It doesn’t matter who we are, we all have to deal with anxiety at some point in our lives. It may not happen frequently but when it does happen, it’s something that can lead us down a very dark path.
Some people experience anxiety because they are nervous around other people or perhaps it is being in front of a group that really gets you going. You might just be having a bad day, but not all anxiety is going to lay you out. In fact, our brain needs a little bit of anxiety at times.
The stress that some of us feel is going to come and go and sometimes it only takes listening to our favorite song or perhaps meeting up with a close friend that can help us to shake the blues. For other people, however, anxiety is something that only gets stronger as time goes by and it can make life very difficult to handle.
Millions of people suffer from a type of anxiety that goes beyond the normal. This is known as general anxiety disorder and panic disorder, and some 13 million people in the United States are affected by it.
An individual who suffers from generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder sometimes suffers from a constant, overwhelming sense of anxiety for no apparent reason. It’s more than just having something bother you, it’s persistent and can control you on a very basic level.
These disorders are more than something that affects your emotions, they stop people from handling daily tasks in a way that they should. When it is severe, it can lead to a panic attack and that will take over your entire well-being.
Panic attacks often feel as if they come from nowhere and can bring about many difficult symptoms, including shortness of breath, racing heart, and trembling. Hyperventilating may happen in some individuals and there are some who end up in the emergency room as a result of their symptoms.
Once an anxiety attack happens, it is likely to happen again. The problem is, you never know when or where they are going to strike.
In fact, worrying about the possibility of having a panic attack can affect your day-to-day life in a very profound way. Fortunately, researchers are looking into it carefully and they do have a greater understanding today than they had just a few short years ago.
One reason why people may deal with anxiety and panic attacks is because their serotonin levels are low. That neurotransmitter helps to regulate our feelings and mood and when the levels are too low, we may get depressed and anxious.
Serotonin is not on its own in our body, it is made from an amino acid called tryptophan. In turn, tryptophan relies on vitamin B6 and iron. There is a key there that needs to be considered.
At Okayama University, researchers are looking into the connection between those essential nutrients and panic attacks. After a patient visits the emergency room due to a severe panic attack or hyperventilation, they compared the levels of B6 and iron with other, healthier individuals.
They found something that was noteworthy. When somebody suffered from panic attacks, their vitamin B6 was significantly lower than the control group. The same was also true of iron in many cases.
That doesn’t mean that vitamin B6 and iron supplementation are going to help, but it is something to consider. More research is needed and hopefully, they will be able to address these deficiencies and other factors that could help individuals who suffer from those debilitating problems.
If you are suffering from anxiety, there are a few things you can do to possibly deal with the problem.
1. Eat healthily – Try including foods in your diet that are rich in iron and vitamin B6, such as leafy greens, beans, and fish.
2. Deep breathing – breathing deeply can go a long way to help you head off anxiety. Look up square breathing and practice it.
3. Exercise – You don’t have to go crazy with exercise, just do some light stretching or take a quick walk when you feel anxiety welling up in you.
4. Chillout – find something that relaxes you and make sure that you incorporate it into your life, especially at the end of the day.
5. Ask for help – if things get too much for you to handle, you can always reach out for help from a professional or a close friend.
