So many people wonder, do crystals for anxiety help the situation? Can healing crystals alleviate some of your symptoms?
The idea of crystal therapy isn’t new. We know from archeological findings that amber was used for protection as far back as 10,000 years ago. In Egypt, many stones were used for rituals and medicinal purposes like lapis lazuli and turquoise.
Even now, alternative medicine practitioners believe stones have healing powers. That’s probably not the case, and the use of crystals should never be used in place of medical treatment, including if you have anxiety. If you don’t get medical care because you’re relying on crystal healing, it can lead to complications.
The longer it goes without treatment, the more complex life with a mental health disorder can be. With that, that doesn’t mean there aren’t potential benefits to using your favorite crystals for anxiety, but only if you understand the context healing stones might be helpful too.
History of Crystal Therapies
The idea of crystal healing stems from Asian cultures, among others.
In Chinese medicine, crystal therapy involves life energies. There are also the concepts of chakras, like the throat or heart chakras, from Hinduism and Buddhism. The chakras are vortices of life energy and are energy centers.
According to Hindu and Buddhist concepts, the chakras connect the physical and spiritual elements of the body.
Why Do People Believe Crystals Are Healing?
Based on lore and traditional and alternative medicine, healing sones may have healing powers because of their vibrational energy. The belief is that crystals interact with your body’s energy fields.
Proponents of crystals for anxiety and other conditions believe they allow positive and healing energy to flow into your body. At the same time, as crystals deliver healing, they, based on crystal healing practices, can pull disease-causing and negative energy out.
According to people who follow this method, powerful stones can redirect gentle energy flow and unblock the areas of your energy field that have become stuck.
When the vibrational effects of the crystals interact with your natural energetic frequency, your body is left focused and clear, as well as relaxed, practitioners say.
As far as crystals for anxiety, practitioners say they absorb energy from movement and pressure, converting it to electronic frequency. They say that pain and anxiety relief devices work in similar ways.
Other methods for treating pain and disorders with electrical currents include radiofrequency ablation and electronic muscle stimulation. However, compared to these therapies, any frequency that might come from a crystal would likely be tiny and insignificant.
What Crystals Help with Anxiety?
There are several crystals for anxiety, at least based on this healing therapy. Examples of crystals for anxiety include:
- Amethyst: The purple color of amethyst and crystal healers say it’s protective and purifying. If you’re anxious, this purple stone could theoretically attract calming and positive energy. Believers also say amethyst can settle your mind when you’re awake at night, making it an option for people who deal with insomnia.
- Rhodonite: Also known as the releaser or the stone of compassion, could reduce anxiety and help you release emotions that don’t serve you. Some people feel rhodonite can help with panic and allow you to feel calmer and more secure.
- Citrine: According to healing theories and practices, this crystal can help you remove doubt and worry and replace it with warmth and clarity.
- Moonstone: Some people feel moonstone helps them when they’re feeling anxious or stressed from daily life, so they can move forward more positively.
- Rose quartz: A pretty pink crystal, rose quartz can help relieve stress and anxiety and allow you to be more present and practice self-love.
Do Crystals for Anxiety Really Help?
Crystals can be beautiful, and you may find some peace in them, but do they really help conditions like anxiety? The scientific evidence is lacking.
In one study, 80 volunteers were given genuine crystals or fakes. Only six participants said they felt nothing, and the other participants all said they felt positive impacts like a change in energy. The research showed the fake crystals were just as effective, leading to a placebo effect.
The healing properties of crystals are in the mind based on currently available research rather than the crystals themselves. When you’re dealing with a condition like anxiety or depression, that placebo effect you might get from crystals can actually be helpful for you.
- Using crystals can help you be more present in the mists of stress to help you find a sense of calm.
- Whether or not it exists, focusing on crystal energy can be a form of meditation for an overactive mind.
- Using crystals as a way to feel centered or grounded can have value.
- When you use crystals, they may evoke certain feelings. For example, you can use them as reminders of spiritual meaning or purpose or something greater than yourself.
A new 2021 review finds that mindfulness meditation can significantly benefit conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder, and crystals can be a vital part of that mindfulness for many people. If you believe crystals have power, there’s no harm in adding them to your meditation practice.
Grounding in meditation is the ability to return to the present moment, and having crystals when you meditate can be a reminder of that.
Again, when talking about the power of crystals, it goes back to the placebo effect more than likely. We tend to automatically associate that with something negative, which isn’t the case. You can experience positive effects on your mental health thanks to placebo effects.
A Word of Caution
While Western medicine doesn’t support healing crystals as having medicinal powers, anything that makes you feel good without side effects can be a good thing. Crystals as part of meditation or any routine that you’re using to work toward relieving your anxiety holistically can be beneficial.
With that, you should never rely on crystals instead of getting mental health treatment for your anxiety or any other disorder you may be dealing with, but that’s where the risks come in.
Crystals can be part of a larger treatment plan, used with therapy, medication, exercise, and other psychological and spiritual healing approaches.
Research that is scientifically supported shows us that a combination of medication and psychotherapy tends to be the most effective way to improve mental health. That doesn’t mean alternative therapies might not have a place in your treatment plan.
First, we encourage you to talk to a professional at The Mental Health Center of San Diego by calling (858) 258-9883 if you’re dealing with anxiety. From there, once you have a formalized treatment plan in place, then you might experiment with other additions or lifestyle changes that also make you feel good, which could include the use of crystals.
