Treating Anxiety
Tension, worry, anger, irritability, insomnia, exaggerated startle response, and a constant activation of the “fight, flight, or freeze” response all fall under the umbrella of anxiety. Though this response has an adaptive function allowing us to be vigilant of our physical surroundings, an anxiety disorder results when we respond to small levels of stress with unfounded fear that interferes with functioning, relationships, and enjoyment of life.
The illness of an anxiety disorder arises when the flight/flight/freeze response becomes overactive often as a response to trauma, PTSD, or constant high stress, eventually leading to possible fatigue, gut dysfunction, depression, and autoimmunity.
If you regularly experience feelings like intense fear or panic, fear of being judged by others, shame, worry, muscle tension, restlessness, insomnia, inability to ”turn your brain off,” anger, difficulty concentrating, and other similar symptoms, you may be suffering from anxiety.
It’s important to note that anxiety can be a symptom of an underlying disease such as hyperthyroidism, COPD, Cushing’s disease and improperly prescribed medications or supplements.
Anxiety is also a common symptom of gut dysbiosis and SIBO characterized by bloating, belching, constipation, diarrhea, food intolerance and many other chronic symptoms. Our 10th cranial nerve, known as the vagus nerve, facilitates bidirectional communication between the brain and our heart, lungs, and viscera. Simply; if the gut is not functioning optimally, our vagus nerve lets our brain know that all is not well, giving us symptoms that feel mental health related even though the origin is a poorly functioning digestive system.
When diagnosing and treating anxiety, a naturopathic doctor will take a multi-pronged approach. We must assess possible physical causes such as cardiac or thyroid malfunction, blood sugar issues, gut issues and more. We can test hormones and key neurotransmitter levels to see what may be out of balance due to stress. We will also look at a patient’s past history and find out what traumatic childhood or adulthood events lead to the current pattern of thinking. As always, it’s important to address lifestyle practices and optimize healthy behaviors and choices that set a person up for success.
To bring a person back into balance, we find modalities that suit their lifestyle. If you love to cook and eat nutritious food, we may start with targeted nutrients and dietary counseling. If you are a lover of nature and traditional medicine, we begin with an herbal blend or a well-thought-out homeopathic remedy. If you are an on-the-go person we have supplements with high-dose nutrient combinations, as well as IV therapy and injections, that deplete the body of what it’s lacking. Craniosacral therapy can facilitate emotional and physical healing in a non-verbal way using light touch hands-on therapy.
As naturopathic doctors, we think of disease (dis-ease) as the body, mind, or spirit attempting to send us a message that something is out of balance. That imbalance may be mental or spiritual and not just physical.
I want to help you bring your life back into balance by addressing you as a whole person.