Anxiety is a normal human reaction that is built into us by evolution. However, you shouldn’t experience it regularly. These simple ways will help you overcome anxiety and save money on doctors and pills.
re’s a brief facts table about anxiety:
| Fact | Details |
|---|---|
| Definition | A mental health disorder characterized by feelings of worry, anxiety, or fear that are strong enough to interfere with one’s daily activities. |
| Types | Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Panic Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, Specific Phobias, Separation Anxiety Disorder, Agoraphobia. |
| Symptoms | Excessive worry, restlessness, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, irritability, muscle tension, sleep disturbances, rapid heartbeat, sweating, trembling, shortness of breath, and avoidance behaviors. |
| Causes | Genetics, brain chemistry, personality, life events, and environmental factors. |
| Diagnosis | Based on physical exams, psychological evaluations, and assessments using specific criteria in the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). |
| Prevalence | One of the most common mental health disorders, affecting approximately 19.1% of adults in the U.S. annually. |
| Treatment Options | Psychotherapy (e.g., Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), medication (e.g., antidepressants, anti-anxiety medications), lifestyle changes (e.g., exercise, healthy diet), and stress management techniques. |
| Risk Factors | Family history of anxiety disorders, traumatic experiences, chronic medical conditions, substance abuse, and high levels of stress. |
| Complications | Can lead to or exacerbate other mental health disorders (e.g., depression), affect physical health, impact daily functioning, relationships, and overall quality of life. |
| Prevention | Early intervention, stress management, healthy lifestyle choices, regular physical activity, adequate sleep, and avoiding alcohol and drugs. |
| Statistics | Women are more likely than men to be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. Approximately 31.1% of U.S. adults experience an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives. |
Breathing Practices and Meditation
During anxiety, stress hormones — epinephrine and cortisol — are produced. When they enter the bloodstream, the liver produces more glucose and activates the “hit or run” mechanism. Blood pressure rises, heart rate increases, and breathing increases.
That’s when breathing exercises come to the rescue. They can help calm our lungs, put our bodies into a barely perceptible trance, and help us relax.
There are many breathing practices. For example, this one will help you get rid of both an anxiety attack that has already played out and an impending wave.
- Take any comfortable position: sit in a lotus position, lie on the bed, or even lean on the window in public transportation.
- Place your palms on your abdomen and slowly inhale and exhale, counting to ten.
- Focus on your breathing. Take a deep inhale, and then exhale twice as long as the inhale.
- Draw in air quickly with your nose several times, and then exhale with your mouth.
These exercises can be done daily as a preventive measure, or you can use them only at the onset of anxiety.
And together with meditation, you can get a double effect. The main benefit of this technique is that the body relaxes and rests, switching to a certain frequency of the brain.
During meditation, one doesn’t concentrate on one’s thoughts but on the sounds of nature or slow, pleasant music.
Digital Hygiene
Our gadgets form an environment around us that affects our thinking, worldview, and health, even if we don’t realize it. And that effect isn’t always positive.
It’s worth having an occasional digital detox and adhering to the rules of digital hygiene.
Turn off the sound and pop-up notifications. This helps create a calm environment where it’s much harder to get distracted by your phone.
Keep track of screen time. Controlling your smartphone screen time helps maintain a balance between online activities and real life. Try to decrease any activity, even if it’s betting at https://22bet.com/ or chatting with friends for a limited time.
Keep two to three sources of information. The media repeats one after another, so we feel like there’s nothing else out there besides horrible news. To avoid anxiety about this, it’s best to keep sources few and reliable.
Set a timer. On the Internet, it’s easy to run into the “sticking” effect. One post pulls another. And here we are already forty minutes into studying why the grass is green and the sky is blue. The timer will remind us that there are more important things to do.
Not reading the news before bed. It’s better not to consume disturbing information late at night, as the psyche needs time to relax. And if you overload the nervous system with news, the quality of sleep, and mood will limp in the future.
Massage
Massage helps reduce cortisol levels, which are actively released by stress. It also relieves the muscle tension that comes with anxiety disorders.
To promptly reduce anxiety, you can ask a loved one for a massage or do it yourself: for example, stretch the neck and shoulders. They are often greatly affected by a sedentary lifestyle.
Try making straight movements from the beginning of the neck, where the hair is located, to the shoulders. You can also apply pressure point massage by applying light pressure to individual areas.
Walking in Silence
Even 30 minutes in the fresh air after work improves sleep quality, reduces anxiety and cholesterol. Walking improves circulation, boosts mood, and prevents depression.
On the weekend, you can go to nature to walk and be silent. And if there is no such opportunity, try to choose a route from work to home through a park or forest.
Leisure time in a comfortable and natural environment without smartphones and lots of people around relaxes you and helps you cope with anxiety disorders, fatigue, and burnout. You can try combining long walks with meditation, breathing practice, and massage.
Healthy Nutrition
When you are stressed out and all of your body’s systems are working at breakneck speed, a balanced diet is important. There are many foods that reduce anxiety. And at the same time, they help you save money on unhealthy snacks.
Cheese, fish, meat, legumes, oats, peanuts, sesame, pine nuts, milk, and yogurt are most rich in tryptophan. This is a very important amino acid that is responsible for our state of mind and mood.
And here are the foods you should avoid when you are stressed:
- Caffeine. It’s useful for the body, as it stimulates the brain and heart and increases concentration. But when it’s more than 400 mg per day in the diet, anxiety increases significantly.
- Alcohol. When drinking alcohol-containing beverages, corticosteroids are released into the bloodstream, sleep quality is disturbed, and anxiety levels rise.
- Sweets. Excess glucose causes a negative reaction: first, a sharp increase in blood sugar, and after that, the same sharp decrease.
Also read: Transform Your Teeth with Dental Crowns at Maple Ridge’s Top Clinic
