Forrest says, “What are the top interventions for panic and anxiety? Nutritional is my main
question, but everything else is of interest.”
Panic and anxiety, methylation factors driving the relative rigidity versus flexibility of the mind,
I would expect rigidity to favor panic and also generalized anxiety when there are other factors
that favor the things that are being rigidly focused on as panic or anxiety producing
thought patterns, thoughts or emotional patterns.
And then histamine, I think is very often overactive in the brain, which at healthy levels
contributes to alertness, but at overactive levels will contribute to generalized anxiety and I
believe can also produce an episode of panic when acutely and extremely elevated. Methylation is
also important to minimizing histamine naturally. So, methylation is overwhelmingly important.
I do think that other factors impacting dopamine can be relevant in the sense that the main way
that methylation regulates mental rigidity is through decreasing the pool of tonic dopamine,
which favors mental flexibility. And so, you can also favor mental flexibility by
increasing the activity of dopamine receptors that mediate the basic response dopamine.
And I think vitamin A is an important factor in that. I also think endocannabinoids derived
from arachidonic acid in the classically understood ones increasingly thought to be
also derived from omega-3s can also regulate dopamine metabolism in a way that is favorable
for reduced stress response and increased mental flexibility.
Generally, I think certainly B12 is critical with mental health. Generally, meat, bones, and skin
like a balanced nose to tail animal product is probably gonna be the best way to deliver
the key nutrients that are often missing, which is consistent with
vegetarian and vegan diets being associated with those things,
although interpretation of that diet is controversial and I’m not saying that
you can’t have a healthy vegetarian or vegan diet. It’s possible for some people.
And then, you know, there's that aspect. In terms of non-nutritional strategies, I think meditation
and other mindfulness techniques can go a long way towards being able to step outside of your own
thoughts and become an observer of your thoughts rather than a victim of your thoughts. And I think
seeing a therapist, reading, doing the work to understand your thought patterns, and to
implement and execute new thought patterns can be very helpful. Pulling the GABA lever can
obviously be helpful as evidenced by a lot of the non-SSRI drugs that are used for anxiety.
GABA has been shown to help decrease brain waves associated with anxiety and decrease
the stress response in response to exposure to phobias. So, supplemental GABA might be helpful.
And I guess maybe this is a little tangential, but someone with panic disorder is likely to
exhibit aversion behavior that can lead to agoraphobia. And I think that
facing your triggers in a way that does not over trigger you is extremely important to preventing
aversion behavior that leads to agoraphobia. Like if you avoid triggers in life, but especially
in panic disorder, you will get more and more triggers and even more and more things you avoid
and that is a recipe for complete degeneration of mental health. But at the same time,
the optimal learning zone is always a bit outside your comfort zone, but not too far out.
Otherwise, you can feel abandoned and that can provoke negative reactions. So,
you have to ideally work with a therapist. But if not, just be very self-aware in terms of what is
too much exposure and yet also be very vigilant to not ever operate within your comfort zone except
when you need a break from operating outside your comfort zone on the weekend or something. Okay.
Forrest, I hope that helped. Thank you, Forrest, for your question.