Anxiety, Stress and Massage
by Josie Lee LMT on 03/29/18
Why get a massage? According to a survey conducted by the American Massage
Therapy Association, 28% of Americans who get a massage do so for relaxation
and stress reduction. That’s a lot of people in the US who feel strongly enough
about their own experiences with massage for stress reduction to put their
money on it. But aside from individual feelings, what exactly do we know about
massage and how it relates to stress and anxiety? And what does the research
have to say about that?
What is stress? What is anxiety?
Stress is your body’s response to demanding circumstances. Working late hours?
You’ll experience stress. Recent health issues? Definitely stressful. Toddler
throwing a tantrum? That’s no doubt stressful for both of you. When you’re stressed, your blood pressure goes up,
your breathing and heart rate quicken, and you feel jittery and distracted. All
this is useful if your stress is a result the big race you’re running, when you
can put that energy to good use. It’s less helpful if your stressor is a friend
in need of patience and comfort.
People who regularly put themselves into
stressful circumstances on purpose (public speakers, for example) often learn
how to channel that stress response for their own benefit, but it takes
practice over time. When stress goes from being an occasional experience to a
chronic condition, health problems pop up as a result.
Anxiety,
on the other hand, isn’t necessarily a reaction to
circumstances. Most often, it’s related to anticipated future or potential stress. As with stress,
anxiety isn’t necessarily an immediate health problem, although it’s
unpleasant. Feeling a bit anxious about an upcoming exam, the imminent birth of
a baby, or the quality of a presentation can give you a push to prepare as best
you can. But anxiety becomes unhelpful when it is overwhelming, requiring you
to focus all your energy on surviving your immediate feelings rather than
addressing their roots. Pacing, nail biting, trembling, and vomiting are signs
that anxiety is pushing you into unhelpful territory. Test anxiety, social
anxiety, and decision anxiety are all common forms of anxiety.
Anxiety
disorder is the general name given to chronic,
excessive anxiety in response to everyday situations. Anxiety disorders include
- Generalized anxiety disorder: excessive anxiety in general.
- Social anxiety disorder: anxiety disorder related to interacting with others.
- Separation anxiety disorder: anxiety disorder related to separation from specific people, often parents or caregivers.
- Phobias: subset of anxiety disorders characterized by persistent fear of a specific thing.
- Panic disorder: anxiety disorder characterized by reoccurring panic attacks.
Many people discover that they have more than
one type of anxiety disorder, or deal with anxiety combined with depression,
post-traumatic stress disorder, eating disorders, alcoholism, or substance
abuse. While stress and anxiety are more general terms that you can probably
identify in yourself, anxiety disorders can only be diagnosed by a physician.
What kinds of studies have been
done on massage for anxiety and stress?
Stress:
While stress levels are largely subjective,
studies focused on pain, sleep, and other outcomes often find that patients
report decreased stress levels as one of the major benefits they receive from
massage therapy treatments. In one study on pain in acute care settings, more than half
of the patients mentioned relaxation in their survey responses. One described
the experience of receiving massage as “very helpful, soothing, comforting, and
relaxing,” which is notable considering how stressful being hospitalized is.
Improved emotional well-being and sleep were also mentioned by many patients
and nurses, both of which are good indicators of stress reduction.
Anxiety:
Most studies done on massage and anxiety have
focused on specific populations. One study found significant improvement in
both state (long term) and trait (immediate) anxiety in children with cancer
and blood diseases who received Swedish massage. Another measured the
physiological responses to stress (blood pressure and pulse) in hospitalized
children and found similar results. Cardiac care patients
were the focus of another study. Again, massage was shown to be
helpful at reducing anxiety. Still, larger and broader studies on the matter
still need to be done.
Anxiety
disorders:
There have been relatively few studies on
massage therapy for anxiety disorders specifically, and those that have been
done have been small and generally lacking good control groups. One randomized controlled trial found that massage
therapy was significantly helpful for people with generalized anxiety disorder,
but no more so than thermotherapy (relaxing with hot towels placed in different
locations on the body) or being in a special relaxation room with no additional
treatment. This study only measured improvement over multiple weeks, and not
feelings of anxiety in the short term, before and after treatments. Because
this study didn’t have a no-treatment control group, they weren’t able to state
whether all three were equally effective or equally ineffective.
What does all this mean?
People
regularly feel that massage helps reduce their stress and anxiety. There are also other techniques that seem to be helpful to varying
degrees, depending on the situation and the person. This is helpful to know,
because not everyone enjoys massage. For some, touch itself can be a source of
stress and anxiety, so it’s helpful to know that there are other complementary
therapies available that also create positive results.
Stress
and anxiety are closely tied to pain, sleep, and other factors. Reducing pain reduces stress levels. Reducing stress levels can also
reduce pain. Improving sleep can impact both pain and stress, and vice versa.
Does massage therapy work primarily through either pain or stress reduction, or
does it impact both equally? This is an area for further study.
Massage
therapy is a fairly safe way to manage stress and anxiety. With relatively few drug interactions and a very low chance for injury,
massage therapy can be helpful to a wide variety of people dealing with stress
and anxiety in different situations. From the smallest infants to athletes to
people in hospice, there are few who could not benefit from massage therapy.
There
is a lot more to learn. While there is a lot of
research on massage for pain, massage for anxiety (and especially massage for
anxiety disorders) has less research to back it up. It will take time and money
before a large body of knowledge has been built up.
If you’re feeling stressed or anxious, massage therapy is worth trying. The evidence is still rolling in, but what we have is promising. Are you ready to give it a try? Book your next massage today. www.wellnessfirstmassage.com