Psychoaromatherapy

I love anything that helps effects of medications. I have read some website touting essential oils as alternatives to pharmaceutical medications, in my eyes this is an irresponsible way of talking about them. See, if someone has symptoms severe enough that they need meds I have a hard time picturing someone getting better just on essential oils.  However, essential oils are a great addition to meds and can help create calming rituals and be part of a healthy lifestyle.

Essential oils can be put in a diffuser or applied topically (most often on the temples, earlobes, forehead, back of neck)

Essential oils, due to small molecular size, are able to stimulate blood flow, and increase brain oxygen levels. When essential oils are inhaled they attach to a specific receptor cell site that lines the membrane, called an olfactory epithelium. From there they are able to change the activity in the limbic system (responsible for regulating emotions) including the amygdala (emotional memory storage). These structures have an effect on the hypothalamus and thereby on hormone production and neurotransmitter activity.  This is the very much simplified way by which essential oils change how we feel in the moment.

When speaking of essential oils, an important note is that not all marketed “essential oils” are true essential oils.  There is a wide variety on the market between oils ranging from synthetic oils (simply smell like an essential oil but without any of the therapeutic properties) to oils that are processed as cost-efficient as possible (thereby losing some or most therapeutic properties) to true, therapeutic grade essential oils.  While synthetic oils can mimic smells and even feel calming, they cannot truly physiologically affect individuals the way that therapeutic grade essential oils do.  Synthetic oils do not contain the same components and are unable to exert the health benefits of true essential oils.  Therefore, all “essential oil” references throughout this paper should be considered to only pertain to therapeutic grade essential oils.

They have been used for medical ailments for thousands of years - to express their effect on emotions, the term 'psychoaromatherapy“ was coined.

Here are some examples of how different oils are used for psychoaromatherapy:

Lavender - antianxiety, soothing, sleep inducing

Cedarwood - less stress, more focus at work or in schoo

Chamomile - anti-inflammatory, increases motivation

Frankincense - lifts mood

Grapefruit - uplifting and invigorating effect, helps fight alcohol and drug cravings

Bergamot - lifts mood by prompting the brain to release serotonin and dopamine