Resisting states of anxiety is a constant personal measure against fear, a perpetual attempt to neutralise it or at least keep it at bay. Everyone uses their own strategies, everyone has their own ritual, simple or complex, but necessary. From bitten nails to straightened pictures, from superstition to obsessive tidiness, from cigarettes to wolfed-down food. Ritual is one possible solution, a logical response to anxiety, yet it can become a vicious circle: first it soothes the fear, then it triggers a dependency.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is the extreme expression of this, in its most classic forms. Control above all: checking multiple times that you have turned off the gas or the car lights, feeling guilty about possible oversights that could trigger chains of negative events. Superstition is also a neutralising ritual — from a chain email forwarded to nine people, to a black cat crossing your path, to the meticulous repetition of sequences meant to bring good luck in an exam or a win for your favourite team.

Not even order and symmetry escape this logic: extreme cleanliness, repeated handwashing to avoid germs, desks with pencils lined up in decreasing order, yoghurt pots arranged by expiry date, obsessively organised wardrobes. Try to exclude yourself. Impossible. Great or small, everyone has their own ritual, and so to each their own remedy.

How to calm anxiety with homeopathy

Aconitum

Suited to anxiety and also anguish crises, especially when onset is sudden and nocturnal, when physical symptoms are also present such as tingling, difficulty coordinating the muscles — including the respiratory muscles — and a feeling of tightness in the chest, along with a fear of death. Aconitum is the panic attack, the body's sudden reaction that we cannot control. 30 CH, 5 granules morning and evening, before main meals, to be dissolved in the mouth.

Argentum Nitricum

Obsessive-compulsive is the right indication for this remarkable remedy, for people with strong anticipatory anxiety that often leads to phobia, but also to agitated, obsessive, repetitive behaviour dominated by fear. Physical symptoms are often present too, including diarrhoea, difficulty with speech or dizziness. Argentum nitricum is an option for those who have lost confidence, to find the strength to follow their own path all the way to the end. 30 CH, 5 granules morning and evening, before main meals, to be dissolved in the mouth.

Gelsemium

A homeopathic remedy for anticipatory anxiety, which exhausts the person before an exam or a major challenge. Serenity is entirely lacking in relation to this deadline, to the point of causing tremors, bouts of diarrhoea and recurring dreams of failure. The fear of not being up to it is often misplaced; it undermines the peace of mind even of those who are equal to the situation, yet who still cannot perform at their best due to insecurity. 30 CH, 5 granules morning and evening, before main meals, to be dissolved in the mouth.

Herbs for anxiety

Camelia Sinensis

This is the plant from which so many varieties of tea originate. Its roots contain the molecule L-theanine, a precursor of GABA, a mediator of anxiety alongside serotonin and noradrenaline. A deficiency of these happiness mediators is the primary trigger mechanism for anxiety. Regular consumption of green tea, or of Camelia Sinensis in dry extract form, is a good phytotherapeutic approach to obsessive anxiety disorder. 150 ml per day (1 tablet).

Iperico

The hypericin and hyperforin it contains inhibit the reabsorption of GABA, serotonin and noradrenaline by nerve cells, and thus increase their circulating levels. Iperico is therefore a natural anxiolytic, but also a mild antidepressant. Useful in mixed syndromes, where depression is a trap set by anxiety, by the inability to stay in control, and is the worst outcome of personal failure. 200 mg tablets, one tablet morning and evening.

Biotransenergetica therapy

If the problem lies in the mind, then it is better to go beyond the mind. BTE is a psycho-spiritual discipline that teaches one to master inner experience and states of consciousness. It is a self-healing practice that begins with a transposition of consciousness itself into a territory where the mind is less powerful: a state of "trance", precisely, achieved through quiet breathing, meditation and physical practices.

The person is guided by the therapist into this new space, supported while they observe, speak and surrender to their fear. Controlling a fear is the strategy of the anxiety ritual; surrendering to it is a hero's journey: staying without fleeing, simply staying, looking inside the fear without offering any strategy. And discovering that this is precisely how problems are not solved, but dissolved.