ANXIETY TREATMENT & SUPPORT
Natural Relief for Anxiety Disorders and Panic Attacks
Anxiety is more than just feeling stressed or worried – it’s a persistent feeling of fear, nervousness, or unease that can interfere with your daily life. If you’re dealing with anxiety, you know how overwhelming it can feel when your mind races, your heart pounds, or you feel like you can’t catch your breath.
At Paracelsus Natural Family Health Center in Pasadena and Redlands, Dr. Simon Barker and Dr. Daniel Brousseau understand that anxiety isn’t just “in your head” – it’s a real condition that affects both your mind and body. They use comprehensive natural approaches to help identify what might be contributing to your anxiety and support your body’s natural ability to feel calm and balanced.
Many people with anxiety have been told to just “relax” or “manage stress better,” but anxiety often has underlying physical causes that can be identified and treated naturally, helping you feel more like yourself again.
What Makes Our Anxiety Treatment Different
Comprehensive Testing to Identify Root Causes – Rather than just treating symptoms, we work to understand what might be contributing to your anxiety through comprehensive blood work testing thyroid function, blood sugar regulation, nutrient levels, inflammatory markers, and hormone levels; adrenal testing using blood, urine, and/or saliva; food sensitivity testing since some foods can trigger anxiety symptoms; and gut health assessment since gut health directly affects brain function including bacterial imbalances, digestive function, and intestinal permeability.
Four-Phase Treatment Approach – We take a step-by-step approach including immediate relief and stabilization providing natural calming support while identifying immediate triggers like blood sugar imbalances or nutrient deficiencies; addressing root causes by correcting underlying imbalances such as hormone problems, gut health issues, or nutritional deficiencies; building resilience to strengthen your body’s natural ability to cope with stress and maintain emotional balance; and long-term wellness developing sustainable strategies to maintain calm and prevent anxiety from returning.
Natural Treatment Protocols – Our evidence-based protocols include calming nutrients and herbs, adaptogenic herbs that help your body handle stress, blood sugar support with nutrients and dietary recommendations to prevent energy crashes, gut-brain support with probiotics that specifically support mood and anxiety, and lifestyle and mind-body approaches including breathing techniques, sleep hygiene, exercise guidelines, and stress management techniques tailored to your lifestyle.
Safe Integration with Conventional Care – Our natural approach is very safe and can be used alongside conventional treatments. We carefully coordinate with your prescribing doctor if you’re taking anti-anxiety medications. We never recommend stopping anxiety medications without your doctor’s approval, and natural treatments complement, not replace, psychotherapy or counseling.
How Our Anxiety Treatment Works
Initial Comprehensive Assessment – We conduct thorough evaluations including comprehensive testing to identify potential triggers and underlying factors contributing to your anxiety. Testing helps identify thyroid problems, blood sugar imbalances, nutrient deficiencies, hormone changes, gut health issues, and food sensitivities that may be causing or worsening anxiety symptoms.
Active Treatment Phase – We provide natural treatments tailored to your specific needs including calming nutrients and adaptogenic herbs, blood sugar support with nutrients and dietary recommendations, gut-brain support with probiotics and nutrients that heal the gut lining, and lifestyle approaches including breathing techniques that activate your body’s relaxation response, sleep hygiene recommendations, exercise guidelines, and stress management techniques.
Building Long-Term Resilience – We help strengthen your body’s natural ability to cope with stress and maintain emotional balance through ongoing nutritional and lifestyle support. We develop sustainable strategies to help you maintain calm and emotional balance while preventing anxiety from returning.
Collaborative Care – We believe the best results often come from combining natural treatments with counseling or therapy. Natural approaches can help balance your brain chemistry and reduce physical symptoms, while therapy helps you develop coping skills and address psychological factors. We’re happy to work with your therapist or help you find one.
Understanding Anxiety and Its Causes
Anxiety can show up in many different ways including generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) with persistent worry about everyday things; panic attacks and panic disorder with sudden episodes of intense fear and physical symptoms; social anxiety with fear in social situations; specific phobias with intense fear of specific things; health anxiety with constant worry about illness; and performance anxiety with nervousness during specific activities.
Common symptoms include mental and emotional symptoms like constant worry or racing thoughts, feeling restless or “on edge”, difficulty concentrating, and irritability; physical symptoms like fast or pounding heartbeat, shortness of breath, sweating, trembling, muscle tension, stomach problems, dizziness, trouble sleeping, and fatigue; and behavioral changes like avoiding certain places, difficulty making decisions, procrastination, seeking constant reassurance, and checking behaviors.
Underlying factors that can cause or worsen anxiety include nutritional factors like low blood sugar, nutrient deficiencies, too much caffeine, and food sensitivities; hormonal imbalances including thyroid problems, hormone changes during menstruation or menopause, elevated stress hormones, and blood sugar hormone imbalances; gut-brain connection issues with imbalanced gut bacteria that affect neurotransmitter production and digestive problems that trigger anxiety; lifestyle and environmental factors like chronic stress, trauma, lack of sleep, too much screen time, lack of physical activity, and environmental toxins; and medical conditions including heart conditions, breathing problems, chronic pain, and medication side effects.
Benefits of Natural Anxiety Treatment
People who choose our comprehensive natural approach often experience:
Reduced Anxiety Symptoms
Fewer episodes of worry, panic, or physical anxiety symptoms as underlying causes are addressed. Many people notice some improvement within 2-4 weeks, with more significant changes developing over 2-6 months.
Better Emotional Balance
More stable moods and improved ability to cope with daily stressors without becoming overwhelmed. Gradual reduction in the frequency and intensity of anxiety episodes and improved ability to handle stressful situations.
Enhanced Energy and Focus
Clearer thinking and more steady energy as blood sugar and nutrients are optimized. Better sleep and more steady energy throughout the day with fewer physical symptoms like racing heart or stomach upset.
Greater Confidence
Feeling more in control of your anxiety and more confident in social or challenging situations. Enhanced overall sense of well-being and emotional balance.
Reduced Need for Medications
Some people may be able to reduce their need for anti-anxiety medications (always done under medical supervision).
Improved Sleep Quality
Better rest as anxiety levels decrease and the nervous system becomes more balanced.
Better Overall Health
Improved digestive function, hormone balance, and immune system as stress on the body decreases.
Ready to Find Relief from Anxiety?
Dr. Barker and Dr. Brousseau’s comprehensive approach to anxiety treatment provides patients with natural support that addresses root causes of anxiety while reducing symptoms and building long-term resilience.
Explore our complete Mental Health Services → or learn about Depression Support → and Insomnia Treatment →
Questions about natural anxiety treatment?
Call either office to discuss how our proven approach can help you identify what’s contributing to your anxiety and find lasting relief.
Call either office to discuss how our proven approach can help you identify what’s contributing to your anxiety and find lasting relief.