Essential Oils for Mental Health in Substance Use Recovery: What a 2025 Study Using Bergamot Oil Reveals

Recovery from substance use disorder (SUD) is not just about abstinence — it also involves calming the nervous system, stabilizing mood, and rebuilding emotional resilience. This post examines a 2025 randomized controlled trial that investigated whether bergamot essential oil could provide meaningful psychological support alongside standard addiction treatment, with promising results.

Table of Contents

• Why Emotional Support Matters in Addiction Recovery
• Summary of the 2025 Bergamot Study for Supporting SUD Recovery
• What Improved with Aromatherapy in the Trial— And Why It’s Important
• How Bergamot Works in the Brain & Nervous System
• The Significance of the Inhaler Model Used in the Study
• Limitations of the Study
• How I Use Essential Oils in Holistic Mental Health Care
• Summary of Bergamot Oil and Essential Oils for SUD
• FAQs About Bergamot Essential Oil and Addiction Recovery

 

Why Emotional Support Matters in Addiction Recovery

America is in a crisis of mental health.

According to the most recent statistics on substance use disorder (SUD), 16.8% (or 48.4 million people) of people 12 years and older had a past-year SUD.

Adults in outpatient treatment frequently report:

• High stress
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Emotional discomfort
• Difficulty feeling “at ease”

These co-occurring issues reveal that recovery is not just about eliminating a substance. For lasting effects, it also involves regulating stress, stabilizing mood, and rebuilding emotional resilience. (R, R)

When one is dysregulated, the recovery process becomes much more difficult. Cravings can intensify, triggers may feel overwhelming, and engagement in treatment often declines. These challenges highlight the importance of providing emotional support and stabilizing the nervous system during recovery. (R, R)

This is where integrative, non-pharmacological tools can provide meaningful assistance. They offer additional ways to help individuals manage stress and regulate their emotions as they work toward lasting recovery.

One of my favorite holistic approaches for supporting my naturopathic and functional medicine clients’ mind and body is the use of essential oils. Aromatherapy is a powerful modality because it engages the brain’s olfactory–limbic pathways, connecting scent perception directly with the regions responsible for emotional processing.

Clinical and preclinical evidence suggests that inhalation of essential oils, such as bergamot, may reduce anxiety, improve mood, and influence hormonal, neurotransmitter, and stress- related biomarkers. For these reasons, it provides a potential avenue for calming the nervous system alongside conventional care for people with SUD. (R, R, R)

In this video post, I review a recent study examining how bergamot oil may be incorporated into SUD recovery and discuss the broader ways essential oils can support mental health.

All the references and resources can be found in this accompanying article.

So, let’s get started.

 

The 2025 Bergamot Study: What They Did

Essential oils are widely recognized for their calming effects on both the mind and body. Motivated by this, researchers sought to determine whether a targeted aromatherapy intervention could support people with SUD by enhancing emotional resilience.

Citrus bergamia (bergamot) essential oil was chosen for its well-established uplifting and soothing properties in this 2025 randomized controlled trial, published in the International Journal of Nursing Sciences. The study’s aim was to evaluate how this oil could be used as an adjunct to outpatient treatment for substance use disorder (SUD).

Researchers enrolled 100 adults diagnosed with SUD and randomly assigned them to:

• Standard care alone (n=55)
• Standard care plus bergamot essential oil inhalation (n=45)

Participants in the intervention group used a personal aroma inhaler dosed at three inhalations, three times daily, for seven consecutive days. Each inhalation lasted three seconds, followed by a three-second breath hold. This method is simple and structured, making it easy to teach, measure, and replicate.

Researchers used several validated questionnaires to determine psychological outcomes prior and after the intervention. These included the Generalized Comfort Questionnaire (GCQ), the Ease Measure, and the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21). (All analyses were performed according to an intention-to-treat approach, with statistical significance defined as p < 0.05.)

Several broad themes were analyzed with these measurements:

• Comfort and psychological “ease”
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Stress
• Adherence and safety

At the end of the study, almost all intervention participants (98%) used the aroma inhaler at least three times daily, with 81% maintaining the logbook during the study. There were no reported adverse events or urgent psychological or clinical interventions required.

 

What Improved in the Trial— And Why That Matters

Emotional Ease Increased

Participants using bergamot experienced a statistically significant increase in emotional “ease,” reflecting internal relief and reduced psychological tension. This is important, because in early recovery even modest improvements in regulation can influence how someone navigates cravings and triggers. (R, R)

Depression, Anxiety, & Stress Decreased

Compared to the control group, those using bergamot showed statistically significant improvements in mental health measurements with reductions in:

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Stress

These effects occurred within just seven days. For a low-cost, non-pharmacological adjunct, this is noteworthy. This is because co-occurring mental health and SUD diagnoses are common. This can worsen treatment outcomes, functional impairment, and overall recovery success.

 

How Bergamot Works in the Brain & Nervous System

Because the olfactory system connects directly to the limbic brain — the center of emotion, memory, and stress processing is influenced by the inhalation of aromatic compounds. This means inhaled essential oils:

• Act quickly
• Influence physiology and emotion simultaneously
• Support autonomic regulation and hormonal balance by impacting perception and our biological responses

According to the study, bergamot was specifically shown to:

• Interact with GABA receptors, supporting calming neurotransmission
• Influence the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis
• Help regulate the body’s stress response

I have also reported on how bergamot oil has also been shown in clinical trials to calm the nervous system and regulate the heart-brain connection.

 

Why the Inhaler Model Is So Powerful in This Scenario

Instead of diffusers or ambient scent exposure, participants used a personal inhaler in this study. This method is helpful in a research setting because it allows for:

• Controlled dosing
• Portability
• Privacy
• Immediate access
• A sense of autonomy

Furthermore, when someone pauses, inhales intentionally, and settles their nervous system, they strengthen self-regulation capacity. This process itself is therapeutic and yet another plus for incorporating aromatherapy into one’s daily wellness regime.

 

Limitations of the Study

This study provided more evidence of the power of essential oils for mental and brain health. But, as with all studies, there were limitations preventing broad generalization.

Limitations of the trial include that it was short (seven days), had a modest sample size, relied on self-reported outcomes, and blinding was limited due to scent recognition.

However, the signal for benefits is encouraging and may inform longer-term research that includes objective biomarkers, such as cortisol and inflammatory markers.

 

How I Use Essential Oils in Holistic Mental Health Care

In my 20+ years as a naturopathic doctor and certified functional medicine practitioner, I have incorporated essential oils into mental health and addiction-support protocols to complement integrative and conventional psychiatric treatments.

This is based on how essential oils can influence:

• Emotional processing
• Physiological stress responses
• Autonomic tone
• Psychological resilience

From a naturopathic and functional medicine perspective, these aspects of essential oils provide a holistic, mind-body approach to mental health and addiction support. Beyond the psychological benefits, they also address some of the root cause psychological and relational aspects of psychiatric and brain issues.

When used intentionally, they can:

• Support therapy engagement
• Reduce emotional intensity
• Enhance stress resilience
• Improve adherence to broader wellness plans

I explore the science of essential oils for addiction more deeply here.

And share a client-centered perspective here.

I have found that bergamot oil can promote emotional settling without sedation — offering calm without dulling awareness.

 

Key Takeaways: How Bergamot Supports Recovery

A 2025 study found that inhaling bergamot essential oil three times daily for just one week helped participants in outpatient SUD treatment feel calmer, while also reducing symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress. These effects are thought to occur through multiple mechanisms, including modulation of GABA receptors, regulation of the stress-response system (HPA axis), and support of overall nervous system balance.

These results are particularly encouraging, as many people in recovery also face co-occurring mental health challenges. By helping to soothe the nervous system and promote emotional regulation, bergamot oil may serve as a complementary tool alongside traditional treatment, offering clients a practical and accessible way to manage daily stress and emotional fluctuations.

This study aligns with my observations over more than 20 years of clinical practice: essential oils can be powerful adjuncts for supporting nervous system equilibrium and psychological resilience when integrated thoughtfully into comprehensive addiction care. They represent a meaningful, accessible component of a holistic recovery approach.