Natural ways to combat anxiety

[Bluelight]

I heard that eating certain foods help to balance your brain's activity, especially fruit, though I'm not sure which ones would be really effective. Stress, anxiety and mild depression feed into each other, and I deal with it a lot because I have a very active mind, but since I manage to get myself into an "OK" state of mind most of the time that I'm having these feelings, I don't feel like experimenting with medication is a good route for me to take. I have friends who have psychological disorders that are far worse than mine, and I've seen what the wrong medication has done to them; it takes more than one try to find a good balance, and often during that time, it just gets worse.

In my case, I feel that I have an imbalance of some sort. Being in college I tend to eat very little throughout the day, and most of what I eat is carbs (pasta, sandwiches, etc.) because they're cheap and fill me up easily. I also drink a lot of coffee and black tea, which surprisingly helps me to get myself back into a "normal" state of mind, but something tells me that the crash from all that caffeine is contributing to my anxiety cycle.

Anyone think this sounds legit? Is this my body's way of telling me to calm down and treat it better instead of blaming my anxiety solely on the possibility of mental illness? That actually makes it worse, I worry that there's something wrong with me all the time, if you're a worrier you understand.

I've beat this before without meds, I want to do it again. I want to get back to my old, non-worrying, anxiety-free self, it's just kind of hard to do right now with the impending stress of graduating and leaving the country. I could go on forever lol if you got this far thank you for your time advice, comments, anything, I appreciate it.

[DonJon]

Hi, Bluelight!

Wow. I know how are you going through, it's one of the worst feelings ever! I was anxious and stressed most of my freaking life. Perhaps brought by my sexuality, being in the closet and not being true to myself. That was really a difficult process for me. Although, I'm not yet completely out right now. But I'm pretty sure and hopeful that everything will be alright for me.

Okay anyway, I was also like you finding and scouring things that would help me fight the stress and anxiety battle. Searching thoroughly from books, internet, etc. - which of course had helped me manage one way or another. Anyway, what I realized was these things - things we perceive as natural remedies - can help and be effective however, they are just short-term, they cannot heal and take away anxiety completely. What everyone of us are trying to look for is the long term solution, which I doubt does exists. I maybe wrong here but anyway, what I realized is that the first thing we need to do in order to find that inner peace is to acknowledge that these stresses, anxieties and fears are naturally part of life - of our existence. They are just there no matter what we do. We got to acknowledge it. Second is try to ask yourself, what do I have to fear for? why do I fear? why do I have to be afraid of things? In this process you might realize that you are not in control of your own life. Something is leading you instead of yourself. It's time now to take control of your own life and do things your soul aspires to do. I'm sorry if I sound evangelical here, I'm not trying to be self-righteous or anything. It is not my intention to be one. I just want to share what I know for sure. Okay, anyway, the third and last thing you can do is to live your best life. Always do your best to live for the moment. Breathe. That's one thing I do now when stress gets in the moment, which I realized I was actually suppressing before. Watch out for your breathing and see to it that you breathe easily.

A friend of mine told me that stress and fears in life keeps getting to us because we unconsciously resist what's happening in the moment. I asked her, what should we do? She told me, the way to work with resistance is by relaxing. Just relax and wait until clarity comes. The stress and anxiety will just flow and pass away from you.

Lastly, remember that the energy you create out of fear and anxiety is the same energy you feel when you are hopeful. It is just a matter of choice. Your choice.

So these are my thoughts for you, brother. Hope this helps. Blessings!


PS: Banana, green or yeah, black teas can alleviate stress, based on my experience. Plus regular intake of vitamins/minerals or supplements, balanced diet, exercise (especially aerobic or yoga), and your idea quality time for yourself! Love yourself. "wink"

[Rareboy]

Okay. Step one. See your doc and an endocrinologist to see if you have a trace chemical imbalance and/or allergies to any foods.

So all nutrition contributes to our neurochemical balance,

Now for diet.

No surprise. Cut out as much sugar as you can, particularly refined sugars and HFCS. Cut out the added salt. Seriously. This is the easiest way to ease up on your insulin production...which is one of the reasons for the spikes and lows in mood, energy and behaviour.

Eat green. Get most of your carbs from unprocessed foods. I eat at least one big salad meal each day. I can be just as full with a bowl of fresh vegetables with a low sodium teryiaki dressing as with a pile of pasta or bread. I eat a single piece of bread each day now in the morning. And pasta is a rare treat...only eaten when I also have a salad first.

Same with fruit. Don't drink fruit...eat it. Use the bulk and fibre to fill you up and keep your weight down too.

Cut out the caffeine. Switch to a mint or herbal tea. Limit yourself to one coffee or caffeinated tea in the afternoon. Do not start the day with caffeine. Or sugar. It sets up the cycle of spikes and crashes.

Having said all of this...I reinforce the need to speak with a physician. A lot of our neurochemistry is genetic.....certainly in our family, I see my own metabolism as being a dead copy of my maternal side, including a number of identifiably inherited medical conditions. So I am careful and watchful now. I feel way more balanced than in the crazy years when I ate and drank like you indicate you do.

Oh and at the same time, get out there and exercise. Get at least an hour of walking in each day if nothing else.

And get your sleep cycle sorted out. Shut down at night and make sure you get the 6-8 hours of sleep that you need to keep you in balance. This is the one area where my own inability to shut down entirely has led me to taking something to help me get good sleep. It has made a world of difference.

Good luck on getting healthy!

[Wolfpack]

Ok like Rareboy has stated it might be best to go see your Doctor just to have a check up and rule out any health problems.

Cut down on the amount of coffee and tea you drink, too much caffeine for someone with anxiety problems is like putting lighter fuel onto a fire, so in other words it is no good for you. You need to try and eat properly and get as much sleep as you can.

If you are worrying a lot about different things try writing your problems down, it may help you get them out of your head and you might be able to work on a solution for a problem easier.

Sadly you can never be anxiety free, but you can learn ways to calm yourself and cope with your anxiety.

Stay strong and good luck.

[TwisttheLeaf]

1) Yes, caffeine is not going to help your anxiety. If anything, that fake sense of "balance" that you're getting from it and the crash that comes later are setting you up in an even bigger imbalance.

2) Healthy eating can definitely help. Start stocking your fridge and packing your lunch. I have to eat a good 6000 calories a day to keep my weight stable and it has to be spread out throughout the day to keep my hypoglycemia in check. I can assure you that packing lunches (and healthy snacks) might be a pain in the ass, but it CAN be done.

3) Checking with your doctor for a round of tests is a good idea. Just make it clear you don't want to go on any meds.

4) Yoga. Yeah, I know. It sounds lame. But I have to tell you, it is excellent both for getting a handle on one's stress/anxiety as well as for physiotherapy purposes. Stick with it and you'll learn a lot of skills along the way to help you work through your anxiety.

[LJay]

When I was in the seventh grade we had to take a Health class. I remember one kid, after we had heard the umpteenth lesson about it all, raising his hand and saying,"It sounds like eating right, getting enough sleep and exercising takes care of most things." Smart kid.

[Borg69]

One thing about anxiety I've found is, don't give into it. The more you give in and avoid things that make you anxious, the more power it has over you, debilitating you. Force yourself to do it, and after a few times it gets easy and you don't even think about it.

[johnnyanger]

I can't talk too much on diet as it is never something I focus that much on (although no meat, low sugar does me OK), but meditation and practising mindfulness really help me a lot - it focuses me on my emotions etc. and gives me time to work through them and let it go.

Also general physical activity is very good for your mental well being. I find walking, running and swimming to be the best (someone else mentioned yoga, I am sure it is good I have just not found a class around me for it) as it gives me time again to focus on my mind outside of normal tasks.

[spencer]

Weird I'm actually in the process of writing about a similar topic right now. It's more about depression than anxiety but yeaah.

I've actually found that eating healthier makes me a lot happier. I guess if I'm happier I have less anxiety. I don't remember specific foods that are good for anxiety. I did get little bottle of kava juice and it actually really helped. Yoga as mentioned does help too.

I do use energy drinks as a way to lower my anxiety because if I'm really hyper it puts me in a good mood and I have so much energy that I lose my worries. It's not really a natural or healthy way to handle anxiety though..

[Bluelight]

One thing about anxiety I've found is, don't give into it. The more you give in and avoid things that make you anxious, the more power it has over you, debilitating you. Force yourself to do it, and after a few times it gets easy and you don't even think about it.

Yes! Oh my god, I do this all the time, then try to remind myself that I did it myself. It works sometimes, like if I just think "wait, why am I worried?" and laugh it off.