Here i share two of my favorite evidence-based, drug-free and very powerful natural therapies to beat chronic stress and anxiety disorders.
I have a great deal of personal experience with severe anxiety/panic syndrome, dysautonomia/POTS, chronic fatigue and post-traumatic stress disorder, that i suffered with for the majority of my early adulthood.
Pharmaceutical medications which are used to treat anxiety, stress and depression often come with a plethora of serious side effects such as impotency with SSRI anti-depressants and addiction issues in regards to benzodiazepine drugs for example.
This makes the need for evidence-based, natural and drug-free solutions to treat anxiety and stress disorders all the more important.
A number of studies have now confirmed that both of the powerful natural therapies, which I’m about to share below, can help to reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression, stress, increase energy, reduce trauma/PTSD, balance the autonomic nervous system and improve general well-being.
Another benefit to both of these natural therapies is that they are free, easy to learn, can be done at home and require no equipment.
Emotional Freedom Techniques(EFT)
Emotional Freedom Techniques(EFT) or the “tapping solution” as its commonly known, is one of my favorite free, natural tools for beating stress and anxiety.
EFT is a form of “psychological acupressure” that uses tapping techniques using the fingers on various points on the body.
Emotional Freedom Techniques combines ancient Chinese acupressure philosophy with modern psychology, to achieve very powerful results, especially in individuals with post-traumatic stress and anxiety disorders.
There is actually randomized controlled scientific research, which has found EFT to be helpful for psychological trauma symptom improvement in veterans with PTSD(post-traumatic stress disorder).
The study published in 2013 found some very impressive results:
After just six one-hour long EFT coaching sessions, a whopping 90% of the EFT group no longer met PTSD clinical criteria, compared with 4% in the SOC/WL group.
After the wait period, the SOC/WL subjects received EFT. In a within-subjects longitudinal analysis, 60% no longer met the PTSD clinical criteria after three sessions.
This increased to 86% after six sessions for the 49 subjects who ultimately received EFT and remained at 86% at 3 months and at 80% at 6 months.
The results are consistent with that of other published reports showing EFT’s efficacy in treating PTSD and comorbid symptoms and its long-term effects. [1]
A systematic review with meta-analysis from 2016 on Emotional Freedom Techniques and Anxiety concluded:
Emotional freedom technique treatment demonstrated a significant decrease in anxiety scores, even when accounting for the effect size of control treatment.
However, there were too few data available comparing EFT to standard-of-care treatments such as cognitive behavioral therapy, and further research is needed to establish the relative efficacy of EFT to established protocols. [2]
Reflexology
Another of my favorite natural therapies is self-reflexology, which can be done easily at home, is completely free and again requires no equipment.
Reflexology is a form of “massage”, which is typically done on the feet, hands and sometimes other parts of the body.
According to traditional Chinese medicine(TCM), specific acupressure points on the sole of the foot correlate to different organs/parts of the body.
Whether that theory is true or not, still remains to be scientifically verified. However, there is now a number of studies which have found reflexology to be helpful for reducing anxiety.
A randomized controlled trial published in 2013, examining the effects of reflexology on the anxiety of patients undergoing coronary angiography concluded:
Reflexology can decrease the anxiety level before coronary
angiography. Therefore, reflexology before coronary angiography is
recommended. [3]
Another randomized controlled study published in 2014, evaluating the effects of foot reflexology massage on anxiety in patients following coronary artery bypass graft surgery concluded:
The significant decrease in anxiety in the experimental group following the foot reflexology massage supports the use of this complementary therapy technique for the relief of anxiety.
A study from 2011 published in the Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing evaluating the effects of self-foot reflexology on stress, fatigue, skin temperature and immune response in female undergraduate students concluded:
The results of this study indicate that self-foot reflexology is an effective nursing intervention in reducing perceived stress and fatigue and, in improving skin temperature.
Therefore, it is recommended that this be used in clinical
practice as an effective nursing intervention for in female
undergraduate students. [4]
Nutritional balancing expert Dr. Lawrence Wilson is a huge fan of reflexology and explains in-depth more about the health benefits, which you can read on his site at – FOOT AND HAND REFLEXOLOGY FOR HEALING by Dr. Lawrence Wilson
References
[1] Psychological trauma symptom improvement in veterans using emotional freedom techniques: a randomized controlled trial.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23364126
[2] Emotional Freedom Techniques for Anxiety: A Systematic Review With Meta-analysis.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26894319
[3] A Randomized-Controlled Trial Examining the Effects of Reflexology on Anxiety of Patients Undergoing Coronary Angiography
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4228540/
[4] [Effects of self-foot reflexology on stress, fatigue, skin temperature and immune response in female undergraduate students].
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21516005
[4] FOOT AND HAND REFLEXOLOGY FOR HEALING by Dr. Lawrence Wilson
http://drlwilson.com/articles/REFLEXOLOGY.htm
The information in this article has not been evaluated by the FDA and should not be used to diagnose, cure or treat any disease, implied or otherwise.
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