Aromatherapy or Prescription Drugs: Choose the Power of Natural Healing

We’re often arrogant to say that our mood swings, changes into malicious beings and sudden isolation moments, are signs of depression. Then, we wake up in the morning, maybe still cranky, nervous and feeling ‘down’ and we go to work. We eat, we drink coffee and do pretty much everything we do on any other day, just maybe without the same enthusiasm and energy we used to have. And we call that a depressive state. And that’s just plain arrogant to say, especially for women (as they tend to go over such moments more often than men), because depression is a far worse condition than a simple mood swing. It’s devastating and detrimental to a person’s health, life and family.
After being diagnosed with depression, a person can only do as much: follow the doctor’s orders, take the prescribed medications and try not to lose their mind indefinitely. Family support is of the utmost essence, just as it is the understanding that patience is golden in these situations. Moreover, helping the patient cultivate a state of wellness is also crucial. Walks, pleasant conversations, drinking tea and generally making sure they don’t get disturbed or irritated is of the essence, as this can trigger the flow of bad emotions even more. That’s when we come to the effects of turning to aromatherapy. Just like people respond to beautiful sights and tastes, they also do to pleasant and soothing smells.

Here inevitably pops up the following question: which one is more effective, essential oils or pills?

Apparently, when people come in touch with a good smell from an aromatherapy diffuser or scented candles, their smell receptors start communicating with the amygdala and the hypothalamus in the brain – the parts that store good memories and emotions. Some scientists claim that breathing in a pleasant smell has the power to trigger happy emotions and memories, which ultimately improves the mental well-being.

Pills on the other hand, are also inevitable. They’re a doctor’s prescribed method of treatment and as such should be respected. However, personal experiences of some patients suffering depression show evidence of a rather opposite claim: some essential oils can deliver the same effect as pills – without the negative consequences of the chemistry. Among these patients are people suffering from migraines, bladder infections, people with severe anxiety and even cases with a physical manifestation of a mental problem such as a restless leg syndrome. Nearly all of them said that after using essential oils, they felt huge improvements in their conditions, and some of them were able to reduce their pill intake.

So in the pursuit of ways to ease the pain of people suffering from depression, stimulating happiness and good feelings through the smell of lavender, orange or any of the known anti-depressant – aromatic smells is an option worth trying. With just a drop of essential oil in an aromatherapy diffuser that you can place in the living room or the bedroom, the air can be easily filled with happy-triggering smells that could help a person’s mental health.

This could be also good for people who aren’t diagnosed with depression but have severe mood swings. This especially goes for women with severe PMS or women going through menopause. The fact that your nose can contribute in the improvement of your mood and the overall health state of your mind, is a reason enough to give the diffuser a try.

However, aromatherapy on its own can’t cure depression. After all, this is a mental disease and as such it is a subject of professional medical treatment. What does matter though, is the effort to help yourself in the process and believe that everything will be alright.