Anxiety is a complicated condition believed to be driven by a mixture of brain chemistry, heredity, and life experiences. Since it is difficult to isolate one cause the trick to effectively relieving anxiety likely is a combination of treatments including St. Johns Wort (Hypericum perforatum).
The question as to whether or not St. John's Wort is good for anxiety is not easily answered. Some countries such as Germany love this herb while others such as the United States would rather go with pharmaceutical treatments such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors like Zoloft or Paxil (SSRIs).
The story of this anxiety relieving herb goes back centuries as a safe and effective way to balance mood and sustain mental equilibrium. The active ingredients in St. John's Wort associated with reducing anxiety are glycosides, flavonoids, volatile oils, tannins, and resins. Exactly how these active ingredients work to improve anxiety is unknown but the best guess is that they influence the brain chemical serotonin in some way.
Serotonin is one of a number of brain chemical messengers. Others regularly mentioned are dopamine and norepinephrine. Both dopamine and serotonin play a role in how someone perceives the world. In other words is the glass half empty or half full.
Additionally, there is an ever growing body of research that suggests anxiety related problems such as stress, panic, and unjustified fears are the result of an imbalance between the right and left side of the brain.
Some believe that St. Johns Wort helps the left and right hemispheres of the brain communicate better by improving serotonin levels. Additionally, since it is unknown exactly how brain chemicals work other unknown interactions may play a role as well.
So there seems to be good evidence to support the belief that St. Johns Wort is indeed good for mild to moderate anxiety. That said, there is little evidence to suggest that St. Johns Wort alone can help with severe depression or anxiety.
Personally, I like the combination of St. Johns Wort and passionflower but others tend to prefer taking St.John's Wort with the sleep agent melatonin. While this calming herb can be a helpful tool for reducing anxiety and depression you likely will get better results by combining it with the self-help strategies of mindfulness, progressive muscle relaxation, deep breathing, and exercise. Why don't we very briefly run through each one of these.
Mindfulness. Mindfulness is learning to be more in-touch with the present rather than the past or future (worrying about what has happened or what might happen).
Progressive muscle relaxation. This is the process of tensing and then relaxing muscles.
Deep breathing. This is one of my favorite relaxation therapies to combine with St. Johns Wort. Simply breath in deeply through your nose and then let the air out slowly through your mouth. I like to think about this exercise as the tide rushes in and then slowly returns out to sea.
Exercise. Everyone knows that exercise is the enemy of anxiety when sustained for 30 minutes or more. Exercise reduces anxiety levels by boosting feel good hormones including serotonin.
In conclusion, is St. Johns Wort good for anxiety is a subjective question for which the answer will not be the same for everyone. Nevertheless, it might be worth a try especially considering the known side effect risks associated with conventional prescription anxiety treatments.
Robert D. Hawkins is an enthusiastic consumer advocate for natural health and natural living with over 10 years experience in the field. To discover more about anxiety along with information about safe and effective all natural herbal anxiety remedies containing St.Johns Wort Click Here.
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