A clinical study found that inhalation of orange essential oil (2.5 or 10 drops) reduced anxiety and promoted tranquility despite being subjected to an anxiety-provoking situation.
“Effect Of Sweet Orange Aroma On Experimental Anxiety In Humans” 2012 – PubMed.com
- My Comments: I am not suggesting that this is a “cure” for anxiety. However, there are some essential oils that when inhaled, can go directly to the limbic system. The limbic system is the area of the brain that deals with your emotions. I have always thought of Orange Essential Oil as a “happy oil” and I love to use it in a diffuser, as a perfume, or mixed with other great smelling oils. I guess someone else had the same ideas except they put it to the scientific model.
The objective of the study was to determine if orange essential oil could effect anxiety levels. They used 40 male volunteers, divided into 5 groups. The first 3 groups 2.5, 5, or 10 drops of Orange essential oil. The 4th group used 2.5 drops of Tea Tree essential oil, and the last group used 2.5 drops of water. Immediately after inhalation of the substance, each volunteer completed a “model of anxiety” (video-monitored version of Stroop Color-Word Test).
I though the outcome was really interesting. Unlike the control groups, the individuals exposed to the test aroma of Orange essential oil (2.5 and 10 drops) presented less anxiety (“a lack of significant alterations (p>0.05) in state-anxiety, subjective tension and tranquillity levels throughout the anxiogenic situation, revealing an anxiolytic activity of sweet orange essential oil.”)
“Conclusions: Although more studies are needed to find out the clinical relevance of aromatherapy for anxiety disorders, the present results indicate an acute anxiolytic activity of sweet orange aroma, giving some scientific support to its use as a tranquilizer by aromatherapists.”
I have samples if you would like to try this. Send me an email or text.
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