1 - What is Anxiety (History of Anxiety) and how it was Treated back in the day
2 - Types of Anxiety Disorders
3 - Diagnosis Test
4 - Examples of people who have anxiety (descriptions from Reddit)
5 - What happens to the mind (Hormones, etc.)
6 - Working Out
7 - Meditation
8 - Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
9 - Outdoor Walks
10 - Diet, Water, Vitamins
11 - Medication
12 - Conclusion
1. What is anxiety (history of anxiety) and how it was treated back in the day
Before getting to the history of anxiety, it is important to understand that nervousness when confronting fear is not anxiety. Anxiety happens when you get nervous (and all other related fight/flight symptoms) when there is no fear. Anxiety is a disorder when your fight or flight system is malfunctioning.
Ancient Greece:
During the Greek era, the term “hysteria” was coined. This was bad news for anxiety-prone women for the upcoming centuries. The word “hysteria” has roots in Greek cognate for the uterus.
The Early Renaissance: Witches
Practitioners of the time believed that “hysteria” only affected women. They firmly believed that the “hysterical” behavior related to anxiety, such as panic, was caused by the uterus. It was believed that anxiety was the direct effect of the existence of “female semen.” Due to lack of intercourse, it would turn into poison and cause women to behave in a strange, high-strung manner. Sex, naturally, was then considered to be the cure.
During this period, women who showed symptoms of “hysteria” were often accused of being witches. It was used by their enemies in the courtroom, and being vocal about your anxiety, or having physical symptoms that at the time were unexplainable, caused women to be “treated” via execution (in Britain), torture (in Spain) and burning at the stake (mainly in Scotland).
The Victorian Era: bored women
Similarly, during the Victorian era, “hysterical” women were seen as crazy. The belief was that by being trapped indoors without a job or anything to do built up tension that directly led to many of the so-called unusual behaviors.
The American Civil War Era: Opium for Over Excitement
Soldiers in the American Civil War were thought to suffer from what was then called “irritable heart syndrome” when they exhibited shortness of breath and heart palpitations - something that is currently known to be PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). This was mostly treated with the use of opium, whose addictive effects were not yet well understood.
Early 20th Century: Sterilizing the “ill”
The Russians were amongst the first who started understanding the psychological nature of this condition, and began sending psychiatrists to war alongside soldiers to “treat” them after the battle with Japan in 1904. Sedation by barbiturates was the go to method at the time. Unfortunately, for many years it was common to sterilize anyone suffering from mental illness in case their condition could be transferable to children. During the 1930s, an interesting mixture of therapies for anxiety saw rise, ranging from electroshock therapy to muscle relaxation techniques.
Late 20th Century: Modernizing Medicine
Most modern techniques for treating anxiety came about after the 1950s. Fear exposure therapy was amongst those techniques introduced at the time, which encompassed patients to be repeatedly exposed to fear triggers for desensitization to occur. After ten years, medical practitioners came to a realization that antidepressants could be effective in treating the disease. The 1980s saw the creation of the term “anxiety disorder,” and in 1990 it was discovered that neurotransmitters responsible for bringing “happy” chemicals serotonin and dopamine to the brain of anxiety patients were depleted as a result of antidepressant-type drugs.
2. Types of anxiety disorders
According to the U.S. department of health and human services, there are 5 main types of anxiety disorders.
GAD is an anxiety disorder characterized by chronic anxiety, exaggerated worry and tension, even when there is little or nothing to provoke it.
OCD is an anxiety disorder and is characterized by recurrent, unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and/or repetitive behaviors (compulsions). Repetitive behaviors such as hand washing, counting, checking,or cleaning are often performed with the hope of preventing obsessive thoughts or making them go away. Performing these so-called “rituals,” however, provides only temporary relief, and not performing them markedly increases anxiety.
Panic disorder is an anxiety disorder and is characterized by unexpected and repeated episodes of intense fear accompanied by physical symptoms that may include chest pain, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, dizziness, or abdominal distress.
PTSD is an anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal in which grave physical harm occurred or was threatened. Traumatic events that may trigger PTSD include violent personal assaults, natural or human-caused disasters, accidents, military combat, sexual assault, or rape.
Social Phobia, or Social Anxiety Disorder, is an anxiety disorder characterized by overwhelming anxiety and excessive self-consciousness in everyday social situations. Social phobia can be limited to only one type of situation - such as a fear of speaking in formal or informal situations, or eating or drinking in front of others - or, in its most severe form, may be so broad that a person experiences symptoms almost anytime they are around other people.
3. Diagnose test, how to know you have it
The Liebowitz Social Anxiety Test is amongst one of the more well known anxiety tests to better understand your condition - link
4. Examples of people who have anxiety (their description from Reddit).
5. What happens to the body and mind (hormones, etc.) when you have anxiety
It’s a primitive response to danger. Your body releases large amounts of adrenaline and triggers your fight or flight. Everyone will usually feel this in different symptoms. Some people get tingles in their feet, others get a really fast head rush, palpitations, etc. But basically your heart rate will elevate to pump blood to wherever it feels it needs to go in order to help you escape your situation and your breathing quickens to get that good sweet oxygen inside you and even your muscles will tense up.
The feelings of dread or impending doom usually come before, not after the attack, and usually have to do with trauma or deep seated fears. Once you’ve had a trigger response, your brain will interpret other similar responses, and put you in a full panic mode. Sometimes it doesn’t even need to be that similar to a previous experience, but your brain will just assume it so. Remember that one time you felt sick after eating seafood on that really long car ride? Well now maybe just eating and being in a moving vehicle triggers your anxiety.
It’s very common for people who have anxiety to also have obsession disorders, and it’s a cyclical thinking that will continuously trigger the attacks. Can’t sleep, but you know you need to, makes you anxious. Anxiety then in turn keeps you from sleeping. But you know you need to sleep, big day tomorrow. But you keep thinking about trying to sleep, more anxiety.
There doesn’t even need to be an external trigger either. There is a lot of evidence for people who are very sensitive and in tune with their bodies to get frequent attacks. There are lots of studies that the gut may have something to do with anxiety attacks. For example, having acid reflux, or bad gut flora. Mostly though, everyone gets some sort of anxiety at some point in their life. The people that seem to get it the worst, and often enough to be a disorder, seem to be those more sensitive to internal/external factors, and those who have constant obsessive or intrusive thoughts, in which case it really needs to be taken seriously and the person should be assisted.
For some anxious people, the cause may simply be an abundance of stress hormones - most notably, cortisol and adrenaline. These hormones tell our bodies that there is something scary down the road, and we need to run away. Technically, stress hormones are designed to help our bodies cope with danger: they increase our awareness and improve our reflexes.
- Testosterone
Women tend to be more anxious than men, and while there are a number of reasons this is true, one of them might be hormone-related. Low testosterone has been linked to increased anxiety, specifically, increased social anxiety. Generally, testosterone helps regulate the part of our brains that assess others’ emotions and respond to social threats. Low levels might make it more difficult for you to know exactly what’s going on in social situations. That is definitely anxiety-inducing. Researchers have found that testosterone can make it easier to make eye contact - an essential ingredient to a healthy social life.
- Thyroid Hormones
If you feel like your anxiety is particularly high or you have frequent panic attacks, talk to your doctor about checking your thyroid. Thyroid hormones play a significant role in anxiety: your thyroid-stimulating hormone (called TSH) levels directly correlate with the severity of panic attacks.
Typically, anxiety disorders are correlated with hyperthyroidism - an overactive thyroid - and depression is correlated with hypothyroidism, or an under-active thyroid. Although this happens to be true in many occasions, you may simply be an anxious hypothyroid, as there are a number of other elements that can come into play.
- Oxytocin
Oxytocin is the hormone your brain emits when you fall in love, or when you’re bonding with a close friend (it’s often called the “love hormone”). And while this hormone can definitely help reduce anxiety, it’s also a double-edged sword. Remember all those times you were bullied as a kid? Those moments stuck with you because of oxytocin.
When you go through a stressful event, oxytocin can intensify those memories, making you more likely to feel scared or worried that the next time you’re in a similar situation. Over time, that can increase your social stress and exacerbate mental health conditions like social anxiety disorder.
6. Workout
How does exercise help ease anxiety?
- Engaging in exercise diverts you from the very thing you are anxious about.
- Moving your body decreases muscle tension, lowering the body’s contribution to feeling anxious.
- Getting your heart rate up (by exercising) changes brain chemistry, increasing the availability of important anti-anxiety neurochemicals, including serotonin, gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and endocannabinoids.
- Exercise activates frontal regions of the brain responsible for executive function, which helps control the amygdala, our reacting system to real or imagined threats to our survival.
- Exercising regularly builds up resources that bolster resilience against stormy emotions.
On a purely physical level, exercise increases blood flow to the brain, which influences the hypothalamus, adrenal glands, and pituitary gland. These glands produce hormones, and increased blood flow changes how we react to stress. It also increases our sense of self-efficiency, which is the degree to which we believe we can do something. In other words, people who can motivate themselves to exercise are more likely to feel like they have control over other aspects of their lives as well.
There are hundreds of research articles stating that exercise is one of the best weapons a person has against stress and anxiety - it truly does wonders for millions of people.
7. Meditation
“All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” - Blaise Pascal
According to a study, meditation reduces anxiety for about 39%. For the study, 15 healthy volunteers with normal levels of everyday anxiety were recruited for the study. These individuals had no previous meditation experience or anxiety disorders.
All subjects participated in four 20-minute classes to learn a technique known as mindfulness meditation. In this form of meditation, people are taught to focus on breath and body sensations and to non-judgmentally evaluate distracting thoughts and emotions.
Both before and after meditation training, the study participants’ brain activity was examined using a special type of imaging - arterial spin labelling magnetic resonance imaging - that is very effective at imaging brain processes, such as meditation.
In addition, anxiety reports were measured before and after brain scanning.
The majority of study participants reported decreases in anxiety. Researchers found that meditation reduced anxiety ratings by as much as 39 per cent.
“This showed that just a few minutes of mindfulness meditation can help reduce normal everyday anxiety,” Mr. Zeidan said.
How to meditate
- Clean environment is something most people prefer but isn’t necessary - as while meditating, your eyes will be closed
- No disturbance is necessary especially for the beginners, but is also beneficial for everyone else. Advanced users simply won’t let themselves get disturbed by anything that’s happening around them. Still, make sure your phone sounds are off and that nothing at all (that you have control over) will disturb you in your meditation.
- A timer is essential for the part of meditation where you train self-control. Later on, it will render useless, however, when starting out, you usually need that time-guidance, that feeling of “I can’t stop, not until the alarm rings.” Also, the deeper a meditation is, the slower time flows - so while it may feel like 25 minutes, you’ll be extremely surprised if you decide to check and find out it was, in fact, 9 minutes.
- Comfort is also an important part of meditation. Get yourself to a comfortable position - sure, straightening your back to the point it feels hard and frustrating in the first 15 seconds may be of some help but it has nothing to do with what you are trying to accomplish. Lying down, sitting, standing... whatever position you feel comfortable with is great. Just make sure you won’t fall asleep.
STEP 1 - Get comfortable
Sit or lay down comfortably. Relax all of your muscles, or at least the ones you can - this may be tricky, as soon as you relax a muscle and focus on a different one, the first has a tendency to tense back up. You may play with this for a while until either everything is relaxed, or you don’t even notice muscle stiffness anymore. Take a few deep, long breaths and make sure you hold each of them for a few seconds. You can use the 7-4-7 technique: breathe in for 7 seconds, hold it for 4 seconds, then exhale for 7 seconds.
STEP 2 - Close your eyes
Actually, do this as the first thing after sitting or laying down. While it is very possible to meditate with eyes open, I don’t suggest it - the imagery will do the opposite of what you’re trying to do - it will create thoughts. You are trying to get rid of any thoughts whatsoever.
STEP 3 - Focus so you can “unfocus”
What you’re trying to achieve in meditation is to get into a state of pure awareness, consciousness, nothingness, stillness, thoughtless. In other words - you are trying to throw all the thoughts out of your mind, all the chatter and find out what remains when it’s all gone - thats the ultimate meaning. Focus on something simple - I found that the easiest and most effective things to focus on are:
- Your own breath
- The sound of your heartbeat (you can hear it if you focus in complete silence)
- Dropping water (not rain)
- The ticking sound of a clock
- Physical sensations (simply become aware: I am aware of how it feels to sit on this sofa. I am aware of how the air coming in and out of my nose feels on my skin. I am aware of all the sounds I hear…)
- Smells
STEP 4 - Let it flow
The biggest mistake people tend to make is that they try to focus really, really hard in order to get their minds clear of the thought-trains. Try to direct the thoughts, but don’t try to “overpower” them. If there’s a random thought that pops up, like “I would like a pizza… pizza is good because it has cheese on it..” just acknowledge it, then get back to whatever you were focusing on before - whether it was your breath or heartbeat. If you try too hard, you only get anxious. Just let it flow - after all, it doesn’t really matter. As long as you sit still, motionless, you can call it meditation.
STEP 5 - How long?
Here is a little test that can help you find out how long your meditation should be: Try the first one without a timer and try to meditate for as long as possible. When you feel you simpy can’t take it anymore, open your eyes and check how long it was. If it was 8 minutes, your meditation routine should then be 10 minutes per session, until you feel you can comfortably do more. If it was 15 minutes, set 20 although I doubt you can do 15 on your first try. Accept the challenge?
Prolong your meditations regularly - that is, if you practice every day and if you don’t, all of this is probably worthless. As soon as you can meditate for 15 minutes without getting any anxiety or stress, increase to 20 and so on. Get better on each try.
STEP 6 - The sound of silence
After a few minutes, if you did it right, a very interesting thing happens. First of all, slowly but surely you start losing your consciousness. It feels like falling asleep but you’re still perfectly awake and aware. It feels like ceasing to exist. But there’s another amazing thing: you can hear the silence. You can literally hear the silence, and the longer/deeper you meditate, the louder it becomes. The outside sounds are more distant by each passing second and you feel overwhelmed in silence - it sounds like being on an airplane, sort of, but everyone describes it differently, so while I may try to communicate the feeling, you probably have to experience it for yourself in order to understand. One thing is for sure though: it is the most amazing feeling ever. Because you get completely disconnected from reality and all that remains is the state of Samadhi. Trust me when I say it feels better than any drug you have ever tried or any feeling you have ever felt.
STEP 7 - Refreshment
You will probably feel refreshed after opening your eyes, as if you just woke up from a good, long night sleep. The biggest positive is that there’s a big chance that you will realize something about yourself, your life, your current situation, whatever - and that realization will eventually lead you to take action which you wouldn’t normally take. This is how meditation can change lives.
8. Therapy (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy)
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a form of psychological treatment that has been demonstrated to be effective for a range of problems including depression, anxiety disorders, alcohol and drug use problems, marital problems, eating disorders and severe mental illness. Numerous research studies suggest that CBT leads to significant improvement in functioning and quality of life. In many studies, CBT has been demonstrated to be as effective as, or more effective than, other forms of psychological therapy or psychiatric medications.
CBT is based on several core principles, including:
- Psychological problems are based, in part, on faulty or unhelpful ways of thinking.
- Psychological problems are based, in part, on learning patterns or unhelpful behavior,
- People suffering from psychological problems can learn better ways of coping with them, thereby relieving their symptoms and becoming more effective in their lives.
CBT treatment usually involves efforts to change thinking patterns. These strategies might include:
- Learning to recognize one’s distortions in thinking that are creating problems, and then to reevaluate them in light of reality.
- Gaining a better understanding of the behavior and motivation of others.
- Using problem-solving skills to cope with difficult situations.
- Learning to develop a greater sense of confidence in one’s own abilities.
CBT treatment also usually involves efforts to change behavioral patterns. These strategies might include:
- Facing one’s fears instead of avoiding them.
- Using role playing to prepare for potentially problematic interactions with others.
- Learning to calm one’s mind and relax one’s body.
Not all CBT will use all of these strategies. Rather, the psychologist and patient/client work together, in a collaborative fashion, to develop an understanding of the problem and to develop a treatment strategy.
CBT places an emphasis on helping individuals learn to be their own therapists. Through exercises in the session as well as “homework” exercises outside of sessions, patients/clients are helped to develop coping skills, whereby they can learn to change their own thinking, problematic emotions and behavior.
9. Walks in Nature
A study has proven that even a 10 minute walk may help people feel happier, reduce anxiety, stress and depression.
The science behind it is probably a combination of things. Sunlight allows the body to produce vitamin D, which has been linked with a reduction in depressive symptoms.
When you’re in a park you’re likely walking and doing physical activities, and exercise is positively correlated with improvements in mood and reduced anxiety symptoms, not to mention it’s good for the heart, blood pressure, and physical health in general.
If you’re in a park you tend to be more relaxed, which also allows time for reflection and emotional processing without the distractions of being at home or work.
Finally, there might indeed be something to the idea of us feeling at home in a primal way in natural places, and this might be comforting and soothing to us, as we so often live outside of natural settings these days.
Doctors all around the world are prescribing walks in nature since there are clearly lots of benefits for health and mental well being.
10. Diet, water and vitamins
DIET:
Eating certain foods can make your anxiety symptoms flare up, and certain foods make your symptoms dissipate. This article from Harvard university perfectly sums up the foods that people with anxiety should avoid. On the other hand, here are 9 foods that help reduce anxiety symptoms:
1. Brazil Nuts
Brazil nuts are high in selenium. Selenium may improve mood by reducing inflammation, which is often at heightened levels when someone has a mood disorder, such as anxiety.
Selenium is also an antioxidant, which helps prevent cell damage. It is also anti-carcinogenic, which helps to prevent cancer from developing. It is also important not to consume too much selenium throughout a day, recommended dosage is 400 micrograms. So be careful not to take supplements with high doses or eat more than three to four Brazil nuts a day.
2. Fatty fish (highly recommended!)
Fatty fish, such as salmon, mackerel, sardines, trout, and herring, are high in omega-3. Omega-3 is a fatty acid that has a strong relationship with cognitive function as well as mental health.
However, recent research has shown that if a person eats too much of another fatty acid, called omega-6, and not enough omega-3, they may increase their risk of developing mood disorders, such as anxiety.
Omega-3 rich foods that contain alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) provide two essential fatty acids: eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).
EPA and DHA regulate neurotransmitters, reduce inflammation, and promote healthy brain function.
A study conducted on men found eating salmon three times a week reduced self-reported anxiety. Salmon and sardines are also among the few foods that contain Vitamin D, about which we will talk later on.
3. Eggs
Egg yolks are another great source of vitamin D.
Eggs are also an excellent source of protein. It is a complete protein, meaning it contains all the essential amino acids the body needs for growth and development.
Eggs also contain tryptophan, which is an amino acid that helps create serotonin. Serotonin is a chemical neurotransmitter that helps to regulate mood, sleep, memory, and behavior. Serotonin is also thought to improve brain function and relieve anxiety.
4. Pumpkin seeds
Pumpkin seeds are an excellent source of potassium, which helps regulate electrolyte balance and manage blood pressure.
Eating potassium-rich foods such as pumpkin seeds or bananas, may help reduce symptoms of stress and anxiety.
Pumpkin seeds are also a good source of the mineral zinc. One study carried out on 100 female high school students found that zinc deficiency may negatively affect mood.
Zinc is essential for brain and nerve development. The largest storage sites of zinc in the body are in the brain regions involved with emotions.
5. Dark chocolate
Experts have long suspected that dark chocolate might help reduce stress and anxiety. A 2014 study found that 40g of dark chocolate helped reduce perceived stress in female students.
Although it is still unclear how dark chocolate reduces stress, it is a rich source of polyphenols, especially flavonoids. One study suggested that flavonoids might reduce neuroinflammation and cell death in the brain as well as improve blood flow.
Chocolate has a high tryptophan content, which the body uses to turn into mood-enhancing neurotransmitters, such as serotonin in the brain.
Dark chocolate is also a good source of magnesium. Eating a diet with enough magnesium in it or taking supplements may reduce symptoms of depression.
When choosing dark chocolate, aim for 70 percent or more. It still contains added sugars and fats, so a small serving of 1 to 3 grams is appropriate.
6. Turmeric
Turmeric is a spice commonly used in Indian and South-East Asian cooking. The active ingredient is called curcumin. Curcumin may help lower anxiety by reducing inflammation and oxidative stress that often increase in people experiencing mood disorders. A 2015 study found that curcumin reduced anxiety in obese adults.
Another study found that an increase of curcumin in the diet also increased DHA and reduced anxiety. Turmeric is easy to add to meals. It has minimal flavor, so goes well in smoothies, curries, and casserole dishes.
7. Chamomile
Many people around the world use chamomile tea as a herbal remedy because of its anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antioxidant, and relaxant properties.
Some people believe that the relaxant and anti-anxiety properties come from the flavonoids present in chamomile. A recent study found that chamomile did reduce anxiety symptoms. However, it did not prevent new episodes of anxiety.
8. Yogurt
Yogurt contains healthful bacteria, Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria. There is emerging evidence that these bacteria and fermented products have positive effects on brain health.
According to a recent clinical review, yogurt and other dairy products may also produce an anti-inflammatory effect in the body. Some research suggests that chronic inflammation may be partly responsible for anxiety, stress, and depression.
Including yogurt and other fermented food in the diet can benefit the natural gut bacteria and may reduce anxiety and stress.
Fermented foods include cheese, sauerkraut, kimchi, and fermented soy products.
9. Green tea
Green tea contains an amino acid called theanine, which is receiving increasing scrutiny due to its potential effects on mood disorders. Theanine has anti-anxiety and calming effects and may increase the production of serotonin and dopamine.
A 2017 review found that 200 mg of theanine improved self-reported relaxation and calmness while reducing tension in human trials.
WATER:
According to Barry Joe McDonagh, creator of the anxiety treatment program Panic Away and author of the book DATE, dehydration can contribute to anxiety and nervousness. He explains, “Nearly every function of the body is monitored and pegged to the efficient flow of water through our system. Water transports hormones, chemical messengers, and nutrients to vital organs of the body. When we don’t keep our bodies well hydrated, they may react with a variety of signals… some of which are symptoms of anxiety.” Dehydration has also been linked to a rise in cortisol levels, hormones that increase stress.
One of the problems with dehydration is that it mimics many of the same bodily sensations that anxiety can cause: dizziness, muscle fatigue, headache, feeling faint, increased heart rate, and nausea.
These feelings can trick our minds into thinking that we are having a major medical problem which can trigger panic for many anxiety sufferers.
Our body loves water, so it’s just that straightforward.
VITAMINS: (disclaimer - only take them if you have a deficiency, it’s easy to get checked)
Vitamin D - According to this research Vitamin D3 could be your best defence against a critical breakdown in your brain that could lead to cognitive disorders such as depression, anxiety and schizophrenia.
This Irish study found that healthy levels of Vitamin D are linked to a 75% lower risk of depression. The study followed almost 4,000 older adults for four years.
Vitamin B (all of them) - population studies show a link between deficiencies and likelihood of mental illness symptoms. B vitamins are important for making sure the body’s cells are functioning properly. They help the body convert food into energy (metabolism), create new blood cells, and maintain healthy skin cells, brain cells, and other body issues.
Magnesium - According to this article, magnesium can be very effective vs anxiety, many people are quite deficient and a good supplement can be as effective as meds but with positive side effects. Also my research on reddit has shown that it truly helps a lot of people suffering from anxiety.
A word of caution to anyone thinking of trying magnesium: be careful when choosing your supplements and start with a very low dose. Magnesium at too high of a dosage will cause a lot of unpleasant GI side effects (mainly a lot of diarrhea). Most forms of magnesium cause these unpleasant side effects, but I would highly recommend sticking to magnesium chelate and NO OTHER. The chelate is the only form of magnesium that doesn’t get your bowels moving.
This review shows the effects of magnesium, but I have to mention this again, you have to be very careful with magnesium supplements. High levels of magnesium can impact muscle function and can cause coma, irregular heartbeat, or low BP. 500 mg daily, as this user took, is likely too high, supplements at 350 mg or less are okay for most adults, and remember, chelate magnesium.
11. Medication
Benzodiazepines
Benzodiazepines are sedatives that can help relax your muscles and calm your mind. They work by increasing the effects of certain neurotransmitters, which are chemicals that relay messages between your brain cells.
Benzodiazepines help treat many kinds of anxiety disorders, including panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and social anxiety disorder. Examples of these drugs include:
- Alprazolam (Xanax)
- Chlordiazepoxide (Librium)
- Clonazepam (Klonopin)
- Diazepam (Valium)
- Lorazepam (Ativan)
Benzos are typically used for short-term treatment of anxiety. This is because they can increase drowsiness and cause problems with balance and memory. They can also be extremely habit-forming. There is an increasing epidemic of benzodiazepine misuse.
It’s important to only use these drugs until your doctor prescribes other treatment. However, if you have panic disorder, your doctor may prescribe benzodiazepines for up to one year.
DISCLAIMER - This is what can happen when you take Benzodiazepines for too long - LINK
Buspirone
Buspirone is used to treat both short-term anxiety and chronic (long-lasting) anxiety disorders. It’s not fully understood how buspirone works, but it’s thought to affect chemicals in the brain that regulate mood.
Buspirone can take up to several weeks to become fully effective. It’s available as a generic drug as well as the brand-name drug Buspar.
Antidepressants
Antidepressant medications work by affecting neurotransmitters. These drugs can be used to treat anxiety symptoms, but they usually take four to six weeks to produce noticeable effects.
Types of antidepressants include:
SSRIs
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) work by increasing levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that affects mood, sexual desire, appetite, sleep, and memory. SSRIs are typically started at a low dose that your doctor gradually increases.
Examples of SSRIs used to treat anxiety include:
- Escitalopram (Lexapro)
- Fluoxetine (Prozac)
- Paroxetine (Paxil)
- Sertraline (Zoloft)
Tricyclics
Tricyclics work as well as SSRIs do for treating most anxiety disorders, except obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). It’s thought that tricyclics work similarly to SSRIs. Like SSRIs, tricyclics are started at a low dose and then increased gradually.
Examples for tricyclics used for anxiety include:
- Clomipramine (Anafranil)
- Imipramine (Tofranil)
Tricyclics are older drugs that are used less often because newer drugs cause fewer side effects.
MAOIs
Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) are used to treat panic disorder and social phobia. They work by increasing the number of neurotransmitters that regulate mood.
MAOIs that are FDA-approved to treat depression but used off-label for anxiety include:
- Isocarboxazid (Marplan)
- Phenelzine (Nardil)
- Selegiline (Emsam)
- Tranylcypromine (Parnate)
Beta-blockers
Beta-blockers are most often used to treat heart conditions. They’re also used off-label to help relieve the physical symptoms of anxiety, especially in social anxiety disorder.
Your doctor may prescribe a beta-blocker such as propranolol (Inderal) to help reduce your anxiety symptoms in stressful situations, such as attending a party or giving a speech.
DISCLAIMER - before deciding on which medication to use, do your research. Read user reviews (mostly on Reddit), see which medicine could potentially help your condition because each person is unique. After doing your research, discuss it with your doctor, to understand what could work for you, and understand that each of these medications have side effects, ranging from moderate to severe. For example benzodiazepine usage with alcohol resulted in death for many people. Medication is a last resort option for people who have no other choice.
12. Conclusion
1. Understand it is a biological problem. Your body has excess, or sensitivity to, adrenaline, cortisol and norepinephrine (stress hormones). Anxiety is a physical state that has mental side effects, treat it physically and the mental effects will resolve themselves.
2.Understand it as a biological problem. It bears repeating. You can’t ‘think your way out of it’ you need to cultivate habits that will make you more biologically resilient to stress.
3. Stop taking stimulants. Anything with caffeine, avoid. If you smoke, quit. Avoid alcohol.
4. Eat properly. Complex carbs, healthy fats, and protein. Eliminate sugar and refined carbs. Eat a big protein and fat heavy breakfast first thing. Don’t have dinner too late and make it carb heavy and smaller.
5. Exercise. Every day. Hard. Whole body workouts, weights and cardio. Body weight training circuits are a good choice. It is very hard to be anxious after a strenuous workout.
6. Sleep. Sleep is crucial. It’s how your body performs maintenance on your brain. Disturbed or insufficient sleep on a regular basis almost guarantees anxiety. Part of the importance of 3,4,5 is to make sure you sleep properly. People vary, but shoot for eight hours. No screens before bed, etc. I can’t overstate the importance of proper sleep.
7. Learn to breathe and meditate. The best way to learn to manage anxiety in real time (including panic attacks) is to be able to control your breathing. There are lots of resources online on this. Likewise, meditation will help maintain calm. Don’t try and learn either of these when you are acutely anxious though, you need a baseline level of calm to be able to learn them properly. Once positive lifestyle habits have made a bit of a difference, learn to add even more tools to manage your anxiety.
8. Visit your doctor and consider medication. I’m not a doctor, and you should follow medical advice, but I would be very wary of barbiturates or any downers. SSRIs, on the other hand, can be very effective in helping reduce anxiety enough to kick off positive lifestyle habits after which you may no longer need them.
AND FINALLY, remember. A smile a day, keeps the doctor away:)