Anxiety sufferers should be given lavender oil as a first line of treatment instead of addictive drugs, a psychiatrist has claimed.
Professor Hans Peter-Volz said doctors are too quick to dish out benzodiazepines and other drugs to patients with anxiety.
Instead, patients with a mild form of the disorder should be given natural remedies, including lavender oil, to combat their symptoms.
Professor Volz claimed lavender oil capsules have been shown to be as strong as commonly used anti-anxiety medications.
And he said they come with fewer side effects. He was working alongside Kalms, a lavender oil capsule manufacturer.
Professor Volz is the medical director of the Hospital for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine in Schloss, Germany.
'Doctors can be quick to medicate people who are experiencing emotional distress, without exploring alternative options,' he told MailOnline.
'Medicating too quickly can lead to unnecessary prescription of medication, and in some cases, can cause a dependency to the drug, especially when benzodiazepines are prescribed.
'In my opinion it makes sense to start with a much less severe intervention and that would be lavender oil.
'In my professional life I have never seen a pharmacological agent with such good results in randomised trials.'
Up to 40 per cent of people who take benzodiazepines for six weeks will develop a dependency and 1.5million are addicted in the UK, according to charities.
Benzodiazepines, including Valium, Ativan and Xanax, are prescribed twelve million times a year, according to the UK Addiction Centre.
They are fast-acting. But the danger lies in their unpleasant withdrawal symptoms, keeping patients hooked for years despite only being prescribed for short-term use.
Withdrawal symptoms include sweating, nausea, sleep issues, worsened anxiety and reduced coping mechanisms, which may lead to a vicious dependency cycle.
Professor Volz said: 'Patients end up back at the doctors, needing further treatment to try and reduce their dependency on the drug costing the NHS more money.
'In some cases, patients get put back onto benzodiazepines, which further ignites their dependency for the drug and makes it even harder to come off.'
Research, although limited, has shown 'uniquely prepared, pharmaceutical quality lavender oil' can improve symptoms of mild anxiety.
Two studies found lavender oil capsules to be just as effective as commonly prescribed benzodiazepine Lorazepam and antidepressant paroxetine.
More at: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/a...t-anxiety.html
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