Commonly Recommended Remedies for Anxiety
Precautions about this information...
- Retrace past trauma - This is a list of six homeopathic remedies that are often indicated for anxiety. You may choose to use this information to self-prescribe - although my advice to you is that if you suffer from anxiety, you might want to consult with a professional homeopath. Homeopathic remedies for anxiety often trigger retraces of past traumas - this is part of the healing process, but it can be temporarily destabilizing in some cases - so be careful. If you think you might have a lot of charge behind your anxiety, work with a professional.
- Retrace back to acute phase - Often times during the healing process, the body will retrace chronic physical and emotional symptoms back to the original acute state of the symptoms - if this happens, your physical symptoms may be temporarily heightened. This is often a necessary part of the healing process and should not be cause for alarm. If you are concerned, call me or speak with another professional homeopath. (For more information on what to expect from taking a homeopathic remedy, see Frequently Asked Questions about What to Expect.)
- Do not use homeopathy in place of needed medical help - Homeopathic remedies do not have side-effects. The real risk in using homeopathy is when it is chosen at the exclusion of conventional diagnosis and treatment - be conservative, when in doubt about any ailment, seek the advice of your M.D.
About self-prescribing....
- Match determine results - Know that in homeopathy the goal is to find the remedy that most closely match your symptom picture. If you select the best match, the remedy will stimulate a healing response. If you select a match which is close, but not on target, you might experience some improvement, but it won't be optimal. If you select a remedy that doesn't match at all, you will most likely have no reaction whatsoever.
- Your optimal remedy may not be included here - Also know that in homeopathy the remedy that most closely matches your symptom picture could be one of 1000 different remedies. I am only listing six of the most commonly recommended remedies for anxiety here. If you think you might need a remedy not listed here, see a professional homeopath.
- Focus on the feeling - In my case, I have lived through the "stories" of most of the remedies I work with, and so I have a solid feel for what these are. I've attempted in the write-up below to give a brief description of six remedies - know that these are brief sketches to give you the gist of what these remedies feel like. When you match your feeling with the feeling of the remedy, you will almost always get a resonance response and the remedy works.
- When in doubt, select a low potency - Most of the remedies listed below can be found at your local health food stores (if not, contact a homeopathic pharmacy or ask your health food store to order the selected remedy for you.) When in doubt, select the lower potency for a particular remedy (6X or 6C). When confident of your selection and when the discomfort is more intense, select the medium potency for the remedy (30X or 30C).
- References - Many of the physical symptoms listed here are taken from the Desktop Guide to Keynotes and Confirmatory Symptoms, by Roger Morrison, M.D.
Summary of remedies
- Gelsemium - anxiety with extreme cowardice and timidity, following a fright
- Silicea - anxiety from indecision and overwhelm
- Argentum Nitricum - anticipatory anxiety from extreme performance pressure
- Nux Vomica - anxiety related to issues of time, fear of being criticized for wasting time
- Mercurius - anxiety in anticipation of violence or severe verbal abuse
- Natrum Muriaticum - anxiety from having trusted someone and then being betrayed, unable to trust freely again.
Physical symptoms often manifesting from anxiety states:
- nervous system fatigue, weak memory, difficulty absorbing information
- tremors, twitches, muscle spasms
- asthma, oppression in the chest area
- constipation (obsessive/compulsive states)
- diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome
- stomach aches (not relaxed about taking in nourishment)
- sore throats (anxiety around communication)
- weak bladder (extreme fear and timidity)
Gelsemium (made from the plant Yellow Snow Rose)
Anxiety with cowardice and timidity; this state usually follows a fright, exposure to violence or frightful images; may manifest as a profound fear of exams, or performance pressure in sports; fear of going into any stressful situation; the fear and anxiety is so extreme the individual gives up the activity altogether.
Physical manifestations may include: locked up nervous system (pre-MS profile), trembling, tremors, severe chronic fatigue, heavy eyelids, difficulty doing any mental work; weak legs, tail bone tucks under, neuralgic pain, especially in the lower spine/tail bone area; diarrhea from fright, anticipation, or bad news; may feel heart stop beating; urinary incontinence.
Silicea (made from Silica)
Anxiety from indecision, not knowing what to do, lack of a solid gut feeling which causes the individual to vacillate between choices; the issue may be significant but more often is insignificant like what color socks to wear; usually the individual grew up with very little parental guidance and has had to parent themselves since a young age; the internal parent has never been fully supported and developed so they never have an internal parent to depend on; they stay in a chronic indecisive child state asking everyone around them "what do you think I should do?" Their energy is anxious and clingy.
There's a sense of overwhelm and "I can't do this on my own" feeling. These individuals tend to be poor auditory learners, have a difficult time assimilating information and feel less anxious when they know exactly what to do. Other personality characteristics include: lack of self confidence, quiet and self-contained, performance anxiety, test phobia, and anxious conscientiousness about small details.
Physical manifestations may include: nervous system exhaustion (from all of the back and forth indecision), fatigue problems, extreme coldness; malabsorption, poor nourishment, food allergies (difficulty taking in nurturance); chronic sinusitis or chronic dry nasal obstruction (blockage to intimacy); scoliosis and spinal curvatures; constipation and bashful stool (the bashful stool is representative - they're timid then decide to move forward, then change their mind and retreat and then change their mind again); problems with teeth, nails and hair.
Argentum Nitricum (made from silver nitrate)
Anticipatory anxiety in which there is an anticipation that someone will become enraged with them if they don't do what's expected of them. Fear of being late (anticipating person waiting for them will yell at them), fear of exams (anticipating they'll do poorly and then be criticized for poor performance), fear of public speaking (anticipating they'll mess up), fear of sports performance; Whereas with Gelsemium the individual locks up completely, with Argentum Nitricum the individual does the required task but inevitably slips and makes big mistakes due to the nervousness. Also with Argentum Nitricum there is a great sense of hurriedness and suffocation - as if someone was anxiously demanding the performance.
Physical manifestations may include: asthma (suffocation), diarrhea (from anticipation); stomach pains with lots of burping; twitches and tremors (also a pre-MS state); hoarseness and splinter like pain in the throat, stammering (from nervous speech ); strong craving for sweets and is much worse from them; congestive headache; vertigo.
Nux Vomica (made from the plant Poison Nut)
Anxiety about time, there not being enough time, time moving too slowly or too quickly, time being wasted; also, anxiety around perfectionism and impatience; with children, often they have a parent who is a type A personality, work hard/play hard - they make use of every minute. If the child gets in the way of the parent's schedule, the parent becomes irritable and snaps at the child - "why are you taking so long, I said I only had five minutes to spend helping you with your homework - now get your book out and stop wasting time" - so the child becomes a nervous wreck, anticipating the parent's irritability. Eventually the child internalizes the parent's voice, so that in everything they do they are vigilant to not waste time or make any mistakes that lead to wasting time. Of course, they do and then their internal parental voice scolds them and it paralyzes them even further.
With children, you might see these scenarios: 1) paralysis in getting a homework assignment done - the clock is ticking so loud inside of them they can't focus on the assignment; 2) anxiety waiting for class to end - they sit and watch the clock tick second by second, feeling like they have so much to do but must wait until the class period is over - time moves so slowly it feels excruciating, 3) work-aholism - the anxiety is so intense they have to mask it by being busy busy busy all the time, making sure every minute is productive so as not to have to listen to the internal abusive voice.
Physical manifestations may include: constipation (fear of making a mistake), extreme coldness (scarcity - not enough time), asthma or oppression in the chest area (pressure to go, go, go); obsessive/compulsive disorder; muscle spasms and cramps.
Mercurius Solubilis (made from metallic Mercury)
Anxiety that relates to an anticipation of abuse (physical, mental, emotional, sexual). Often the individual has had some past experience with abuse and so continues to live in fear of it happening again. With children, possible scenarios include: 1) having an older sibling that teases severely and/or physically injures the child - the child is constantly on edge from the continued abuse, expecting it daily. 2) having a parent or authority figure that verbally or physically abuses the child for speaking out or rebelling - the child keeps quiet to avoid further abuse, but they continue to live in fear that if they say the wrong thing in the wrong way the abuse will come. 3) having a classmate or neighborhood kid that threatens the child with violence - the child has a lingering feeling that someone is following them or stalking them. 4) generalized fear of the dark, fear of being alone at night - usually related to a past trauma with physical violence or molestation.
Physical manifestations may include: stammering (fear of speaking out against the oppression), anxiety and panic attacks; tremor, violent convulsions (pre -epilepsy, pre-Parkinsons); physical pains that come on suddenly and are violent in their intensity; sore throat, pharyngitis; excessive saliva, offensive breath, offensive discharges; acute or chronic otitis media.
Natrum Muriaticum (made from Sodium Chloride, salt)
Anxiety that relates to trusting after having been betrayed in the past. The individual has suffered some profound upset or heartache in the past that has caused them to close off and be controlling of who they trust and who they let in again. The control aspect is really connected to an anxious and compulsive need to protect themselves from being hurt again. Individuals in this state usually present as being hypersensitive, easily wounded emotionally, sad, and fearful of things "getting out of control". The underlying fear is that the past will repeat itself and they'll become engulfed in the heartache of the old wound.
With individuals in this state, you may see one or more of the following characteristics: 1) strong control over their emotions, 2) anxiousness about their health, extreme pickiness about what they eat, 3) compulsiveness in their work, perfectionism, 4) extreme sadness when being left behind or betrayed in some way by the others, 5) extreme compassion for those that have been left behind or betrayed in some way, 6) pronounced fear of robbers and fear of germs, 7) extreme bashfulness with urination - sometimes unable to urinate in a public restroom.
Physical manifestations may include: heartache, tightness in the chest area; headaches; tremors and twitches (also a pre-MS state), allergies; kidney and urinary problems; insomnia; and asthma.