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Journal
of an Herbalist
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By
Karima Burns, MH, ND
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07/03/2002
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Client:
Rhonda
Case:
Severe Anxiety
Rhonda
came to me complaining of severe anxiety. She had suffered anxiety attacks in
the past but had since had them cured with medical intervention. Recently they
had reappeared in one place - airports. Rhonda was so utterly terrified of
airports she could not even bring herself to say the word without getting ill.
However, with an upcoming airplane trip scheduled her anxiety over the flight
had started to spill out into other areas of her life as well. She was soon due
to take a trip to see her relatives in Lebanon and came to me asking if there
were any herbs she could take to curb her anxiety.
Rhonda
had tackled her previous panic attacks with years of therapy and medication.
However, these recent attacks were so sudden and her need to rid them so urgent,
that a she needed a different approach this time. Rhonda had six weeks before
she was to travel so I asked to see her each week before then. Each week we did
something different to help her eventually achieve freedom from her "prison
of anxiety".
The
first week I sent Rhonda home and asked her to write down every panic attack she
had that week and pinpoint what they were like, when they happened and if she
had eaten or done anything she thought may have triggered them. The following
week she came back with some amazing discoveries. One observation she made was
that on days she consumed caffeine she always had at least one attack, but on
days where she drank no soda, coffee or tea, her attacks went away. Looking over
her "journal" together we both observed that lack of sleep, watching
the news, chocolate and white bread products also seemed to "set her
off" but not to the same degree as the caffeine.
Based
on her first week's observations Rhonda spent her second week avoiding caffeine
and reducing white bread and chocolate. She increased her sleep to 6 hours a
night (from 4-5) and limited herself to watching the news only in the evenings.
The third week she returned to me she had reduced her panic attacks to zero
outside of the airport. However, she still had severe reactions to the words
plane or airport. She had even returned a movie to the video store that week
simply because it had a plane in it.
At
her third visit we started a series of reflexology treatments. During these
treatments I stimulated various areas of Rhonda's feet that corresponded to her
nervous system and other areas while at the same time speaking of various topics
having to do with airplanes and flying and travel. The point of this procedure
was to create for Rhonda a pleasant sensation related to the words and ideas
rather than the fearful one she already had planted in her mind. As we spoke of
planes and travel she was experiencing the relaxing effects of reflexology as
well as the sensations of harp and flute music and scented aromatherapy candles.
We repeated this treatment four more times before she left. When she finally
left on her journey I sent her with a small bottle of the same scent I had been
burning in my office. The sense of smell has the most powerful effect on the
memory that any other sense so I hoped to implant a pleasant memory of planes in
the bottle of aromatherapy oil she carried.
The
last week Rhonda came to me I gave her an herbal tea made of Skullcap, Valerian
and Hops herbs. She was to take one-three cups every day until she travelled.
This formula is traditionally used to help people sleep. However, in smaller
doses it can eliminate anxiety by literally "nipping it in the bud"
and killing it at the source. Rhonda discovered that three cups a day put her to
sleep but if she drank three half cups each day she felt very peaceful.
The
day before she travelled Rhonda already felt better, but was still very
apprehensive about the trip. She had reached a point where she could say the
word "airplane" and take her luggage to the airport calmly, but could
she actually get on the plane and not "go crazy" when it took off? I
sent her on the plane with a tincture of her special herbal formula and
instructed her to take double her normal amount.
When
she arrived in Lebanon Rhonda e-mailed me to tell me that not only had the
formula worked, but that it had worked perfectly. She had not experienced even
one moment of anxiety on her flight and even things that had upset some of the
other passengers did not affect her, such as air turbulence and a delayed
landing. She had even comforted one lady on the flight who was very upset by the
air turbulence during the middle part of the flight. She chose to continue
taking a half a cup of her tea three times a day until she returned to the
states and when she came back she was even talking about where she could travel
to next!
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