荷索博士专栏 | 抑郁、焦虑、压力的芳疗解决方案（上）

作者：Dr. Malte Hozzel

抑郁神秘又高深莫测，它像是一场事故，总在不经意间到来。尽管大型制药公司每年销售的抗抑郁药高达数十亿欧元，却依然无法找到完全有效的解决方案。

我们不禁要问，这是荷尔蒙的、化学的、基因的、命运的因素，又或是诅咒？抑郁像是致命的病毒，毫无征兆的将我们击垮。突然间，我们可能感到沮丧、精疲力竭，尽管身体还在呼吸心脏仍在跳动，却感觉只剩下躯壳，继而一切都处于混乱、无序及无尽的黑暗中……

可能我们生命中发生过一些事情，或许是无法承受的损失，或许是让我们沉迷于自怜的遗憾，或许是错过了“一生只出现一次”的机会……直到对生活失去了信心。

当代的瘟疫

焦虑和抑郁在当今社会十分普遍，也是主要健康问题之一，特别在西方国家。数据显示，美国大约有7%的成年人在过去的一年中经历过严重的抑郁发作，18%的成年人患有焦虑症。

孤独往往是引发抑郁的重要因素，也是公共健康问题之一。如今，社交媒体飞速发展，出行方式更加便捷，人的内心却更为独孤，这导致了众多病理问题，尤其是抑郁。人在本质上是社会的，积极的社会交往是解决健康问题的最佳方式之一。然而现状却是，人们在互联网上的活跃与现实中的孤独形成了鲜明对比。此外，现代的生活方式也让我们与自然疏离。

抑郁，多数情况下是内在与外在生活方向的失衡所致，也忘记了生存的真正价值。

安眠药能拯救我们么？可能不会。

囚笼

“当我陷入抑郁时，我甚至认为，死亡是伟大的。自杀的想法存在但并不强烈，一直在身心上折磨我，似乎在向我保证，总有方法可以逃离整日虚无缥缈的生活。”。

来自一位朋友的讲述

“抑郁完全感觉不到，而焦虑则是感觉的太多。二者同时存在意味着内心的持续斗争且不会有胜者。生理上，会造成心跳加速、头昏眼花、呼吸急促，也常被没经历过焦虑的人误解。尽管看似是生理上的障碍，心理的问题却更难以描述。”

重复一次，这是进化的危机

焦虑和抑郁问题的存在让我们必须也不得不探寻新的解决方案，为生活提供新的范式，寻找新的方向去重构心理、生理、社会及文化。对抑郁、焦虑足够了解，人们就会更深入的去研究它们。

如果抑郁是生活中的决定性的、形而上学的时刻……如果我们从教育、宗教、社会、环境、医疗等途径无法找到答案，那么答案在哪里呢？我们从哪里能找到生命的原动力呢？

是来自自然界的香气药房么？精油是生命力的微妙载体，是物质的更是能量的，影响到身、心、灵层面，这是任何药物都无法触及的。

它们可以进入皮肤、肺、血液、消化系统、神经系统等，不止是在物质层面，还有微妙的“量子”层面。

“追随你的幸福，宇宙将在只有墙的地方为你开一扇门。”

                        ——约瑟夫·坎贝尔

“众生在欢喜中产生

在欢喜中成长

又返回欢喜

融入欢喜。”

——《泰帝利耶奥义书》

不要忘了

植物的意识与人的意识相连，帮我们应对生活中的任何挑战。植物王国的深处隐藏着与人类连结的愿望，并以自己的方式帮助人类在地球上出生、繁衍，人类和植物彼此相连、互相创造、共同进化。

迄今为止，人类是宇宙中最具挑战的生命形式，但这些挑战不但是人类进化的一部分也是不可或缺的促进因素。许多药用植物及其精油、基础油等有助于缓解抑郁、焦虑。

有趣的是，许多精油都与内在幸福有关，它们可激励体内的血清素或多巴胺及其它物质，吸闻或用精油按摩时，精油会作用于脑部，不仅影响神经递质，还会影响到下丘脑、杏仁核、脑下垂体、松果体等，这些腺体对嗅觉刺激高度敏感，能够平衡身心。

比如，杏仁核位于边缘系统的深处，边缘系统控制着情绪和记忆，当处理情绪时，尤其是恐惧或害怕，杏仁核会特别活跃。

本质上说，它预示着风险，提醒我们面对威胁时采取行动，战斗、逃跑或是暂停。直到1989年，人们才发现杏仁核在存储和释放情感创伤方面发挥了重要作用，香气对于杏仁核的反应有着深远的影响。

香气能够触发疗愈，帮助对抗抑郁，从创伤经历中解脱出来。从我个人的经验看，随着时间的推移，精油的香气可影响操作性条件反射，抵消掉长期以来完全压力模式下的习惯，而这些习惯可导致潜意识里或多多少的焦虑或抑郁。

（注：译文仅供学术交流，健康问题请咨询专业医师）

英文原文：

Depression, Anxiety, Stress and some Aromatherapy Solutions

Posted by DR. MALTE HOZZEL

Depression is something mysterious, enigmatic – it is like an accident, something that seems fatal and which hits when we do not even think that it could be us who are the victims this time. And no solution seems to work – although big Pharma sells anti-depressants for billions of Euros in the world today.

And we continue asking: Is it hormonal, is it chemical, is it genetic, destiny, is it a curse….? It surprises us like a lethal virus knocking us out without warning. All of a sudden we may get depressed, “burnt-out”, as if dead from inside, while the body is still breathing and the heart is still beating. And then the questions start within the turmoil, within the sleeplessness, within the never ending days of black in black…

Or something happened in our life, some loss which was not accepted, some regret which haunted us down into obsessional self-pity until we lost confidence in life, some missed “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity…

A very modern plague

Anxiety and depression are very common problems today. They represent one of the major health disorders, particularly in Western countries. Statistics show that around 7% of adults in the US had experienced a major depressive episode in the previous year even more important is anxiety. Around 18% of adults in the US have been reporting anxiety disorders.

Solitude is often a strong element for depression. It constitutes one of the major problems of public health. Our „fast running“ hectic society with its amazing global social media connections and its easy traveling and „out-housing“ life style shows at the same time the most striking phenomena of inner solitude leading to numerous pathological problems, particularly depression. Human beings are social by nature. Positive social exchange is one of the best remedies for many health issues. The paradox in our modern society is that the rich availability of contacts via internet has at the same time participated in social exclusion and solitude on a global level. Another consequence of our “modern ways” is our alienation from Nature.

Depression in this light – often called “burn-out” today – is in most cases the result of an imbalance between the “inner” and “outer” directions of life whereby the thrust and “juice” of our human condition are lost in the fog of ignorance about the true values of our existe on Earth.

…is it the white pills that will safe us? Probably not…

A cage without exit

“When I was thrown into depression I started to think that – compared to what I was living every day – death must be great. Thoughts of suicide were there but not really as a call to do it but as a daily companion on the intellectual-emotional level to assure me that there was always possibly another solution to escape the total utmost nihilism which accompanied each and every hour of my day.”

Testimonial from a friend

“Depression is when you can’t feel at all. Anxiety is when you feel too much. Having both is a constant war within your own mind. Having both means never winning… The physical ramifications of the disorder, such as a racing heart, dizziness, shortness of breath and lightheadedness, frequently go unnoticed or are misinterpreted by those who have never suffered from anxiety. Although the physical symptoms make up a great deal of the disorder, the emotional outcome is exceedingly difficult to encapsulate as well.“

And again: it is a crisis for evolution

But depression and anxiety also mean that we can (and have to) find new answers, allow new paradigms for our lives, look out for new horizons to rebuild our spiritual, intellectual, social and cultural existence. If well understood depression and anxiety trigger the most extreme research capacities in us.

So, if depression is that ONE, sometimes decisive, metaphysical moment in our life… From where do we get the answer if nothing seems anymore available from the “out-trodden” pathways of education, religion, society, environment, medicine…? From where do we get the juice of life back?

Could it come from the aromatic Pharmacy of Nature? Let us not forget: Essential oils are subtle carriers of life forces. Their material build up – it is true – is bio-chemical, but their finer levels are structured in sub-particle energies which influence everything from the physical to the mental, psychological and spiritual realm. This is the level which no pharma-drug can ever reach.

They may pass through organic „receptors“ such as the skin, the lungs, the blood, the digestive system, nervous system… but their immediate approach is not on the level of material but rather on the subtle „quantum level“ of our functioning.

“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls.“

Joseph Campbell

“Out of bliss these beings are born
In bliss they are sustained
And in the end
In bliss they go and merge again”

Wisdom of Vedic scriptures – Taittiriya Upanishad

And not to forget

Plant consciousness is connected to human consciousness. Plants are meant to help us in any challenge of our human lives. Deep within the Kingdom of plants is the hidden desire to link to the human beings and to assist them in their secret way in the unfoldment of life and of evolution on our planet Earth. There IS this ancient partnership between Man and plants. They are created for one another and inter-woven into cosmic cycles of ever new becoming and evolving in shining rings of togetherness.

Human life is by far the most challenging experience of all life forms in the Universe. But these challenges are not only part but essential enhancers of our human evolution… and there are numerous powerful medicinal plants with their essential oils, carrier oils etc. which are indicated to help in case of depression, anxiety etc.

Actually, interestingly enough, there is quite a number of essential oils which have a connection with our internal “bio-chemistry of happiness”. They can trigger for example serotonin or dopamine in our body and many other subtle bio-chemicals – because they sit at the switchboard of our brain-chemistry once we have smelled them, inhaled them, massaged them on our skin…. And they not only influence the neuro-transmitters but access larger areas of our brain like the Hypothalamus, the Amygdala, the Pituitary gland, the Pineal gland etc. – all highly sensitive to olfactive impulses and involved in our inner balance, our psycho-emotional well-being.

The Amygdala – just to take one example – is nestled deep inside the limbic system – the part of the brain which seems primarily in control of memory formation and emotions. The Amygdala is specifically active when it comes to processing emotions and it records our reactions, particularly when panic or fear are involved.

Essentially, it alerts us of danger and has its role in triggering fight, flight or freeze responses and make us take action against threats. Only in 1989, it was discovered that the Amygdala plays a major role in storing and releasing emotional trauma and that particularly odor has a profound effect in triggering a response from this gland. 

An „odour input“ can be a rescue remedy and can help us to fight depression or free us from a traumatic experience. It is very evident in my personal experience over time that special fragrances from essential oils can break what scientists call the “operant conditioning” of the Amygdala which means to counteract the habit to be in full “stress mode” all the time leading to a permanent more or less sub-conscious state of anxiety or depression.