Is There A Cure For Anxiety?
Millions of people worldwide occasionally experience nervousness over a looming test, a stressful situation at work, or an upcoming move to a new city. It’s a strain on their physical and mental health, and it can impact their stress management over time. Feeling this way is very normal, and it is a natural response to outside stressors. However, for some individuals, these feelings of nervousness and apprehension begin to take over their lives, especially when stress management isn’t always applicable. Whereas a certain amount of anxiety allows people to remain alert and responsive to an unfamiliar situation, too much anxiety can lead to extreme distress and a lower quality of life. Luckily, those experiencing anxiety disorders have many options for a cure, as it is highly treatable with lifestyle changes, therapy, natural remedies, anti anxiety medications, or a combination thereof.
What is Anxiety?
As previously described, anxiety is the feeling of distress or apprehension over an upcoming event. However, those with an anxiety disorder feel a disproportionate amount of stress and fear that can lead to mental and physical symptoms. They have difficulty with stress management, which can have a negative effect on their overall well being. Anxiety disorders can alter how an individual will process and respond to emotions or events in their life, and they can be so severe that a person might wonder if they can die from anxiety. It’s an important mental health issue that touches on everything from biological pathways to stress management skills.
Mild anxiety disorders can lead to a persistent, vague feeling of stress, while those with severe anxiety disorders can be dissuaded from engaging in everyday activities. Clinical trials have shown that anxiety-related disorders can be divided into three categories: anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, and trauma/stressor-related disorders.
Anxiety Disorders
An anxiety disorder is characterized by a general feeling of excessive nervousness or fear of a perceived or real threat. “Perceived” threats are threats that are not real but feel real to the individual struggling with the disorder. For example, a perceived threat could be the fear that the oven has been left on (even if it has not been used), and thus a fire will start. This threat may be a current one or a future one. It can lead to negative behavioral, emotional, or physical responses. Physical symptoms of anxiety disorders include body aches, muscle group tension in the shoulders and neck, chest pains, adrenaline rushes, chills, an inability to breathe, dizziness, headaches, heart palpitations, hot flashes, nausea, or hyperventilation.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, or OCD, is characterized by obsessive or intrusive thoughts about a situation. The “obsessive” characterization involves a fixation on a specific situation or item that triggers the “compulsion”, or repeated behaviors by an individual to address that obsession. These behaviors are done in order to alleviate the anxiety associated with the obsession. This obsession triggers negative thoughts and perceived threats: for example, an individual may believe if they do not wash their hands exactly 9 times in a row, they will become seriously ill. By giving in to the compulsion, they alleviate anxiety about that perceived threat while also exacerbating their condition. So, simply giving into their compulsion is not a valid treatment option.
Trauma/Stressor Related Disorders
Trauma or stressor-related disorders are anxiety disorders that stem from the experience of a traumatic situation. This traumatic situation can be a variety of events: war, sexual assault (call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1.800.799.SAFE for help anytime), the death of a loved one, or a car accident may be some events that can trigger trauma-related anxiety disorders. PTSD is the most well-known trauma-related anxiety disorder. Those struggling with PTSD can have intense flashbacks or anxiety attacks when reminded of their experience or may develop an extreme aversion to possibly experiencing that event again. For example, if an individual is in a car crash, they may avoid cars or public transportation altogether.
Treatment of Anxiety
According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, anxiety disorders are the most common mental disorder in the United States, affecting 18.1% of the population every year. However, they are also one of the most treatable mental health issues. The main roadblock to those experiencing anxiety is the primary care system: only 36.9% of those living with it ask for and receive treatment. Lifestyle changes, psychological therapy, and medications can help all individuals experiencing anxiety disorders to overcome their symptoms and realign their life.
Lifestyle Changes
Lifestyle changes are often a low-cost private option for an individual to address their anxiety disorder. They’re also entirely natural remedies that impact everything from biological pathways to overall physical and mental health. Lifestyle changes may include an increase in exercise, a change in diet, or a focus on meditation or mindfulness to calm nerves and relieve stress. While changing their lifestyle may work for those with mild anxiety disorders and will certainly lead to an overall healthier way of living, such natural remedies may not address the more intense symptoms of those living with severe anxiety disorders.
Exercise
Exercise is one of the natural remedies heavily promoted by health professionals worldwide as it offers dozens of benefits besides staying fit. Adding regular physical exercise (doctors recommend 150 minutes of moderate exercise per day) is one of the natural remedies that can reduce anxiety symptoms. Exercise releases endorphins (the feel-good chemical) to raise moods, which can reduce tension and stress in the body. It also is proven to improve sleep patterns, which is another way to lower anxiety: a regulated 7-8 hours of sleep per night can improve mood and provide a period for the brain and body to relax. Many of those struggling with anxiety may also struggle with insomnia (the inability to fall or stay asleep), so looking into sleep aids may help this as well.
Diet
While there is no specific food or drink that will stop anxiety, adopting a healthy diet is one of the natural remedies to regulate energy and moods overall, in addition to being beneficial to your physical health as well. Staying hydrated and avoiding caffeine and alcohol as much as possible can prevent energy crashes or unwelcome side effects. This is one of the natural remedies that can also lead to a more effective treatment of your anxiety.
Caffeine, in particular, can exacerbate anxiety symptoms such as uncontrollable shaking or headaches. A balanced diet consisting of healthy amounts of carbohydrates, proteins, and healthy fats that also stays away from fried or processed foods can regulate energy levels throughout the day. In fact, studies show that adopting an anti-inflammatory diet, avoiding processed foods, and ensuring adequate amounts of folic acid and fatty acids can lead to a reduction in both depression and anxiety. Certain vitamins, such as Vitamin C, can balance a body’s stress hormones. A well-balanced, regulated three meals a day can level out blood sugar levels and keep the body, the heart rate, and the mind at ease. Of course, before you make any drastic changes to your diet or seek any other treatment, you should consult your doctor.
Meditation and Mindfulness
A focus on meditation and mindfulness may also reduce stress and promote healthy thinking habits. Mindfulness is the act of noticing and accepting all thought patterns, which allows an individual to better understand how they react to certain experiences or events. For those with anxiety, especially OCD or PTSD, recognizing a personal reaction to a trigger may allow them to think through the trigger logically and feel calmer as a result. Meditation, often central to practices such as yoga and muscle group progressive relaxation, attempts to focus the individual and clear the mind of all thoughts. It can also help reduce a high heart rate and regulate breathing patterns. Instituting daily practices of meditation or mindfulness can lead to lower stress levels and a greater ability to focus on the processing of thoughts or events. These can aid individuals to better understand their own feelings of anxiety and stress, as well as what practices they feel forms the best support system for their journey to a cure.
Home Remedies
Home natural remedies are another way to help promote stress management and curb the mental health effects of anxiety. One of the most popular natural remedies for anxiety is essential oils. You can find essential oils from many different plants and herbs, and each of these essential oils can be helpful for different ailments. For anxiety and stress management, lavender essential oils are one of the natural remedies. Lavender essential oils can help you relax each muscle group, which can promote your overall health and well being while also helping with stress management.
Herbal supplements that enforce biological pathways which have been shown to reduce stress might also be beneficial to people with anxiety. While such herbal natural remedies have come under critical review, many people still claim better mental health and physical health and well being as a result of taking these herbal remedies.
Other totally natural remedies for anxiety include having a strong support system of friends and family members in place, getting enough social interaction, and making sure that you’re getting enough vitamins and minerals every day.
Psychotherapy
Psychological therapy is often recommended to treat anxiety due to the high success rate and study protocol. Therapy is often much more successful than lifestyle changes, although the two may be used in tandem to deliver the best results for your mental health and well being. Anxiety therapy can even deliver better results than anxiety medication, as it teaches the individual how to deal with the underlying causes or triggers of their anxiety disorder, rather than just treating the symptoms of those triggers. Many different types of therapy are used for those experiencing anxiety, but cognitive-behavioral therapy, exposure therapy, and aversion therapy are the two main types for promoting long term mental health.
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is the most prevalent therapy and study protocol used to treat anxiety disorders. It is effective in treating general anxiety disorders, OCD, and panic disorders. CBT addresses an individual’s negative thought patterns as well as the subsequent reactions or behaviors associated with those thoughts. CBT attempts to teach the individual that thoughts (rather than events) influence the way they emotionally react. In CBT, negative thoughts are identified, challenged, and replaced with realistic thoughts. For those with anxiety disorders, CBT can teach how to break negative patterns of thinking, which therefore reduces anxiety about those thoughts.
Exposure Therapy
Those with anxiety disorders often end up avoiding everything that they believe will trigger their symptoms. Over time, this forms habits that may prevent individuals from interacting in everyday life and may make these fears or aversions even stronger. Exposure therapy aims to remedy that. Exposure therapy attempts to expose individuals to the thing that they fear in order to address it and shows the individual that it is not something that needs to be feared. For example, those who are scared of car crashes due to their own traumatic experience may avoid vehicles altogether. Exposing that individual to rides in vehicles can reduce fear and anxiety by proving that a car ride is not inherently dangerous. Over time, the individual will feel in control over that situation, and anxiety is reduced. The therapist is always there as a support system throughout the course of the exposure treatment, though, so the setting is always low-risk.
Medication
Those who have severe anxiety disorders, such as OCD or PTSD, may not find immediate success with either lifestyle changes or therapy. Their symptoms may be so severe that they need fast-acting remedies to allow them to participate in regular activities or reduce severe depression due to their disorder. Antidepressants are commonly used to treat anxiety, as well as anxiolytics (which attempt to treat specific symptoms of anxiety) or muscle relaxants. Many individuals who experience anxiety find the most success with a combination of psychotherapy and taking medication. The therapy treatment is like a support system that keeps them going, even as the medication treatment does its work. After experiencing a remission in symptoms, the medication should be continued for at least 6 months to ensure that there is no relapse. Of course, before you start treatment that involves medication, you need to get approval and a prescription from your doctor.
Overall, while anxiety is often underreported and therefore undertreated, it is an incredibly curable disorder. Different types of anxiety require different treatments, but many find success with either lifestyle changes, psychotherapy, medication, or a combination of all three. Anxiety is highly specific to the individual, so there is no one clear path that can aid everyone struggling with anxiety, but focusing on treatments that help and sticking with them can ensure continued mental health and success at overcoming these types of disorders.
Commonly Asked Questions Below:
Can anxiety be cured naturally?
According to several double blind studies, there are several techniques that you can use to help reduce anxiety naturally. The first and most accessible method to manage stress is deep breathing exercises. Taking a deep breath is great for stress management in general, and it’s a strategy that you can use for in-the-moment stress management, and even a panic attack management. Continue to take deep breaths until normal breathing patterns return. Deep breathing can help reduce anxiety symptoms, such as increased heart rate, quickened respiration, increased sweating, and anxious thoughts. Panic attacks and heart palpitations are also severe symptoms as anxiety worsens. So, when you start feeling anxious, people with anxiety can try deep breathing exercises to reduce symptoms of anxiety.
Reducing overall stress in your life and leading a healthy lifestyle is another way to help ease anxiety and promote better mental health overall, according to a systematic review and critical review of other double blind studies by Cleveland Clinic. While you can’t just snap your fingers and make the anxiety go away, there are a few lifestyle changes that can help you stop feeling anxious and reduce the impact of the anxiety symptoms and other mental health issues.
Firstly, getting enough sleep is a crucial part of reducing anxiety symptoms and promoting better mental health and physical health. Peer reviewed studies show that adults need 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night in order to maintain good physical health. Getting a good night’s sleep can reduce the amount of stress hormones your body produces. Getting enough sleep can help you focus better, and it makes you better prepared to manage feelings of worry and reduce anxiety. For potential treatment for sleeplessness, you can look into herbal teas and long term chamomile therapy to help you fall asleep and stay asleep better. Long term chamomile treatment is an approach that can help you get enough sleep and deal with anxiety and depression over a period of time.
Next, you should get regular exercise. Any physical activity will do: even just walking or strolling near your home or doing some stretching exercises or yoga at home is enough to promote stress management. Intentional physical activity gives a stronger sense of control, which can reduce anxiety’s physical and mental symptoms. Exercising every day can reduce other anxiety symptoms such as muscle tension and it can promote muscle relaxation, too. Plus, it can help regulate normal breathing patterns. When your body is relaxed and your blood pressure is under control, it’s easier to manage your anxiety symptoms and/or panic disorder. So, regular exercise can ease stress and anxiety and also support better overall health and well being.
In the same line, you should definitely quit cigarette smoking if you want to reduce anxiety symptoms. Even though you might think that cigarette smoking helps to reduce anxiety, but it can actually worsen anxiety and your general health. It can also lead to other physical health conditions, such as higher blood pressure, constant increased heart rate, lung problems, and heart disease. These health conditions are bad for both your mind and your body. If you’ve tried to quit smoking in the past without long term success, you can try getting professional help from a doctor. A doctor can help with a treatment that can help you quit smoking and reduce stress in your life as a whole.
Eating a healthy diet is another medically reviewed way to reduce anxiety in your life. According to research done by Harvard Medical School, people with anxiety who avoided processed foods and simple sugars experienced lower levels anxiety and depression symptoms over time. Plus, a balanced diet was shown to help relieve anxiety symptoms and ease anxiety overall, and reduced the likelihood of panic attacks. A healthy and balanced diet will increase your ability to function, and it can be beneficial for your long term health overall. Of course, before you change your diet drastically, you should get medical advice from your doctor.
Additionally, cutting back on caffeine and alcohol can help reduce anxiety. According to the National Institute on Mental Health, caffeine and alcohol affect both the body and the mind, and they can worsen anxiety. Even though you may drink these beverages to relax or even cope with stress, frequent consumption can actually add to the stress in your life, not to mention increasing the risk of other health issues. While completely giving up caffeine and alcohol might not work for you right now, try to drink less each day. In place of caffeine or alcohol, have a cup of green tea or a glass of water to stay hydrated and promote your general mental health.
Meditation is another great way to address anxious thoughts and feelings. Meditation is the process of calming your mind and body so that you can rest and relax on a deeper level. It can help eradicate certain symptoms of anxiety, including negative thoughts, panic attacks, and anxious feelings. For extra support with meditation, you can get help from a professional, or even start out with videos and resources available for free online. Most importantly, meditation doesn’t have to be a daunting task: it’s just a practice and habit about getting into a restful headspace in the present movement. This is all so that you can practice mindfulness from a place of non-judgement.
Finally, seeking support from a mental health professional (or a support group) is a proven and effective way to treat anxiety disorders. Most mental wellness professionals will use a talk therapy approach to help you identify the triggers when you’re feeling anxious, and to really recognize what causes the feelings of stress and anxiety. Then, once the triggers of the anxious feelings are named, the therapy will focus on different ways to cope with feelings of stress and anxiety. They will help you establish and maintain the coping skills that you need for a life without anxiety and better mental health overall.
Is anxiety a mental illness?
According to the American Psychiatric Association, generalized anxiety disorder is classified as a mental illness. The Diagnosis and Statistical Manual (DSM-5) identifies the following symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder:
- The presence of excessive anxiety and worry about a variety of topics, events, or activities. Worry occurs more often than not for at least six months and is clearly excessive.
- The worry is experienced as very challenging to control. The worry in both adults and children may easily shift from one topic to another.
- The anxiety and worry are accompanied by at least three of the following physical or cognitive symptoms (In children, only one of these symptoms is necessary for a diagnosis of GAD):
- Edginess or restlessness
- Tiring easily; more fatigued than usual
- Impaired concentration or feeling as though the mind goes blank
- Irritability (which may or may not be observable to others)
- Increased muscle aches or soreness
- Difficulty sleeping (due to trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, restlessness at night, or unsatisfying sleep)
As you can see, people with anxiety disorder experience these symptoms of an extended period of time. It’s not just a fleeting worry or a short feeling of stress; it is persistent and chronic anxiety that continues for anywhere from a few weeks to several months at a time.
Another clear symptom of a generalized anxiety disorder or a panic disorder is a panic attack. A panic attack occurs when a person loses control and reacts sharply, quickly, and extremely to the stress and tension that trigger their anxiety with the standard panic symptoms. When a person experiences a panic attack, their breathing becomes rapid and shallow, and every muscle group tenses up tightly. They usually experience a high heart rate and sometimes heart palpitations. They are often unable to speak during the panic attack. In extreme cases, a panic attack can look like a heart attack or other serious medical emergency.
What is the root cause of anxiety?
Some of the most common root causes of anxiety include:
- Changes at work, such as a new job or loss of a job
- Lack of friends or support during a specific season in life
- Changes in friends, such as changing schools or moving to a new place
- Abuse (verbal, sexual, physical, and/or emotional)
- Specific phobias
- Substance abuse (excessive intake of drugs and/or alcohol)
- Relationship problems (with friends, a family member, and/or a romantic partner)
- Emotional shock, often following traumatic events in life
- Pregnancy, giving birth, and/or transition into parenthood
- Death or loss of a family member / loved one
- Other underlying mental health conditions, such as depression
Of course, this list isn’t exhaustive, and it doesn’t account for the buildup of chronic stress over time. In fact, according to many personal stories and researched medical advice, people who experience prolonged stress are at a much higher risk of developing an anxiety disorder or experiencing anxiety symptoms. They may also suffer from physical symptoms of stress, such as trouble falling asleep and/or staying asleep, stomach problems, trouble concentrating, and headaches.
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What does anxiety feel like mentally?
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