Anxiety can be overwhelming at times. When you feel trapped by stress, it’s best to seek a mental health professional to ensure you don’t have an anxiety disorder. Therapy and medication can help you get on track and take control of your life. You can buy anti-anxiety pills at medambien from the convenience of your home.
However, there are other methods by which you can improve your anxiety symptoms yourself. Among them are these top 7 ways that ease your anxiety and help relax your mind.
1. Proper hydration
Drinking enough water every day doesn’t just keep you physically fit but also strengthens your mental health. Studies show that people who drink more than 4 cups of water daily are less likely to have anxiety and depression as compared to those who drink less water. Comparatively, consuming less than 2 cups of water daily doubles the risk of depression and anxiety disorders.
Additionally, dehydration increases the chances of anxiety in children. Children often don’t drink much water, which makes dehydration common among them. Dehydration also causes sleep problems. Sleeplessness can lead to anxiety.
Therefore, the daily water intake should be about 8 to 12 glasses. It’s the same for summers and winters. Moreover, drinking plain water might be a bit difficult for some people. You can add dates, orange or lemon slices, or dried apricots for flavour.
2. Sleep
Not getting enough sleep is also a critical factor in anxiety disorders. Many studies show that people who get more than 6 hours of sleep daily have significantly reduced anxiety and stress levels. Proper sleep helps regulate and repair the brain. Some crucial hormones, such as the growth hormone, are only released during sleep. Therefore, having a good sleep regime can help you with stress and anxiety.
In a 2016 research, the anxiety levels of 20 young adults were checked after a full night of sleep and after a sleepless night. The brain scan showed that after a sleepless night, there was no activity in the medial prefrontal cortex. It is part of the brain that manages emotions, stress, and anxiety. The results of the study showed that sleeplessness increases the risk of anxiety by 30%. Dr Walker, in charge of the study, says that sleep should be a clinical recommendation for treating anxiety.
3. Vitamin D
There have been multiple studies that show the link between increased levels of anxiety and vitamin D deficiency. According to the data, people who spend at least 20 to 30 minutes out in the sun are 25% less likely to have anxiety than those who don’t go out in the daytime.
Vitamin D is an essential component that helps improve cognitive function. It also has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, which protect the brain from stress and age-related neural degradation. Therefore, it’s ideal to step out every day for at least 15 minutes. You can take your pet out for a walk, go by yourself, or take a bicycle ride around the block.
4. Exercise and meditation
Mental health experts advise anxiety patients to do physical activity daily. Doing meditation and exercise every day promotes neurogenesis, a process by which new brain cells are formed. They also improve sleep, cognitive function, and blood circulation. Since meditation and exercise have slightly different effects on the mind and body, it’s better to do both.
Doctors usually recommend doing at least 20 minutes of strenuous exercise and 15 minutes of meditation per day. Some good cardiac workouts include brisk walking, cycling, dancing, playing an outdoor sport, and running. In addition, you can go for meditation options like yoga, breathing techniques, and aromatherapy.
5. Having a hobby
Doing something that you enjoy is a great way to relieve anxiety. Having a hobby keeps you productive and busy. It prevents you from overthinking and worrying excessively about something. You can distract yourself from negative thoughts while learning a new skill with a hobby.
There are many things that you can choose as a hobby. However, most of the time, it’s a trial-and-error process of discovering what you like best. Hobbies like gardening, painting, photography, writing, cooking, baking, and having pets are versatile and therapeutic. Such leisure hours effectively calm a hyperactive mind, ease anxiety symptoms, and stimulate creativity.
6. Share your fears
Counselling is another ideal way to cope with anxiety. You can talk to someone about what makes you anxious most of the time. It’s not a good idea to bottle your emotions up. It makes you feel heavy and suffocated. Such feelings may lead to depression and panic attacks.
Sharing your thoughts and emotions helps you relax and feel light. You can do so with someone you trust; your family, friends, or partner. If you don’t feel like sharing with someone in your social circle, seek a professional counselor or a therapist. The therapist usually assigns CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy) for anxiety and panic disorders.
7. Journaling
If your thoughts feel overwhelming and jumbled up, write them down. Usually, anxiety worsens when you can’t figure out your thought process and which one of these thoughts is causing anxiety. In such cases, journaling seems to be an effective way to organise your thoughts to find the source of your anxiety. Writing your thoughts in a diary also helps to solve the process.
Journaling is especially beneficial for people with GAD (Generalised Anxiety Disorder). Writing your thoughts act as a healthy coping mechanism to calm your mind. It also prevents you from adopting harmful coping habits such as drinking, drug abuse, and watching explicit sexual content.
The bottom line
Anxiety is a common response to a stressful situation. However, irrational anxiety can interfere with your lifestyle and relationships. Eating healthy, exercising, and drinking plenty of water is essential to ease your anxiety symptoms without any medication. Meditation and counselling are clinically recommended methods to relieve anxiety. You can adopt a hobby to distract your mind from negative and anxious thoughts. All these methods are effective in the long-term treatment of anxiety disorders.
