How to rid self of anxiety and be more carefree?
Posted by admin on Mar 13, 2009
I'm only 18 and I have terrible anxiety. I worry about everything. I'm nervous to do anything and talk to people. I never used to be like this as a younger child. How can i be more worry free and daring.
Not to sound like a hippie or anything but try YOGA - my life has been different and calmer ever since! Meditation is also good - there are podcasts on iTunes that you can download for free with tons of meditation tips etc. Good luck 
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Not to sound like a hippie or anything but try YOGA - my life has been different and calmer ever since! Meditation is also good - there are podcasts on iTunes that you can download for free with tons of meditation tips etc. Good luck
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I also have anxiety problems. I found therapy really worked, but it is not necessary.
If you have panic attacks my best advice is to look at them after the fact and try to think about how you felt before they came on, it feels a lot better to calm down before.
I find keeping busy helps, if my mind is on something else I don't have time to worry. This can be tricky at night but I like to turn on the history channel and listen to that before I go to sleep if I am feeling extremely anxious, I force myself to listen to what the narrator is saying so I don't start thinking about things I don't need to be worrying about before I go to sleep.
Don't be afraid to seek professional help if it is really bad. I would rec commend seeing a therapist before seeing a doctor, because medication should be a last resort. But if you need to take medication don't be ashamed, I had to take it for a few years.
I wish you the best, I know how hard it can be.
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Disclaimer: Be sure to consult with a medical expert before taking any of the advise given here.
The method of treatment depends greatly on what your source of anxiety is. There are many anxiety disorders including:
General Anxiety Disorder
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
General phobias
Social anxiety
Usually anxiety comes with depression which includes feelings of hopelessness, severe saddness with no explanation, and thoughts of suicide.
It is hard to say what is the best way to help you with your anxiety until you find out what anxiety disorder (if any) you might have. Of course everyone has anxiety occasionally, and depending on the degree of your anxiety you may have a diagnosable illness, or you may just be like anyone else.
For most anxiety disorders, the best treatment is usually exposure to the cause of anxiety. If your anxiety is extreme, you should consult a professional first before doing this. For example, people with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder that are afraid of germs should gradually stop washing their hands excessively and face their fears of germ. They should expose themselves to situations that are not necessarily dangerous, but not hygenically optimal either. If a person has a fear of spiders, putting a tarantula in their hands will gradually help them adapt and remove the fear of spiders.
Exposure and facing a fear will gradually remove fears. If you have social anxiety and you are worried about looking silly or dumb, well then going out and voicing your opinion and being social even silly in public will decrease your social fears.
Usually it is best to face your fears mentally first where you imagine and visualize your fear being realized.
There are physiological things you can also do to decrease anxiety including:
Intense exersize for 30 minutes a day 5 times a week proved to decrease depression and anxiety better than prescription medication. (It takes time before it takes good effect though)
Omega 3 fatty acids. (usually from fish oil is better)
Vitamin B complex.
Calcium Citrate calms the nerves and helps keep your nervous system healthy.
Getting sufficient rest decreases anxiety.
Decreasing the stress in your life that is unrelated to your anxiety (because you do have to have the stress from facing your fears)
Removing coffee, caffeine, other stimulants, and excessive sugar from your diet.
For social anxiety you should learn to value your own opinion by expressing it more, and sharing your views. When you do this you show that you believe in yourself and what you say. You can let yourself look silly or dumb in front of someone and just be who you are and value yourself. You should expose yourself to talking to others and take risks of looking silly. The exposure will help you a lot.
Also, visualizing the worst case scenario that could happen to you from a decision and considering your best response to that worst case scenario can remove anxiety because to your mind it is as if your worst fears were already realized, and how can you fear something that already happened?
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