Anxiety is the most common mental illness worldwide affecting people of all ages both women and men. Some may experience occasional symptoms of anxiety while others may struggle with the diagnosed disease. It is characterized as a feeling of unease which causes urgency, fear, and may also display physical signs such as increased heart rate and blood pressure.
Anxiety is a serious condition which can really ruin the lives of those suffering from it. It can have a multitude of consequences from stopping the patients to enjoy their life to more serious consequences such as suicidal thoughts and attempts. If an anxiety disorder is left undiagnosed and untreated properly, it can affect the patient’s mental wellbeing to the point when they attempt to end their own life to escape from the struggle. Moreover, according to medical specialists, it is very common for those who suffer from anxiety to also suffer from depression.
Luckily, anxiety is a disorder that is manageable and curable with the right treatment and therapy. Here’s how you can improve your life when you are suffering from anxiety.
Understand what anxiety is and what symptoms it displays
Diagnosing anxiety can be difficult because most people feel a wide range of negative emotions, similar to those triggered by anxiety, depending on their life experience. Job stress or other personal problems can make people feel stressed, worried, and hopeless. Thus, the most difficult part of treating anxiety is being able to make the difference between an anxiety disorder and a difficult period in one’s life.
While ordinary anxiety is characterized by negative emotions that come and go and don’t interfere with one’s life, an anxiety disorder is an intense feeling of unease and alertness that affects the patient all the time.
Anxiety is the umbrella term for a multitude of feelings and emotions experienced by the patients. The most common symptoms displayed by anxiety include increased heart rate and blood pressure, rapid breathing, insomnia, trouble focusing, and a constant feeling of urgency.
How to stop anxiety from ruining your life
Whether you have been diagnosed with this condition or experience occasional symptoms, you certainly know how much this condition can interfere with your life. Living with anxiety every day of your life can be really difficult because you deal with an uncontrolled feeling of alertness and concern which keeps you away from enjoying your life.
Treating anxiety highly depends on the severity of the condition, the type of anxiety disorder, and the patient’s brain chemistry. Most often, the course of treatment will combine different methods, including psychotherapy, medication, and self-treatment methods, depending on what works well for the patient.
1. Self-treatment
If the anxiety disorder is not severe and the patient only experiences occasional anxiety symptoms which don’t interrupt their life and don’t put them to any risk, self-treatment without any clinical supervision is possible.
Practice meditation- Meditation is a highly useful relaxation technique for people who suffer from anxiety. Mediation can help patients clear their mind and ease the feeling of urgency and concern with breathing exercises, mind exercises by focusing their attention to certain things such as the breathing rhythm, and by laying down in the dark.
Start exercising- Regular exercising is vital for a person’s overall wellbeing. It can also have a huge impact on improving one's mental health and relieving stress. When exercising, our brains release chemicals called endorphins which trigger a feeling of wellbeing in the entire body and boost our positive mood.
Eat a healthy diet- Treating anxiety can also come down to having a healthy nutrition diet. Foods rich in zinc and magnesium such as whole grains, vegetables, fish, avocado and nuts can help with improving your mental health. Medical specialists recommend two diets for treating anxiety: the Mediterranean diet and the DASH diet. While the first diet is based on eating healthy fats, the DASH diet relies on reducing sugar intake.
Natural anxiety treatment- the natural compound CBD oil has become a more and more popular natural remedy for anxiety among the medical community. CBD oil can work wonders for anxiety sufferers because it has no psychoactive effect but it lowers the behavioral signs of anxiety such as increased heart rate. Moreover, it appears that CBD oil has a positive interaction with the serotonin receptors in the brain which are responsible for your good emotional state. If you struggle with anxiety, you should look for a shop CBD oil and take advantage of this natural supplement to get a calming and relaxing sensation which will ease your feelings of urgency and concern.
2. Seek professional help
Treating anxiety with psychotherapy is the standard way to release negative feelings and thoughts. It is often a combination of methods including cognitive-behavioral therapy and counseling.
Specialized counselors can help the patient recognize and eliminate the negative thought patterns which lead to anxiety. The cognitive-behavioral therapy helps anxiety sufferers learn how to control how their physical and mental reactions during stressful situations and anxiety attacks. Counseling sessions help patients understand what causes their anxiety and learn coping mechanisms to help them manage the negative feelings of nervousness, self-doubt, or concern.
3. Medical treatment
Treating anxiety is also possible with medication. The medications used for treating anxiety, such as antidepressants, benzodiazepines or tricyclics can help patients control their anxious emotions and eliminate or reduce the symptoms of an anxiety disorder. However, while they can be very effective for some people, for some patients the drugs can have potential side effects which is why treating anxiety with antidepressants or other drugs only takes place at the recommendation of a doctor and under specialized supervision.
Anxiety is a very serious, yet common condition which can affect all of us during our lifetime. Whether it is occasional anxiety or a diagnosed disorder, this condition must be treated immediately to avoid its development in more severe types of anxiety. Each patient needs a certain type of treatment in order to treat anxiety depending on the severity of the condition and its type. Thus, medical advice is extremely important in treating anxiety.