It is my personal experience living with an anxiety disorder. I write about the symptoms of anxiety as well as natural treatments that have helped me. If you or someone you know suffers with anxiety, you know that it is a very hard thing to live with. It can rob you off your dreams, goals and your life, if it is not properly treated. I've suffered from anxiety ever since I was a child. I remember starting out with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and then when I became a teenager, I developed general anxiety. I worry about things much more than I should. I've had a lot of fears, such as lightning storms, heights, bugs, driving, bridges and the worst one of all, leaving my front door. When anxiety gets so bad, that you cannot leave your front door, then you know it is really bad. It is the time when you must reach out for help. Actually, you should reach out for help when your symptoms are small so that they do not develop into something much bigger. https://www.calmclinic.com/storage/images/70/top/1536x716.png?v=1540373482.1558 source The symptoms of anxiety that I've experienced are a racing heart, excessive sweating, numbness throughout my body, stuttering on my words, shaking and trembling, chest tightness, short and shallow breathing, pain in my hands and legs from clenching and tightening due to the overwhelming anxiety and blurred vision. Some of these symptoms can be very scary, especially when someone is in a public area. When those symptoms are present for a short amount of time when you are experiencing anxiety, it usually known as a panic attack. Some people that have panic attacks might think that they are dying. The symptoms can be so severe sometimes that it almost feels like an out of body experience. I've experienced severe panic attacks that have caused me great fear. Anxiety is fear. It could be fear of losing control, fear of dying, fear of having a panic attack in a public place, fear of socializing with people, etc. That fear can rob someone of their life. If anxiety is bad enough, it can totally affect the quality of someone's life. Some people are unemployed due to anxiety, some people can not even go to a local supermarket and buy groceries for themselves. Anxiety has many levels, some are normal fears, that most people have and some are severe that can seriously affect normal daily living. If an anxiety sufferer is isolating themselves, they can also start becoming depressed. Isolation can be lonely and self confidence can diminish due to it. A person with anxiety will probably feel more comfortable in their own home, away from whatever it is that they fear will cause them even more anxiety. Anxiety can be very exhausting. Basically, the mind is over thinking and worrying too much and the physical symptoms that come along with anxiety can really drain a person's energy. There are some treatments for anxiety. I do not use medication. I have had bad side effects due to the use of anxiety medications. In fact, they only made me feel worse. Every person is different, but that is just my experience. I choose natural healing because it is safer and I do not have to worry about any side effects. I have benefited greatly from using natural resources for my healing. One of the things that I have benefited from is consuming a healthy diet. Replacing the junk food with more healthier alternatives has not only helped my anxiety, but also the depression that came along with it. I make sure to drink a healthy smoothie everyday. It consists of fruit and some kind of leafy greens. The leafy greens I usually use are baby spinach leaves. The smoothies are known by the term "green smoothie." They are very tasty, even though they have spinach in them. You do not taste the spinach, you only taste the fruit that you put into the smoothie. I usually use fresh fruits, like strawberries, blueberries or bananas. Green smoothies have been known to reduce anxiety and depression. I've heard that bananas can have a calming affect on people who suffer from anxiety. Whenever I add a banana to my smoothie, I do feel that sense of calm. Other things that I do is make sure that I consume healthy foods like fresh fruits and vegetables and healthy snacks. Eating a healthier diet has helped my anxiety and depression levels. Besides eating healthy, exercise is also a good way to fend off anxiety. It helps to improve your mood, decrease stress levels and anxiety. It can make you feel better about yourself too. Meditation is a good way to find some inner peace and calm in your life when you are dealing with fear and anxiety. It has helped me to feel more at peace. I like to find calming, peaceful music with beautiful scenes of nature on the internet, usually on Youtube.com. It takes my mind to a better place, free of worry and fear. I've been using something called EFT, also known as Emotional Freedom Technique. Basically, EFT is a practice that is used to help people control or in some cases, even cure their anxiety. EFT is used by tapping on specific acupuncture points on the body, such as the brow bone, the area under your nose and above your lip, your chin, an area between your clavicle bone and the karate chop point of your hand. By tapping these areas with your other hand, you are supposedly distracting your body from negative thoughts and also providing more energy in these areas. Some people may be skeptical about using EFT, but not me. I've used it and I've noticed significant improvement in my anxiety levels. Whether it's mind over matter, I don't know, but I do know that it calms me down, keeps me focused and has helped me improve my life. Setting goals for myself was another thing that helped me. I would set a goal, such as going to the supermarket to buy food. I had the worst anxiety going to supermarkets and would almost completely avoid going. When I started setting goals for myself, I would use EFT, meditation, exercise along with the health foods and smoothie and then I would try to accomplish those goals. When I had completed each goal, I felt a great sense of accomplishment, which not only helped my self confidence but also my anxiety and depression. If you suffer with anxiety, there may be things that you want to do in your life but anxiety is holding you back. Some anxiety is normal, but too much anxiety can prevent you from living a normal, joyful, healthy life. It is best to help yourself by taking small steps first. You do not want to overwhelm yourself. Try to do small things that give you anxiety and then eventually work your way up to bigger things after months of trying to do the small things. You are most likely going to experience anxiety when you take these steps, even if they are small. You have to feel the anxiety and go through with it though, if you want to get better. Affirmations are good too. I usually tell myself over and over that I am going to be fine or okay. If you try to do things, even though you experience that anxiety, the more that you do them, the easier it will most likely become. It would be a much better feeling to be able to do those things with less anxiety over time, than to never do them at all because anxiety is holding you back.
Originally posted here: https://hive.blog/hive-174578/@felip/living-with-anxiety-disorder-and-panic-attacks
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