Anxiety can be a super hard thing to live with, especially when it's a constant companion and takes over your ability to enjoy life or just to function on a daily basis.
If you experience anxiety you are certainly not alone. Anxiety is the most common mental health condition affecting Australian women, and our hectic pace of life is likely to see numbers continue to rise.
Anxiety symptoms can vary but commonly include -
continual or excessive worry
negative self talk and poor self worth
sweating, palpitations, flushing, trembling, feeling faint
shortness of breath or holding breath
avoiding social situations
relying on drugs/food/alcohol to numb anxious feelings
panic and fear
insomnia and fatigue
unrealistic perception of event/situation
nausea, diarrhoea, constipation
Anxiety could be occurring due to ongoing stress and worries, or could be related to imbalances in the body such as nutritional, neurotransmitter, hormonal, digestive/bacterial or genetic conditions such as pyrroluria or MTHFR.
While anti-anxiety medication may be helpful in the short term, addressing these underlying factors will help you to reduce anxiety symptoms in the long run, without the reliance or side effects of medication.
I've found a variety of practices and supplements have helped to reduce my anxiety over the years - you can read more about that here. In particular food, exercise, stress management and working on my mindset, beliefs and self talk have had the biggest impact.
There's so much that can help reduce anxiety symptoms, so please don't feel hopeless if you haven't yet found the combination that works best for you. Keep reading, talking with others and asking for help - you definitely do not need to struggle with anxiety alone - even though that's what anxiety ironically encourages us to do!
I loved reading Sarah Wilson's book - First We Make The Beast Beautiful - it's reassuring to know there are other people out there who feel like you, there are other ways to view our experience of anxiety rather than just as a negative, and how you can use anxiety to help you live a fulfilling life.
Anxiety can make us feel very alone so I think it's really important to talk about it with others and share our experiences to help each other deal with our beautiful beasts!
If you would like to investigate which imbalances may be contributing to your anxiety symptoms, I would love to help you. You can book online here or check out my Anxiety Ebook.
Marion McConnell is a degree qualified Naturopath who helps women with stress, hormone imbalances and thyroid issues. The clinic is located in New Farm Brisbane, and consultations are also available via Skype. You can contact Marion here.