MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLNESS
Essential Oils for Mental Health
For thousands of years and in cultures worldwide—Egypt, India, China, Greece, France—essential oils have been used for various purposes, including healing the body and mind.
Today, there’s increasing interest in how essential oils may support psychological healing. For those struggling with mental health disorders and seeking a holistic approach to treatment, this page provides valuable information about how essential oils can positively affect mental health.
What Are Essential Oils?
Essential oils are plant extracts that (as their name implies) contain the highly concentrated “essence” of a plant. They are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils, aromatic oils, or aromatherapy oils. They tend to be fragrant and aromatic, with a distinctively pleasing scent.
Essential oils can be extracted from various parts of a plant: roots, stems, bark, seeds, leaves, flowers, or fruits. And it can take several pounds of a plant to create a single bottle of essential oil!
Because essential oils are made of extremely small molecules, they can easily penetrate the body’s cells, and some can even cross the blood-brain barrier. This makes essential oils different from fatty acids in animal and vegetable oils, which have larger molecules and do not have the same therapeutic effects.
Essential Oil Extraction Methods
Essential oils are most frequently produced by either steaming or pressing the specific part of the plant (root, seed, leaf, etc.) to extract the compounds that produce its fragrance. But steaming and pressing are not the only extraction methods.
A complete list of methods used to extract essential oils includes:
- Steam Distillation—steam vaporizes volatile compounds, which then condense.
- Cold Press Extraction—plant material is pressed/crushed.
- Solvent Extraction—food-grade solvents isolate the oils.
- CO2 Extraction—using cold CO2 liquefied gas.
- Maceration—immersion in water, oil, or alcohol.
- Enfleurage—using odorless animal or vegetable fats.
- Water Distillation—using boiling water to extract the oils.
What is Aromatherapy?
An “aroma” is a scent, and “therapy” is an alternative medicine treatment with some health benefits. So, aromatherapy uses the fragrant parts of aromatic plants to enhance health and provide therapeutic benefits. Once the aromatic essence of a plant has been extracted into an essential oil, it’s ready to be used in aromatherapy to support physical and mental health.
When they are part of the plant, the essential oil blend protects it from pests and predators and attracts pollinators. In this way, essential oils are part of the plant’s immune system. When humans use essential oil, they harness the healing and protective powers of the plant.
Ways of Using Essential Oils
Essential oils can be applied in various ways to activate their healing benefits. They can, for instance, be:
- Inhaled directly from the bottle.
- Inhaled via a diffuser or humidifier.
- Applied (in diluted form) directly onto the skin.
- Mixed into a lotion and applied via massage.
- Added (a few drops) to a warm bath.
- Added to soap, shampoo, or body wash.
- Sprinkled onto a pillow.
How Do Essential Oils Affect Mental Health?
Essential oils can be a holistic healing modality to support mental-emotional well-being. For instance, they are often used to help alleviate anxiety, depression, and insomnia.
Five essential oils commonly used to positively affect mental health are:
* Lavender—to soothe nervousness, treat anxiety and symptoms of depression, and help resolve sleep issues.
* Cedarwood—stress relieving, enhancing focus, and helping resolve depression.
* Frankincense—to lift mood, balance hormones, promote relaxation, alleviate depression, and enhance comfort and peace.
* Chamomile—to promote relaxation and relieve depression. Because it acts as an anti-inflammatory, it’s especially good for resolving anxiety and depression causing digestive issues (inflammation in the gut).
* Grapefruit—to uplift, invigorate, energize, and help fight cravings when recovering from addiction.
Essential Oils to Relieve Anxiety & Promote Relaxation
One of the most well-known benefits of essential oils is their ability to relieve emotional stress and anxiety symptoms. Some essential oils have sedative properties that induce a peaceful, calm, and relaxed feeling.
The essential oils most often used to help relieve anxiety and stress are:
- Lavender
- Rose Oil
- Roman Chamomile
- Frankincense
- Citrus Bergamia
- Lemon Oil
- Bergamot
- Peppermint Oil
Essential Oils to Relieve Depression & Enhance Mood
Essential oils can also help relieve depression, enhance mood, and uplift and energize the body-mind. Those most commonly used for this purpose include:
- Bergamot
- Lavender
- Ylang Ylang
- Roman Chamomile
- Cedarwood
Essential Oils to Support Restful Sleep
Getting a good night’s sleep is vital to maintaining overall health and wellness. Essential oils with sedative properties can benefit people who have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep throughout the night. These oils can help provide the person with quality sleep.
Lavender oil is the most well-known essential oil for supporting restful sleep by enhancing feelings of calm and relaxation.
The complete list of essential oils that can promote a restful slumber includes:
- Lavender
- Roman Chamomile
- Ylang Ylang
- Bergamot
- Vetiver
Essential Oils to Help Alleviate PTSD
Veterans and others who have PTSD can use essential oils to help alleviate the various symptoms associated with this mental disorder. For instance:
* Lavender essential oil can help with fear, anxiety, stress relief, panic, and depression and reduce nightmares and sleep disturbances.
* Bergamot essential oil can help relieve fear and anxiety.
* Ylang Ylang and Clary Sage essential oils can help to calm feelings of anger and rage.
* Frankincense, Chamomile, and Sandalwood can also help relieve various PTSD symptoms.
* Mandarin, Rose, Sandalwood, and Vetiver may help resolve PTSD symptoms.
How Do Essential Oils for Mental Health Work?
The most potent healing compounds are gathered into a single oil by extracting the aromatic oils of the plants. And the fragrant nature of essential oils affects the human body in powerful ways that have to do with the functioning of the limbic system.
When they are inhaled, the scent molecules within an essential oil travel through the nose to the olfactory nerves and into the brain. In particular, scents activate the limbic system.
The limbic system—known as the “emotional brain”—is responsible for heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, memory, stress levels, and hormone balance. One part of the limbic system that plays a central role in emotional responses is the amygdala.
The amygdala is involved with feelings of fear, anxiety, and anger—as well as pleasure. In particular, the amygdala connects emotional content to specific memories. In this way, it plays an essential role in determining which memories are stored and how long-lasting they are. Memories with strong emotional associations tend to be retained long-term.
This relationship between the limbic system, scents, and emotions explains why certain smells can trigger strong emotional responses. And it explains how the inhalation of essential oils can have profoundly beneficial psychological effects.
Essential Oils for Mental Health at Solara Mental Health
While essential oils can benefit people struggling with addiction or mental disorders, they do not replace professional care. Treatment programs that incorporate holistic modalities with more conventional mental health protocols provide an ideal setting for recovery.
Solara Mental Health is an inpatient mental health treatment center in San Diego, California that specializes in helping the veteran population and those with VA insurance. Located in beautiful Pacific Beach, California, Solara’s beachfront, semi-private and private studio residences, chef-prepared meals, and the adjoining professional psychiatric treatment center provide a uniquely powerful setting for healing and transformation.
Solara’s treatment team is comprised of compassionate, professional, and experienced experts in the mental health field. From the first interaction a veteran or a loved one has with Solara Mental Health, they will sense a genuine desire and commitment to helping those in need of healing.
