Anxiety

Overview

Anxiety is a sense of fear and, in some cases, a feeling of impending doom. The term anxiety disorder refers to a category of disturbances that includes generalized anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, phobias, and obsessive-compulsive disorders. A panic attack is an acute anxiety episode that may be accompanied by sweating, shortness of breath, hot or cold flashes, heart palpitations, and other forms of discomfort.

Symptoms

Anxiety is an emotion that may feature excessive worry, disturbing thoughts, sleep disturbances, shakiness, ritualistic behaviour, feelings of hopelessness, panic, paranoia, fear of being alone or in public places, impatience, easy distraction, and great apprehension concerning the welfare of loved ones. Associated physical symptoms include racing pulse, heart palpitations, shortness or rapidity of breath, difficulty swallowing, sweating, dry mouth, numbness and tingling of the hands and feet or cold/clammy hands, headaches, light-headedness or dizziness, fatigue, trembling, indigestion, and diarrhoea.

It is important for you to know that you are NOT going mad. Your anxiety is the result of a build up of stress in your life. You can change and heal this situation. There are many things you can do to help you with this but it is important that you be patient with yourself and understand that it is not something that you can just remove overnight.

Causes

Anxiety disorders occur in people of all ages, but appear to be more common among women. The occurrence of an anxiety or panic attack is often unpredictable, but it may be associated with certain situations such as driving a car. The exact cause is complex, involving constitutional factors, emotional stress, biochemical imbalances, and environmental triggers. In women, hormone imbalances can cause anxiety. Therefore, hormone assessment is essential. Amino and fatty acid imbalances can also play an important role in triggering anxiety attacks.

Do

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Diet

Assess your diet to reduce excessive consumption of stress or foods such as refined sugars, and dairy. By following the principles set out below, you will be removing food and drink that add toxins to the body which affect your state of mind and instead add foods that will add nutrition to the body providing a calming and balancing effect.

DONT

Do not consume any artificial sweeteners, such as Splenda, NutraSweet or Aspartame.

Avoid food additives.

Do not consume high fructose corn syrup or mono-sodium glutamate.

Cut down on refined sugar and simple carbohydrates.

Do not drink any carbonated beverages.

Avoid caffeine.

Cut down alcohol intake, have no more than one glass of red wine or beer per day.

Emphasize fresh, organic foods, with plenty of fruits and vegetables.

Eat complex carbohydrates such as whole grains, seeds and nuts.

Consume vegetable soups, broths, and a wide variety of green and yellow vegetables.

Eat free-range, organic meats and poultry. The best beef is organic grass fed beef www.grasslandbeef.com

Eat wild caught fish that are rich in essential fatty acids, such as sardines and salmon.

Drink plenty of pure, filtered water

Be sure to eat a healthy breakfast. Skipping breakfast can add to stress levels by making you more tired and irritable.

Supplements:

Take Vitamin D3 50,000-100,000 International Units a day for periods of up to four weeks at a time.
Wholefood supplements are the best way of ensuring your nutritional needs are met. The best we know on the market is Kevin Trudeau’s “KT Daily” product. You can find more details here.
Take an Omega 3 supplement:

Krill oil –

Fish oil – www.shoporganic.com

Cod liver oil

Vegetarian – www.

Also include the following supplements – they have all been shown to help reduce feelings of anxiety by calming the nervous system: calcium, magnesium, vitamin B complex, 5-HTP, pantothenic acid, and adrenal and kidney glandulars. GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid), an amino acid, which can affect mood by increasing levels of the brain neurotransmitter serotonin (a mood regulator).

Prescription and non-prescription medication:

What non-prescription and prescription drugs are you taking? Your non-prescription and prescription are partially the reason that you have this illness or disease – you need to get off these medications but do so only under the guidance of a licensed health care practitioner.

Mind

We know that when the body is out of balance, energy doesn’t flow, leading blockages and eventually disease. Here are some things you can do to combat anxiety and restore balance:

Go to a Dr Morter BEST (Bio-Energetic Synchronisation Technique) Practitioner.

Stephen Lewis, founder of the Aim Program. Find out more by clicking here.

. Find out more by clicking here.

Reiki healing is very powerful in releasing anxiety, tension and stress. Find a local practitioner here.

Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) has had remarkable results in dissolving anxiety and letting go of fear. Find a local practitioner here or go to www.thetappingsolution.com, Faster EFT or www.tftrx.com

Consider using Mary Millers Iching System Products – ichingsystemsinstruments.com

Guided Imagery and Visualization: Guided imagery and visualization techniques are an easy way to learn how to enhance your ability to relax. You can use the following exercise to quickly shift away from feelings of stress to feelings of relaxation. Sit comfortably in an easy chair and close your eyes. Take a few gentle, deep breaths, and imagine yourself becoming increasingly relaxed with each breath you take. Feel relaxation spreading over your entire body like waves of peace. Now recall a time from your past when you were truly happy and at ease. Imagine yourself back within that moment as if it is actually happening now in the present. Use all of your senses to make the scene real. Hear the sounds, smell the scents, and see everything about you in full color. As you relive this experience, notice how relaxed, happy, and at peace you feel. By taking a few moments to imagine this scene whenever you feel stress building up, you will be able to quickly release your tension and reclaim the positive mood you were in when you first experienced the scene you are recalling.In addition to helping you relax and release anxiety, guided imagery can also be used to improve other aspects of your health, such as enhancing your immunity, relieving pain, and improving your digestion. By regularly visualizing your health goals, such as losing weight or exercising more often, you will also improve your ability to stay focused and achieve your health aims. In addition, guided imagery and visualization can be used to help you explore your beliefs and attitudes, and to change them when necessary to beliefs and attitudes that are more in alignment with optimal health.

Meditation: Meditation develops the mind`s ability to stop anxiety at its source. Meditation has been scientifically shown to relieve stress, as well as to improve overall health and immune function, and to reduce the pain and suffering caused by chronic disease. In fact, in 1984, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) recommended meditation as the more appropriate and effective choice for treating mild cases of high blood pressure, instead of commonly prescribed blood pressure medications. Meditation can offer new insights and improved coping strategies, better enabling you to meet the challenges of the day. Some types of meditation, such as Transcendental Meditation (TM), have even been shown to produce deeper states of physical relaxation than ordinary sleep.Although there are many types of meditation practices to choose from, all of them have one thing in common: focused attention on the breath. If you are new to meditation, you can begin by sitting up straight yet comfortably and closing your eyes. Place your attention on your breathing as you inhale and exhale. Each time you find your attention starting to wander, simply refocus on your breath. Though doing so may seem difficult initially, with practice it will become easier and easier, and you will easily spend 20 to 30 minutes meditating in this manner. The key is to be gentle with yourself and not force. At first, you may find yourself unable to sit still for more than a few minutes. If that is the case, don’t continue. Instead, each day seek to add to the length of your meditation practice until you reach your goal of 20 to 30 minutes per session.

Relaxation Exercises: Practicing exercises that help your body and mind to relax can quickly release feelings of anxiety and tension. Here is an example of a relaxation exercise that you can easily make part of your daily health routine:

Sit in a quiet room with dim lighting, with your feet flat on the ground.
Close your eyes and focus on your breath. Gently begin to breathe deeply in and out from your belly.
Each time you exhale; mentally tell yourself “Relax.” Do this for a few moments, until you feel a wave of relaxation starting to move through your body.
Now place your attention on your head, jaw, and face. As you continue breathing, direct the wave of relaxation throughout all the muscles of your face and jaw, including the eyes, then over your scalp and along your head, down to the base of your neck.
Now tense your facial, jaw, and eye muscles for a few seconds, before relaxing them.
Repeat this process with each remaining part of your body, beginning with your shoulders, back, arms, and hands, then moving down to your chest, abdomen, pelvis, thighs and upper legs, calves, ankles, feet, and toes. Be sure each area of your body becomes more relaxed before you move your attention to the next area.
Once you have proceeded all the way to your toes, continue to sit with your eyes closed for a few more minutes, still breathing gently in and out of your belly, allowing your feelings of relaxation to deepen.
Just before opening your eyes, allow your breathing to become deeper and fuller, feeling a wave of energy passing through you. Once you feel vitalized, open your eyes and return to your daily activities.