Anxiety and Bach Flower Remedies– 

Many Clients ask me about how Bach Flower remedies can be  helpful  in reducing their anxiety symptoms and help them in maximizing strength and vitality to face tough, challenging situations in their life.

First, Let’s have a look at what is normal, day to day Anxiety and Anxiety disorder-  

Anxiety is an emotion characterized by feelings of tension, worried thoughts and physical changes like increased blood pressure.

People with anxiety disorders usually have recurring intrusive thoughts or concerns. They may avoid certain situations out of worry. They may also have physical symptoms such as sweating, trembling, dizziness or a rapid heartbeat.

–Adapted from the Encyclopedia of Psychology.

As we can see, anxiety is an emotion, and it comes with a mixture or combination of other unhealthy emotions and thoughts, which affects a person’s rational, reality-based thinking ability. If a person is suffering from an Anxiety disorder, he/she is unable to see things in perspective( as they Originally are).

Neuropsychology says- Anxiety or  anxious feeling or nervousness is one of the internal warning systems that alert us to danger or other threats and prepares our bodies to fight back or get out of a dangerous situation. (Scientists call this the ‘fight, flight, or freeze’ response.)

A manageable amount of anxiety ( healthy anxiety) from time to time can be helpful. For example, it can motivate the person to prepare for an interview or finish a task at work. Even happy events like moving to a new home or celebrating an important milestone can bring up anxiety—all of this is just part of being human.

Anxiety becomes a problem when it is overwhelming or unmanageable and it comes up unexpectedly. Anxiety disorders are mental illnesses that have a big impact on your life. Anxiety disorders need to be diagnosed by authorized experts in the mental health field ( psychiatrist) based on given criteria in DSM-V OR ICD-10. The person with severe anxiety symptoms might be prescribed with medication for severe symptoms of anxiety and other associated issues, such as – depression, heavy breathing, sleeplessness etc.

 Bach Flower Remedies and Anxiety–

Now here comes Bach Flower therapies in this scenario, to provide complete support, to the person with anxiety to handle his/her emotional imbalances more balanced way and with a healthier approach. The beauty of Bach flowers is their simplicity and these remedies are safe to take with any other medical treatment. These remedies offer gentle means of relieving negative attitudes and because they are prepared from flowers and trees, none of which are poisonous, they provide a harmless, non-habit forming system of healing. These remedies treat the personality and emotional upset such as impatience, fear, anxiety, worry, sadness etc. Dr. Bach believed that such negative states were ultimately responsible for the disease, and so treatment of the underlying cause is vital.

**Process of deciding Accurate and Effective Bach Flower Remedies combination for anxiety and anxiety disorders – 

There are 38 Bach Flower Remedies, found by Dr. Edward Bach and these 38 remedies can make thousands of various combinations for emotional imbalances, to provide a complete system for emotional well being of the person.  Primary Goal of taking these remedies is to find equilibrium in emotions, personality and psyche  of human beings of all age groups and to provide positive energy to handle current situations with empowered SELF. As Dr. Bach mentioned, we can mix up to 7 remedies at one time to make a combination.

When we need to treat anxiety and associated symptoms of a person with these remedies, the first and foremost important step is to  –

1.collecting a very detailed case-history of the client’s  past life experiences, present circumstances, emotional presentations, life traumas, losses, any prolonged physical illness, family history etc. 

This detailed case-history will provide us an idea of the client’s-

a.)personality traits Or Constitution Or Type and structure of person’s thought-emotion-behavior  triad

b.) his thought process to deal with challenging situations in his/her life,  c.)current issues and associated emotional imbalances

d.) severity-intensity-frequency of anxiety related and associated symptoms

e.)duration of present problem/s and its impact on a person’s overall life, including work, relations, routine etc.

2.Second step is selecting or short-listing a mixture of  remedies for current most bothersome emotional imbalances of the client ( using- “Here and Now” theory).– Dr. Bach suggested the most wonderful structure to decide remedies , that is “Peeling The Onion”. An onion has multiple layers of skin, and we have to peel one layer at a time to find inside another layer sitting close to each other, exactly the same way emotional problems build up over time, layer by layer, until the original emotional cause can be quite hidden. It can be very uncomfortable, and sometimes even dangerous to try to cut straight to the hidden heart of things, particularly in anxiety clients where they are not ready to face issues, or afraid of facing issues that might lie buried deep in their minds.We select remedies, very carefully for current or present most bothersome issue, starting from the outside of the layer of client’s mind. Each time while making a combination or mixture of remedies we have to add a constitution or type remedy of clients personality, because each one’s personality defines how a person will respond to a particular situation.  Very Important aspect to keep in mind when we are making a combination, though we have collected detailed case- history to give us a clear picture of the person’s  personality and emotional structure, we will start remedies for current prominent, troublesome symptoms, those are on the surface. The remedies are gentler because they approach the problem layer by layer, starting from the outside. By the time the center is reached the person taking them is ready to face it and deal with it calmly.

3. Duration -Most Important question always been asked to Bach Flower practitioners and that is, “How long do we have to take remedies?” – If an anxiety issue persists from longer duration, Or if it is diagnosed as an Anxiety disorder( and panic attacks) then until we can see that all layers of negative, unhealthy emotions and its associated expressions are cleansed to provide some positivity, empowerment and strength to tackle anxiety related issues , we need to continue taking remedies. Initially remedies should be given for 3 to 4 weeks for the most outside layer of emotional issue When that remedy mixture bottle is about to finish, and you are able to see some changes, it is the time to reconsider remedy choices as new emotions come on surface. Intensity and Duration of client’s suffering should be taken in account while deciding the duration of taking remedies. 

 

Last but not least  – Always take advice from experienced Bach flower remedy practitioners before starting  these remedies for the very first time, especially when you are unable to decide a combination on your own.  

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Mrs. Anagha P. Atgur

Co-founder of VitaMind family mental wellness center,

Bach Flower remedy registered practitioner ( London)

Masters in Counselling Psychology.