Many are feeling the strain and stress of living in today’s current environment. Recent evidence has shown that America is facing a mental health crisis, especially regarding our youth. Compiled data reports that within the last 30 days, 1 in 3 U.S. high school students stated that their mental health was not good a majority of the time. Additionally, 1 in 5 adults have suffered from depression.

As the numbers of those with psychiatric disorders continue to rise, it has become evident that we need a better approach to mental health care, one that integrates supportive mind-body practices. This is not to replace conventional psychiatric care, but to offer the holistic perspective and personalized treatment that is missing in mainstream medicine.

In this video blog, I want to share with you how essential oils can assist with emotional balance. You will learn why I feel they should be considered as an important addition to achieving better brain health in America.

Topics include:

  • The current state of mental health in America
  • How essential oils aid brain health and balance emotions
  • Psychoaromatherapy: Using essential oils for psychiatric disorders, featuring highlights from an Essential Oils Revolution podcast with world-renowned aromatherapist, Jade Shutes
  • A list of five essential oils to soothe the mind and body

As always, all the additional references, links to studies, and resources will be available in this accompanying article.

Okay, let’s get started.

 

Our Current Mental Health State

According to Mental Health America (MHA):

The U.S. is indeed in a mental health crisis, according to MHA’s analysis.

  • Nearly 60 million adults (23.08%) experienced a mental illness in the past year.
  • … nearly 13 million adults (5.04%) reported serious thoughts of suicide.
  • The number of individuals who died by suicide in 2022 was the highest number ever recorded in the U.S., up after slight decreases in 2019 and 2020.

The nation’s youth continue to present cause for concern:

  • One in five young people from ages 12-17 experienced at least one major depressive episode in the past year…
  • …yet more than half of them (56.1%) did not receive any mental health treatment.
  • More than 3.4 million youth (13.16%) had serious thoughts of suicide.

Although the pandemic did contribute to the rise in mental health disorders, the numbers were accelerating even prior to it. This is evidence that our current methods of treating the brain are not effective and there is a lack of access to successful solutions.

Without addressing all aspects of health we are only band aiding the situation with diagnostic codes and providing ineffective or incomplete treatments that only addresses symptoms. We need to do more.

This is why I believe that providing additional supportive mind-body modalities, along with conventional psychiatric care, is crucial to intercept this mental health crisis we are facing. This includes addressing the root causes of the brain’s biochemical imbalances, metabolic dysfunction, and physiological, psychological, and functional issues. It also means taking steps to tame our racing thoughts and educating ourselves on how to best ease our minds’ incessant chatter.

This post’s focus will be on one of my favorite tools to aid in all these aspects, essential oils.

 

Five Ways Essential Oils Aid Brain Health and Balance Emotional Health

In my article, Mind-Body Applications of Essential Oils: A Case Study in Anxiety, I reviewed why essential oils are a unique, gentle, and potent tool for balancing brain health. Here is an excerpt:

Essential oils are a passion of mine…and of the mind. Plentiful animal and in-vitro studies, along with many accumulating human trials have shown their ability to simultaneously modulate emotions, brain wave patterns, neurochemistry, physiology, and biochemistry. This is an amazing feat not often seen with conventionally based applications.1-25

Due to their multifaceted properties, essential oils bridge the link between the mind and body. They are synergistic with many integrative and conventional treatments based on their influence on one’s mindset, mood, and biology. Various types of studies have demonstrated essential oils’ ability to modulate emotional patterns and promote mindfulness, as they enhance outcomes by removing psychological blocks to healing. 1-2, 5-6,12-25 I have found them to be extremely helpful in assisting clients to break through the fears, struggles, and setbacks that often arise when moving forward to create a new reality as a healed individual.

Although they possess powerful biochemical and physical properties, essential oils are perhaps most well-known for their ability to induce relaxation and relieve stress. This is through their various physiological and psychological mechanisms including:

  1. Regulating our hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis – The School of Aromatic Studies states: “Research suggests several mechanisms may underlie the effects of inhaled essential oils on the HPA axis and stress hormone levels.” These include: (1) direct influence on cortisol (“the stress hormone”) release, (2) compounds interacting with hormone receptors, (3) anti-inflammatory effects, preventing neuronal damage, (4) and modulating neurotransmitters that interact with the HPA axis.
  2. Buffering stress at the level of perception – While the biological properties of essential oils work in harmony to rebalance the nervous system and hormonal milieu, a profound and instant shift in our emotional brain and our perception simultaneously occurs. This means we can literally halt the additional, continued biochemical insults that can occur when our nervous system is in overdrive.
  3. Balancing hormones – Essential oils help in achieving optimal hormonal levels which directly impact brain function and emotional balance. This is partly through the influence of hormones on their companion neurotransmitters.
  4. Lowering cortisol – Various essential oils have been found to lower the “stress hormone” cortisol. Lavender and bergamot are two of the most clinically validated.
  5. Stimulating the vagus nerve – Stimulating the parasympathetic aspect of the vagus nerve is an effective means to put the body and mind into a state of restoration and repair. Essential oils are vagal nerve modulators that support the vagus nerve’s influence on our physiology, psychology, and biochemistry. The top three essential oils found in the literature to tonify the vagus nerve include lavender, bergamot, and ylang ylang. Another blend that I often use for vagus nerve support in my clinic is the Parasympathetic® blend.

 

Psychoaromatherapy: Applied Aromatherapy for Psychological Disorders

Previously, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Jade Shutes on the Essential Oils Revolution podcast on the topic of psychoaromatherapy, the use of aromatherapy for psychological disorders. During the show, Jade enlightened us on how essential oils can help to fill in the gaps that are evident in our current treatment approaches to mental health care. She also taught us how aromatics benefit our mood, emotional balance, and brain health.

Jade is one of the foremost and respected authorities in aromatherapy. She has been a sought-after aromatherapy practitioner, researcher, and international educator for over three decades. Jade is passionate about aromatics and believes the sense of smell is one of the most powerful senses for healing the mind/body/psyche in this era of upheaval and change. She is one of the most influential leaders in the aromatherapy community to date. She is well known for her balanced, progressive, holistic, and inspiring approach and teaching style.

The episode is one of the nearest and dearest to me, because it combines my two passions of essential oils and improving mental health. Not only am I grateful that it brought more attention to these synergizing subjects, but I was also humbled and honored to be joined by someone who is just as zealous about it and who offers so much experience and wisdom.

Topics from our talk include:

  • An introduction on how essential oils influence mental health (0 min)
  • Jade’s background and bio (2 min)
  • How Jade got interested in aromatherapy for mental health (8 min)
  • How essential oils can help one during trying times by bringing us into the moment (13.50 min)
  • Why we should customize interventions and not just treat a diagnosis (15.30 min)
  • The multiple and holistic ways essential oils can benefit mental health: This is through the hedonic effect, psychological expectancy, memory-based association, and pharmacological mechanisms. (17.50 min)
  • The importance of using integrative support along with clinical aromatherapy (25 min)
  • The mental health conditions that have the most research with aromatherapy and what Jade has experienced with using various essential oils for them (28.30 min)
  • Specific oils Jade is currently incorporating to help her family cope with grief
  • An oil that was featured in Jade’s articles on essential oils for mental health and panic attacks that took me by surprise
  • Essential oils that can support mood and their mechanisms (35 min)
  • Jade’s guidelines for diffusing essential oils for emotional support (38 min)
  • The mood benefits received from topical applications of essential oils (48 min)
  • The effect of essential oils on the vagus nerve and how they can be used to change neural connections based on this (52 min)
  • The many different integrative techniques to help with mental health: Essential oils can be incorporated into each one but are not the sole treatment. (55 min)
  • Jade’s insights on essential oils for trauma and how trauma changes the brain (1 hour)
  • How essential oils can impact social connection and how being around others ignites all our senses (1 hour 8 min)
  • How food, the earth, and smell enhance our health: Socioeconomics can impact this. (1 hour 11 min)
  • Using essential oils for the mental health of youth
  • Closing questions to get to know Jade more and her recipe for aromatic baths

After listening to this impactful interview, you will understand why I am so grateful for her and her expertise in essential oils.

 

Five Essential Oils for Soothing Your Mind and Body

In an upcoming post on Saratoga.com I will highlight five of my favorite essential oils to calm the brain and erase stress. It is a great companion to build upon the knowledge within this vlog. For now, here’s a sneak peek of the top five:

  • Lavender oil
  • Clary sage oil
  • Bergamot oil
  • Frankincense oil
  • Citrus oils

 

Summary of Using Essential Oils for Mental Health

Essential oils are amazing allies to aid us during these trying times. They simultaneously soothe our mind as they balance our body. These aromatic essences support our emotions as they modulate our brain wave patterns, neurochemistry, physiology, and biochemistry. Essential oils also relieve stress through their impact on the HPA axis, shifting our perception, balancing our hormones, lowering cortisol levels, and stimulating our vagus nerve. They are an underutilized mind-body tool for psychological disorders. These odorous allies could be an effective way to integrate holistic and personalized approaches for better mental health in America.

What is your experience with using essential oils for balancing your mood and emotions? Do you have a favorite one for this? Be sure to comment below.

Sending many blessings.

 

Interested in Learning More About Essential Oils?

 

Resources:

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Disclaimer: This material is for information purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prescribe for any illness. You should check with your doctor regarding implementing any new strategies into your wellness regime. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. (Affiliation link.)

This information is applicable ONLY for therapeutic quality essential oils. This information DOES NOT apply to essential oils that have not been tested for purity and standardized constituents. There is no quality control in the United States, and oils labeled as “100% pure” need only to contain 5% of the actual oil. The rest of the bottle can be filled with fillers and sometimes toxic ingredients that can irritate the skin. The studies are not based solely on a specific brand of an essential oil, unless stated. Please read the full study for more information.

Thanks Pixabay and Canva.