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New Choices in Natural Healing: Shyness

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Shyness

It may be appealing in song, but once the music stops, shyness is nothing to sing about. This social anxiety can be so severe that its sufferers may have trouble speaking, remembering names and even making decisions in front of other people.

What causes it? Experts say it’s usually the result of traumatizing events in childhood that zap self-esteem. Heredity may also play a role. Serious shyness may require professional help. The natural remedies in this chapter, used with the approval of your doctor, may help you overcome shyness, according to some health professionals.

See Your Medical Doctor When...

Your shyness is so overwhelming that it interferes with being able to function as you’d like.

Flower Remedy/Essence Therapy

For shyness arising from low self-esteem, the flower essence Buttercup is most helpful, says Patricia Kaminski, co-director of the Flower Essence Society, a Nevada City, California, organization that studies and promotes the therapeutic use of flower remedies/essences.

“Shyness can also be caused by a deep-seated sense of shame that comes from past abuse,” she adds. “This kind of person is terrified of self-revelation and has difficulty trusting.” Such people benefit from the essence Pink Monkey Flower, according to Kaminski.

Flower essences are available in some health food stores and through mail order (refer to the resource list on page 635). For information on preparing and administering flower essences, see page 37.

Homeopathy

Try a 30C dose of any of these remedies once a day until you feel improvement, says Chris Meletis, N.D., a naturopathic physician and medicinary director at the National College of Naturopathic Medicine in Portland, Oregon. Pulsatilla is an especially good remedy for shy, timid, agreeable individuals who are eager to please, according to Dr. Meletis. If you are solitary, want to be alone to cry, feel awkward in social settings and are prone to arguing about trivial things, he suggests trying Natrum muriaticum. Argentum nitricum can be helpful, he says, if you are impulsive and fearful of many things and want things hurried along.

All of these remedies are available in many health food stores. To purchase the remedies by mail, refer to the resource list on page 637.

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