3 simple (free) ways to reduce anxiety

I see many clients who have anxiety, it is a very common condition in our society today.

If you see your GP about this it's likely that they will prescribe some form of anti-depressant or beta blocker. If you are fortunate perhaps you will be offered some form of counselling.

Some what simple steps can you take to reduce anxiety?

1) It is far more useful to consider that you are 'doing anxiety' rather than feeling anxious. It's a simple but important distinction as it opens up the possibility of change. If you are 'doing anxiety' right now perhaps you can do calmness later.

2) Cut out sources of caffeine; tea coffee, coke, Red Bull etc. If you are feeling anxious the last thing you need is extra stimulation.

3) Make sure you have as well a balanced diet as you can. Fresh fruit and vegetables provide you with B vitamins and magnesium that tend to reduce anxiety.

One extra; drink plenty of water. Being even a little dehydrated will raise your anxiety.

This really shouldn't be a surprise

The recession is causing anxiety and stress.
The ongoing recession is causing a rise in the number of people going to their family doctor to deal with stress and anxiety.

Reports from many different parts of the media essentially all confirm the same story, that a recession is bad for our mental well being. The worry about whether we will be the next victim of redundancy and the concern about how one might pay the bills lead to a feeling of being permanently stressed. All this on top of actually trying to perform a job in the worst market conditions for many for decades.
A medical response?
For many people this will prompt a visit to the family doctor to help deal with the issue. Those visits to the GP (family doctor) are likely to lead to a chemical approach to deal with the symptoms of the problem. Beta Blockers and anti-depressants are often the first response to this stress and yet this will not solve the underlying problem, to a greater or lessor degree it will only relieve the symptoms.

Is there an alternative?
When faced with overwhelming pressure or anxiety there a few ways to deal with it effectively:
Ask yourself
1) Can you change the situation?
if not, can you...
2) Move away from the problem?
if not can you...
3) Change the way you think about the situation?

In the current financial climate it is often only option 3 that is open to us but without some tools to help, this approach can feel daunting.

A useful start can be made by learning a useful way to relax in spite of the difficulties. A self hypnosis recording is one way to achieve this and I have put one of my recordings online for you to download. Visit my www.gift4life.com website and enter your email address to get the MP3 relaxation download.

A useful start
Listening to the recording once or even twice a day can allow you to find a more resourceful state to begin the next phase of dealing with pressure . More on this approach tomorrow when I'll talk about a practical approach to the use of affirmations.

Are we pushing too hard?

In recent times more children than ever before are being directed to my practice door. Normally the isssue is some form of anxiety and I can't help wondering if today we simply push children too hard.

Continuous testing for exams, peer pressure to conform as well as the expectations of parents all seem to come together to form a toxic blend that generates this anxiety.

It's unlikely that anyone of us will have the capability to change the way that our society is pushing children but we can give them a coping stategy.

I have found that for children of 9 to 14 years, teaching the child a simplified form of Gary Craig's Emotional Freedom Technique can be incredibly helpful. It provides a way to reduce fear and anxiety very quickly and easily at the point where the anxiety is experienced, for example as the child is about to sit an exam.

Or, just perhaps, we parents should learn to be more relaxed and less pushy with our children, it would certainly help.

Follow this link for much information direct from the EFT website. Why not give it a try, the resources are free.

Cannabis reclassified as a Class B drug in the UK

In the one to one work I have done over the last few years, there have been occasions when the techniques I use have been tested to the limit.

Cannabis use or misuse has been responsible for two of those challenging situations.

Those who grew up through the 1960s saw cannabis use as less dangerous than alcohol and as little more than a pleasant social recreation that helped a person to relax. That relaxation is brought about by the chemical compound THC and the amount in cannabis varies widely from as little as 1% to as much as 20%.

According to Wikipedia:

The average levels of THC in marijuana sold in United States rose from 3.5% in 1988 to 7% in 2003 and 8.5% in 2006.

"Skunk" cannabis is a potent strain of cannabis, grown through selective breeding and usually hydroponics, that is a cross-breed of Cannabis sativa and C. indica. Skunk cannabis potency ranges usually from 6% to 15% and rarely as high as 20%. The average THC level in the 'coffeehouses' in the Netherlands is about 18–19%.

So here is the root of the issue, if Cannabis is used in moderation it can, in some circumstances be a very effective form of pain control that has few if any side effects. Alternatively it can be the route into more addictive forms of cannabis, the so called skunk, that can cause paranoia, even potentially being cited as a cause of schizophrenia.

Taking a middle path through this quagmire of facts and cultural baggage is impossible. So ignoring the legal point for now what is it useful to say?

1) Mild forms of cannabis with lower values of THC can be useful form of pain control and smoking it is about as dangerous as smoking a cigarette.

2) Teenagers often start smoking mild forms of cannabis before progressing to skunk style weed.

3) Teenagers who smoke skunk are most at risk from the psychoactive ingredients that can lead to permanent changes in the functioning of the brain. These effects can include psychosis, schizophrenia, paranoia and simple anxiety.

4) Smoking cannabis lowers inhibitions that can lead a user to start experimenting with other drugs, the so called 'Gateway theory'.

My personal take awy from this is, if you're a teenager don't touch cannabis, it will alter your brain function permamently and not for the better.

If you have a chronic pain condition see if your family Doctor can get you onto a medication that includes THC.

The reality is that since it has been used by mankind for around 4000 years it is not likely to go away no matter how a Government classifies it.

Anxiety, food & Dementia

In the next week or so the UK government is going to outline its strategy for dealing with Dementia in England. On the BBC Breakfast TV show this morning an expert was asked what step we might all take to stave off this illness.

His response was that 20% of dementia could be avoided altogether by ensuring that you eat a diet with lots of fresh fruit and vegetables ensuring that you get lots of anti-oxidants and vitamins, Vitamin C in particular.

In previous studies vitamin B3 has been show to be helpful as well in reducing a damaging protein that causes Alzheimer's disease. B3 is found in meat, fish and potatoes.


It seems that with each new study that is published diet seems to form an ever more important role in the prevention of disease.

In my own one to one therapy work I see many people with raised levels of anxiety leading to a lack of self confidence and sometimes panic attacks.

So here are three simple, diet related ways to lower your overall level of anxiety;

1) How much tea, coffee or cola/energy drinks to you take each day. If you are up to 8 cups of coffee a day or several cans of Red Bull, the caffeine will be doing its best to over excite the brain. Try reducing the amount of caffeine you drink, or for at least part of the day switch to a decaf version.

2) Related to point 1, some people just do not drink enough liquids throughout the day. For most people about 1.5 litres (about 2.5 pints) is enough and this can be almost any non-alcoholic, un-caffeinated drink. Water, milk, fruit juice, and fruit infusions will all do the job just fine. Being correctly hydrated will ensure that you brain is working most effectively for you.

3) Consider taking a multivitamin and multi-trace element supplement. If your diet is not quite as good as it might be then these low-cost additions to your diet will ensure that you have the building blocks you need to reduce anxiety. A low level of Magnesium for example is often cited as leading to increased anxiety.

The good news is that taking these simple steps will also help reduce the risk of you having dementia later in life.