Take the edge off anxiety with Valerian root
Anxiety: A common evil
Anyone who has dealt with an anxiety disorder will understand that at times it can be utterly crippling. Disordered anxiety is deceitful and plaguing and can feel like it’s taking over your life in the most insidious of ways. The anxious state can have many faces: a flurry of distressing thoughts and worries that can become absolutely maddening, constant checking, worry, doubt or an insatiable state of panic as well as several other bizarre sensations and experiences thrown into the mix to further substantiate the chaos.
We can look at anxiety as a survival mechanism that has undoubtedly facilitated our climb to the top of the evolutionary pyramid, however when this mechanism becomes disordered or no longer ‘fit for purpose’ it can give rise to a number of extremely overwhelming neurological disorders such as OCD, Panic disorder, PTSD, Generalized anxiety disorder, Agoraphobia and Social anxiety disorder. As an autoimmune disorder may attack the host, anxiety disorders can chip away at an individual’s sanity, leaving sufferers at the mercy of their own brain.
One of the reasons these disorders are particularly poignant is not just that they are so debilitating to life but also staggeringly common. As of 2015, around 1 in 4 adults in the US – more than 26% of the total population suffers from a diagnosable mental disorder. If you suffer from these disorders it’s important to remember that you are not alone, despite your brain trying its utmost to convince you that you are the only person who feels this way. This also means if you dont think mental health issues are particularly impactful on the world you need to open your eyes.
Anxiety and depression are not necessarily mutually exclusive and are often two sides of the same coin, working lovingly side by side to strip life of all of its majesty. This leads to both disorders often treated with antidepressant medications that target the brain’s wholesome and happy neurotransmitter Serotonin. This approach is often criticised for being reductive as these disorders are inherently complex and drug treatments focus on treating symptoms of the disorders rather than the underlying cause. Anxieties cousin depression is now the leading cause of disability worldwide, with antidepressants being tossed out like candies to sufferers. In the US alone, 30 million americans were prescribed $12billion worth of antidepressants in 2014. For context this is more than the gross national product of more than half of the worlds countries in 2005.
Doctors are often under trained and under resourced to deal with and treat anxiety, patients often walk out of doctors offices feeling like they have a disease and as mentioned previously, are likely medicated. There are many issues when it comes to medicating emotions. Especially when it comes to side effects, stigma and potential dependence that comes with treating anxiety with drugs. Evidently there are many situations whereby medication can save lives but there will always be the importance of lifestyle changes and therapy to help you understand and reprogramme your anxiety.
If we look at anxiety from a neurologic perspective for a moment we can observe that it arises from dysregulation of mechanisms in the brain that lead to distress, psychical sensations and a distorted perception of reality. Anxiety itself can act to perpetuate the aforementioned dysregulation of normal brain mechanics. It can work like quicksand or a chinese finger trap as anxiety creates further anxiety and often requires difficult and clever ways to tackle these issues. The anxious mind trying to think its way out of being anxious by using further anxious thoughts is referred to in Buddhism as ‘wiping blood off with blood’. If you suffer from these disorders you can understand how hopeless it can seem.
It has been long understood that the amygdala, an almond shaped structure in the temporal lobes of the brain, plays a clear role in the generation of the fear response and anxiety as well as playing a key role in the formation of emotional learning. As an anxious person I used to despise this evil brain almond and there were plenty of days I would love to spoon it out my skull and make marzipan instead of suffer under its perpetual torture. With this in mind (a pun perhaps?) It should be noted that the amygdala is not the be all and end all of fear response. In Fact it would appear that the chatter between numerous regions of the brain can lead to anxiety- a network of fear. Not one specific region of the brain drives anxiety and the relationship between areas of the brain govern the fear response.
However, in reference to the amygdala’s role in emotional learning, sensory stimuli reach the amygdala where it works to form associations with memories of the stimuli, leading to an understanding of fearful situations and a matched fear response that would ultimately work to ensure the survival of our species.
This is why we learned to fear predators in our environment as a means of survival, we may have fought off or ran away from something potentially harmful and therefore learned to be prepared next time due to our brain registering that experience as fearful. This can manifest in a wide range of modern situations; we may have fear of swimming after having an experience where we nearly drowned, fear driving after a car crash or an anxious reaction to a number of situations that remind us of past trauma.
Effectively our adorable little almond shaped nuclei friend is really.. trying to do the best thing for us by putting the absolute fear of god into us. Unfortunately from an evolutionary perspective we don’t really need to to thrive and be ecstatic to survive and pass on our genes. Evidently a lot of these fear responses are now vestigial in our current world and survival for our species doesn’t involve running away from saber tooth tigers, yet this system of fear is still very much alive. Our adorable pal amygdala continues to process memories and associations that run out of control and wire us into absolute despair. For a number of complex reasons this fear can be misaligned or disordered and severely impact an individuals life.
Is it possible to subdue these fear networks and rewire our brains into a state of calm? Well unequivocally yes. Anxiety disorders need not be a death sentence and when it comes to anxiety treatments there are a number of ways to tackle your situation – all offering different approaches and degrees of effectiveness in different individuals. As i’m not a clinical psychologist i am not going to deep dive into various psychological approaches or therapy techniques but can attest to their success through personal application and various testimonies from people in different stages of their mental health journeys. If anxiety becomes seriously disordered you should seek help from a licensed mental health practitioner however, it is indisputable that extremely positive changes can occur in response to lifestyle changes such as incorporating a healthy, balanced diet and increased exercise as well as practices such as meditation and breathing exercises. My thoughts are that you should attack anxiety in a variety of ways, make sure you are turning up for yourself and giving all you can towards tackling your demons. This includes not bottlenecking your success by engaging in maladaptive lifestyle habits and ensuring you have everything for optimal physical health. Mood disorders are often separated from physical health problems but can benefit from the same lifestyle changes.
I intend to focus on as many of these mechanisms I can find as tackling the demons of anxiety is incredibly important to me and there’s no doubt in my mind that changing diet and lifestyle factors play a huge role in recovery. Anyway, enough chin wagging from me.
Anxiety’s ‘off switch’
One thing to wrap your head around when it comes to anxiety is the neurotransmitter GABA (gamma-Aminobutyric acid). This is a very common neurotransmitter that has an inhibitory effect on certain signals in the brain, acting to calm down excitatory neuronal pathways in the brain associated with elevated states such as anxiety. If we were to increase our levels of GABA activation in the brain we can reduce the intensity of the mechanisms of anxiety: thoughts feel less piercing, physical effects of anxiety subside, a feeling of calm is experienced. Anxiety’s off switch.
A series of particularly notorious drugs prescribed to treat anxiety lie in the benzodiazepine class, which include commonly known drugs such as Valium and Xanax. These drugs work (very effectively) on the neurotransmitter GABA and can subdue anxiety (almost too well) and can lead to serious cases of dependency and a number of unwanted side effects. We can also thank alcohol’s calming effects for its effects on GABA which can lead to dependence, especially for those who are dealing with trauma, depression and anxiety disorders. These drugs douse our brains in short lived calm and can cause severe ups and downs that add extra problems to those who are suffering from anxiety. Of course in extreme cases, benzodiazepines can be extremely useful medication and do their job, however if you intend to treat your anxiety without the use of intense chemical intervention, stay away from the benzos.
Using Valerian
Are there ways to activate these receptors in a mild, steady and calming way to increase feelings of calm in a subtle and non addictive way? Yes there are. Introducing my trusty ally Valerian root. The valerian plant (Valeriana officinalis) is a perennial that is native to Europe and Asia and its dried root has been used for a variety of purposes such as helping with sleep and anxiety. The musky root of the plant can be ground up and drank as tea and can provide subtle respite to anxiety sufferers via the compound Valerenic acid. Valerian root tea can work to directly subdue excessive activity in the amygdala The active ingredient valerenic acid is thought to act in a very subtle way on the GABAA receptors, possibly by inhibiting the breakdown of these chemicals in the brain resulting in feelings of calm.
Studies have also shown that Valerian extract can work well for OCD sufferers, with a distinct reduction in obsessive and compulsive behaviours when compared to a control group. The study also revealed the lack of side effects experienced by participants that were treated with Valerian extract.
The only downside i can think of for valerian root is its smell..
This stuff has a distinct earthy odeur with a very subtle bouquet of human foot.. Not the most pleasant admittedly but its really not that bad and it tastes pleasant! I usually put around 2 or 3g in a cup of boiling water and allow to steep for around 10-15 mins before drinking. Best consumed before bed so its sedative effects can be utilized. It is best avoided during the day as it can induce mild drowsiness, although this is nothing to worry about.
Im not suggesting that Valerian alone is going to completely lift your anxiety, however for mild anxiety and sleep issues, Valerian root tea works wonders. This has always been a part of my anxiety lifting routine when things get rough and i swear by it. It is important however to combine a number of different approaches to combating anxiety. Valerian root tea has clear evidence based solutions to mild to moderate anxiety, it can take the edge off an anxious episode and help as a natural sedative to help people sleep better. A fantastic arsenal in your battle to help soothe anxious episodes. As mentioned before, we should not use things such as valerian root as a substitute for helpful therapies but nonetheless it presents itself as a useful tool. Allow this deeply relaxing tea to bring your world the peace and quiet you deserve.
Yours Sincerely,
Matt McCourt
Re:New Wellness
May 08 2020