Natrual Ways to Reduce Anxiety – Part 1

As things are now back to full swing after the summer holiday, and before things get too budy, I wanted to share with you a piece of research that while being 3 years old is still highly relevant.  Researchers were looking at the effectiveness of listening to self-administered hypnosis stress reduction CD's to boost resilience. Eleven subjects took part in the study, all healthy, normally coping and functioning individuals - were provided with a self-administered hypnosis stress reduction CD, to be used for a minimum of 5 days a week over a 12 week period.  The CD contained two different hypnosis tracks, one to be played before sleep (25 minutes in duration) and the other to be played in the morning (lasting 7 minutes). The aim of the CD was to recondition the stress response, by minimising the participants "excessive emotional and physical reaction to perceived work and life stressors, while facilitating their coping skills and resilience."   Chronic stress and anxiety have been associated with inflammatory changes in the body, and high level of inflammation have been lined to a number of acute and chronic conditions.  Blood tests were used to measure the level of inflammatory response and self-reported measures (using the StressScan assesment) were taken pre and post intervention. While the study size is small, it provides some suggestive evidence that a self-administered stress reduction program that is time efficient may be clinically effective for modifying the stress response and boosting resilience. Reference Schoen M and Nowack K (2013)  Reconditioning the stress response with hypnosis CD reduces the inflammatory cytokine IL-6 and influences resilience: a pilot study.  Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice 2013; 19 83-88 http://www.ctcpjournal.com/article/S1744-3881(12)00088-6/abstract

We all struggle to get our heads around things from time to time.  For me I find it hard to imagine living with Fibromyalgia, the constant pain, which moves around the body and the tiredness.  In addition to the physical symptoms there is the additional mental strain of living with a chronic condition that is has no visible signs and can change from day to day. A pilot study recruited 22 women who had been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia to participate in a 75 minute yoga class twice weekly for eight weeks.  Questionnaires were used to track pain, anxiety and depression they were completed pre, mid and post intervention.  In addition salivary cortisol samples were taken three times a day pre and post intervention. The results indicate that a "yoga intervention" may

• Reduce pain
• Reduce catastrophising
• Increase acceptance
• Increase mindfulness
• Alter total cortisol levels

I know that I often say that one of the benefits of massage is that it may reduce anxiety.  I think most people would agree that being in hospital or undergoing hospital procedures may makes us feel anxious.  So I was interested in a recent study that looked at the effectiveness of massage with or without guided imagery (a therapist talking you through a scene to help you relax), prior to cardiac catheterisation.  As you can imagine anxiety is very common in patients prior to cardiac catheterisation, which can lead to high blood pressure and increase the amount of sedation necessary to complete the procedure. Fifty five patients opted to receive either a 15-minute massage (31 patients) and a 20 minute guided imagery (24 patients) in a quiet area of the hospital prior to cardiac catheterisation.  Self-report anxiety levels, blood pressure and heart rate were evaluated in the research participants as well as matched for comparison to a control group not taking part in the study. The results indicated that massage, with or without guided imagery, produced significant reductions in self-reported anxiety, with the combined intervention having a more pronounced effect.  In addition a lower diastolic blood pressure and heart rate were found when compared to the control group. In my experience slow, deep stokes help to reduce anxiety and as a team we often incorporate this into treatments. References Amstrong K, Dixon S, May S, Patricolo GE (2014).  Anxiety reduction in patients undergoing cardiac catheterisation, following massage and guided imagery.  Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice 20 (4): 334 - 338.