Anxiety affects hundreds of thousands of people. It is a state of apprehension, uncertainty and fear resulting from the anticipation of a real or imagined impending threat.
By implementing some changes to your lifestyle, you may be able to lessen the effects of anxiety disorder in your life.
Keep physically active:
Include physical activity in your routine. Try to be active most days. Something as simple as a 20 minute walk is a powerful stress reducer. It can improve your mood and is also beneficial to general health. Start slowly and work up.
2. Reduce your intake of alcohol:
Whilst you may think that alcohol helps you to relax, it actually increases anxiety levels as do other sedatives.
3. Quit smoking:
Cut back as much as you can on nicotine.
Smoking can also increase heart rate and blood pressure causing those with anxiety disorder to feel like they may be having an attack. And nicotine itself is a stimulant, similar to caffeine. It increases alertness and may make panic sufferers more likely to overreact to body sensations and common stress. And because nicotine is a stimulant and tobacco smoke causes airway resistance and other respiratory conditions, cigarettes can also cause sleep disturbances. Sleep deprivation can amplify anticipatory activity in the brain. A 2007 study published in the journal SLEEP found that insomnia can increase the likelihood for developing anxiety disorders. (Source:http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=193251)
4. Use Relaxation techniques:
Yoga and meditation are helpful tools for relaxing and calming the mind.
Headspace offers a free trial so that you can make a start at meditation. Here is the link.
Simply Yoga is an app that shows simple yoga poses for beginners. Here’s the link.
5. Make sleep a priority:
Studies show sleep deprivation to be one of the primary contributors to anxiety problems, depression, and other psychiatric disorders. Sleep appears to be very important for emotional regulation and processing. People become less able to put emotional events into context and respond appropriately. Seek medical assistance if you are having problems falling asleep or staying asleep.
6. Eat Healthy:
The better your general health is, the better you will feel in your own skin. This will help ease some of your anxiousness. A deficiency in B vitamins such as folic acid and B12 can trigger depression in some people. You can take a vitamin B supplement or eat foods that are rich in B vitamins to ward off anxiety. These include beef, pork, chicken, leafy greens, legumes, oranges and other citrus fruits, rice, nuts, and eggs.
Each of these steps may help you to deal with your anxiety. Remember that they will help best in conjunction with treatment from your medical practitioner.
Challenge yourself to stick to one or more of these changes for a whole month.
You can find a free 31 Day Challenge tracker here.