Anyone who overcame anxiety naturally?
Overcoming anxiety naturally : Anyone who... - Anxiety Support
Overcoming anxiety naturally
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Anon9621
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I tried for 3 years to do it naturally and nothing helped. Got on medicine and it’s been great.
May I ask what medication has worked so well for you. So many people here are I think over concerned about becoming dependent on meds and side effects. As with most medications if you come off them gradually there's no question of dependency. And most side effects are minor and disappear as the body gets used to the med. But some people start on meds expecting to experience terrible side effects and their imagination obliges them I think. I often say: anxiety about taking anti anxiety meds is just another symptom of anxiety.
I have, and it was the best experience.
Unfortunately it came back 3 years later because I went back into my old habits but working to go back to me again.
I do not believe in taking medication personally. I worked, paid a therapist who SPECIALIZED in anxiety, 3 months later I didn't even remember what it felt like to have a panic or anxiety attack for 3 years. I learned some extremely valuable things and got introduced to mindfulness. I was honestly someone I loved being.
I was able to overcome my anxiety with diet, exercise and prayer. I tried meds, but they made me feel weird so I stopped taking them. I changed my attitude completely. I tried my best to stay positive in all situations and not let the negative feelings take over. I prayed every morning and every night for god to take away my anxiety, my fears, my worries, my sadness and my compulsive thoughts. It only took a week or so and I started feeling so much better. I was at the point where I was having trouble leaving my home and my anxiety had taken over. I am now happy to say I feel amazing and I do whatever I want when I want. I do still have my moments where I feel myself starting to think about how I used to feel but I quickly ask God to take those thoughts away and I cast my cares to him. If you're not a religious person you can find what works best for you, but it can be done without meds. It may not work that way for everyone, but there is hope. Don't give up.
I overcame anxiety for the most part, in less than 4 months.
Granted I went from Panic Attacks for like 6 hours to being 100% I think I can say I overcame it to the best of my abilities naturally.
What helped is,
Taking time. Understanding my body and coming to terms with myself. You’re not broken, you’re not messed up. You think you are (especially if you’re a strong confident young man who has been beaten down by “anxiety”) but you’re not.
Also some things that helped.
1. Realizing I’m not broken, and that I’m actually very strong.
2. Understanding that it’s okay to experience the anxiety. They’re just feelings of anxiety. Once you can (I know this is hard, believe me) say to yourself, “F*** it. I don’t care if I faint, I don’t care if I pass out, hell I don’t care if I go crazy. I will not allow feelings of anxiety to dictate any part of my life in anyway shape or form. If I want to have a coffee god damn it I’ll have a coffee, and if I want to go to a restaurant I will damn go to that restaurant. If I have a panic attack so what.”
You truly have to say “so what” because so long as you allow feelings of anxiety to control you, then anxiety wins and you condition your brain and train it that you are incapable of certain things, and that further makes anxiety worse because now you’ve reinforced an idea that you should “avoid” certain things, and your body will go into fight or flight mode more often during said avoided activities because you’ve conditioned yourself that those activities are “dangerous”, and what does the body do when in danger?
You guessed it, fight or flight mode!
This is exposure therapy.
3. Removing all routines or activities designed to “protect me” against anxiety. After a transitive experience we tend to guard ourselves like an egg - meaning we care for ourselves in a way that we are easily breakable. We may do certain things to try to make sure that we don’t have a panic attack or anxiety. Again, this only further tells the brain that there’s something wrong with ourselves.
For me this was cutting out “anxiety audio removal tapes at night” from YouTube.
Stopping being afraid from consuming caffeine by consuming it.
More of the “f*** it mentality again.
4. Changing my perspective on feelings of anxiety. During times of anxiety, be it at night typically, I would have my heart sometimes beat, or so I might’ve been scared to fall asleep.
The body knows how to sleep naturally and it knows how to relax. I could take naps during the day with ease but at night I would somehow be afraid to asleep in fear I wouldn’t wake up.
I just did what I would do when I would take a nap during the day.
I’d get comfortable and fall asleep with ease. At night, the same would happen, I’d get comfortable and fall asleep. If I woke up after and experienced anxiety like a “racing heartbeat” instead of freaking out, I’d just say “That’s just my strong heart, beating good and healthy just like it should”. After that, the anxiety at night stopped! Because I didn’t give in to those feelings as I have before.
4. Meditation. Mindful meditation first thing in the morning as soon as I wake up. You can download an app called “Insight Timer” and get the application for free.
Type “Mindful Meditation” in the search area.
As soon as you wake up, when your brain is still in grogginess, do 15 minutes of mindful meditation.
Science proves it, there’s no debate, the benefits begins mindful mediation are huge, and anxiety relief, relief from depression and being able to experience life in the present and be more focused are all huge benefits of meditation.
And there’s no better time to do it than RIGHT as you wake up, when your mind is like a sponge, super receptive and eager to work.
5. Trauma Release Excercises. If you google on reddit Trauma Release Excercises you may be able to find videos that help you.
The idea and theory, incredibly simply explained, is that animals including humans, have the innate, natural ability to release Trauma through shaking.
Peter Levine and other psychologists note that other animals after experiencing trama, shake themselves to release cortisol and adrenaline and get out of the fight or flight mode after an intense experience.
Trauma whether or not you are aware of it, manifests itself as anxiety and depression, and for those who have gone to war, sometimes it manifests itself as nervous ticks similar to those who have Tourette Sydrome.
The end result?
You TOO can release trauma using Trauma Releasing Exercises. They’re free, easy to do and I say they work. I’ve felt much better after having done them, and I believe the science behind it.
Research Peter Levine or you can get Dr David Bercelli’s book called “Trauma Releasing Excercises” but again for free you can just google it and you’ll find tutorials and do the excercises yourself, because all the book is, is just an in depth explanation of what I explained, which to me is fascinating but I realize you may just be interested in results, to which I suggest simply googling and doing the excercises.
6. Bioenergetics.
Every morning I do three bioenergetic excercises.
I realize everyone’s situation is different but this is what I did and I feel great and live life on my own terms, and through my research and my goals of homeopathic treatment I’ve come a humongous way in a short period of time.
If you have any questions or comments don’t hesitate to ask or let me know.
This is the single most encouraging post I've ever read on here. The situations you describe are me to a tee. Thanks man. Now I just need to try to implement this stuff.
Lovely stuff Islandjet 👍 Acceptance worked for me which is just a polite way of saying F**k it and carrying on living your life regardless of how you are feeling.
All anxiety related disorders (panic attacks, OCD, GAD, PTSD etc) are rooted in fear or an intense dislike of the symptoms (same difference) whether they be physical or mental. Stopping caring so much about the symptoms takes away their power and disappear. Fighting them just makes it worse. It takes time to change your attitude but when you say F**k it to yourself and really mean it, recovery is just a matter of time while sensitised nerves heal.
The more people realise that this is how to recover, the less busy this website will be.
The problem is, its not that easy to stop giving importance to the symptoms, especialy in my case, I start hyperventilating a lot from morning till I get to sleep and its so uncomfortable the feeling, how can I deal with that when I feel as if I cant take a deep breath? :/
Im gonna start CBT soon maybe it will help me, hopefully
All anxiety sufferers place importance in one symptom or another. Some can’t sleep so they worry excessively about it. Some are concerned about their health so they worry excessively about it. Some people panic at the thought of leaving their home. They are all different , all irrational, but the cause is the same which is fear. If the cause is the same, recovery is also the same in learning to lose the fear by paying less attention to the symptoms and focussing on living your life. You just happen to focus and worry about your breathing. Nothing bad will happen to you. Just let the sensations pass. Stressing about it just keeps the sensations (that you dislike so much) coming and probably why you are hyperventilating.
It isn’t easy at first but the more you practice letting go and bothering less about the symptoms, the more they will disappear. They only hang around because they know they bother you.
Hi Anon,
Please let me know how your CBT sessions went.
I am thinking of getting a referral for it as well.
Thank you.
Just happened to read this chat and thought my experiences might help
I recently finished my CBT course for dealing with anxiety due to the fact medication doesn't work for me without side effects I couldn't tolerate long term. To spare a long reiteration of Islandjat's post, the things i really took away from my CBT course were these:
1. This will take some effort, you'll have to commit to making this work but the end result is worth it.
2. This will also take time. It took 3 months before I really saw a difference in my behavior and how my anxiety was handled. Though you might get the hang of it quicker or longer, it varies.
3. Don't try and suppress the anxiety! Treating it like a thing to control and tamp down always made it worse for me. Instead I learned to basically lean on it and realize that anxiety itself isn't always bad. It's only a problem if I let it be.
You'll have bad days, you'll make mistakes as you learn what works for you. I can't say what'll work best for you, because I'm not you.
Just try and remember that if you have a bad day, there will be another chance tomorrow and you will be strong enough to take it. It'll never hurt you to try.
Please tell us more of these bioenergetics exercises.
I still get depress and anxious 1year post Heart attack.
I am not on any anxiety meds .
Thank you.
Sure.
I do three excercises.
1. The Bow
2. Forward Bend
3. Shake and Vibrate
Just google “How to (insert exercise here)” to learn how to do them.
I do them every morning after meditation to wake myself up, open up the respiratory muscles associated with deep breathing, and to remove the neuroticism associated with modern society.
Benefits also include a decrease in anxiety and depression.
Can you write a book for us? Maybe be the next claire weekes? Lmao would love to read your techniques and everytbing that could help or reduce an attacks length etc 
Thank you even if its a PM thats fine to but id love to read everything you did with your therapist that maybe I could try out take your time that would be great if you could do it honestly! Would truly appreciate it!
I appreciate it!
And I’d like to actually write a book on it, I just have to figure out how, lol.
Heres a step lol go on your computer click on Microsoft word and start typing!
I did. It took longer though. Magnesium glycinate helped me, magnesium is a muscle relaxant and so is glycine, together they work excellent as a natural sedative. Magnesium glycinate lifts depression too and it's be proven that it can lift your mood very quickly. I never tried medication. I still take magnesium glycinate but not daily like before more, it has no side effects and is non addictive. You don't have to constantly raise the dose like Anti depressants for them to continue working either.
Islandjat, thank you so much for your very comprehensive response to Anon9621! I am also trying the ‘so what’ approach amongst many other things to help ease my health anxiety (mainly a fear of having high blood pressure..).
Anon 9621: I find walking daily help enormously with my anxiety. A minimum of 30 minutes every day (brisk walk) is very beneficial.
I also meditate every morning. My favourite app is Calm but there are lots of apps to choose from.
I also take Marine Magnesium which I find very helpful.
I have read and researched anything I could find about anxiety to understand why and how this all came about. I can pinpoint the time in my life (I’m now 55) it first started and it was a combination of extreme stress at work and home, stress that was ongoing without me fully realising I was getting stressed. I am someone who just get on with things and it is in my nature to want to support everyone around me without taking my own needs into account. Anxiety is the price I paid for forgetting about myself!
So make time for yourself, look after your own needs. So many people post lots of excellent advice and are very reassuring on this site too.
Take care
Xx
Diet and exercise.
Hi
I overcame my anxiety naturally.
It wasn't easy and it took time, but I was determined that I was not going to be a slave to drugs in my body, I saw that as being a possible larger danger than dealing with what was happening to me in some other way.
What is anxiety? The dictionary definition is:
a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease about something with an uncertain outcome.
This definition describes the normal level of anxiety that a person should feel with regards to anything that might be felt as being "uncertain".
When we suffer from an anxiety attack this is an extreme and irrational reaction to something that would normally require a "normal" level of anxiousness or nervousness.
My anxiety was related to my health more than anything else. I was quite young when I became aware of my mortality, I was acutely aware of my heartbeat and this freaked me out and I remember locking myself in the toilet trying to deal with my future death by convincing myself that I could think hard enough and concentrate long enough I could change the future and my death. haha! silly.
However, it wasn't really until my father diabetes became worse and my mother got cancer, that the worry of this, coupled with other events in my life, added to my creating a process that elicited extreme anxiety attacks as soon as something happened that felt wrong in some way.
It didn't help that I smoked and took recreational drugs, also didn't have a particularly positive outlook on life.
The trigger for me was palpitations or muscle twitches around my stomach or chest area, though I was generally anxious about my health in general, though I wasn't at this time exercising or doing anything that might benefit my fitness level even though I didn't consider myself unfit.
Anyway...my anxiety would happen at it's worst in the middle of the night, though I did experience it at all times of the day this was when it felt at it's worst, I would wake up in the middle of the night with my heart beating fast and a pulsing in my ears, and this would make me panic and then I would go into a full-scale panic attack. This happened for a period of time almost every night for blocks of a week, over a few years or more. Once I had become overtired this didn't happen because my body needed to rest because of exhaustion.
So...how did I deal with it?
The first thing was, that I was determined not to let my anxiety control my life. I knew that though I had these attacks there was a point, after a period of time, when I did feel more in control and the attack subsided. I began to think that if there was a beginning and an end to these attacks that these were following a process. I had been to the doctor several times and they had found absolutely nothing wrong with me and so I decided I had very little choice but to take care of this thing myself...they gave me beta blockers and something else (can't remember now) but I thought that this would be masking the problem and not dealing with it.
The answer after much thought seemed to be with my thinking.
So it went like this.
A - Heart flutter, palpitation, muscle twitch etc - B - I am having a heart attack, I have cancer etc - C - I am going to die - D - I'm dying.
So I came to the conclusion that I had to change my thinking process because after all...I'm still here, I didn't have a heart attack, I didn't die, I don't have cancer.
So...I began to use a 10 breath process, where I would breathe in and hold for a count of 3 seconds and slowly breathe out...that would be one breath. I would do this 10 times. At the same time I would speak to myself, either internally or if I was on my own, out loud.
"You're ok Simon, you're just being silly, there is nothing wrong, just keep your breathing, its so silly this, you do it to yourself, there is nothing to worry about at all, you're strong and able to deal with this, is just your mind playing tricks on you, calm down, stay calm, this is silly, you can be calm..."
I would talk to myself in this way while I was breathing as above...
This would mean that gradually my attacks became shorter, less often, and after a while I forgot they ever happened and it became a thing where I learnt that when my heart flutter happened and I began to panic I could get myself back to normal pretty quickly, it was even easier if I was out and could distract myself in some way.
At night it became ok but it just meant that I was then awake for a while because of the adrenalin, in which case I read. This still happens to me, I wake in the night from a dream with my heart beating and I am so used to it I just take a couple of deep breaths and say calm down in my head and it falls away...like I said I am then awake for a while, I read or something but I have not had a panic attack for at least 10 years.
I tried with stress B complex, L Theanine and Ashguwandha root, magnesium among other things. I quit coffee back in July and I drink herbal caffeine free teas and I eat fairly healthy on the daily. They kept the anxiety at bay but once my panic attack happened a few weeks ago I stopped and went on Xanax. .25mg seems to really help me but it’s not something I want to rely on. I was always “against” meds. But that’s because I always thought I’d never need them. Years of stress (especially most recent stress) has taken its toll on me. While on Xanax I’m seeing a therapist and going to see a neuropsychologist. I’m looking for other ways to combat this. I also bought the book DARE off amazon which makes total sense and is a very relateable book, it’s just a matter of implementing that it teaches you and “retraining” your mind. I’m hoping for me this is just short term!
I healed myself of anxiety back in the 1980s by using the Acceptance method devised by Claire Weekes 50 years ago.
Some people have a genetic tendency to anxiety, it can run in families for generations, which means it can come back. I inherited this tendency from my mother's side of the family, see "My anxiety started in the 19th century". So it came back in the late 1990s but with time I freed myself from it again using the Acceptance method which BeeVee wrote about.
So my answer to your question, Anon, is that I have cured myself from anxiety without meds twice.
You can't ignore the symptoms of anxiety but if you can pay less attention to them, less introspection, and lose your fear of them through reassurance and understanding then eventually the symptoms die of neglect.
Islandjat is right about adopting a 'So what? F**k you' attitude to anxiety. See: "Anxiety, I laugh in your face!"
Yesterday I was under a bit of pressure and an anxiety symptom I'm familiar with re-occured. It's called Scintillating Scotomata, when a zigzag pattern causes a blindspot for about 20 minutes. I first had it 40 years ago, nothing to do with your actual eyes, it's to do with the nerves at the back of your brain, I get it on average twice a year.
The reason I mention this is that because I felt no fear when it happened I'm feeling fine today. If I'd let it scare me half to death and I was saturating my nervous system with fear hormone then I'd probably be having panic attacks today and feeling agoraphobic.
However I always say to people, if your anxiety becomes overwhelming and you have work or family responsibilities then you should seek the respite that meds will offer. You can try non-med methods of recovery later. And don't let false fears of dependency and side effects hold you back, it's mostly imagination.
I get Scintillating Scotomata, shit myself first time it happened, now it doesn't really bother me. Just a pain in the arse really waiting for it wear off.
You're right gggg123, I think 'Ah, I can have a rest for 20 minutes now'. That's all. How long do your episodes last? Even when I had it the first time in about 1976 I sort of knew it was anxiety.
Mine don't come in clusters, they're usually spaced out, only twice have I had two in the same day and that was more than 10 years ago. I get them about 2 or 3 times a year, they are definitely related to anxiety.
My doctor said they were retinal migrains !! But yeah I do think they're rooted in anxiety.
Gggg123, if you see a glittery zigzag pattern that moves across half your field of vision I would say that is a scintillating scotomata originating from the visual cortex at the back of the brain, nothing to do with the eye itself or the retina. The good news is that apart from the nuisance factor they are benign.
Yeah, this is what my doctor more or less said,
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sci...
Those illustrations were drawn by someone who never experienced SS though I suppose they can come in all different shapes. Mine are a curved line of scintilating zig zags.
Yeah I get exactly the same but he did say it's origins are migraine, stress triggers them as does food and other things, but anyway at least it's nothing major to freak out about !!
Hi Anon9621, looking back over your post and the responses you got, let me tell you that you have the best of the best in responses to your question. Picking one method may not work for you and so you go on to everything that has been suggested. Pick and choose what fits your needs and works for you.
Nothing is magic but with patience, determination and time, you will reach your goal. Today is the day to take that first step forward out of your comfort zone and make a difference in your life. The reward waiting for you is incredible. Good Luck Anon.... xx
Yes , I eventually overcame anxiety naturally .
I learned so much about it and put recognising its presents into practice .
I stopped fearing it ,
Ensured it didn't stop me doing things even when I felt its presence .
It took time but eventually subsided.
Dare audio tape helped a lot as it has the same advise .
Recognise it's presence , except its presence, don't let it stop you doing what you need or want to do ..😀
At the lowest points it's difficult to generate the motivation but sometimes we have to give ourselves the best possible chance for natural recovery by making lifestyle changes and working on things we can control.
These are some of the tools that work for me. Your results may vary but there are no negative side effects. Take what u like, leave the rest.
- excercise releases your brains natural anti anxiety/ depessant chemicals. Nothing crazy, just rigorous enough to get your breathing up and blood flowing. It can be as simple as jogging in place or climbing stairs
- diet changes. Caffeine and sugar are fuel for anxiety. Processed foods, greasy foods, fried foods and artificial sweeteners work against you. A clean diet can do wonders .
- avoid alcohol. It's a known depressant.
- Meditation. I use podcasts and YouTube videos to find guided meditations, mindfulness, self hypnosis and inspirational, self affirmation meditations. Use the search bar. Get a podcast app
- stay connected, don't isolate. Find forums like this one, recovery programs, church, etc to express your feeling and get feedback
- social connection - Create a free profile at Meetup.com and attend meet ups with others who share similar hobbies and interests. This is not a dating site.
-Volunteer or encourage others is a good practice. doing things for others gets you out of ruminating about yourself. "Don't think less of yourself. Think of yourself less"
- attitude of gratitude. As hard as it is, it could always be worse. I make gratitude list to remind myself of my blessings.
- Comedy- Do something that makes you laugh. Watch a program or go to a comedy club. Laughter is good medicine.
- write it down. Keep a journal, dig deep. Write letters to yourself, to god, your resentments, your fears, your inner child etc. be your own therapist. It's cheap
-Acceptance. Sometimes obsessing over anxiety can lead to more anxiety. Try not to try too hard. Google acceptance therapy (ACT ) for anxiety.
- professional therapy or counceling. Although it's cost prohibitive, sometimes it takes a professional to dig up the right questions.
-Avoid news, politics, and all forms of advertisements. They all use fear to control your emotions to generate a reaction.
-Avoid social media. Don't fall into the trap of comparing your insides with other people's outsides.
-Try natural supplements. Use google for tips. I have not received dramatic results but I know people who have.
These tips have no negative side effects. They are worth a try before resorting to drastic measures.
Good luck ✌️
PS- I watch this video when I need inspiration
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