6 pill free ways to reduce anxiety

Those who never experience anxiety just don’t get it. The constant fear of another panic attack, the fear of another blast, the loss of a loved one, the weird tingling and numbness, the daily frustration: it can literally tear down your life. Especially after the horrific Peshawar attack, it’s important to persuade yourself that hope is out there.

As crazy as it sounds, it is imperative we pull ourselves together to impart hope to the families of the victims and the nation in general. As compiled by healthcollective.com, calmclinic.com and Reader’s Digest, there are many drug free ways to overcome anxiety.

Donate



Donating even a mere $10 has the same effect at satisfying your conscience as  $500, a Harvard Business School study found last year. Other studies have found that donating much smaller amounts of money makes people feel pleasure, and induces the feeling of that ‘I helped,’ in turn reducing anxiety. Whether it’s spare change or a higher-than-expected saving you want to help with, or giving away clothes and supplies or donating blood to victims, consider giving to a favourite charity to be happier.

Cherish ordinary moments



Common-but-lovely experiences, such as a nice walk in the park or an unprompted hug from your kid, may bring you more happiness and reduce the sense of pain and loss, according to recent research in the journal Psychological Science. “People find a lot of joy in rediscovering a music playlist from months ago or an old joke with a neighbour, even though those things did not seem particularly meaningful in the moment,” psychological scientist and lead researcher Ting Zhang of Harvard Business School said in a press release. The studies highlight the importance of not taking the present for granted.

Pick up a paintbrush or a pen



Tapping into your artistic side may bolster your ability to fend off stress. According to new research reported by Prevention, adults who lost a loved one when painted, drew or wrote their feelings on paper once a week for 10 weeks showed more mental resilience (for example: not breaking out in tears remembering dark times or getting impatient). “Creating visual art improves the connections between brain regions associated with resilience, likely because it’s an activity that calls for integrating cognitive, motor, and creative skills,” the magazine reported.

Yelling and Shouting



Another strategy that can be a lot of fun for people is the idea of ‘going crazy’ on purpose. This technique should be practiced in a private area, where you can’t be embarrassed and no one will judge you. The idea is that you essentially let out all of the stress that you are holding in. It is an effective way to just make yourself feel like you aren’t stuck inside your own head, according to Jaime Kurtz, PhD, an associate professor of psychology at James Madison University. Essentially, find a private place and let yourself yell and scream to your heart’s content.

Breathing Exercises



Breathing techniques can be very beneficial for those with anxiety, especially those that hyperventilate. Hyperventilation is very common for people that have panic attacks, and often causes physical symptoms that create more anxiety on their own. Breathing exercises can be used to calm the body and reduce the likelihood of hyperventilation. There are dozens of different breathing techniques, but the simplest one is the following: Breathe in through your nose slowly for five to six seconds. Hold for three seconds. Breathe out through pursed lips (like whistling) for seven seconds. This type of breathing gives your body back the right carbon dioxide balance, which in turn should keep your heart rate at the right speed and decrease the severity of some anxiety symptoms.

Magnesium intake



Studies have also shown that some people may me more prone to anxiety symptoms if they aren’t getting enough nutrition. The biggest culprit of this appears to be magnesium, which is an incredibly important mineral that has been stripped from most diets because of the way food is processed. Magnesium is also depleted during times of stress and through hyperventilation, so those with low magnesium levels are likely to cause their magnesium to get even lower when they experience anxiety for a long enough period of time. It is likely that low magnesium causes some of the symptoms and sensations that lead to further anxiety. High magnesium foods include dark leafy greens, nuts, fish, beans, whole grains, avocados, yogurt and bananas.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 20^th,  2014.

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