Natural Remedies For Anxiety
Natural remedies for anxiety are those that donât involve conventional medications . They include things such as herbs, aromatherapy, and performing certain actions that promote relaxation. Some people with anxiety use natural remedies alongside conventional treatments to find relief.
Examples of natural remedies for anxiety include:
Deep Breathing Exercises
Rapid, shallow breathing is a common symptom of anxiety. Breathing in this manner can increase your heart rate, make you feel dizzy, and may even increase the risk of a panic attack. Deep breathing involves taking deliberately deep and measured breaths to restore normal breathing patterns, which can help to reduce anxiety.
Weighted Blankets
Research shows that weighted blankets can be beneficial for alleviating symptoms of anxiety. The pressure helps to put your body into ârest mode,â reducing those symptoms and preparing your body to rest. These blankets come in many different sizes and weights, enabling you to find what works best for you.
Quit Cigarettes and Alcohol
Both alcohol and cigarettes may appear to calm your nerves at first. After taking a drink, however, your anxiety may worsen. A cycle can develop, leading to alcohol dependence.
Several studies also show that smoking can worsen symptoms of anxiety. Therefore, itâs a good idea to try to avoid drinking or smoking to reduce feelings of anxiety.
It Is Extremely Important To Deal With Stress As Soon As Possible And Not Allow It To Become Chronic In Nature Said Ritika Aggarwal Mehta Consultant Psychologist
A hectic lifestyle coupled with an erratic sleep pattern and certain situations can lead to stress.
Stress is a response to a threat in any given situation. In other words, it triggers your bodys fight-or-flight response. This stress response helps protect the body in an emergency by preparing you to react quickly to the situation. However, when this stress response fires continuously and stress levels remain elevated over a long period of time, then this chronic stress can put your physical and mental wellbeing at risk, said Ritika Aggarwal Mehta, consultant psychologist, Jaslok Hospital and Research Center.
Below, the expert shared the many effects of stress.
Physical health side-effects:
Respiratory: When stressed, we tend to breathe faster in an attempt to distribute oxygen-rich blood to the body. Some report feeling that they cant breathe or feel a heaviness in their chest. This can exacerbate existing breathing issues and/ or may create anxiety and panic where one may believe one has a serious physical health issue, she explained.
Digestive: Stress increases the risk of acid reflux, ulcers, stomach aches and cramps, bloating, diarrhoea or constipation, nausea, and vomiting.
Immunity: Chronic stress tends to reduce ones ability to fight off infections making one more prone to infection and viral illnesses. It can also affect ones recovery time
Mental health side-effects:
Signs And Symptoms Of Stress Overload
The most dangerous thing about stress is how easily it can creep up on you. You get used to it. It starts to feel familiar, even normal. You dont notice how much its affecting you, even as it takes a heavy toll. Thats why its important to be aware of the common warning signs and symptoms of stress overload.
Cognitive symptoms:
- Other mental or emotional health problems
Physical symptoms:
- Chest pain, rapid heart rate
- Loss of sex drive
- Sleeping too much or too little
- Withdrawing from others
- Using alcohol, cigarettes, or drugs to relax
- Nervous habits
Also Check: Can Stress Make You Lose Your Appetite
Symptoms Of Generalized Anxiety Disorder
The defining feature of generalized anxiety disorder is excessive anxiety and worry occurring more days than not for at least six months. The intensity of the anxiety or worry is out of proportion to the actual likelihood or impact of the anticipated event or events.Other symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder include the following:
- Difficulty controlling worry
- Restlessness or feeling keyed up or on edge
- Easily fatigued
- Difficulty concentrating or mind going blank
- Irritability
- Psychosomatic symptoms: Headaches, stomachaches, dizziness, pins and needles
- Physical symptoms: Shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat, excessive sweating, shortness of breath, chest pain
- The anxiety, worry, or physical symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other areas of functioning
What Causes Stress During Pregnancy
The causes of stress are different for every woman, but here are some common causes during pregnancy:
- You may be dealing with the discomforts of pregnancy, like morning sickness, constipation, being tired or having a backache.
- Your hormones are changing, which can cause your mood to change. Mood swings can make it harder to handle stress.
- You may be worried about what to expect during labor and birth or how to take care of your baby.If you work, you may have to manage job tasks and prepare your team for when you take maternity leave.
- You may worry about how you eat, drink and feel and how these things affect your baby.
Read Also: How To Avoid Stress Eating
Stress And Bathroom Habits
Stress can change the way your intestines absorb nutrients, and how quickly food moves through your body. In this way stress can lead to either constipation or diarrhea. It doesn’t help that stress provokes you to eat more greasy and sugary foods, often in the form of processed foods. These foods can make your gut leaky, causing additional problems like inflammation.
Chronic stress can change the bacteria in your digestive system as well. Bad bacteria begin to replace the good bacteria, which can be killed off. With different bacteria available, the foods you eat begin to digest differently. One study showed that women with irritable bowel syndrome experience worse digestive symptoms when stressed out, and that their stress is strongly associated with anxiety and depression.
The best ways to ward off these problems include exercising and maintaining a healthy diet (especially one containing fiber. However, until you get a handle on your stress, these problems are likely to continue.
Be Aware Of Avoidance
Its normal to want to avoid situations that make you feel anxious. It might work in the short-term, but over time it can make your anxiety feel worse.
This is because you dont get the opportunity to learn that the thing you fear may not happen or be as bad as you think.
Learn some skills to cope with anxiety, like helpful self-talk and relaxation, then gradually face the things you fear and put your skills into action. As you realise you can manage anxious situations, youll become more confident and motivated to keep it up.
Recommended Reading: How Can You De Stress Yourself
Stress May Dampen Sexual Desire Or Performance
Your love life can really suffer when you are stressed. Not only can stress reduce sexual desire in both men and women, it can also cause sexual dysfunction.
This may include erectile dysfunction in men and failure to achieve orgasm in women.
While stress does not normally affect fertility, people who are trying to have a baby have more success conceiving while on vacation than at other times of the year.
Common Signs And Symptoms Of Stress
Recommended Reading: Can Stress And Anxiety Cause Nausea
The Effects Of Chronic Stress
Your nervous system isnt very good at distinguishing between emotional and physical threats. If youre super stressed over an argument with a friend, a work deadline, or a mountain of bills, your body can react just as strongly as if youre facing a true life-or-death situation. And the more your emergency stress system is activated, the easier it becomes to trigger, making it harder to shut off.
If you tend to get stressed out frequently, like many of us in todays demanding world, your body may exist in a heightened state of stress most of the time. And that can lead to serious health problems. Chronic stress disrupts nearly every system in your body. It can suppress your immune system, upset your digestive and reproductive systems, increase the risk of heart attack and stroke, and speed up the aging process. It can even rewire the brain, leaving you more vulnerable to anxiety, depression, and other mental health problems.
Health problems caused or exacerbated by stress include:
Affordable Online Therapy for Stress
Get professional help from BetterHelps network of licensed therapists.
Need urgent help? .
How To Deal With Prolonged Stress
If you think that you are being affected by prolonged stress, there are things that you can do to help find relief. Establishing effective stress management practices is important for maintaining good physical and mental health.
Even if you cannot always control the sources of your ongoing stress, you can manage the ways that you respond and cope. Some strategies that might help are listed below.
You May Like: How To Calm Yourself When Stressed
Identifying And Easing Anxiety
It’s possible to become so fixated on the physical effects from your anxious state that you don’t even realize you were anxious to begin with, says Dr. Barsky. So, how do you know if anxiety is causing your symptoms? And if it is, how can you feel better? Dr. Barsky offers some tips to help you interrupt this cycle.
Stop and assess. “The first step is to pause for a second and observe what’s going on with your body,” says Dr. Barsky. Think about what you are experiencing and whether it relates to a feeling of emotional upset or a reaction to something alarming or stressful. If your symptoms followed a stressful event or period of time, it’s possible these emotions triggered your symptoms. Also, be alert to signs that you are tensing your muscles, which can also indicate a stress reaction.
Relax your body or work it. To relieve stress, try some deep breathing or relaxation exercises. There are numerous online resources and smartphone apps that can help guide you through relaxation techniques. Physical activity can also help you relieve tension. Try to squeeze in a daily walk or a run.
Reassure yourself. If you believe your symptoms are being caused by anxiety, reassure yourself that what you are experiencing is not harmful or fatal. “They’re not serious, and they don’t signal an impending medical disaster,” says Dr. Barsky. The symptoms will pass when the anxiety eases.
The Physical Side Effects Of Stress Can Look Like This:
- Chest pain
And more.
What to do to relieve those?
For a start, thats when seeing a chiropractor can help. A specialist will help you not just treat the symptoms, but also get to the underlying stress and let out all the pressure youre keeping inside of you.
Then, there are plenty of lifestyle changes you can make, and they dont need to be big or drastic.
Exercising is a proven method for stress relief. But choose something you enjoy. Could be jogging twice a week, hitting the gym a few times a week, stretching every morning and doing some quick exercises after that, or even taking up a new sport as a hobby.
Your food matters too. While junk food can lead to lack of energy and even signs of depression, the opposite can cure your stress.
Im talking about fruits and veggies whose vitamins and nutrients will raise your happiness levels and keep you in a good mood. Green tea is another natural remedy that heals anxiety due to its ingredient l-theanine. Make sure you consume it on a daily basis, though.
Next, dont forget your proteins and healthy fats. Omega-3 is great for the heart, but also brings cortisol to its normal levels. Its benefits on anxiety and inflammation are science-backed too.
What are the best sources of omega-3 amino acids? Well, make sure you add nuts, fish and seafood, flax seeds and meat from grass-fed animals to your menu.
Now, lets see how to have a more peaceful life by releasing the stress from your mind.
Don’t Miss: Can Stress Cause Frequent Urination
Recognize When You Need More Help
If you are struggling to cope, or the symptoms of your stress or anxiety wont go away, it may be time to talk to a professional. Psychotherapy and medication are the two main treatments for anxiety, and many people benefit from a combination of the two.
If you are in immediate distress or are thinking about hurting yourself, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline toll-free at 1-800-273-TALK . You also can text the Crisis Text Line or use the Lifeline Chat on the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline website.
If you or someone you know has a mental illness, is struggling emotionally, or has concerns about their mental health, there are ways to get help. Read more about getting help.
What Are Some Ways To Prevent Stress
Many daily strategies can help you keep stress at bay:
- Try relaxation activities, such as meditation, yoga, tai chi, breathing exercises and muscle relaxation. Programs are available online, in smartphone apps, and at many gyms and community centers.
- Take good care of your body each day. Eating right, exercising and getting enough sleep help your body handle stress much better.
- Stay positive and practice gratitude, acknowledging the good parts of your day or life.
- Accept that you cant control everything. Find ways to let go of worry about situations you cannot change.
- Learn to say no to additional responsibilities when you are too busy or stressed.
- Stay connected with people who keep you calm, make you happy, provide emotional support and help you with practical things. A friend, family member or neighbor can become a good listener or share responsibilities so that stress doesnt become overwhelming.
Read Also: What Is Stress Management Techniques
The Effects Of Stress On Your Body
Youre sitting in traffic, late for an important meeting, watching the minutes tick away. Your hypothalamus, a tiny control tower in your brain, decides to send out the order: Send in the stress hormones! These stress hormones are the same ones that trigger your bodys fight or flight response. Your heart races, your breath quickens, and your muscles ready for action. This response was designed to protect your body in an emergency by preparing you to react quickly. But when the stress response keeps firing, day after day, it could put your health at serious risk.
Stress is a natural physical and mental reaction to life experiences. Everyone expresses stress from time to time. Anything from everyday responsibilities like work and family to serious life events such as a new diagnosis, war, or the death of a loved one can trigger stress. For immediate, short-term situations, stress can be beneficial to your health. It can help you cope with potentially serious situations. Your body responds to stress by releasing hormones that increase your heart and breathing rates and ready your muscles to respond.
Yet if your stress response doesnt stop firing, and these stress levels stay elevated far longer than is necessary for survival, it can take a toll on your health. Chronic stress can cause a variety of symptoms and affect your overall well-being. Symptoms of chronic stress include:
- irritability
What Are The Symptoms Of Stress In The Body
Stress has the ability to affect all areas of your life, including how you behave, your emotions, how you think, and even worse, your physical well-being. Not a single part of your body is immune. However, since everyone handles stress differently, the symptoms will vary. While some people internalize their symptoms, others have more outward symptoms. Some symptoms can be vague and mimic those caused by specific medical conditions. For that reason, its essential to discuss your symptoms with a doctor. If youre battling stress, you might experience a variation of the following symptoms.
Also Check: What Is In Olly Stress Gummies
Top Effects Of Anxiety On The Body And A Few Natural Remedies
Anxiety can have a number of different effects on the body, all of them bad. When youre anxious, it affects nearly everything from your thoughts and emotions to your blood pressure and your muscles. Thats why its so important to learn how to handle stress and anxiety in a healthy way. Fortunately, there are a number of natural remedies that will help you overcome your anxiety. Lets take a look at some of the effects of anxiety and some natural ways you can deal with it, such as by taking red horn kratom.
When Should I Talk To A Doctor About Stress
You should seek medical attention if you feel overwhelmed, if you are using drugs or alcohol to cope, or if you have thoughts about hurting yourself. Your primary care provider can help by offering advice, prescribing medicine or referring you to a therapist.
A note from Cleveland Clinic
Its natural and normal to be stressed sometimes. But long-term stress can cause physical symptoms, emotional symptoms and unhealthy behaviors. Try relieving and managing stress using a few simple strategies. But if you feel overwhelmed, talk to your doctor.
Also Check: How To Relieve Stress And Depression Naturally
