📄 Abstract
Stress is an important health issue that is linked to various psychological and physiological disorders, thereby necessitating complementary methods that are safe and efficacious for therapeutic purposes. Aromatherapy is one of the complementary approaches that uses essential oils obtained from plants as means for alleviating stress. This paper aims to critically summarize literature data on the efficacy, mechanisms of action, application, synergy, safety and limitations in researching aromatherapy as a method for stress relief. Clinical and preclinical evidence suggests that essential oils including lavender, bergamot, chamomile, rose and ylang-ylang may have anxiolytic, sedative and mood enhancing properties. Possible mechanisms underlying such properties include olfactory activation of the limbic system, modification of GABAergic, serotonergic and dopaminergic transmission, control of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and autonomic nervous system as well as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. Synergy can be achieved by combining different oils because several mechanisms can be targeted at once, although variations in terms of chemical composition of oils, their doses and administration can affect comparison of the results in various studies.
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📚 How to Cite:
Rahul Kalbande, Varsha Kadam, Shivani Bele , TRADITIONAL AROMATHERAPY IN MODERN STRESS MANAGEMENT: MECHANISMS, EVIDENCE AND THERAPEUTIC PERSPECTIVES , Volume 11 , Issue 7, July 2026, EPRA International Journal of Research & Development (IJRD) , Pages: 210 - 221 , DOI: https://doi.org/10.36713/epra28641