Anxiety and depression: the quelling influence of essential oils

Heather Dawn Godfrey PGCE, BSc.

Author of: Healing with Essential Oils, Essential Oils for the Whole Body and Essential Oils for Mindfulness and Meditation.

 

AROMANTIQUE, 63a Silver Street, Lyme Regis, DT7 3HR 

 

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Bespoke Aromatherapy Massage applying high quality, soil association approved organic essential oils.  Gift Vouchers available.

 

WELLBEING IN THE WORKPLACE

 

Offering in-house wellbeing services, subsidies or vouchers toward support is one simple, but very effective step toward improving morale, feelings of contentment and improved aptitude in the workplace.   ‘Prevention is better than cure’ is a wise adage.  Defusing feelings of stress and pressure nips mental and emotional disharmony in the bud; feelings of burnout, depression and anxiety – unwelcome guests – are, thus. tempered and kept at bay.

Aromatherapy is shown (**) to ease, and in some cases alleviate, feelings of depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, ‘burnout’ and feelings of mental and emotional exhaustion. Massage improves circulation, lowers and / or balances blood pressure, and relaxes, while also tones skin and muscle tissue. Essential oils have proven neurological influence, with positive effect on mood, emotion, memory and sense of wellness and wellbeing, among other things.  Indeed, their molecules directly influence the limbic area within the brain, which in turn instigates activity of the parasympathetic nervous system.  Alongside the relaxing influence of massage, their psycho-emotional regulating, calming, balancing and uplifting properties make essential oils ideal companions to have at-hand when dealing with life’s ‘ups and downs’. (Godfrey 2019, 2022)

 

MENTAL HEALTH: THE WIDER PICTURE

 

In 2022, the World Health Organization’s report “World Mental Health Report: Transforming Mental Health for All” highlighted the growing global need for improved care strategies in the area of mental health – a sector that is typically underfunded and currently inadequate to meet the acute and long-term needs of those suffering. What is more, with one in eight people living with a mental health disorder (13% of the global population) and with just 2% of health expenditure allocated to mental healthcare, this global public health burden is on track to further increase.  (Lewis 2024, WHO 2022)

Indeed, according to the WHO, the last four years have seen a 25% increase in the prevalence of anxiety and depression.  More than 1 in 7 UK adults say their mental health is either currently bad, or the worst it’s ever been.  More women than men currently struggle with poor mental health: 18.5% of women, 12.5% of men.  In 2023, NHS England spent £217.5 million on medication to treat anxiety and depression. (Forth With Life 2022).

It makes sense, therefore, to take integrative proactive steps to reduce, counter-balance or temper known triggers and causes of mental and emotional disharmony, and to include and engage positive preventative and supportive strategies that nip these ‘unwelcome guests’ in the bud before they creep in and spoil the party.  Aromatherapy provides one such possible preventative solution.

 

You will find more about the remedial qualities and properties of essential oils in my books: Essential Oils to Ease Anxiety; Healing with Essential Oils; Essential Oils for the Whole Body; and, Essential Oils for Mindfulness and Meditation.  Available to purchase or order from most high street book shops and on-line outlets.

 

References:

  • Forth With Life. Mental Health Statistics UK 2024.  https://www.forthwithlife.co.uk/blog/mental-health-statistics-uk/#:~:text=Here’s%20a%20quick%20recap%20of,vs%2012.5%25%20of%20men). (12th February 2024)
  • Rhiannon Lewis. Editor, International Journal of Clinical Aromatherapy. Director of Essential Oil Resource Consultants (France). (15th July 2024)
  • The World Mental Health Report: Transforming mental health for all. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240049338  (16th June 2022)
  • Heather Dawn Godfrey. Healing with Essential Oils. Healing Arts Press, Inner Traditions, Vermont USA.
  • Heather Dawn Godfrey. Essential Oils for the Whole Body. Healing Arts Press, Inner Traditions, Vermont USA.

 

(**)

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