How passion flower serum helped with my anxiety

I’ve battled with mild anxiety and depression privately for as long as I can remember. I think feeling as though I had to be a “strong black woman” made it hard for me to pinpoint exactly what I was dealing with, and why it was happening to me. I self-diagnosed myself a couple of years ago, as an adult, after I came across numerous YouTube videos and blog posts written by others who were experiencing the same things as me: excessive worry leading to troubled sleeping, persistent self-doubt and unexplained sadness, just to name a few.

I call myself a “mild case” because I’ve never been prescribed medication for, nor have I been clinically diagnosed with anxiety or depression. And since I went years without seeking medical help, I turned to more natural remedies to subside my symptoms. One of which being passionflower to calm my anxiety.

I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, The Friend Zone, when one of the cohosts highlighted the passionflower serum in her wellness segment. HeyFranHey went on to say that it’s been known to help calm anxiety, and talked about how it helps her to relax. It can be found in your local health food stores, or can be purchased online. It’s that simple, but I didn’t believe the hype until I researched it for myself.

What is passionflower?

Passionflower is a plant that provides overflowing goodness for your mind and body. And according to the University of Maryland, it’s been used traditionally as a calming herb for anxiety, insomnia, seizures, and hysteria – but most recently to treat anxiety and insomnia. It was a 17th century discovery by Spanish Jesuits in Peru, and was named for its resemblance to the crucifixion of Christ. 

How does it work?

Passionflower increases a brain chemical called gamma aminobutyric acid, or GABA. We need GABA to help lower the activity of some brain cells, leading to us feeling more relaxed – and anyone experiencing anxiety will tell you first hand that this is exactly what we need for our brains to do.

How do you take it?

You can purchase passionflower in many different forms – teas, capsules, and serum being the most common – and should be ingested. Since it was my first time taking it, I chose to go with the passionflower serum so I could regulate how much of it I placed into my glass. The serum I purchased instructed that I take it no more than 3 times per day, using 1-2 full droppers in an 8 oz glass of water.

I chose to take it for the first time at night, just in case I ended up having some sort of crazy side effect. I’d been pretty stressed from work just a few hours prior, and worried about all of the things I had to accomplish for the next day. I just knew I wasn’t going to be able to get a good night’s rest. 15 minutes into drinking the passionflower / water mix and I was über relaxed – not impaired. I could focus on one thought at a time, and my jittery brain didn’t prevent me from sleeping.

Thinking that it was a fluke, I took another dose of the passionflower / water mix the next morning before leaving for work. The anxiety that I would normally begin to feel on my morning commute was subsided. I was sold, and it’s now a staple in my kitchen cabinet.

As someone who’s able to self-treat anxiety with natural remedies usually, I’d highly recommend passionflower to anyone who deals with a milder form of the disorder. I’m not a doctor, but I know my body and passionflower has certainly helped me a ton. No two bodies are the same, so obviously, do what’s best for you.

Have you tried using passionflower to manage your anxiety? Let me know what you think!