Toronto-Centre Naturopathic Medicine is a Toronto naturopathic clinic dedicated to providing safe and effective treatment of a wide variety of health conditions using natural therapies and the principles of naturopathic medicine.
Anxiety is well treated using naturopathic medicine. To worry at times is normal, but if you are often anxious without reason, or your anxiety disrupts your daily life you may have generalized anxiety disorder. Anxiety levels may decrease over time, but can also increase, sometimes leading to depression or substance abuse. Professional healthcare should be sought out if you feel you are not able to control your worries, or if your anxiety interferes with your ability to carry out your daily routine.
Symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder
Possible symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder include:
- Non-specific worry (i.e., sense that something bad will happen, even with no apparent danger)
- Restlessness
- Fatigue
- Irritability
- Poor concentration
- Insomnia
- Muscle tension
- Headache
- Shortness of breath
- Nausea
- Diarrhea
Generalized anxiety disorder treatment at Toronto-Centre Naturopathic Medicine
At Toronto-Centre Naturopathic Medicine, the goals of anxiety treatment are to reduce or completely eliminate anxiety symptoms, and determine triggers of anxiety in order to prevent recurrence of anxiety episodes.
Conventional treatment for generalized anxiety disorder may include psychotherapy, and a variety of medications, including anti-anxiety medications or antidepressants which may have short- or long-term side effects. For this reason, you may choose to try natural treatment to possibly avoid use of conventional medications, or together with conventional medications in order to decrease dosages of conventional medications required to manage your anxiety symptoms.
Naturopathic treatment of any chronic health concern must be recognized as a process that involves identifying specific treatment goals, a thorough understanding by your naturopathic doctor of all factors affecting your health, including physical, psychological, emotional and lifestyle factors, development of a comprehensive treatment plan and execution of that plan through periodic monitoring and adjustment.
At Toronto-Centre Naturopathic Medicine a typical approach to treating generalized anxiety disorder is to first identify and address underlying factors in your lifestyle (e.g., stress, social isolation, dietary factors, general perspective, generally unhealthy lifestyle). Where appropriate, a number of therapeutic options are available, to be used alone, or more often in a complementary fashion, including:
- Botanical (herbal) medicines
- Nutritional supplements
- Homeopathic medicines
- Lifestyle counseling
- Relaxation techniques
- Bowen Therapy
- Acupuncture
- Exercise prescription
- Hydrotherapy
Reference
Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Generalized Anxiety Disorder [Online]. [cited 2009 Feb 18]; Available from: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/generalized-anxiety-disorder/DS00502