Does chromium help anxiety?

Q: I really got hit 2 years ago with axiety attacks. Am I a good candidate for Chromium?

A: If your anxiety is associated with symptoms of atypical depression (excessive appetite and unexplained exhaustion) chromium might help you. Anxiety and atypical depression co-exists in some people. I did described two people in Lifting Depression: The Chromium Connection whose anxiety, along with depression, seemed to have been helped by chromium picolinate. The chapters are titled "Joseph" and "A Grateful Psychiatrist."

I want to answer your question as fully as I'm able so I relayed your question to my dear friend, Dr. Jonathan R.T. Davidson, who is professor of psychiatry at Duke University Medical Center and a world-acclaimed expert on anxiety. He wrote an article on the occurrence of anxiety in some people with atypical depression. He also wrote The Anxiety Book, which I recommend to you.

Jonathan responded as follows:

"Hi Malcolm,
I concur with your view that atypical depression and anxiety often coexist, especially phobic symptoms but perhaps also generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). I don't know if chromium would help the anxiety part, since our experience is limited. I'd say it's worth a try but that there aren't any data to my knowledge.
Jonathan"

If you and your healthcare professional think it's in your best interest to take chromium, please let me know if it helps or does not help with your anxiety.