Insomnia, anxiety and stress- these are concerns that are rapidly becoming the “norm” with clients I am seeing. Are they the same? Which one comes first? How do I fix them? The word anxiety tends to be banded about a lot. We all have a natural reaction to an outside influence or environmental stressor- this is called stress- not anxiety. The body exhibits an autonomic response, such as heart rate changes and body temperatures, behavioural changes such as anxiety and endocrine responses, hence anxiety is a potential stressor.
Anxiety comprises of cognitive, behavioural and physiological responses to a “perceived” threat, threatening situations or uncertainty. Physiological symptoms such as headaches, sweating palms, palpitations are common along with confusion, OCD and emotional instability. Over lengthy periods of time these can be very debilitating leading to fatigue and exhaustion. Activation of both stress and anxiety pathways leads to insomnia, then insomnia also becomes a stressor to the body. Vicious cycles at play.
How do you help or change these cycles? There are many herbal preparations that are well known and scientifically studied to help with anxiety, stress & insomnia. Herbs like Lemon balm, valerian and passionflower are some. Quite often the herbs have multiple constituents acting on all three complaints, with little or no side effects, unlike the plethora of medications used to prescribe conditions like stress, anxiety and insomnia. Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis L.) is a well-known herb to improve cognitive performance, stress and anxiety, while helping with insomnia. Generally safe, but can interfere with hypothyroidism/Hashimotos conditions.
Having an awesome bed time routine is imperative, blue blocker glasses help wearing them at night, keep everything out of your bedroom, that shouldn’t be there, magnesium salt baths at night, burning some essential oils in the bedroom to relax and calm. Like all herbs you should seek informed health professional advice as they can interact with pharmaceuticals or other health conditions. Food for thought