6 Herbal Remedies For Mental Health Disorders

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Anxiety disorder, mood disorder, psychotic disorder, lack of impulse control, addiction disorder, personality disorder et al are classified as mental health disorders. People with anxiety disorder are afraid of certain situations or objects. They have physical signs of anxiety such as increased heart beat, profuse perspiration etc.

Those with mood disorders have a persistent feeling of sadness or periods of sadness followed by periods of happiness. Psychotic disorder consists of a whole gamut of mental health disorders. Such people experience hallucinations and cling to false beliefs. Scizophrenia is a kind of psychotic disorder. Those with impulse control disorders are unable to control emotions or impulses. While those with personality disorder may have extreme personality traits that are almost always at odds with the society.

If you or any of your near ones is exhibiting such symptoms then he or she is suffering from mental health disorder. Treatment for mental health disorders include a comprehensive therapy including antidepressant drugs, counseling, cognitive therapy, behavioral therapy etc.

However, all these treatments can never guarantee complete or sometimes even partial roll back of the abnormality in mental health. To effectively deal with mental health disorders you need to abate these techniques and drugs with something else. This can be done with herbs. Herbal remedies can help restore the normal mental set up and cure mental health disorders. Let us explore some herbal remedies for mental health disorders.

Kava kava

This herb is found mostly in the south pacific region. It has been found to be effective in the treatment of mild to moderate anxiety disorder. Clinical trials using kava have shown that kava is able to lower anxiety attacks.

Moreover, the herb has no pronounced side effects. This makes it a good choice for mental health disorders. You can have tablets of kava that are available over the counter in medicine stores.

St. Johns Wort

This herb has been used since ancient times as an antidepressant. In clinical trials it has been seen that St. Johns wort works quite like antidepressant medicines. It is also effective in obsessive compulsive disorder, a kind of mental health disorder.

This herb is available in the form of liquid as well as pill. Dried herb is also available which can be made into a tea. Whichever way you may take it it is going to lift your mood to some extent.

Gingko Biloba

In laboratory studies this herb with Chinese ancestry has shown promising effect in enhancing cognitive functions. People suffering from dementia and schizophrenia have impaired cognitive functions. This can be rectified to some extent by using extract of the leaves of gingko herb.

In laboratory studies it has been inferred that ginkgo may increase blood flow to the brain, reduce inflammations, prevents brain cell damage by acting as an antioxidant and help in improving memory functions to some extent. It needs to be taken orally to have the desired effects.

Valerian

Valerian is said to be anti anxiety in nature. It has been used mainly for calming and soothing the nervous system for centuries. This property is bestowed on the herb by its active constituents valerenic acid and valerenal. These compounds interact with neurotransmitters and produce the calming effect.

Studies have shown that this herb is useful in treating anxiety to some extent due to sedative effect on nervous system. You can take upto 400 mg of valerian root extract on a daily basis, but not continuously for more than a month.

Chamomile

Chamomile has been used mostly as a relaxant for a long time. It has been observed that chamomile can also resolve symptoms of mild depression and anxiety. Off late it is seen that the anti anxiety effect of chamomile herb is quite pronounced.

It also is helpful in curing insomnia or lack of sleep. This property also contributes to its use as an anti anxiety herb. You can have a cup of chamomile tea daily by steeping three tablespoon of dried chamomile in steaming hot water for at least 10 minutes.

Hemp Seed

Hemp seed oil has a high concentration of omega-3 fatty acids and proteins. When you are suffering from mental health disorders, you are most probably low in omega-3 fatty acids. Low levels of omega-3 fatty acids have been observed in people suffering from depression as well as schizophrenia.

Regular intake of omega-3 fatty acids has shown remarkable improvement in certain mental faculties of patients. Hemp seed oil can be used for cooking daily meals to increase the intake of omega-3 fatty acids and cure mental health disorders.

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