Anxiety and Fear
It is not just global pandemics that induce the states of fear and sleeplessness in people. An upcoming exam, speech or interview can be just as disruptive. What's so frustrating is the very situation which induces fear is the one where you could really do with all your faculties, but without sleep, and crippled with fear, we don't perform at our best.
The problem is in some ways our bodies haven't changed all that much since we were hunting mammoths. We hear on the news: thousands more people have died; the virus is coming our way; and interviews with survivors, intensive care specialists and weeping relatives reinforce the sense of impending doom.
Added to this we have the economic implications and the day to day awfulness of trying to shop and look after vulnerable members of our families, all the while worrying about not coming into contact with something so small we can't see it.
Photo by Elijah O'Donnell on UnsplashWhen this happens our adrenal glands, situated just above the kidneys - the seat of shock in the body, kick into action, flooding our system with the hormone adrenaline. Our heart pounds, our palms sweat, it rushes about the body dilating the air passages, re-directing blood to major muscle groups and preparing us to run and run as fast as we can, away from the tiger our body thinks it has just seen.
Everyone is probably familiar with this full-on response but when there is no actual immediate danger, that extra energy is useless and leaves you feeling restless and irritable, causing insomnia and a permanent jittery nervous feeling.
Hormonal reactions involve tiny changes in chemicals which appear to respond really well to homoeopathy which uses infinitesimal amounts of substances - often poisons - to trigger the body's healing response to those substances.
If the symptoms are matched to those of the homeopathic remedy your body's healing response is to eliminate those symptoms, in this case making you feel calm again.
Homeopaths use Materia Medicas which are like dictionaries to match the symptoms you have to a remedy.
Those I list below fill pages in these books but to simplify things, I am highlighting the keynotes of the remedies which are most helpful for reducing cortisol levels and calming us down and helping us regain our night's sleep.
Some Remedies for Addressing Fear
Aconite- Aconite - "rabbit in the headlights", adrenaline pumping, heart pounding. Rhymes with fright. Also take this remedy at the first sign of any infection.
- Arsenicum Album - deep dread, chilliness, restless (moving about in bed or from room to room or sitting to standing - can't keep still), need things to be tidy/ordered. Often strikes in the middle of the night.
- Arg-nit - Trembly anticipatory nervous dread/excitement when there is a specific ordeal ahead such as an exam, flight or dental visit. These are the people you need to take a chill pill because they are flapping about with their worry.
- Gelsemium - This is the opposite of Arg nit. In the face of an upcoming challenge, they shut down, become sluggish and seize up mentally and physically.
NB: These remedies should be taken in homoeopathic potentised form! Not raw, because they are all poisons.
Also, there are many other remedies which may be more suited to you or which more accurately address the root of your fear.
A qualified homoeopath will spend time working out what this might be and can prescribe a remedy specifically for you.
If you choose to treat yourself and see no change within a few days, please contact a qualified homeopath or homeopathic pharmacy.
Taking the wrong remedy over a long period of time can start to induce the symptoms you are trying to eliminate.
They will disappear when you stop taking the remedy but because they are often subtle you may not associate them with it.