Evidence-Based Reviews

Complementary treatments for anxiety: Beyond pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy

Current Psychiatry. 2018 July;17(7):29-30,32,34-36

References

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Massage therapy

Receiving as little as 15 minutes of back massage has proven to be beneficial for individuals with anxiety. In an RCT conducted in Turkey, 44 caregivers of patients with cancer were assigned to receive a back massage or to rest quietly in a room for 15 minutes once each day for 1 week.¹⁴ By the end of the week, compared with those who quietly rested, those who received the back massage had a statistically significant reduction in serum cortisol levels and STAI scores.¹⁴

Aromatherapy massage

Aromatherapy is the use of essential oils from plants through distillation.¹⁵ The scent of the oils is purported to provide medical benefits. More than 60 essential oils are used therapeutically, including rose, lavender, lemon, and orange.¹⁶ These essential oils are frequently used in combination with a massage.

In South Korea, researchers investigated the effects of aromatherapy massage on 25 women who had children diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.¹⁷ Women assigned to the treatment group received a 40-minute aromatherapy massage using mixed essential oils that contained lavender and geranium twice a week for 4 weeks. Women in the control group received no treatment. Compared with those in the control group, women who received the aromatherapy massages had a statistically significant decrease in STAI scores and salivary cortisol levels. Plasma cortisol was not significantly different between groups.¹⁷

Pet therapy

The psychological benefits of animal-assisted therapy were not evident until World War II, when dogs were used to cheer up injured soldiers.¹⁸ Today, pet therapy has been used on many inpatient units.¹⁹

In a U.S. study, 48 healthy undergraduate students were assigned to a room with a dog, a room with a friend, or a room by themselves.²⁰ All participants were given the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), a protocol that measures stress by having participants give a speech and perform mental arithmetic in front of an audience.The TSST is known to induce increases in cortisol levels. Although no differences in STAI scores were found among groups, students in the room with the dog had a lower spike in salivary cortisol after the TSST compared with participants who were in a room with a friend or in a room alone.²⁰

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Complementary treatments for anxiety: Beyond pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy

References

Massage therapy

Aromatherapy massage

Pet therapy

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