Abstract
Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) refers to those medical substances and practices that are not the part of standard or conventional care. Complementary medicine is often used along with other standard medical treatment strategies or they can be used alone. CAM practices can be used for the relief in different problems such as heart diseases and cancer. It can also be used for certain psychiatric problems such as stress, anxiety, and depression, usually caused by different ecological factors such as risk and supportive factors related to parents, peers, and school. Different CAM practices can be used for the treatment of stress and anxiety. These practices may include relaxation techniques, cognitive behavioral therapy, meditation and yoga, acupuncture, herbal products, aromatherapy, and homeopathy. These strategies can be used alone, in combination with each other, or in combination with other conventional therapies. In this paper, we have discussed different factors of stress and anxiety, and CAM practices for their treatment.
Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) for Stress and Anxiety
Complementary and alternative medicine
Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) refers to those medical substances and practices that are not the part of standard care, which is usually provided by medical doctors and other related health-care professionals such as physical therapists and nurses. Complementary medicine is often used along with other standard medical treatment strategies as, for example, acupuncture is an alternative medicine practice and it can be used in relieving the patients of cancer from the side effects of cancer therapy. Another example is that of aromatherapy to decrease the discomfort after surgery. Sometimes, alternative medicine can also be used in place of standard medical care as, for example, treatment of heart disease with the help of chelation therapy, which is the process of removing excessive metals from the blood, rather than using standard method of treatment. Moreover, CAM strategy is also used in the treatment of cancer as, for example, use of special diet is recommended by some doctors in place of conventional chemotherapy, surgery, or radiation treatment. CAM is also found to be effective in certain conditions of psychological stresses such as anxiety, depression, as well as pain. People’s interest in holistic health, and distrust on medicinal agents have increased their use of CAM practices.
Stress and Anxiety
Stress refers to the state of mental or emotional strain or suspense. On the other hand, anxiety refers to a relatively permanent state of worry and nervousness that can occur in a variety of mental disorders. It is usually accompanied by compulsive behavior or attacks of panic. Usually, stress results in the production of anxiety through physical and psychological stimulation such as the increase in the heart rate, blood pressure, and problems in respiration.
Ecological factors affecting stress and anxiety
Different factors are involved in the development of stress, anxiety, and depression. These factors can be genetic and ecological. Genetic factors are those factors that are transferred from parents to their offspring. Ecological model for the risk as well as protective factors affecting the stress and anxiety can be intrapersonal, interpersonal, institutional, community-based, and they can be caused by some type of public policy.
In children, several factors are involved in stress and anxiety. These factors may include child temperament, violence exposure, maternal anxiety and depression symptoms, and sociodemographic factors. Peer risk factors may include relational and evident victimization, whereas peer protective factors may include peer trust and communication. Family risk factors may include family conflict and/or mother or father alienation, whereas family protective factors may include parent trust and communication. School supportive factors have also an important role in protection from anxiety and stress. These factors may include bonding with a teacher and interest in school related activities. In all these factors, peer and family risk factors have more pronounced affect on the development of anxiety and stress in children. On the other hand, family and school supportive factors have most important affect in protecting children from the development of stress, anxiety, and depression. School supportive factors are also found to have balancing affect on family risk factors. Peer supportive factors are found to have least affects in protection against these problems (Yeh et al., 2013). Obviously, these risk and supportive factors are present in some form in every person’s life, thereby affecting the protection from the stress and anxiety or their development later in the life of a person.
Scientific investigations are rapidly showing the efficiency of CAM treatment in different psychological disorders. Researchers have reported that CAM practices are more commonly used in the U.S. for the treatment of anxiety and severe depression as compared to conventional therapies (van der Watt, Laugharne, & Janca, 2008). Following are some of the currently used CAM practices for the treatment of stress and anxiety:
Cognitive behavioral therapy
Cognitive behavioral therapy is a type of mental health counseling. With the help of this therapy, experts work on the emotional dysfunctions, disturbed behaviors, and cognitive problems. Cognitive behavioral therapy is also helpful in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (van der Watt, Laugharne, & Janca, 2008).
Meditation and Yoga
Meditation refers to continuous and profound contemplation or musing on a subject or series of subjects of a deep or abstruse nature. Usually, the subject can be an idea, an image, a word, a phrase, or even the breath of the person. Meditation is also found to be of help in treating the stress, anxiety, and depression. It is obvious that anxious people have the problem of controlling their thoughts as they have a huge number of distracting thoughts. They are also unable to differentiate between problem-solving thoughts and worries. So, meditation can help in controlling their thoughts, thereby improving their condition. However, there is minimal empirical evidence for the use of mindfulness-based meditation in the treatment of anxiety, i.e. it needs further research (van der Watt, Laugharne, & Janca, 2008).
Yoga refers to different forms of exercises and physical postures including breathing exercises, and meditation. It is usually done to have a good control on the body and mind. It is considered as one of the most important CAM practices. Practicing yoga and other related forms of regular exercises can help in giving health benefits such as decrease in heart rate and blood pressure, thereby decreasing the problem of stress and anxiety.
Usually, yoga classes end with relaxation periods involving mindfulness meditation. Moreover, conventional therapies are also included in the yoga and meditation strategies in order to increase the benefits for stressed and anxious people.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is the Chinese practice of inserting tips of needles at specific points on the skin to treat pain or disease. It is also found to be of help in the treatment of anxiety, depression, and PTSD.
In traditional Chinese medicine, anxiety is considered as the imbalance or disturbed relation of the heart with kidney. According to Chinese concepts, five emotions are represented by five elements, i.e. fear is represented by water, anger by wood, happiness by fire, worry by Earth, and grief by metal. Chinese concepts tell that the presence of too much heat in the heart causes imbalance in its interaction with the kidney, which is represented as water and fear. This makes the water organ unable to contain the fire organ rising up to the mind, resulting in anxiety. Use of acupuncture on different points close to the heart, kidney, ear, and spleen can help in giving relief from anxiety.
In most of the European countries, acupuncture is one of the most popular forms of conventional treatment (van der Watt, Laugharne, & Janca, 2008). Sometimes, acupuncture is also used along with other CAM strategies in order to improve its effects on stress and anxiety.
Herbal Products
Kava (Piper methysticum) is a plant found in the South Pacific areas. It is one of the most widely researched herb for the treatment of anxiety. It is found to have an important affect in the treatment of anxiety and improvement of mood. It can also help in reducing depression levels. However, studies are showing that the use of kava is related to hepatotoxicity. This problem was one of the reasons of its withdrawal from the U.K. market (van der Watt, Laugharne, & Janca, 2008).
Researchers have compared the use of valerian and passiflora (two herbs) with conventionally available medicines. One study shows that diazepam – a medicine used for the treatment of anxiety, insomnia, and alcohol withdrawal – have better results in the improvement of anxiety symptoms as compared to valerian. Other study compared the efficiency of passiflora and benzodiazepine – conventional medicine used to treat anxiety, convulsions, and sleep problems – but that study, due to insufficient evidence, was unable to show which one is better. It means further studies are required, if we want to get better results in comparing the efficiency of passiflora and benzodiazepine (van der Watt, Laugharne, & Janca, 2008). Researchers have also reported that Kava and valerian root can increase the sedative effect of benzodiazepines (Bystritsky et al., 2012).
St. John’s Wort has also been found to be of help in the treatment of psychiatric problems such as depression. However, it can interact with other traditional pharmacologic agents used for the treatment of anxiety. This herb can interact the cytochrome P450 enzymes CYP3A4, which is the substrate for several benzodiazepines. Moreover, it strongly inhibits CYP2D6, which is the substrate for many selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) that are used as a first-line treatment in patients of anxiety. Outside of mental health, it can also reduce the efficacy of antivirals, birth control pills, and many cardiovascular medications (Bystritsky et al., 2012).
Relaxation Techniques
These techniques are helpful in giving the people relief from the situations of stress and anxiety. It can also help in the treatment of panic disorders and phobias.
Aromatherapy and Homeopathy
Aromatherapy refers to the therapeutic use of aromatic plant extracts and essential oils in baths and massage. Some experts think that aromatherapy is a kind of holistic medicine that is effective in the treatment of spirit, soul, and body. On the other hand, some researchers concentrate on the fragrance compounds and essential oils as medicinal products to be used in the treatment strategies. Use of armotherapy in the treatment of stress and anxiety needs further investigation (van der Watt, Laugharne, & Janca, 2008). Homeopathy has also been found to be of little use in the treatment of anxiety.
Concluding Remarks
Various CAM strategies have been discussed. Most important of CAM practices include the use of Kava and acupuncture. Moreover, addition of exercise to the daily routine can also help in the treatment of anxiety and stress, as it prepares the body to deal with different situations.
Although, various CAM practices are used for the treatment of stress and anxiety, both in the Western and non-Western civilizations, but further investigations are required in a number of CAM practices. Scientific literature has fewer methodologically rigorous studies pointing to the use of CAM practices for psychological disorders. Moreover, comparison studies are also required for the CAM practices with conventional medicines. However, it is also a point of consideration that this absence of empirical scientific evidence is not hindering the popularity of CAM practices in the Western population. This is probably due to increased awareness, fear of addiction to traditionally available medicines, changing health practices, and possible dissatisfaction with traditional form of care.
References
Bystritsky, A., Hovav, S., Sherbourne, C., Stein, M. B., Rose, R. D., Campbell-Sills, L., & Roy-Byrne, P. P. (2012). Use of complementary and alternative medicine in a large sample of anxiety patients. Psychosomatics, 53(3), 266-272.
van der Watt, G., Laugharne, J., & Janca, A. (2008). Complementary and alternative medicine in the treatment of anxiety and depression. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 21(1), 37-42.
Yeh, C. J., Liao, H. Y., Ma, P. W. W., Shea, M., Okubo, Y., Kim, A. B., & Atkins, M. S. (2013). Ecological Risk and Protective Factors of Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms Among Low-Income, Chinese Immigrant Youth.
