Essential Oils for Anger: A Research-Backed Guide

You can feel the rage boiling up into your chest. Your jaw clenches. Your whole body is tight. There’s nothing you’d like better than to punch something, hard. Anger is a feeling that can overtake your body, overwhelming you completely. No one really likes being angry. Anger can make us yell at our kids, cloud our thinking and say things we don’t mean.

Anger may seem hard to control. But, you can use essential oils to help calm yourself down. In fact, they can be very effective at helping you relax and send your feelings of anger and aggression away. Essential oils for anger can offer you an excellent way to manage your emotions and stay serene.So, which ones should you use? How should you use them?

This article will guide you through the body’s physiological expression of anger and the best evidence-based essential oils for anger and how to use them.

How Essential Oils Can Help with Anger

Emotions elicit a physiological response in the body. When you feel anger, your body activates neurochemicals in the brain that help you react to the situation. The well known “fight or flight” response is one of the reactions the body has to anger.

Through the sense of smell, essential oils reach your brain where the neurochemicals of anger are in action. Essential oils can affect everything from your mood to working capacity.  Study after study has confirmed that essential oils can have a great influence on the brain by altering brain activity, changing your mood and improving your memory (1).

When it comes to anger, essential oils can help counteract some of the body’s response to anger. When you’re angry, the hormones released can interfere with your body’s systems.

Some scientists even believe that anger may be linked to heart disease as it increases blood pressure and releases chemicals that harden arteries. Anger is also related to stress, which also causes the release of a whole host of hormones, all of which may prematurely wear out the body.

Also, have you noticed that just anything will set you off after you’ve just been angry? Science shows us that during the wind-down phase, when your body may still be responding to anger, your threshold for anger is much lower. So, after an upset, just about anything will get you going again. That makes it even more important to intentionally respond to your anger.

What can essential oils do to help? From reducing your blood pressure to lowering your heart rate, essential oils play an effective role in helping you keep your calm.

Here are 5 essential oils for anger that will help you calm down and approach life with a more positive mindset:

#1. Lavender

A popular essential oil for its many benefits for the body and mind, lavender is the perfect antidote to anger. According to research, lavender can be effective in treating symptoms of anxiety and depression, both of which are closely linked to anger. Furthermore, smelling lavender can lower cortisol levels. Cortisol is a hormone associated with stress.

In yet another study, lavender reduced stress and improved the sleep quality of patients in the intensive care unit. This suggests that lavender has the power to help us calm down.

In the study, patient’s blood pressure was lowered thanks to lavender. This counters the body’s response to anger which includes raised blood pressure.

#2. Rosemary

Rosemary is a fragrant herb that belongs to the mint family. It can be used in cooking as a spice, but as an essential oil, it can help combat anger by lowering your stress levels.

Rosemary, like lavender, may also lower cortisol levels. In addition, it can help reduce anxiety and brings calm to those who smell it (2).

#3. Orange: Citrus Sinensis

The orange juice you drink every day comes from the same orange that offers citrus sinensis oil. Far from offering everyday healing, citrus sinensis could be the cure to your struggles with anger.

Citrus sinensis offers a safe, mild tranquilizing effect that can help you calm yourself down when angry. The orange odor helped reduce anxiety and increase a sense of calmness in patients waiting at a dental office. In addition, orange oil contains linalool. This commonly found substance also present in lavender can lower your heart rate.

#4. Ylang Ylang

Ylang ylang is extracted from the flowers of a tropical tree found the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia. It’s a popular essential oil thanks to its mildly sedative effects. Ylang ylang can lower blood pressure and heart rate, helping you counteract your anger and calm down (3).

#5. Vetiver

This grassy plant is known for its earthy smell. It’s native to India, but is used as an essential oil around the world and is especially popular as a fixative in perfumes.

However, it can be so much more than a mix in a perfume. Vetiver oil has calming effects. It is also effectively used as a mild sedative that can help reduce feelings of anger and anxiety.

How to Use Essential Oils

There are many ways to use essential oils effectively and safely. You can mix essential oils with a carrier oil such as coconut oil or even olive oil. Then, you can use it to massage your skin, allowing you to smell the oil.

Alternatively, you can use a diffuser which will spread the scent through the air in a mist of sorts. You can even make a room spray with a spray bottle using water, a bit of alcohol and essential oils.

Always put safety first when using essential oils. Make sure that you don’t use essential oils with children or check with their pediatrician first. Also, before oiling yourself up, apply some on a test area of your skin to ensure you aren’t allergic.

Essential Oils for Anger: Recipes

Essential oils for anger can even be mixed for maximum effects! For example, you might try mixing lavender, frankincense and orange. Or, you might try lavender, Roman chamomile and ylang ylang.

Another great combination is lavender, chamomile and vetiver. To make these mixes, you can add a drop or two of each essential oil to your carrier oil or diffuser. Use larger amounts when making a room spray.

The Bottom Line on Essential Oils for Anger

You can’t always control how you feel, but you can respond effectively. Before you go into a rage, calm yourself with a few deep breaths and mix up some essential oils.

Their soothing scents and calming powers will help you lower your heart rate and blood pressure. Then, you can face the cause of your anger more calmly to look for a solution if possible.

Do you use essential oils for anger? Tell us about your experiences in the comments below.