How to Overcome Anxiety and Fear: Remedies and Helpful Tips

Anxiety can be overcome, and there's no need for useless medications or therapies that promise the impossible, even at the cost of significant sacrifices. There are highly effective, simple, and useful natural remedies to curb this condition that threatens to impact your life. Anxiety is like a shadow. When it arrives it tends to dominate us, to obsessively enter all our thoughts, to make us repetitive, prisoners of something we cannot control. And with this it leads us not only to waste our health, but also the joy and pleasure of living. And yet there are some ways to fight and overcome anxiety, without necessarily resorting to psychotropic drugs or the like. Starting with a question that gets to the root of this state of mind: is there something I'm covering up with anxiety? Let's take a very simple example. We have to leave and we're anxious. By asking about the origins of the anxiety, we might discover that we don't really feel like taking that trip, we're unsure about the itinerary, or who's accompanying us. Anxiety is the most common psychiatric disorder in our country. 8,5 million people suffer from itThose who suffer from generalized anxiety disorder have a specific lifestyle geared toward this condition. This reason alone should be enough to motivate them to commit to fighting it. the anxiety that changes our lives so radically.

Index of topics

What is anxiety?

Anxiety is a – anticipatory fear – and although in some circumstances it is normal and even useful, when it becomes too high it can turn into a disorder that should not be underestimated. There are several anxiety disorders. With a fundamental distinction between the generalized anxiety disorder, which corresponds to a feeling of persistent anxiety not tied to a particular situation, and panic disorder, characterized by moments of very dramatic anxiety accompanied by panic, terror, and a sense of loss of control, which can be associated with a whole series of physical symptoms. Both disorders can begin at a young age but have different courses. Generalized anxiety disorder usually lasts longer and is characterized by calmer periods and other more anxious ones. Panic disorder has a more variable course, with the most common being avoidance of the situations that trigger the panic attack.

Cause

Generalized anxiety disorder can be caused by multiple interrelated factors, both psychological and biological and/or environmental. There may be a genetic component, but also:

negative or traumatic experiences (recent or past)
prolonged exposure to stressors
chronic and disabling diseases
avoidant, introverted and pessimistic personalities.

Anxiety can also be fought and prevented through lifestyle: sleeping 7-8 hours a night, eating light and healthy meals, having an intense social life, laugh and relax, discover the value of lightness, having a positive, optimistic attitude towards life. And again: limiting fears to what truly worries you, and multiplying your curiosity, passions, and interests.

Anxiety and genetics

A more recent line of research on anxiety links it to genetic factors. According to some studies, as reported in the journal New ScientistApproximately 30 percent of anxiety disorders can be traced back to genetic factors. And not to a specific gene, but to a series of genetic factors that, in turn, interact with each other.

Symptoms

I physical symptoms associated with generalized anxiety may include:

gastrointestinal disorders
widespread pain, especially headache
attention deficit
concentration deficit
sleep disorders such asinsomnia.

Panic attack disorder is different where anxiety is characterized by panic, terror, loss of control, sweating, tremors, and tachycardia. And then, of course, there are the thoughts, repetitive and unstoppable, as the video points out. The School of Life.

Remedies

Psychologist Elisa Santarelli suggests some strategies and natural remedies to combat anxiety. First, she recommends reducing stress, also regulating sleep-wake rhythms and allowing us to get quality rest. Also important are thesupply, which should favor fresh fruit and vegetables, and physical activity, a natural anti-stress that helps to release daily tension. Equally fundamental is fuel creativity and keep an anxiety journal. Avoid being too hard on yourself and excessively self-critical. Do activities that help you unwind often. and specific relaxation activities. The School of Life suggests, to combat anxiety, ask yourself the following question: “If our mind wasn't filled with these anxious thoughts, what should we be thinking about right now?” A question that can help us go deeper and consequently discover the real problems underlying the disorder.

Anxiety and meditation

Apart from a good one breathing, a technique to be more resistant to the risks of lurking anxiety, is to make room for meditation. A study published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience demonstrates how the meditation It increases levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, a protein essential for healthy aging. After three months of meditation, researchers found, participants experienced an increase in neurotrophic factor and cortisol, through which the pituitary gland releases a series of hormones, including those that improve resistance to stress and anxiety.

Danni

Anxiety disorders can limit our lives, preventing us from living it fully. To avoid the situations that trigger them, we may even stop leaving the house. But since they also tend to reduce the effectiveness of the immune system, they can increase the risk of infections and, according to a Swedish research, even Alzheimer's.

Anxiety and tachycardia

Tachycardia caused by anxiety is less intense than that triggered by other factors, and usually hovers around 80-100 beats per minute. What can be done to stop it? You can intervene on your breathing, trying to normalize it, and on techniques for controlling your heart rate. stressIn any case, tachycardia caused by anxiety is the most harmless and should not cause particular concern.

What not to eat

Flour Refined foods, sweets, and chemical additives tend to increase anxiety, explains psychologist Elisa Santarelli. She recommends reducing their consumption and favoring fresh fruits and vegetables. It's also best to avoid a too sedentary lifestyle, since physical activity can help us release tension, and a life lacking creativity. Not to mention the importance of quality sleep and practices like meditation.

What to eat

Dr. Cozzolino explains that the Magnesium It's very important to prevent anxiety from turning into stress. Foods rich in magnesium include whole-wheat flour, whole-wheat pasta, spices, almonds, and herbal teas. Crunchy foods are also important because munching reduces the stressful part of anxiety. Useful foods that should be savored slowly (creamy soups, purees, etc.) that force us to slow down. And of course, fresh fruit and vegetables.

Can anxiety be helpful?

A school of thought, widely held today, attempts to overturn the paradigm of anxiety, reevaluating it and not considering it a pathology. Rather, according to this doctrine, anxiety is a human defense mechanism, even if it should not be wastedNeuroscientist Wendy Suzuki of New York University has written a book (Google Anxiety, literally Good Anxiety) to highlight the opportunities this mechanism can exploit. Tension strengthens, is a vaccine against sloth, and helps us anticipate obstacles. Anxiety is a signal, which can be decisive in raising awareness of something very risky. The climate emergency is an example: a dose of anxiety should help everyone understand the gravity of the problem. The important thing, as always, is not to overdo it. Also because an overly anxious response has no way out and leads to a single end point: paralysis.

Dictionary of anxiety

Over time, doctors have built a real dictionary around anxiety and the fears it implies, which distinguishes the various pathologies.By linking them to the things the person affected by this problem is afraid of.

Acrophobia: fear of altitude gender.
Agoraphobia: fear of open spaces associated with anxiety about fainting.
Anthropophobia: fear caused by the presence of people.
Cloustrophobia: fear of closed or underground places, a classic one is the one you feel in an elevator.
Body Dysmorphic Disorder: belief of having a physical malformation.
Erythrophobia: anguish for everything that is red.
Photophobia: terror of bright light.
Hydrophobia: fear of water.
Nosophobia: fear of hospitals.
Pantophobia: anguish for everything that is new.
Pyrophobia: fear of fire.
Xenophobia: fear of foreigners.
Zoophobia: terror of animals in general (it takes different names depending on the type of animals that are the object of the phobia; for example, arachnophobia is the fear of spiders).

How to overcome anxiety