Are you suffering from chronic stress and anxiety? And are you
looking for ways to deal with that without reaching for medication
or maybe you are on medication but are looking for things to do that can help control it better
without having to adjust your medication. If so then this video is for you. Keep watching
to learn of some simple things you can do right now to help with your anxiety
Hi there, I m Dr. Erik Richardson a board certified Family Practice physician.
I d like to welcome you to FamilyMed, a channel that focuses giving you practical and accurate
medical information to help you and your family. If you think this would be something that is
helpful to you make sure you subscribe, hit that notification button and follow along with us.
Today, we are going to be going over some simple common sense but also study proven techniques
that can help you get better control of your anxiety. Anxiety is one of the most common
health issues that we see in our clinics. It s estimated that approximately 20 percent of adults
in the United States are dealing with or have dealt with some sort of an anxiety disorder. So
if you are suffering from it right now, you are not alone. It can be quite overwhelming
and can start to control your life. There is good news though. There are things that you
can start doing to help get this under control. I guess before we go into discussing how to treat
it, I find that it s helpful to understand a little bit about what anxiety really is.
The best way that I have found to describe it centers around recognizing a normal reaction
in our body that we call the fight or flight response. This is the mechanism
that we have developed that when confronted with something dangerous allows our body to ramp up
and either fight it or run from it. For example, if you are walking through a forest and a bear
charges out at you, what s going to happen? Your heart rate elevates, your blood vessels
constrict to allow more blood to the brain, adrenaline is released helping you to either run
or fight for your life. These are normal responses and they are good responses because when the bear
is coming after you, you need to react. Anxiety is a condition where this response is a little too
active. It s where these normal responses to scary or dangerous situations are overactive or flare
up for things that are not dangerous or scary. So instead of the bear charging in the forest,
it s like if you were walking through the trees and a fuzzy bunny were to hop in front of you.
But instead of thinking how cute it is, your body reacts to it like it was a bear.
So that s what is happening with anxiety. Normal day to day life is triggering that
flight or fight response in a way that starts to interfere with your ability to function.
There are ways though that can help control these so let s get into those.
The first thing that is going to help with treating your anxiety is Exercise.
We ve found that 30 minutes a day of some sort of physical exercise or activity can help to decrease
anxiety symptoms. And in general it doesn t seem to matter what type of exercise you do. So find
something that you can enjoy, that get s your heart rate elevated and make it a regular habit.
The more consistent you can be with it the better results you will see.
The second thing I want you to do is learn how to meditate.
Meditation can help slow racing thoughts making it easier to manage stress and anxiety. One of the
types of meditation that you may want to look into is Mindfullness meditation. This is a practice
where you focus on yourself, your breathing and become present with yourself as you are.
There s a lot more too it so do your own research on how to do it but a fairly recent
analysis of multiple different studies showed that mindfulness meditation was an effective
way to help deal with stress and anxiety. The third thing I want you to do is get
outside. I ve had a lot of patients lately who are worried because of COVID and other
issues that they have been staying inside. This is one of the worst things you can do for your help.
Get out in nature, be around beautiful things. Get some fresh air and do it on a regular basis.
If you aren t in a position where you can get to the mountains or other beautiful scenery, bring
that in to your house. Put up pictures of nature, get some plants in the house, get on youtube and
watch some relaxing nature videos. There is a lot of benefit that comes from just getting outside.
The 4th thing that we find that can help is incorporate some aromatherapy into your life.
Smelling soothing plant oils can help ease stress and anxiety. Surrounding yourself with soothing
smells. Lavender oil has been studied especially in the realm of insomnia and has been found to
be effective in helping. Find some that are calming and soothing to you and give it a try.
The 5th thing I want to recommend is kind of a combination of the exercise and the meditation
and that is Yoga. I first got introduced to Yoga while trying to make it through
an exercise program called P90X. I couldn t believe what a workout Yoga gave me but also
the decreased stress that I felt after doing it. Yoga has been found to be a great way
for you to work on that stress and anxiety. The 6th is get in and work with a therapist.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Biofeedback treatments can be a great tool in finding
what things are making you anxious and finding ways to be able to cope, eliminate and deal with
things that are affecting your life. Many of us may be hesitant to work with a trained counselor
because of some of the stigma involved with it. We need to get away from that stigma though as it
is one of the most effective measures that can help you from having this control your life.
The 7th is making a priority to get enough sleep in your life. Sleep recharges the brain and boosts
our mood and focus. Getting enough sleep will help you be less anxious. Most adults need anywhere
from 7-9 hours of sleep. Find ways to make it happen and if you are struggling, I have some
suggestions on things that you can do on your own to get a better nights sleep right here.
Number 8 is eliminate the stresses in your life. I want you to write down all your activities,
everything that you are doing that takes up time in your life. Make an honest assessment
to see if you are overscheduling yourself, are their stresses in your life that you just
need to get rid of. What kind of changes can you make that may even be difficult
to give up but you know are not helping you. Many times, much of our anxiety can be self imposed, so
take the time and build up the courage to confront those things that are making it more difficult.
Number 9 is practice breathing. Take the time several times a day to just sit and breathe.
I get reminders on my watch multiple times a day telling me to breathe. Learning how to,
and making the time, to take some slow, purposeful deep breaths can help decrease stress
and help you cope with anxiety that sometimes can take over your life.
Number 10 is keep a journal. The act of writing down your life. Writing down your experiences,
hopes, dreams and worries can be very helpful and therapeutic in controlling your anxiety.
It gives a place where you can think out loud and keep track of your thoughts.
It an also help you look for patterns and figure out what makes you anxious. If you are feeling
anxious, putting those things down on paper can help you see things more clearly and avoid having
your mind run places where it doesn t need to go. Now certainly is not a comprehensive list of
things that you can do to control anxiety without medication. It is a good start and implementing
some or all of these in your life can make a big difference in helping control them. Maybe
you have something that works for you, if so go ahead and let us know in the comments below.
Anxiety can be a very debilitating condition and I m not naive to think that these things will cure
every case. Sometimes it gets to a point that it starts to control you instead of the other
way around. If you find that doing these types of things are not helping, make sure you talk to your
doctor or other health care professional because there are a lot of other options out there.
Well, I hope found this to be helpful. If so, do me a favor, go ahead hit that like button
and share it with your friends and family. And if your health is really important to you consider
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Thank you so much for joining us today here at FamilyMed and as always please remember
to take care of your body because it s the only one you have.