Essential Oils for Depression

Essential oils are a home remedy to relieve signs and symptoms of depression. Since they generally cause no side effects on the bodies of patients, people suffering depression or stress and anxiety are usually willing to give them a try.

All over the world, depression is one of the leading causes of low self-esteem and an unproductive lifestyle. In fact, depression can influence your reasoning and alter your intellectual abilities.

When you notice that you are restless, anxious, and experiencing difficulty in sleeping, eating, or even concentrating on normal daily tasks, you may be suffering from depression.

What is Depression?

Depression is a condition of the mind whereby the person experiences strong feelings of sadness, feeling down or downcast, and extreme inward heaviness.

In most cases, this could very well disable your physical abilities and mental prowess.

Depression makes you assume an attitude of worthlessness and incompetence. That said, there are many stages of depression and they occur in phases. Let’s dig deeper to find out.

The Causes of Depression

Several factors play critical roles in causing depression in a person’s life. For example, personal circumstances, psychological processes, or biological issues may lead a person into depression. Also, financial difficulties or challenging interactions with other human beings can induce a state of depression.

Other features that can lead to depression include stress, medications, genetic disorder, hormonal imbalance, diet and nutritional deficiencies, drug abuse, difficult medical conditions such as cancer, heart attacks, hypoglycemia or low blood sugar, stroke, traumatic experiences, and other unfavorable situations.

Stages of Depression

There are four stages of depression affecting a person such as:

1. Depressing and Gloomy Period: In this state, you will experience a low mood and a feeling of dislike to activities and other productive ventures, although, this condition lasts for a short time.
2. Degeneration or Relapse Stage: If you experience depressive moods within five to six months after a previous occurrence, you are in the relapse or degeneration stage.>
3. Regular and Repeated Depression Stage: Frequent and repeated depression stage occurs if you re-encounter depression after about six months to one or more years after the initial incidence.
4. Chronic or Protracted Depression Phase:Chronic or protracted depression phase is also known as ‘dysthymia.’ It can also happen when your depressive moments last for more than two years.

Essential Oils to Use for Depression

Essential oils are preferred by many persons due to their organic compositions and minimal or no side effects.

Aromatherapy may also benefit the family members and other supporters of a depressed person. It is not easy to be the care-takers of people suffering depression, as it is a condition that’s hard to understand from the outside.

Here are high-quality oils that can help with issues of depression:

1. Lavender Oil

Certified Organic Lavender from Rocky Mountain Oils
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Lavender oil is one of the primary essential oils used for alleviating the signs and effects of depression in an individual. Using lavender oil can help in reducing your emotional stress and anxieties. You can use lavender in eliminating sleep disturbances, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), post-natal depression, and improve your overall health.

More Benefits of Lavender Essential Oil include the fact that it’s a natural cleanser and disinfectant. You can use it on cuts, wounds, sore muscles and joint pain.

In some ways, Lavender is the ‘Swiss Army Knife’ of essential oils.

Scented in a way that’s popular to most, Lavender smells sweet, floral, and calming.

2. Bergamot Oil

Organic Bergamot Essential Oil
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Bergamot oil is a stimulant, making you feel relieved and refreshed. As such, it works like an anti-depressant. This oil can support feelings of excitement, joy and happiness. It boosts your energy levels and feelings of freshness.

With a Bergamot treatment, you can experience renewed emotional stability; and become more relaxed, calm, and focused.

Bergamot also lowers and maintains blood pressure levels and regulates pulse rates. A recent study in Thailand discovered that Bergamot functions as an organic remedy for anxiety and depression.

3. Ylang Ylang Oil

Ylang-Ylang Essential Oil from Rocky Mountain Oils
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Kick away depression and its symptoms with the beneficial ointment of Ylang-Ylang essential oil. You can inhale diffused Ylang Ylang oil and get relief from emotional stress such as low self-esteem, jealousy, and anger.

It has a mild, soothing and relaxing effect with the capability of lowering stress, improving your mood, and promoting self-love.

You can also apply Ylang Ylang oil by diluting it with a carrier oil, and rubbing it into your body, almost like a perfume. A good way to enjoy topical applications of essential oils is to make an aromatherapy roll-on bottle.

4. Roman Chamomile Oil

Roman Chamomile from Plant Therapy Essential Oils
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Roman Chamomile oil can help you in lower stress and improve your mood, as it soothes and relaxes your mind and body.

Chamomile is a vital ingredient in various health products such as teas, scented candles, and massage oils.

In fact, most persons are familiar with the scent of Chamomile and appreciate its therapeutic essences. Try it in an essential oil today!

5. Worry Free Roll-On Blend

Worry Free Essential Oil Blend from Plant Therapy
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Worry Free Essential Oil Blend combines Lavender, Sweet Marjoram, Ylang Ylang Complete, Australian Sandalwood, Peru Balsam, and Roman Chamomile diluted to 10% in Fractionated Coconut Oil to create a powerful relaxing blend.

Reach for your Worry Free roll-on when life’s chaos, worry, and anxiety get to be too much, to help promote a tranquil state of mind. Especially great to use before bed to help calm a racing mind, Worry Free is a safe, natural way to ease into sleep or calm your mind. This blend is pre-diluted to 10% in Fractionated Coconut Oil in a roll-on bottle, making it ready to safely apply topically.

How to Use Essential Oils in Treating Depression

• Use your essential oils by diffusing the oil into the air using an aromatherapy diffuser. Here’s more information on how to use your diffuser to its best potential.
• Another way to use these oils is by massaging them onto the parts of your body such as bottoms of your feet, on your tummy, back of your neck, and behind the neck. Ask your partner for a massage, or talk to your massage therapist about incorporating essential oils into your treatment. Here are some additional tips on essential oils massage at home.
• Additionally, you can enjoy an aromatherapy bath by adding drops of essential oils of choice into the bathwater. Some fantastic bath additives you can use for diluting your bath oils are honey, carrier oil, and milk. Start with this basic DIY bath salts recipe here.
• You can inhale the therapeutic essences of essential oils through a cotton ball dabbed into the oil. Make sure you are using 100% pure essential oils, and not natural fragrance oils or synthetic fragrances. Fragrances may smell similar, but they do not carry the same therapeutic values as pure essential oils do.
• Make a quick essential oils room spray or car freshener spray with the essential oils you’ve chosen to address your depression. This allows you to quickly immerse yourself into the uplifting aromas that you need and “spritz away” the blues.

Precautions

Essential oils are useful for relieving stress, soothing a troubled mind, and alleviating depression. However, you should take preventive measures while applying these oils to your body, as they can react adversely if used excessively. Always dilute essential oils with a carrier oil, at least one ounce of carrier oil to about six drops of essential oils before applying to your skin to avoid irritations. Moreover, test the oil on a patch of your skin 24 hours before applying on the body. Examples of common carrier oils include jojoba oil, olive oil, coconut oil, and sweet almond oil.

Purchasing essential oils from reliable sources is recommended to avoid acquiring adulterated ones, since the United States Food and Drug Administration do not control the sales and usages of essential oils.

Symptoms of Depression

Essential oils have been found effective in handling cases of depressions, no matter the characteristic features. A puff of these therapeutic essences in your breath has the power to transform your depressive moments and offer you significant relief from stress and other maladies associated with it.

Are you unsure whether your feelings of gloominess could be caused by depression?

Here are some of the known symptoms of depression:

1.      Feelings of Fatigue and Tiredness

Depression is often a byproduct of fatigue and tiredness. When you have this feeling, it becomes difficult to engage in any productive venture such as physical activities and mental exercises.

2.      Insomnia and Hypersomnia

Insomnia is the inability to sleep comfortably due to certain conditions causing impaired sleep continuously, while hypersomnia occurs when you are always having excessive sleep rendering you incapacitated and unproductive. Both of these issues can significantly affect the quality of your health, as they will provoke distressful attitudes and sad thoughts in you. Moreover, insomnia and hypersomnia are the leading causes of harmful actions.

3.      Inability to Focus  and Poor Cognitive Functions

Whenever you are experiencing fluctuations in memory functions, psycho motor speed, verbal fluency, and loss of focus and attention, then, you are suffering from depression. In most cases, you are not able to reason and plan lack of problem-solving dispositions, and inadequate response to issues articulately.

4.      Self-blaming Emotions and Hopelessness

Depressed people show attitudes of hopelessness and a strong disposition for blaming themselves over past failures and no accomplishments in life, generally. When you become pre-occupied with self-blaming thoughts, it will lead to a loss of self-worth and a feeling of uselessness and misery.

5.      Anxiety and Moodiness

One of the significant symptoms of depression is anxiety. When you become unnecessarily anxious over an issue, it will invariably lead to an attitude of moodiness and irritability. These signs have a high tendency to affect your health status and incite suicidal thoughts in the long run.

6.      Lack of Zeal and Unproductivity

When you are depressed, it will affect your zeal towards work and lead to unproductivity.  Moreover, research has proved that individuals undergoing depressive moments are no longer attracted to pleasure either are they willing to engage in hobbies or other recreational activities that enlivened or brightened their miens.

7.      Poor Appetite

Depression leads to loss of appetite and in most instances, changes in taste. Some sufferers also skip meals, and others develop a strong inclination towards sweet foods.

8.      Chronic Joint, Limb, and Back Pains

If you are experiencing bodily pains such as joint, limb, and back pains, there is no gainsaying that you are depressed. The University of Texas Southwest Medical School conducted research and affirmed that depression is profoundly and intrinsically connected to the biological reactions of neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine and serotonin, affecting your moods and pains, especially when they are not adequately coordinated in the body.

9.      Dyspepsia, Esophagitis, and Stomach Ulcer

Gastrointestinal disorders such as dyspepsia, esophagitis, and stomach ulcers have connections with depression. Again, colon cancer and benign tumors are primarily related to emotional stress.

10.  Poor Sexual Functions and Worsening Marital Relationships

Worsening marital relationships, interpersonal associations, and reduced sexual performances are all traceable to depressive thoughts and emotional imbalances.  This situation results in low libido, weak erection, vaginal dryness, and no or delayed orgasm in men.

11.  Suicidal Thoughts

According to a recent study published in the Annals of General Psychiatry, major depression is the cause of suicidal thoughts and attempts affecting about approximately sixty to ninety percent of suicide victims. If you are having suicidal thoughts, please call 9-1-1- immediately.

Final Thoughts

If you are, or have been, feeling low for quite some time, please speak to your doctor about your symptoms. Depression is a serious medical condition and aromatherapy is an ancient art of achieving human well-being. Essential oils certainly can’t replace medical care and attention. However, they can be an effective home remedy to support one’s healing through the journey of depression.

Resources

(1) Essential Oils for Depression: https://draxe.com/essential-oils/essential-oils-for-depression/
(2) Signs of Depression: https://draxe.com/health/signs-of-depression/
(3) Essential Oils for Depression: https://www.healthline.com/health/depression/essential-oils-for-depression