart attack). Studies have shown that the prevalence of anxiety is high at approximately 70% to 80% among patients who have experienced an acute cardiac event. Even among the patients who have not experienced these events, the prevalence of anxiety is estimated to be between 20-25%.
A meta-analyses (a combination of many similar studies) looked at 249,846 people, examining the association of anxiety with the incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD) in initially healthy people, using data from the US, Europe, and Asia. They determined that anxious people had about a 25% greater risk of CHD and an almost 50% higher risk of cardiac death over a mean follow-up period of 11.2 years. The study factored in all other risk factors and health conditions and still found that anxiety caused these results.
For many a decade, conventional medicine has ignored the mind-body connection. Naturopathy on the other hand has seen mind, body and emotions as one, working interchangeably and as a whole. Only recently has conventional medicine and research paid more attention to these matters. This is especially due to the work on Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction by Jon Kabat Zinn, who holds a PhD from MIT in molecular biology.
Conventionally, anxiety, regardless of etiology or form, tends to be handled with anti-anxiety medications, anti-depressants, sleeping medications, and at times, counseling. Naturopathically, we tend to go a step further. We encourage counseling, but at the same time will look at the whole person, including diet, lifestyle, nutrition, and social support. We follow a therapeutic order, utilizing the less forceful, least invasive means possible, while always meeting the patient where they are. We have nutrition and lifestyle modifications at our fingertips. We might use botanical medicines or physical medicine (examples include massage, craniosacral therapy, osseous manipulation therapy and hydrotherapy). We can utilize other methods such as cell salts (tissue salts) or flower essences.
Naturopaths tend to use lifestyle modifications and additions as simple as cutting back on caffeine, breathing exercises, yoga, and exercise in general. The list is almost endless.
Many patients may already be on medications and might be worried about potential interactions. These are logical, justifiable and legitimate concerns. This is where homeopathy can play a significant role in your healthcare.
Homeopathy is a system of medicine that has been around for more than 200 years. In fact, before the advent of Penicillin in 1928 and its more widespread usage in the 30s and 40s, all medical schools in the US taught homeopathy. Homeopathy was the major form of medicine until the 1950s, when pharmaceutical medications were becoming more widely used.
Homeopathy was developed by Samuel Hahnemann, MD, a German physician. He was concerned about the medical practices of the day, including blood-letting and purging patients with poisons such as arsenic. He felt there had to be a better way. So he developed homeopathy, based upon the principle that like cures like, which comes from the father of medicine, Hippocrates (460-377 BCE). Homeopathy also uses the principle of extremely dilute substances. The more dilute the substance, the more powerful and deeper acting the remedy is.
Homeopathy is considered an “energetic” medicine and therefore does not interact with any medications, supplements or herbs. Much like naturopathy, it takes into account a person’s physical, mental and emotional states and puts the jigsaw puzzle pieces together to match them to 1 of about 5,000 remedies — a seemingly daunting task indeed. Although the science and art behind homeopathy is very challenging, a good naturopath who utilizes homeopathy doesn’t tend to have much difficulty in finding a good remedy to match a patient’s entire self.
Basically, there are two kinds of homeopathy: acute and constitutional. Acute is what people are more familiar with; a person goes to his or her local health food store and purchases a blue tube, in 30C potency (strength) that has an indication on it. For example, it could be a remedy called Spongia tosta with the indication “dry cough”. This is an acute remedy, for an acute condition. The reason there’s an indication on the label is because the food and drug administration (FDA) governs homeopathy. So, although the label might say “dry cough,” the remedy may and can be used for many, many more conditions. This is why it is of the utmost importance to seek a qualified health practitioner, such as an ND (naturopathic doctor) who can utilize these medicines appropriately and deftly. Furthermore, you can only get a potency stronger than a 30C via a prescription from your physician.
There are many well known homeopathic remedies that are used in anxiety. Arsenicum album, Phosphorus, Carcinosin, Syphylinum, Natrum muriaticum, Calcarea carbonicum, Gelsemium sempervirens, Aconite napelus, and Sulphur, just to name a few. This is where “constitutional” homeopathy reigns king. Constitutional homeopathy is the aforementioned jigsaw puzzle metaphor. Again, more of a reason to see a trained physician to get a good remedy that helps with not only your anxiety, but with any and all of your health concerns. Homeopathy is all about optimizing your one true self. It enables the genes you were given at conception and makes them work at a more optimal level.
To give an example of just how powerful this medicine can be, I’ll describe a case I had about a year ago. A 49-year-old female came to my office complaining of peri-menopausal symptoms, panic attacks, extreme anxiety and insomnia. Her peri-menopausal symptoms included hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, volatile emotions ranging from weeping and crying to extreme irritability and chronic migraines. Her anxiety presented in the form of inability to cope with day-to-day interactions and circumstances and these lead to panic attacks. The icing on the cake for her was that she had insomnia from the racing thoughts which worsened her anxiety and led to more panic attacks.
Upon speaking with her and getting a good picture of her mental, emotional and physical self, I gave her a constitutional dose of Arsenicum album one time and asked her to return in 2 weeks. When she returned she said she didn’t know what I did or gave her, but she had not had one migraine, went from 4-6 hot flashes a day to only 2 in two weeks, and had no episodes of night sweats. She only reported one episode of crying and that was because her dog got sick and she had to take him to the vet. She said her boyfriend commented on how stable her mood was. Her sleep was the best it had been in years. The vaginal dryness didn’t correct, so I prescribed vitamin E oil to apply topically to the vulva and inside the vagina.
I told her to return in 2 weeks. Upon follow up, she reported that she still had no peri-menopausal symptoms, was able to cope 95% more in her day-to-day interactions, and had no panic attacks. I saw her for another 6 months in my practice before she moved away and I only had to re-dose her remedy (the Arsenicum album) once, at a lower (weaker) potency.
Dr. Todd Born is a licensed naturopathic physician in Avon, CT, and is an active member of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians. He practices at Whole Health Associates, LLC, the premier location in the Farmington Valley for natural medical care for the entire family, offering naturopathic medicine, chiropractic care, acupuncture and massage therapy. For more information or to schedule an appointment, please visit www.wholehealthllc.com or call 860-674-0111.