How To Fight Anxiety

Anxiety happens every day, with symptoms like nervousness or lack of concentration often disappearing on their own. Everyone deals with anxiety symptoms in a unique fashion, whether it’s through medicine like ketamine, psychotherapy, lifestyle or dietary changes, or trying herbal or nutritional supplements. Persistent symptoms may need aggressive care.

Definition of Anxiety

“Anxiety is a feeling of fear, dread, and uneasiness. It might cause you to sweat, feel restless and tense, and have a rapid heartbeat. It can be a normal reaction to stress. For example, you might feel anxious when faced with a difficult problem at work, before taking a test, or before making an important decision.” It may provide coping power or energy boosts for greater focus, but anxiety disorders feature constant and overwhelming fear.

What Causes Anxiety?

No one knows for sure, but anxiety could be caused by trauma, a medical or mental illness, or other factors. 

• Genetic factors, such as a blood relative who experienced anxiety or another mental illness.
• Inherited temperament or personality type.
• Environmental factors, including a dangerous job, a traumatic experience, or physical abuse.
• Drugs or alcohol.
• A medical condition or surgical procedure.
• Certain medications.
• Poor health or dietary habits.
• Caffeine or smoking.

How to Fight Anxiety

For some people, fighting the symptoms of anxiety is a life-long endeavor that requires dedication and time. Some patients may be prescribed medicine, lifestyle or dietary changes, or even hospitalization. The most common way to fight anxiety is through psychotherapy, either in a one-on-one or group setting. Doctors have also begun using ketamine to treat symptoms.

Lifestyle Changes May Work:

• Establish daily goals for yourself. Write them down in a printed calendar or add them to a note app on your mobile device.
• Get outside and socialize, increasing the events and timeframe you’ll spend on each one.
• Get your finances in order. Stress often leads to anxiety, and it’s often caused when you worry about bills or other financial obligations. Figure out a way to draw down debt and set a budget for yourself.
• Find a way to relax through meditation, exercise, or some other enjoyable, low-stress activity.

Consider lifestyle changes or herbal or nutritional supplements:

• Eat healthily and exercise, while staying away from alcohol, caffeine, and tobacco.
• Kava.
• Passionflower.
• Valerian.
• Chamomile.
• Lavender.
• Lemon balm.
• California poppy.

Do Nutritional and Herbal Supplements Work?

They might. Significant research by the U.S. government and other groups shows that some natural supplements can help ward off symptoms of anxiety. 

“Based on the available evidence, it appears that nutritional and herbal supplementation is an effective method for treating anxiety and anxiety-related conditions without the risk of serious side effects. There is the possibility that any positive effects seen could be due to a placebo effect, which may have a significant psychological impact on participants with mental disorders. However, based on this systematic review, strong evidence exists for the use of herbal supplements containing extracts of passionflower or kava and combinations of L-lysine and L-arginine as treatments for anxiety symptoms and disorders. Magnesium-containing supplements and other herbal combinations may hold promise, but more research is needed before these products can be recommended to patients. St. John’s wort monotherapy has insufficient evidence for use as an effective anxiolytic treatment.”

How to Diagnose Anxiety

A mental health professional – a psychiatrist, psychologist, or therapist – can diagnose anxiety. Diagnosis normally involves a mental evaluation where a doctor asks about behavior, thoughts, and feelings, and will want details about your personal and family history of mental illness. Your symptoms will be compared to the criteria in the DSM-5.

Final Thoughts

Research into IV ketamine infusions for the treatment of anxiety is still ongoing, but the current understanding is that ketamine can bind to receptors in the brain and increase the amount of a neurotransmitter, glutamate. This will set off a chain of reactions in the brain and impact emotional regulation.

To put this into layman’s terms, ketamine allows the brain to trigger hormones that create more positive emotions. One added benefit of ketamine infusion is that relief can occur within hours rather than the weeks or months an antidepressant or therapy may take.

Contact us today to learn more about this innovative new treatment option.