Stay Healthy: Self-Help for Anxiety Relief

The prevention and management of anxiety disorders involve taking simple, consistent, and incremental steps to eliminate stress-inducing negative thoughts. This article outlines a number of steps that can help relieve some of the worst symptoms of anxiety and stress.

Diet

First, and most critically, we are what we eat. It’s important to be aware of the type, variety, nutritional value, and quantity of food we eat.

• A healthy diet should include a balanced proportion of protein, carbohydrates, fruits, vegetables and dairy.
• Foods high in magnesium, phosphorus, and calcium help our bodies handle stress.
• Foods rich in vitamin B, including leafy green vegetables, meat, eggs, grains, and fish can also help us combat anxiety disorders.
• Limit the amount of sugary, fatty foods, and caffeinated beverages as they can stimulate anxiety symptoms that lead to sleeping problems.

Chemical Addictions

Many people who are struggling with work or relationship-related stress, cope by consuming alcohol, tobacco, or other chemicals and mood-altering substances. Each new stressful situation hooks them further into the habit of smoking or imbibing. However, physiologically, these substances only make matters worse.

The tobacco and nicotine you smoke constrict your blood vessels, burn your lungs, and cause your heart to pump harder, causing in turn cardiac arrest and other diseases. By quitting drugs, smoking, and alcohol you will keep your body healthier and be better able to handle stress.

Exercise

Next, be sure to incorporate exercise in your daily routine – remaining active, alert, and present is the simplest way to keep worry at bay. Even a daily routine of simple, light exercises can have an impact.

Fitness routines like an early morning jog or brisk walk, gardening, biking, playing with your children, dancing, and swimming burn excess calories and help keep weight under control. Staying fit keeps your body and your mind focused and sharp. We feel better, more rejuvenated and have more energy at work and at play. The more fit we keep our body, the longer these good feelings last.

Relaxation Techniques

Relaxation techniques such as meditation, deep breathing, listening to calming music, or reading a good book can calm our nerves, relax our muscles and cool our heads.

Positive Thinking

Anxiety, worry, and stress happen because of our fear of the unknown and issues that are often outside of our control. We need to replace these negative thoughts, fears, worries, and trepidation’s with positive thoughts.

Our brain is primarily in control of our thought processes. However, it is important to realize that the brain is just another organ that we need to control in order to prevent the malicious, repetitive, thought processes from harming us.

Each negative thought creates a chemical imbalance in our body. This leads to stress. We need to learn to teach our brain to conquer our negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones.

Keeping a Journal

By writing down the events in your private life, you can help you and your therapist identify the causes of your stress. In addition, writing down your worries and stresses can help identify areas where you spend the most time worrying about events that may never occur or problems that are outside of your control.

You may discover that these seemingly insurmountable problems are actually insignificant and are just sucking up your time and energy.

Sex

When practiced correctly, sex can be one of the most delightful stress and anxiety management techniques in your toolbox. People tend to feel happier and more relaxed after sex. Studies have shown that sex and orgasms improve mood and lowers stress levels.

Aromatherapy, Massage, and Acupressure

These natural and calming techniques have relaxing effects on the body.

Medication and Therapy

Antidepressant and anti-anxiety medications are helpful in restoring chemical imbalances that can create anxiety symptoms. It’s particularly effective when used in combination with psychotherapy.

Therapy

Cognitive therapy helps patients observe emotions clearly and helps separate realistic feelings from irrational ones.  Anxiety Prevention  In behavioral therapy, patients are exposed, in small steps, to anxiety-producing stimuli, which slowly increase their tolerance to situations that create anxiety.

Anxiety and Anxiety Disorders in Children

Anxiety, like many other emotions, is closely linked to our fears. Children experience a number of fears from the moment they are born. How they react to that fear — whether it be fear of the dark, ghosts, insects or dogs, depends on the child’s personality, age, genetic disposition, and coping skills.

Generally, as children grow up,  fears lessen. Fears become a problem only if they prevent the child from performing normal activities. Intervention or treatment may be considered at this point.

Anxiety Symptoms

Children experience anxiety at different stages and ages. Below are some common anxiety symptoms and how parents can help them cope:

Infants/Toddlers

When feeling panicked, infants can become irritable, restless and lose sleep. Indications of anxiety at this tender age can include:

• Clinging
• Crying endlessly
• Throwing tantrums
• Sleeplessness
• Inability to sleep alone
• Urinating often

You may be able to gradually reduce anxiety in very young children by exposing them to a wide variety of experiences:

• Having them meet many different people outside the home and encouraging them to play with other children
• Allowing them to make their own decisions
• Setting a regular bed time routine and training them to fall asleep on their own

Overly stressed parents pass along their own stresses to their children, so make every attempt to keep a happy environment in the home.

School Age Children

Anxiety in school children can include:

• Shyness
• Timidness
• Clinging to parents
• An inability to interact with other children
• Lack of concentration
• Poor memory
• Withdrawal
• Pessimism
• Constant complaints of head/stomach aches

Such children can be demanding and irritable. They require a lot of patience. It’s important to be assertive, but calm when helping them deal with the things they are anxious about. Reassure them whenever you can.

Teenagers

As they undergo hormonal, physical, and emotional changes, teens exhibit stress and anxiety by:

• Over/under eating
• Excessive sleep
• Obsession with appearance
• Defying authority

It’s critical to set reasonable ground rules with adolescents without being overly restrictive. Encourage them to share their concerns and worries so they feel safe confiding in you.

Reasons For Anxiety

• Conflicts or changes in the family: A parental argument, divorce, or illness can be extremely upsetting for children. They may start taking on the guilt for their family woes. Both overly controlling and extremely liberal parents can pave the way for anxiety in a child.
• Physical illness or disabilities: Ailments such as severe asthma as well as reactions and taunts from other children can make an ill or disabled child self-conscious, upset and depressed.
• Tight schedules: Jam packed days filled with too many activities may stress the child and deprive them of needed downtime. All children need free, unstructured time to themselves every now and then.
• Issues at school: Bullying, name calling, teasing, harsh or unfair teachers, and overly burdened school work can make a child depressed and resentful. This may result in a lack of self confidence or cause them to lose interest in school and other activities.
• Fears/phobias: Exposure to frightening incidents, sad and terrible news, violent/horror movies, upsetting or gory books and stories can cause fears in children. If they have experienced bad episodes in the past, some children may develop a fear of social situations, schools, or open spaces (agoraphobia). They may start to develop obsessions, or in extreme cases, severe depression may include self-harming behaviors or suicidal thoughts.

How to Avoid Anxiety

Communication, comfort, and care are the most important factors that can help a child feel safe, loved, and cared for. Provide reassurance while enabling them to express their fears.

Show support and love with physical contact – hugging, cuddling, holding, and rocking the child. As you soothe them, reassure them with comforting and calming words. Allow the child to express him or herself freely -without judgement about their concerns, worries and fears.

Encourage children to solve their own problems instead of stepping in to fix them. This fosters independence and courage in fearful situations, while discouraging negative and unproductive thoughts.

Respect and support the child’s feelings when it matters the most. Seek medical guidance if the fears and phobias become so overwhelming that it keeps the child from pursuing normal, everyday activities.

All-Natural Remedies for Anxiety

If you’re searching for natural anxiety remedies, but are afraid of the potential side effects of prescription pills, there are a number of natural anxiety remedies which have helped many people. Some of these might just work for you.

Recommended Treatments for Anxiety

One of the commonly recommended treatments for anxiety is to maintain a healthy lifestyle. This includes eating the right foods, drinking water, getting enough quality sleep, and regular exercise. These can all be effective in keeping feelings of worry and stress under control.

A healthy lifestyle also helps reduce the physical symptoms of anxiety such as fatigue, shakiness, and sweating. Diets high in carbohydrates, without getting enough protein or water, may worsen anxiety symptoms. Make an effort to eat enough protein and complex carbohydrates like whole grains, fruits, and fresh vegetables, instead of refined carbohydrates like sugar and processed food. Also, be sure to drink plenty of water.

In addition, avoid stimulants such as coffee and soda. These are filled with caffeine. Despite their promises to boost energy, caffeine can add to anxiety symptoms such as upset stomach and jitters. Instead, get your energy boost from eating the healthy foods mentioned above.

Nutrients that Help Reduce Anxiety

Nutrients that help reduce anxiety include magnesium, biotin, folic acid, niacin, calcium, and pantothenic acid. The B-vitamins (B1, B2, B6 and B12) also help. The following foods are rich in these vitamins and nutrients:

• Lentils and beans
• Cabbage
• Peas
• Spinach
• Cauliflower
• Dairy products like eggs, cheese, and milk
• Poultry such as chicken and turkey
• Lamb

Food allergies can exacerbate anxiety, so watch for allergic reactions after consuming certain common allergy-causing foods like wheat, eggs, fish, soy, dairy, nuts, and shellfish. If you suspect that you may be allergic to a specific food, simply avoid it altogether. Your doctor can perform allergy tests to figure out definitively whether you are truly allergic to any of these foods.

Getting Enough Rest

Getting adequate sleep is also important. Most of us need at least eight hours of sleep a night. Fatigue and sleepiness can contribute enormously to worry and anxiousness. Getting enough rest helps your mind and your body relax, making you better able to gain control of your thoughts and emotions.

Regular Exercise

Regular exercise has also been shown to help relieve stress and anxious feelings. Exercise not only helps you relax and recharge your body, it also releases endorphin’s – the hormones that create feelings of well-being and happiness in the brain. Fear and negative emotions are alleviated.

Healthy Lifestyle and Techniques

In addition to living a more healthy lifestyle, techniques such as meditation, deep breathing, and aromatherapy are all natural anxiety-lowering remedies. They have been used for centuries. Deep breathing and meditation help relax the body and focus the mind. These practices work best when performed in a dark, quiet room with your eyes closed.

Combine aromatherapy with breathing and meditation for even better results. Plant oils like lavender, jasmine, rose and sandalwood offer a calming, soothing effect. Add these scents to your massage or bath oils or burn incense.

Certain herbs can also be effective in reducing anxiety. Herbs thought to have anti-depressant qualities include:

• Patchouli
• Kava
• Lime
• Lavender
• Passion flower
• Neroli
• Valerian
• Winter cherry
• Rose

Although many people suffering from anxiety are often timid about social interaction, talking to someone else about anxiety issues can be helpful. Getting your problems off your shoulders and out into the open can bring relief, while having someone else’s point of view can give you a different perspective on the issues that caused your worries. They may seem less overwhelming and negative.

These natural anxiety remedies have stood the test of time and can be used to combat not just anxiety, but the accompanying physiological and mental symptoms. You may have to experiment in order to find the best blend of remedies for your needs, but ultimately, with patience and perseverance, you’ll find success.

Foods that Lower Anxiety and Keep You Calm

According to the World Health Organization, approximately 121 million people throughout the world suffer from depression. About 500 million people suffer from various kinds of excessive stress or anxiety. There are numerous methods to help us avoid anxiety and to reduce its intensity and its effect on our bodies.

The most widely recommended and the simplest remedy lies in the foods that we eat. When we are conscious about paying attention to the variety, quality and quantity of the foods we eat, we notice miraculous changes in the way our body functions. This article discusses anti-anxiety diets and their impact on our body and emotions.

Water

Our brains need a sufficient supply of water to function properly. Water reduces fatigue, flushes toxins out of the body, transports nutrients to cells, and encourages a balanced emotional state. Water also dilutes excess hormones and enzymes, which neutralizes their effects. Experts recommend drinking 8 to 10 glasses of water a day.

Fruits and Vegetables

Leafy green vegetables are high in nutrients and low in calories. Leafy vegetables contain vitamins and minerals such as iron, vitamin K, magnesium, and vitamin B – a natural stress reducer. Foods rich in vitamin B include low-fat milk, soybeans, liver, yeast extract, lean meat, and cereals. These foods are excellent for lifting spirits.

Try to consume vegetables and fruits in their natural state instead of processing them by heating and cooking, which can destroy the useful enzymes. Eat a wide variety of berries such as cranberries and raspberries that contain flavonoids that promote a healthy heart. Grape skins contain resveratrol, which prevents artery plaque buildup.

Milk

Drinking a glass of warm, low-fat milk can lower stress and tension – regardless of the time of day. Milk contains tryptophan, which produces serotonin – a chemical in the brain, that is essential for its calming effect and ability to enhance mood.

Acid vs. Alkaline Foods

Acidic foods such as spicy chili, peppers, garlic and turmeric, pickles,  dairy products, eggplant, tomatoes, caffeinated beverages (cola, coffee and tea) and alcohol, can reduce our body’s ability to absorb magnesium. Magnesium is a mineral that helps relax muscles and shuts down adrenaline. When magnesium is low, muscles tighten, adrenaline levels increase and stomach acids surge – causing indigestion, which may lead to anxiety.

On the other hand, alkaline foods such as smoothies made from fresh fruit are the ideal way to reduce acid levels in the body.

Excess salt lowers potassium levels and may lead to high blood pressure. It’s important to cut down on your salt intake.

Complex Carbohydrates

Foods such as potatoes and whole grains take longer to digest, causing you to feel full and satiated for a longer time. This helps control blood pressure as well as sugar levels, and also helps reduce anxiety.

In addition, oats aid the nervous system and hazelnuts are valuable for healing raw nerves. Try dissolving honey in warm milk or lime juice for a calming effect.

Sugar

Sugar can impact blood sugar levels which may cause mood swings and anxiety. Too much sugar also negatively impacts the brain’s ability to function.

Avoid sugary junk foods like carbonated soda, chocolate, pastries with refined flour and candy. In addition, try to lower your intake of high-fat foods such as ice cream, cheese, chips, butter, and deep-fried foods.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Numerous studies have linked diets deficient in omega-3 fatty acids to anxiety and depression. Foods high in omega-3 include fish, walnuts, winter squash, flax seeds, and shellfish.

Green Tea

Green tea is full of compounds that help with digestion and weight loss. It produces antioxidants that fight a variety of illnesses such as cancer. Green tea increases the production of alpha-brain waves, which helps us relax.

Chamomile, a member of the sunflower family, is thought to calm the central nervous system and stimulate healthy sleep patterns.

Indian Ayurvedic Herbs

The use of these herbs for medicinal purposes dates back to as early as 1500 BC. Ayurvedic herbs have been proven to show positive effects.

• Ashvagandha (White cherry) contains hypnotic properties and is used as an anti-stress adaptogen.
• Tagara (Indian Valerian), shilajeet (mineral pitch) and tulsi (holy basil) have all been found to contain anti-stress properties which relax the mind, promote better sleep, and aid with emotional issues.
• Saffron is considered to have anti-stress, anti-anxiety, anti-depressant, anti-heart disease, antioxidant, and anti-cancer properties as well as enhancing sexual performance.

Anti-anxiety diets play a critical function in how our body reacts to stress. A well-fueled body, free of chemicals, preservatives, and empty calories, found in so much of our modern junk food, can help clear your system and your emotions of unneeded toxins that hamper your ability to function properly.