According to research, there is a positive association between Anxiety symptoms and the use of certain herbs.
Do you know that many people can get cured without any Anxiety treatment? Their condition often gets managed entirely or partially with lifestyle changes and integrated therapies.
Some herbs have a soothing effect on pain, and some reduce muscle spasms. Some of the herbs have a relaxing impact on the body. Many herbs contain antioxidants, an important compound that protects against potentially dangerous chemicals called free radicals. Herbs are used as drugs to treat, cure, or prevent disease. Some herbs target specific organ systems.
Approximately 20% of all the patients diagnosed with Anxiety and depression use relaxation techniques, 10% of them receive spiritual or energy treatments for their symptoms, and 7% take herbs, vitamins, or other natural substances (Kessler et al. 2001)
Regular exercise can be effective as it will help you divert your attention. Moving our body decreases muscle tension and reduces feelings of anxiousness.
After exercise, frontal regions of the brain responsible for executive function get activated, and physical activity builds up resources that strengthen our resilience against emotions.
If your Anxiety worsens after eating, please change your food habits. It is always healthy when we eat at home, as we prepare fresh and healthy food. We can keep nutritious food handy rather than frozen food and dried nuts. A healthy diet will have a 'growing effect' on brain health by improving blood flow and dropping the critical nutrients to the brain.
Sleep promotes mental health and is an essential part of life. It will be beneficial if we make sleep our priority by sleeping at night only when we get tired, not reading or watching TV in bed, keeping our room dark, writing our worries before sleeping and keeping away our phones, tablets or computers.
A lab experiment proved that people had fewer Anxiety symptoms with deep sleep. Deep sleep is responsible for regulating emotions and lowering emotional and physiological reactivity.
Caffeine may cause nervousness and jitters. Caffeine is not suitable for you if you have chronic anxiety. You can replace these drinks with water to put down your thirst. In some people, eliminating caffeine will significantly reduce Anxiety symptoms. Gradually decreasing your caffeine will be helpful without the body going through withdrawal over a few weeks.
If someone with Generalised Anxiety starts practising meditation daily, it will help to overcome stress and release tension in your body. When practising meditation, we learn to accept the world around us from a place of curious observation.
Mindfulness is the ability which helps to turn our senses inwards, noticing our thoughts and emotions. In meditation, we become aware of the present moment, which provides previously unknown resources. Mindfulness will offer the space to change our response to different situations.
Children and teenagers benefit from writing down their thoughts/ journaling as journaling reduces Anxiety symptoms. A person can write down his running thoughts for 15-20 minutes. Journaling will provide more clarity and help identify our thought patterns and associated emotions.
Journaling will lessen our distress, help us recognize the Anxiety causing triggers, and understand and prioritise our fears, problems, and concerns.
One of the many studies found that acupuncture improved Anxiety symptoms, which were not enhanced by psychotherapy and medications. Participants in one study experienced a consequential reduction in their Anxiety after ten weeks of treatment.
Another study on rats 2016 found that acupuncture is effective in reducing Anxiety. The researchers advised that acupuncture will impact how our body triggers the fight-or-flight response.
There is a link between spending time with pets and reduced Anxiety. Consider getting a service animal trained to assist people with GAD or persistent Anxiety.
An interactive session with a pet for a few minutes will increase oxytocin, a bonding hormone, serotonin, dopamine and happiness hormone, while reducing cortisol (stress hormone) in the brain, say experts.
In some studies, it was found that music helps calm the mind and reduce overall symptoms of Anxiety. Music tends to encourage positive changes in mood and mental well-being. Listening to music or creating music with instruments of all types can be healthy and helps improve confidence, communication skills, independence, self-awareness and awareness of others, and concentration and attention skills.
You can reduce stress and Anxiety by sipping chamomile tea or taking a chamomile bath. Chamomile tea acts as a remedy for sleep disorders and insomnia. Another significant advantage of chamomile tea is that it is user-friendly. It will help us to deal with Anxiety, depression, and insomnia. Apigenin in the chamomile binds to GABA receptors and will have a sedative, anti-anxiety effect.
Medical experts commonly recommend Epsom salt to people with muscle pain and mental stress. It is one of the many naturally occurring mineral salts. Experts suggest that stress relief generally comes from the warm bath itself. Others believe Epsom salt helps stabilise mood and relieve stress, anxiety and depression. Epsom salt has healing power, says Dr Umeda. While using it, users typically dissolve Epsom salt in bath water to release magnesium. Doing this can be very effective and beneficial in reducing Anxiety.
When having an Anxiety attack, our blood sugar levels drop. So it is advisable to eat chocolate as a quick snack, like a handful of walnuts with a glass of water. Diet is key to reducing Anxiety which will reduce Anxiety for a long time. Eating whole foods, a plant-based diet, meat and seafood, and plenty of leafy greens (such as kale)will help reduce Anxiety.
Lemon balm was named after the Greek word for "honey bee,". Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) has been used since the middle ages to reduce stress and Anxiety and help with sleep. There was a study published in Psychosomatic Medicine by healthy volunteers. It was observed that those who took standardised lemon balm extracts (600 mg) felt calmer and more alert than those who took a placebo.
It requires courage to give yourself credit for things you have been struggling to do for a long time. Being aware and present at the moment involves a lot of effort. You can practice Mindfulness and give yourself credit for being aware that you are having anxious thoughts.
Positive self-talk, cognitive restructuring, or other relaxation strategies are essential in treating Anxiety symptoms. You can ask yourself questions like, "Are these thoughts necessary?" " Are these thoughts helpful ?". You will get a different perspective on anxious thoughts when you question yourself. It will help you to stay in the present moment.
Spending time in the sunlight is beneficial for both physical and mental health. Heading outdoors can increase your vitamin D levels, reducing Anxiety and changing your mood. Studies have shown that staying in green spaces, like on the grass or walking in the forest, may reduce psychological stress. Running outdoors is more effective at reducing negative emotions than running on a treadmill. Harte and Eifert
Natural remedies for Anxiety will work best for some people, but others may require treatment and medications. Apart from these, there are various remedies we can use to improve anxiety-related symptoms.
Meditation, Keeping a balanced diet, maintaining sleep-wake cycles, journaling and exercising are the most important things everyone should follow. These habits will give you a healthy and stress-free lifestyle.
