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Does this sound familiar? The feeling where your breathing quickens, your palms get sweaty, and your heart beats uncontrollably fast. It is your body's natural response when you are in a stressful situation, and this can happen from time to time in life. 

Between the pressure of paying bills, managing relationships, and getting jobs done—it's normal for us to experience stress. However, being chronically busy and stressed all the time can build on your cortisol levels, affecting your mental wellbeing.   

When you constantly feel overwhelmed or burned out, it's easy to fall into serious mental health issues like anxiety disorders or depression. This will lead to physical symptoms in your body, such as sleep problems and light-headedness. If severe, long-term stress can increase the risk of stomach ulcers, heart problems, and even diabetes. 

That's why you must take steps to manage your stress in daily life. Now let's take a deep breath and get into how you can cope with anxiety.

Take Supplements or Change Your Diet

While treatments for anxiety have always involved psychological therapies and medication, what you eat influences your mood. Specific nutritional properties of foods can make you feel calmer and happier, while others can worsen stress and anxiety. 

To combat anxiety, you should be looking to eat food that stabilizes insulin and blood glucose levels. That means eating more food made up of protein or complex carbs like legumes and whole grains, which are helpful to boost the calming brain chemical serotonin. On the other hand, limit or avoid alcohol and caffeine intake as they can affect your sleep.

Meanwhile, another dietary change you can make is to take supplements, vitamins, and minerals to manage your stress levels. A 2019 case study notes that all-natural options like Cannabidiol (CBD) products can benefit people with anxiety disorders. 

However, before buying CBD, make sure you are getting it from a credible source. With the pandemic causing agoraphobia and the recent more transmissible Delta 'Plus' COVID variant on the rampage in the United Kingdom, we recommend finding a reliable CBD UK Shop to get the supplement delivered to your door.

When shopping online, make sure to check the manufacturer or distributor name to see if a reputable brand produces it. Understand the source and process of extraction, amount of CBD per serving, as well as product certifications to see if qualified third parties have tested them. In terms of dosage, look for the suggested use or talk with your doctor about recommended dosage and frequency.

Make a Mindset and Lifestyle Change

Everyone has different triggers. It could be public speaking in front of a crowd or meeting sales clients. You need to ask, what is making you afraid? Do some self-searching and introspection to find the root of your anxiety episodes and change your mindset around it. Understand that perfection isn't necessary and that you may have made the fear larger than you think. 

Once you identify your problems, create an actionable plan to transform or control your anxiety. For example, you may be suffering from binge eating. Understand that your behaviour is likely linked to stress, and you are using food as a temporary escape to numb the pain. Find out what triggers you to binge and replace your out-of-control eating behaviour with more desirable traits like making a call to your friends to talk about your worries or hitting the gym instead. 

You can also make lifestyle changes like prioritizing sleep and having better sleep patterns to manage your anxiety. Likewise, increased physical activity can be effective in elevating mood and managing stress. While all exercises are welcome, you can start with mindful movements and deep breathing practices such as yoga or taichi to increase relaxation.

You can also incorporate mindfulness meditation into your everyday life before you go to bed. Everyone is busy all the time, and by practising 10 minutes of daily meditation, you can focus on the now and detach yourself from everyday stress and anxiety. Additionally, purpose and spirituality can also offer a psychological buffer against stress matters, and you will be better prepared to handle the ups and downs in life. 

When Is It Time to Get Help?

Anxiety disorders involve more than common worry and nervousness. They can have severe effects on how you feel physically, mentally, and even how you behave. It can be a loss of appetite or having sleep problems. 

However, if you find yourself facing sporadic anxiety that gets in the way of your everyday life and affects you from functioning normally, it's time to get help. You can try talking about your feelings to a friend or family member who you know is willing to listen and help. 

But if you feel like you can't control your anxiety and are starting to feel depressed and have self-harming tendencies, please seek professional help immediately. You can reach out to a mental health worker or call a healthcare helpline to get professional help.