Help Your Patients Get Bounce Back Power

“I thought I was going to die.” The first time someone experiences a panic attack, this is what they will often say. Now more than ever my clinic hours are spent with patients who suffer from anxiety, panic attacks, social anxiety disorder, generalised anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder etc.

Through over fifteen years of clinical practice, I have developed a special interest in anxiety. I suffered with anxiety myself in my 20’s and I know how destructive and all-consuming it can be. At the time I turned to a trusted homeopathic family friend who treated me successfully. I felt fortunate that I had this option, as many people still do not realise that homeopathy can offer a valuable solution to anxiety.

This year I am seeing more people than ever who are debilitated by anxiety, more who are suffering with mental and emotional health problems. Mental health has finally made it onto the agenda and now with the Covid pandemic countless people are suffering with anxiety.

We can help. As a profession, homeopaths have their part to play. Our approach has always been holistic, acknowledging, understanding, and healing all levels; physical, mental and emotional. In my clinic, Healthy Homeopathy, about half my patients come with a presenting complaint of anxiety and stress. My clinic, like many others, has gone completely on-line and I am supporting an international clientele of anxious and stressed people. Patients range from the young to the elderly from the shy to the outward going.

Patients ask me what is the difference between stress and anxiety. Stress is the body’s natural response to danger, an automatic alarm that goes off when we feel threatened, under pressure, or are facing a challenging situation. In moderation, stress is not always a bad thing. It can help us stay alert and focused, spur us into action, and motivate us to problem solve. But when stress is constant or overwhelming, when it interferes with relationships and activities, it stops being functional and can become anxiety.

Within the sphere of anxiety some suffer from panic attacks which are a sudden overwhelming feeling of acute and disabling anxiety. Others experience an episode of intense panic or fear lasting from a few minutes up to twenty minutes.

These symptoms of panic can be frightening and happen suddenly, often with no warning and with no clear reason. However, sometimes there is an obvious trigger like getting stuck in a lift, or a meeting but in other cases, the attacks comes out of the blue.

During the panic attack the terror can be so severe that the patient feels as if they are going to die or totally lose control. The physical symptoms of anxiety attacks are themselves so frightening that many people believe they are having a heart attack.

After an anxiety attack is over, the patient may fear having another one, particularly in a public place where help is not available or they can’t easily escape. The feeling can be an overwhelming sense of fear and a sense of unreality, as if detached from the world.

Symptoms can be felt physically and are wide ranging; palpitations, shortness of breath, nausea, diarrhea, headaches and insomnia. On an emotional level a feeling of dread, brain fog, tension, anticipation of the worst, restlessness etc.

There are so many homeopathic remedies that can help with these symptoms. Our system is fantastic at treating and getting to the root of the problem. Examples of often indicated remedies for anxiety attacks are:

Aconitum n.

Arsenicum alb

Gelsemium

Opium

Stramonium

Carcinosin Nosode

Mental health issues are a cross generational, global problem and homeopathy offers a wonderful solution. As homeopaths we can offer patients a solution to the anxiety that so many of them feel. Having homeopathic support in place makes a real difference to people, they no longer feel alone or lost, but guided and nurtured and ultimately healed.