Lifestyle Choices and Anxiety
When you're anxious or stressed, it's easy to start delving into yourself and asking if there is something inherently wrong with you that leads you not to function properly or not to be able to cope.
The answer is that actually, like most of the human population, you probably have good and bad features about yourself and are also capable of achieving a significant amount in your life. Probably there are some psychological aspects to your anxiety (and a large part of my ebook AWAKE from Anxiety explains how to address these) but you may also find that simple healthy lifestyle choices can make a great deal of difference to the extent of your anxiety and your ability to cope with it.
5 Tips on Healthy Choices relevant to Anxiety
Here are 5 suggestions as to things to try to avoid or minimise and things to try to do if you want to keep your body and mind healthy and less prone to anxiety:
1. Caffeine (even a small amount) can significantly increase your levels of anxiety. If you drink coffee, tea coca cola or other products with caffeine in them and are experiencing anxiety then try to cut down or ideally stop. Perhaps try to find an alternative, e.g. caffeine free drinks such as herbal teas.
2. If you are anxious then be wary of 'self-medicating' by using alcohol to try to relieve our stress or anxiety. Whilst this may have a short term benefit, alcohol is a depressant drug which alters your mood. After the initial positive feeling has worn off there is a strong likelihood that you will actually be more inclined to be anxious. If you drink significant amounts of alcohol you are likely to find it difficult to improve your management of anxiety and I recommend you to cut down or to seek additional help ith that if this is an area where you may have difficulty.3. Also avoid other mind-altering drugs (unless they are being given to you on prescription by a medically qualified practitioner specifically to help with your anxiety or for other medical reasons). Again, they could significantly impair your mood. Remember too, if you have obtained them from a non-medical source you may not know whether they are actually what you have been told or whether they contain additional harmful substances unknown to you.
4. Do some regular moderate exercise - this helps to release endorphins (natural pain relievers) in your body and is recommended if you are feeling anxious.
5. Make sure that you do some relaxing (but healthy) activities for yourself each week - things that you enjoy doing and which may help to take your mind off your anxiety or your problems.
Following a reasonably healthy lifestyle through sensible healthy disciplines such as these, is an important element in tackling anxiety and stress. Make sure you include it in your plan for general life balance and health of mind, if you can!
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