How To Control Anxiety Without Medication

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1 in 5 Americans will experience some form of anxiety disorder over a year. Anxiety attacks are characterized by a sudden onset of fear and worry, often with physical symptoms like elevated heart rate, sweating, trembling, and nausea. Anxiety can occur for no reason at all or as a response to a specific situation. (For example, you might feel anxious before a job interview or before giving a speech.) Anxiety can be treated with drugs and/or therapy. But what if you don’t want to take medication? Or what if you’re already on medication but still have anxiety? In this article, we explore how to control anxiety without medication.

Reduce Caffeine

Caffeine is a drug that can increase anxiety and negative mood. The first step in handling anxiety is to make sure you’re not getting too much caffeine. Caffeine is a stimulant that can increase anxiety levels and make it difficult to fall asleep.

The best way to avoid caffeine-induced anxiety is to reduce your caffeine intake. If you don’t want to quit cold turkey, try weaning yourself off slowly by getting rid of all sources of caffeine except for one. Then, once you’re used to it, get rid of that one source. Slowly but surely, you’ll be off the stuff in no time!

This doesn’t mean you should cut out caffeine completely. Rather, you should reduce your intake and try to get your caffeine from natural sources such as green tea. Another option for a caffeine free tea that also helps to manage anxiety is chamomile tea.

Practice deep breathing

Deep breathing is the perfect natural anxiety killer. It can help you relax and calm down, especially when you’re feeling stressed out.

A simple way to control anxiety is to take slow, deep breaths. To do this: Sit up straight and breathe in through your nose. Exhale slowly through your mouth. Breathe in for a count of four. Hold for a count of four. Exhale for a count of four. Hold for a count of four. Repeat until you feel relaxed and calm — about five or six times should do it.

This technique is so effective that it’s considered the first line of treatment for panic attacks and other anxiety disorders.

Here are some additional things you can do: Practice deep breathing daily to get better at it and to reduce stress. Use your breath to slow down when you feel anxious. If you notice that your breathing speeds up in response to stress, try taking slow, deep breaths instead. This will help prevent the cycle of stress-breathing-more stress from continuing.

Exercise

Exercise is a great way to reduce anxiety and improve overall health. It can also help you sleep better and improve memory.

Exercise also reduces the stress hormone cortisol, which helps your body adapt to stress and regulates your blood sugar levels. It also increases dopamine, which boosts your mood. It even reduces inflammation in the brain — another factor in anxiety and depression.

If you don’t like exercising, try these tips: Exercise with a friend or family member. Find an activity that you enjoy that gets your heart rate up and makes you sweat. Set realistic goals for yourself. Start small and build up from there. Remember that you will feel better after exercising — so if you are feeling anxious, exercise can help distract you from those feelings! If nothing else works, consider medication or therapy to help with your anxiety issues.

Exercise isn’t for everyone! But many other things can help with anxiety issues. You may want to see a psychiatrist or psychologist if medication or weitherapy doesn’t work for you. Therapy can teach you how to cope with stressors in your life and time management skills that can help reduce anxiety levels naturally!

Practice meditation

Meditation and mindfulness are two very effective ways of controlling anxiety. They don’t just reduce anxiety symptoms, they also increase the ability to cope with stress in general. Meditation and mindfulness are both about training the mind. They’re about learning how to concentrate your attention and focus on the present moment without judgment or distraction. This is a skill that can be practiced anywhere, so you can use it whenever you feel anxious. If you’re interested in learning more about meditation and mindfulness, check out our article on the benefits of mindfulness.

Body Scanning Meditation

Body scanning is a relaxation technique that involves focusing on different parts of your body to reduce stress and anxiety. It’s very similar to grounding techniques, that help you to focus on the present.

In one study, people who practiced body scans were able to relax more quickly and for longer than those who used other relaxation techniques. This may be because body scans are easy to learn and don’t require much effort. They can also be done anywhere, anytime.

Here’s how to do a body scan: Focus your attention on the right side of the body, starting with the toes and moving up one part at a time. For example: “I’m feeling my right toes now… now my right foot… now the arch of my right foot… now my right ankle…” Continue through the entire right side of your body, ending with the fingers on your right hand. Do this for about 5 minutes. Next, focus your attention on your left side in the same way.

When you finish, focus on your whole body at once, noticing how relaxed you feel. You can also scan through different parts of your body while repeating a word or phrase like “relax” or “I am calm” as you do so. This helps you stay focused and increases relaxation even more.

If you want to give body scanning a try, here’s a good beginner youtube video:

Go to bed at the same time each night

Many people with anxiety disorders have trouble going to bed at night because they’re worried about their problems. They can’t stop thinking about their worries and often toss and turn for hours before finally falling asleep.

If you don’t get enough sleep, your body doesn’t have time to recover from the day’s stressors and your stress hormones continue to rise. This makes you more susceptible to anxiety and depression. Also, a lack of sleep can make you more impulsive, making it harder for you to control your emotions.

But going to bed at the same time each night can help reduce your anxiety and make it easier to fall asleep. The reason is that when you go to bed at different times, your body can’t settle into a natural circadian rhythm. This can cause your body to produce more of the hormone cortisol (the stress hormone) than usual, which can make you feel more anxious and tense. One study showed that going to bed at slightly different times each night resulted in increased cortisol levels.

To reduce anxiety, go to bed at the same time every night so your body gets used to it. Then, you’ll be able to relax and fall asleep faster when you get there.

Eat a healthy meal 

It’s no secret that eating healthy is good for your body. But did you know that it can also help you feel less anxious?

Eating healthy foods helps to control blood sugar levels, which improves mood and energy levels. It also helps to keep your brain working at full capacity. If you’re having trouble eating healthy regularly, try planning and preparing meals in advance. This will make it much easier for you to stick to your meal plan.

Omega-3 fatty acids are considered essential fatty acids. They’re called “essential” because you must get them from food or supplements — your body can’t produce them on its own. Omega-3 fatty acids are found in fish, meat, and eggs. They have been shown to help reduce anxiety in several studies. However, it’s important to note that these studies were done on a fairly small number of people, so there is still some uncertainty about whether omega-3s can help with mental health conditions like anxiety and depression.

Go outside to get some sun

If you’re looking for a quick way to reduce anxiety, try getting some sunlight. Sunlight plays a vital role in our health and well-being. Getting natural sunlight helps us sleep better, reduces depression, and could even prevent cancer. Sunlight is also considered the best natural cure for seasonal affective disorder (SAD), or winter depression.

However, getting natural sunlight throughout the day also makes you feel happier and more energetic. This is because it helps your body produce serotonin, which is one of the main feel-good chemicals in your brain. Even if it’s cloudy or cold outside, you’ll still be reaping the benefits of sunlight.

Take a mental health day

Work is stressful. Most of us have to go to work every day to earn money to pay bills and support our families. This makes work a huge stressor in our lives. That’s why it’s important to take time off from work when you need it. Taking a mental health day is not a luxury, but a necessity for your long-term mental health. Learn how to call in sick when your anxiety is too high, your mental health is more important than most things at work.

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