If you’re feeling anxious, you need to know that it’s normal and it doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you. In fact, anxiety is the most prevalent mental health disorder in America, and it often goes untreated.
Don’t leave your anxious feelings undiagnosed. Make sure you see a doctor about overcoming anxiety. You can fight it without medication, and here are some techniques to help you.
Dropping Caffeine
Caffeine is a drug that most people don’t think about consuming. It’s a regular part of your routine, and the only time you stop to consider your intake is when you don’t have it. Yet the side effects of caffeine are considerable.
Caffeine isn’t only for making you stay awake. The stimulant increases your heart rate, makes you sweat, give you the jitters, and can also cause insomnia and high blood pressure. These symptoms can, and often do, make anxiety worse.
Instead of taking medication right away to deal with anxiety, consider eliminating a drug you’re already taking. When you take caffeine out of the picture, your body has a little help to deal with anxious feelings.
Natural Supplements and Healthy Lifestyle
Some who suffer from anxiety have found that natural supplements like CBD oil or CBD tea, chamomile tea, and green tea help them to achieve the calm they need. Omega-3, GABA, valerian root and probiotics may also help you.
You can also strive to live a healthier lifestyle in general. If you take steps toward better health, it may help with anxiety as well. Here are some things to try:
- Drink more water
- Get more exercise
- Eat less sugar and more fruits and vegetables
- Get more sleep (enforce a regular bedtime)
- Clear your schedule so you aren’t as busy
Shifting to these types of healthy steps puts you on the path to healing when it comes to anxiety.
Meditation and Mindfulness for Overcoming Anxiety
While physical manifestations of anxiety, like panic attacks, are a bodily reaction that may be programmed in, you can teach your body not to react that way. Using relaxation, deep breathing, and other mindfulness activities can help you remember that you’re in the present, not experiencing whatever painful memory or trigger that set you off.
Spending more time in the quiet is sure to help your body find more rest than you had before. Just get alone for a few minutes and take deep breaths, noticing thoughts that come in but letting them float away again and focusing on emptying your mind. Regular practice of calming down can help your body get used to the technique and reach for it automatically when you feel anxious.
Find a Therapist
It’s helpful to find someone who can help you talk through what is making you anxious and give you healthy coping mechanisms for dealing with those triggers. Some therapists can recommend techniques like EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) or LENS therapy, based on your case and your needs.
They can also help you practice the meditation and mindfulness you’ve started on your own, and encourage your new healthy lifestyle. It’s good to have support as you seek healing.
Getting the Help You Need
You don’t have to work on overcoming anxiety all by yourself. Seeing a counselor or therapist can give you the support to make lifestyle changes that might mean you don’t need medication.
When you use meditation and mindfulness together with healthy habits and supplements, you’ll find mastering your mental health even easier.
To learn more about our anxiety treatment services, click here.
If you’re struggling in your relationship, call 917-273-8836 or contact us for a complimentary consultation to learn more about our anxiety treatment services and how we can help you.
