Anxiety Disorder

What will help:
Dietary Changes:
Doctors recommed eating plenty of complex carbohydrates
Vegetarian diet; it has been shown that people with vegetarian diet tend to be calmer than meat eaters.
Vitamin supplements also tend to help.

Lifestyle Changes:
Avoiding sugar and caffeine
Stop Smoking
ExerciseStudies show that people with vegetarian diet tend to be calmer than meat eaters. Meat and dairy products leave acid residues in the body, which can slow down the digestive tract. The result is the under-absorption of vitamins and minerals, which adds to the body's stress load. Physicians often use vitamin supplements to treat anxiety: 100 milligrams of a complete B-complex vitamin daily and 1000 milligrams of time-released vitamin C twice a day.

Exercise is vital, having a direct impact on the physiology that supports anxiety. Tension can be relieved by music workouts, which allow for more rapid metabolism of excess adrenaline. Exercise also stimulates the production of endorphins, the natural body chemicals that spur a sense of well-being and relaxation.

Another mind-body connection happens when people hyperventilate, which both reduces and alkalizes carbonic acid in the blood, sensitizing the nervous system and heightening anxiety. Diaphragmatic breathing is a key to calming the body and balancing the emotions. Learning breathing techniques allows the person to relate to anxiety in a new way.

Identifying specific anxieties can help clarify both the work that's needed and how best to cope, though some techniques seem effective across-the-


board. Psychologists recommed a regular form of meditation, employing creative visualization and positive affirmations, in which the anxiety sufferer can find peace through images of comfort. This starts the process of acquiring a sense of control. Through meditation, a person can begin seeing himself more positively.

Anti-anxiety drugs provide relief, even if temporarily, while beta blockers (cardiac and anti-hypertension medications) stabilize the fight-or-flight response. Although some people report side effects to these drugs, remarkable successes have been recorded.

Given the potential for addiction, behavioural therapy is an important adjunctantive treatment to medication. The important thing is to reach out to people coping with such ills, say psychologists, so that they are able to control the symptoms rather than. the symptoms controlling them.

Anxiety Disorder