Essential Oil Case Study on Anxiety
Case Study on Anxiety
Effects of Ylang Ylang, Rose, Geranium and Cinnamon Leaf Essential Oils on anxiety.
Today’s Date: April 9, 2020
Client Introduction and History:
The client is a 68-year-old male, diagnosed by his doctors with Anxiety, Type 2 Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol, Asthma and COPD (Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.) He is currently taking the following medications as prescribed by his physicians: Clonazepam for anxiety, Paroxetine (Generic for Paxil) for depression, Tamsulosin for prostate health, Montelukast Sodium (Generic for Singulair) for breathing problems, Mometasone/Formoterol (Dulera) for breathing problems, Metformin (Generic for Glucophage) for diabetes, Dapagliflozin Propanediaol (Farxiga) for diabetes, Isosorbide Mononitrate (Generic for Immure Er) for chest pain, Fluticasone Propionate for allergies, Atorvastatin Calcium (Generic for Lipitor) for high cholesterol, Olmesartan Medoxomil (Generic for Benicar) for high blood pressure, Metoprolol Tartrate for high blood pressure, and Amlodipine Besylate (Generic for Norvasc) for high blood pressure.
The client has been utilizing several complementary methods in addition to traditional modalities which, includes but is not limited to diet, supplements, exercise, Chiropractic and massage.
He began addressing his weight issues several years ago, dropping his weight from 290 pounds to 230 pounds after which time he was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. He walks 2 -3 miles at least three times a week on a treadmill, uses weights and a total gym set up. He would like to improve his health, reduce the number of medications he is taking while continuing to enjoy outdoor activities, which includes golfing and landscaping.
Anxiety is the first issue he would like to address. The triggers for his anxiety are usually known things such as public speaking, crowds, concern over his health, reprocessing the day when going to bed or going to bed and anticipating the next days events and dwelling on them. In the winters of 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015, he found himself in the Emergency Room of the hospital with aches in his side, which manifested into his entire side going numb. On those occasions he did not feel anxious but was told by the attending physician that he was suffering from an anxiety attack.
Essential Oils selected:
Ylang Ylang, Cinnamon Leaf, Geranium and Rose
Botanical Name:
Cananga odorata (Lam.)Hook.f. & Thomson; Cinnamomum xanthoneurum Blume; Pelargonium graveolens L’Her syn. Pelargonium x asperum Ehrhart ex Willdenow; Rosa x damascena Herrm
Details of Blend:
A 3 % dilution was chosen, consisting of four essential oils that the client found very pleasing. The blend consisted of x drops Ylang Ylang, x drops Cinnamon, x drops Geranium, and x drops Rose combined in 1 ounce (30 ml) of carrier oil blend, consisting of Prunus armeniaca L. (Apricot) Kernel Oil, Prunus dulcis (Mill) D.A..Webb (Sweet Almond) Oil, and Corylus avellana. L. (Hazelnut) Seed Oil, with Tocopherol, from Nature’s Sunshine Products, Inc. The carrier blend was chosen for its light, non-greasy formulation which hydrates, and is calming, and nourishing for the skin, (Hargis, 2015).
Rationale:
Ylang Ylang has shown a wide variety of bioactivities, which have been beneficial in treating depression, high blood pressure and anxiety (Tan, 2015; Nagdeve, 2020). It contains the chemical constituent linalool, a monoterpene (Hargis, 2015) that has shown to inhibit anxiety when inhaled by mice, prior to being subjected to the light/dark box test (Souto-Maior, 2011). Studies with human subjects also proved to have positive results in lowering SBP (systolic blood pressure) and lowering state anxiety when essential oils containing linalool were utilized on participants in the form of a self applied foot massage (Eguchi, 2016). Since reducing anxiety was the client’s first priority, essential oils containing linalool, which lowers anxiety were chosen (Hargis, 2015; Souto-Maior, 2011;Euguchi, 2016).
Cinnamon Leaf oil has a spicy aroma that was exceptionally pleasing to the client and provides benefits for reducing anxiety (Hargis, 2015) due to its linalool content (Hargis, 2015; Tisserand, 2014). It is also warming to the heart and a “pick me up for courage,” (Hargis, 2015). Mice that were given an oral administration of linalool, experienced reduced anxiety along with decreased levels of serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine, without any side effects (Cheng, 2014).
Rose essential oil is balancing, calming and relaxing plus has the ability to alleviate anger, sadness and grief (Hongratanaworakit, 2009; Hargis, 2015). The citronellol content of rose essential oil (Tisserand, 2014) complimented the blend due to the hypotensive (ability to lower blood pressure) and vasorelaxant effects (reduction of vascular tension) as was demonstrated in studies where citronellol lowered blood pressure by having a direct effect on the vascular smooth muscle resulting in vasodilation in mice (Bastos, J. 2010). Since hypertension is also a concern for the client, Rose essential oil was included.
Citronellol and linalool are both key constituents in Geranium (Tisserand, 2014; Hargis, 2015) making it a fitting choice for the client considering the calming, relaxing, and anxiolytic-like effects that are generated by these two constituents (Souto-Maior, 2011; Hongratanaworakit, 2009; Bastos, J. 2010; Cheng, B. 2015). Because of its anti-anxiety properties and sedative nature, essential oils containing linalool have also been used to alleviate insomnia and calming the mind (Klar, 2018) which may help calm the client when retiring for the night, because he had the tendency to go over the day’s event.
The essential oil blend was placed into a small rollerball to be applied topically on the bottoms of the feet morning and night, giving the client the opportunity to lower anxiety through a self applied foot massage, twice daily. This was chosen since; fifty-seven participants found that a self-administered aroma foot massage significantly decreased both their systolic and diastolic blood pressure as well as their state anxiety score (Eguchi, 2016). Once applied, the client was also instructed to cup his hands over his mouth and nose and inhale deeply. Inhalation was also chosen since studies have found that odors can affect the emotional state of the person receiving the scent (Koyama and Heinbockel, 2020). Since inhalation of Geranium, worked well for reducing anxiety for women during the first stage of the labor experience (Fakari, F, 2015) it is the hope that it will also reduce anxiety for the client when starting his day, as well as at night when anticipating the next days events.
Client Response and Personal Reflection:
The client has been faithfully using the blend twice daily on his feet and then cupping his hands over his face and inhaling deeply. He enjoys the fragrance and has been pleased with the results. He shared that in June of 2019, prior to the use of this essential oil blend, he was taking Clonazepam two to three times a day for anxiety. By October of 2019 he had decreased his use of Clonazepam to once or twice a week. In April of 2020, even with the anxiety produced by COVID19, he has not had to increase the use of his Clonazepam. Between June of 2019, when this protocol first began and April of 2020, the client has had two minor surgeries, with minor complications without panic attacks or needing to take additional Clonazepam. The winter of 2020 is when he expected that he would again find himself in the Emergency Room of the hospital with a surprise panic attack causing his entire side to go numb since it had been happening at 5-year intervals. That has not happened. He now uses Clonazepam only when anxious about the following day’s activities when it includes public speaking. His doctor discontinued one of the three blood pressure medications and his blood pressure has remained stable. The client is thrilled with the results and states that he hasn’t felt this good in 40 years.
References:
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