Oils to relax, calm, soothe, restore your sanity...

[pranashakti]

I find Obatala (Excolo) very comforting in times of stress and anxiety.

 

For Twilight Alchemy Lab Oils, Batset's Laughter is always very comforting and uplifting, and Aegis and Middle Pillar are very helpful to me.

[savage_rose]

I've also found the TAL White Light comforting when I get panicky.

[forspecial_plate]

I'm sorry you're having problems..I work in e.r. registration and I see that all the time. Makes me feel bad, seems like a rough problem to deal with. I don't have any suggestions besides maybe meditation or breath work. Best of luck to you though...

[k8tey]

I find Watre of Notre Dame helps.

[ivyandpeony]

Holly, this thread may have some good suggestions for you. I may merge this topic with it and tweak the title in a month or so, once you have had time to get some current recommendations. I hope you find some suggestions that help - I have only had a couple anxiety attacks but that was a couple too many. It's such a horrible feeling.

[Little Bird]

I suffer from anxiety as well (social anxiety, agoraphobia, and other 'fun' stuff)...

 

My two soothing scents that I've been wearing a lot lately are Hand of Hermes and Sleepy Moon. I find them really calming and comforting. They don't end or cure my anxiety by any means, but they are somewhat helpful in beating down my jitters sometimes, or helping me to relax at the end of a rough day.

[Vampy]

This is probably going to be a very strange suggestion, but I have a lot of anxiety disorder problems too, and I've found the Qlippoth oil Golachab to be helpful in soothing my nerves. This may well be an entirely personal effect, but for me, it gives me a underlying feeling of confidence (it's a cocky sort of scent) and languidness, which just helps to head that anxiety off right before it starts. Of course, I also have some personal symbolism associated with it that probably adds to that effect.

 

For many people Wolf's Heart helps their anxiety - I find it's helpful for me as well, but not as much so as Golachab.

Edited September 16, 2006 by Vampy

[kraken]

I don't suffer from intense anxiety attacks, but I have some social anxiety when it comes to large crowds. For me, the scent that calms me down and allows me to deal is chocolate. It reminds me of quiet, relaxing times, like hot cocoa with grandma. My favorite scents when I know I'm going out into crowds are Velvet and Bliss. I've considered getting a scent locket so that I can have the scent around me whenever I want. One sniff and I feel better.

[Honor]

I second sleepy moon... it's the perfect "comfort" scent...to me anyway, it smells like fresh, warm laundry. I dab some on my blanket, and I SWEAR it helps me sleep...and I have sleep anxiety-issues.

 

I actually had a post somewhere around here gathering scents for my sleep anxiety (basically, I can't sleep cause the brain doesn't stop thinking, usually about bad things) - it's not the same as your anxiety, but it's still anxiety.

 

Anyway, someone else with a similar issue also reccommended the TAL White Light.

 

And my roommate, who has some anxiety issues as well loves Water of Notre Dame.

 

I know all of the above were already mentioned, but I thought it would help to know that they work for others as well.

 

 

And of course, there's the typical lavendar/vanilla combo, which is frequently reccommended not only for helping sleep, but also as a general calming/soothing scent.

 

 

Also: to further on what kraken just said, you may want to take a bit to think/make a list of happy, warm, comforting, soothing memories/events in your own life, and try to find oils with notes associated with those events.

 

So while cocoa may work for kraken, you may have a happy memory associated with, oh I dunno, vanilla and you can go and search for scents with prominent vanilla notes.

 

Although I reccomend looking a bit through the Review threads once you compile a list of scents with the note you want, to see if that particular note really does come through, and how.

 

(i.e. vanilla in one perfume may be more prominent then in another.)

Edited September 16, 2006 by HonorAlexandria

[Mountaingrrl00]

In addition to the good suggestions others have made, I'll add a recommendation to try imps of the five Somnium oils. The one I find most calming is Temple of Dreams.

[klavierbarrette]

these oils are good to help anxiety -

 

Anise

Basil

Benzoin

Bergamot

Cedarwood

Frankincense

Grapefruit

Jasmine

Lemon

Marjoram

Neroli or Orange Blossom

Spikenard

Ylang Ylang

 

in addition to that i find lavender soothing.

 

from what i've tried, pannychis and titus andronicus are very good 'happy' scents. i have found scents with fruit to be more uplifting to me than woodish ones. you might want to get an imp of skuld too, sounds very happy and it's one i've had my eye on.

 

also try your favorite scent. my favorite, gamaliel, is very good at calming me (and as vampy stated, her fave golachab helps her). though it does have lemon and some wood (i don't think it's cedar however, perhaps there's some marjoram in there?) in it and those are said as stated above to help with anxiety.

[marzstar]

like others have sorta said... it's kinda personal... and while bpal helps me at different times... BLOOD and HIGH JOHN THE CONQUEROR ...... uhm yeah... esp the lattor... anything that is sweet and strong... kill 'em with kindness as they say ... <3

[Nemesister]

i try to train myself to use a scent to calm myself down. cheshire cat has been my one for a couple of years now. when you are happy/relaxed etc put on a certain scent (the one you would like to be your calm scent). do this every time you feel that way. before too long, just putting on the oil will recreate that feeling, so whenever you are feeling stressed or anxious you could have a BPAL that's instant calm

 

 

ETA possibly no good for you immediately, but delayed gratification is always better

Edited September 17, 2006 by TofuWarrior

[Vampy]

in addition to that i find lavender soothing.

 

Lavender has a marked physiological (not just psychological) effect as a anti-depressant and relaxant, so yes, it's quite good for anxiety, one of the absolute best. Of course, if you find the smell of lavender repulsive (some people do for some reason,) it's physiological effects would likely be countered by that displeasure, but... If not, a bit of pure lavender on the temples and back of the neck and hands is very soothing. It evaporates so quickly though. Sob.

[darklorelei]

I'd seriously second the Elixir blends or White Light. White Light is absolutely amazing. I sniffed it once, and I felt uplifted immediately.

[Holly]

Thanks so much for all of your suggestions...I hadn't even thought of checking out the TAL oils. I'll check out the swap thread and see if I can get a few imps of your suggestions to try.

[klavierbarrette]

in addition to that i find lavender soothing.

 

Lavender has a marked physiological (not just psychological) effect as a anti-depressant and relaxant, so yes, it's quite good for anxiety, one of the absolute best. Of course, if you find the smell of lavender repulsive (some people do for some reason,) it's physiological effects would likely be countered by that displeasure, but... If not, a bit of pure lavender on the temples and back of the neck and hands is very soothing. It evaporates so quickly though. Sob.

i stole a bottle of lavender pillow mist from my mom and just spray it on my bed or in the air if i'm not going to be laying down.

 

but on the go, twilight was pure lavender on me. i could smell a bit of jasmine at one point, but then it was all lavender. but if you want to try lavender out first, i'd suggest just getting the oil or a mist and trying it. i really love that mist i have, i wear a bipap at night for sleep apnea and i can still smell it.

[darklorelei]

Jasmine actually works similar to lavendar; there was a study where insomniacs responded even better to jasmine.

[enigmae]

I find Aegis does exactly what it says - gives peace of mind. I'm not sure about the protection or guidance part of the description, but I used it last night after a particularly anxious day and was immediately calmed. I put a dab on each wrist before going to sleep, and it felt very powerful, like it was radiating soothing energy.

[ladyfair]

I'm so sorry that you have anxiety attacks. I have them really bad, too. When I started BPAL I was using Moxie (most of my attacks are in the day) and that helped. High John, the Chesire Cat that have been mentioned above also work, mainly the citrus helps. I also second Sleepy Moon (If you are having trouble finding it please PM me). My biggest suggestion is to find your favorite scent, and use that. Nothing works better for me than masculine, metallic scents, but I'm weird.

 

I do think you will notice a difference though, when you start using your own personal favorites. My own personal experience, when I started using aromatherapy mixed with meditation and calming exercises, I stopped having to be hospitalized for the attacks. I'm not saying that is a guarantee but it really does help. Good luck!

[dnipbhsw]

I find Bitch to be really soothing.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

I find Watre of Notre Dame helps.

 

Ditto. High John is many people's "job inteview" scent (it worked for me!), but Water of Notre Dame is the one I grab when I'm truly freaking the f*ck out.

[eggplant]

I third the rec for sleepy moon. I have an anxiety disorder and used to have frequent insomnia and Sleepy Moon is the only thing I've found that really helps me. It's so calming. I don't adore the scent so I don't wear it during the day, but I dab it on my pillow every single night. And if I wake up in the middle of the night I refresh my pillow and usually fall back asleep immediately. I think I've conditioned myself to fall asleep to sleepy moon because if I stay at someone's house or forget to bring it when I travel I often can't fall asleep as quickly. It's an LE but I've seen a lot of it for sale on the swaps board, and if you post an ISO thread I'm sure people will help you out-they did for me.

[fiddledragon]

I'll add to the recommendation of finding something you personally feel soothing or that you can connect with a good memory. Thaleia does it for me :-)

 

I feel obliged also to make the standard disclaimer that if you have something as severe as panic attacks on a regular basis, you're almost certainly going to need something more serious than aromatherapy to deal with them completely, though anything you can find to help is good. Make sure you have a good support network, therapist, spiritual teacher, whatever, to combine with the lovely soothing smells.

[eggplant]

true, true. Sleepy moon helps a lot, but that's in addition to what fiddledragon mentioned.