Herbal Anxiety Treatments

Anxiety is hard enough without worrying about new chemicals being introduced into your system to combat it. If you've seen a doctor for your anxiety, you may have been told you need some new miracle drug or that you need a psychiatrist. But in many cases, you can take care of anxiety on your own with natural products.

Identifying Anxiety

• If you can identify what's causing you anxiety, you may be able to avoid that person/place/thing and lessen your stress and anxiety. Can you describe what your anxiety feels like? For instance, it may feel like you have a balloon in your chest that keeps getting bigger. Identify what causes that feeling. Sometimes just knowing exactly what you're feeling may help you head it off.

Herbs You Can Use

• There are many ways to use herbs to treat your anxiety. You can take capsules, diffuse oils, drink teas or add herbs to your bath. It may take all of these ways to help your anxiety; only you will know what helps and what doesn't. All of the herbs listed below can be found in natural food stores. You can generally buy them in bulk and then use them in a tea ball to make teas or in cheesecloth for your bath. Many of them can be found in capsule form so that you can get the benefit even if you aren't a tea drinker. You should not use chamomile if you have a ragweed allergy.

  Herbs you can use include kava kava, ginseng, valerian, lavender, lemon balm, catnip, St. John's wort, bugleweed, licorice root, fennel, feverfew, hops (another one that might cause an allergic reaction), passion flower and peppermint (good for a nervous stomach).

Oils You Can Use

• Another approach is to use essential oils. You can use them in a diffuser, in your bath, or add them to a lotion for massage. These "calming" oils include vanilla, orange blossom, rose, lavender, bergamot, hyssop, marjoram, peppermint, sandalwood, clary sage and cedarwood.