Matthew Burrell N.D.
Naturopath and Neuromuscular Therapist
Did you know anxiety is the most common mental health challenge in Australia?
The latest National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing (1) found that nearly 1 in 5 Australians aged 16–85 experienced an anxiety disorder in the past year. More than 3.4 million people sought help from health professionals for mental health concerns in that same period. Despite these numbers, many still wait months before getting support, and often the treatment addresses only symptoms and not what’s truly going on inside the brain.
That’s why understanding how the brain’s communication system works is so important.
Imagine the brain as a fire safety team.
- The brain stem is the smoke alarm. It detects threats and responds instantly with basic survival responses like increased heart rate, enhanced reflexes, and muscle readiness. It doesn’t ask questions, it just screams “Danger!” In anxiety, this alarm becomes over-sensitive, with strong reactions to small triggers.
- The limbic brain acts like the firefighter, rushing in with emotion and memory. It decides how bad the danger is using past experiences as a reference. The emotions associated with these references influence the actions that follow. High emotional history equals amplified response. In anxiety, the firefighter’s actions are amplified!
- Meanwhile, the prefrontal cortex is the fire chief. Without panic, the chief assesses the situation and then adds a considered strategy to the situation, providing calm to the chaos. In anxiety, the fire chief’s message is not heard!
When the chemical messengers between these areas get disrupted, the smoke alarm misfires, the firefighter overreacts, and the fire chief struggles to bring perspective.
This results in symptoms like a racing heart, constant worry, flushed skin, poor sleep, inability to focus, or emotional overwhelm. Depending on the symptoms, you can’t work out which part of the brain is “on fire” or “drowned out.”
The encouraging news is that the brain is adaptable. Just as anxiety can disrupt these lines of communication, healing strategies can restore them. With a combination of psychology and physiology, the smoke alarm can quieten, the firefighter can respond appropriately, and the fire chief can provide guidance.
Naturopathic Medicine particularly focuses on the physiological aspect of anxiety treatment. It provides nutrient support to steady brain chemistry, herbal medicines to ease reactivity, and lifestyle practices to build resilience. It can set up the brain for more effective and efficient psychological treatment and sometimes, given the self-healing nature of the human body and brain, provide momentum for self-resolution of the psychological drivers.
Unlike pharmaceutical intervention, it is safe, non-addictive and focused on addressing the root cause.
If anxiety is weighing you down and your current strategies aren’t enough, know that you don’t have to navigate this alone. I’d be honoured to support you.
You can call us on (03) 5221 8220, book online, or drop by and see us at 114 West Fyans St, Newtown, 3222.
Take care,
Matthew Burrell, B.H.Sc. N.D.
(1) Australian Bureau of Statistics, National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing, 2020–2022, “Major Mental Health Study Released,” Health, Disability and Ageing Ministers, Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, 2022.
