Without awareness of this sign of anxiety, it can be harder to take action.
Try reaching out with even the simplest question like ‘How are you doing?’
The most common anxiety disorder is social anxiety disorder.
A behaviour you’re probably doing right now has been consistently linked to anxiety.
The latest research could be a step up in the evidence for massage therapy.
Anxiety disorders, which are twice as common in women as men, may affect as many as 10 percent of the world’s population.
People who practised these coping strategies went on to sleep better, drink less alcohol and eat healthier foods.
Repetitive negative thoughts often have a common cause.
Repetitive negative thoughts often have a common cause.
Taking too much personal responsibility and blaming oneself are both strongly linked to anxiety disorders, research finds.
People who take too much responsibility are more likely to develop Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and/or Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD).
Anxious people often strongly agree with statements like:
Understanding that anxiety can spring from taking too much responsibility can help people deal with their emotions.
Although anxious people often feel they have no choice but to worry; in fact, it is taking too much responsibility that is contributing to it.
Repetitive negative thoughts are one of the signs of anxiety disorders, said Dr Yoshinori Sugiura, the study’s first author:
“People with OCD [are] tortured by repeatedly occurring negative thinking and they take some strategy to prevent it… GAD is a very pervasive type of anxiety.
[Patients] worry about everything.”
It is normal to do some checking and worrying, but when these get out of control, it can become a problem, said Dr Sugiura:
“For example, you’re using two audio recorders instead of one.
It’s just in case one fails … having two recorders will enhance your work but if you prepare [too] many recorders … that will interfere with your work.”
Dr Sugiura provides some tips:
“[A] very quick or easy way is to realize that responsibility is working behind your worry.
I ask [patients] “Why are you worried so much?” so they will answer “I can’t help but worry” but they will not spontaneously think “Because I feel responsibility” … just realizing it will make some space between responsibility thinking and your behavior.”
The study was published in the International Journal of Cognitive Therapy (Sugiura & Fisak, 2019).
Lighting of this colour helps people relax three times quicker.
Beta-sitosterol is found in fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds.
Beta-sitosterol is found in fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds.
A plant-derived supplement called beta-sitosterol can help to reduce anxiety, a new mouse study suggests.
Beta-sitosterol, which is found in fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds has previously been linked to lower cholesterol and reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Now, new research finds that when used with an antidepressant, it can help to reduce anxiety.
Fluoxetine (marketed as Prozac) and beta-sitosterol work together synergistically so that the dosage of the antidepressant can be reduced.
Dr Nicolas Panayotis, the study’s first author, said:
“One of the major problems with existing antianxiety medications is that they produce side effects, so if beta-sitosterol could help cut down the dosage of such medications, it might potentially also reduce the unwanted side effects.”
Anti-anxiety drugs are challenging to create because anxiety is not always a bad thing.
Indeed, anxiety is quite natural and helps us deal more effectively with the dangers we face.
For the study, mice were given Prozac and beta-sitosterol both together and separately.
The results revealed that beta-sitosterol reduced anxiety at lower doses when both drugs were used together.
One of the advantages of beta-sitosterol is that it is naturally present in many edible plants.
Avocados have particularly high concentrations of beta-sitosterol.
However, eating avocados alone will not help anxiety, Dr Panayotis said:
“You’d need to eat avocado day and night to get the right dose — and you would be more likely to develop digestive problems than relieve your anxiety.”
Beta-sitosterol is widely sold as a dietary supplement, often for treating high cholesterol and for benign prostatic hyperplasia (an enlarged prostate).
Professor Mike Fainzilber, study co-author, warned:
“There’s a need for a clinical trial to test the use of beta-sitosterol for reducing anxiety in humans.
Until then, we recommend that people consult their physicians before taking the supplement for this purpose.”
Since no trials have yet been carried out, there is no recommended dosage of beta-sitosterol for anxiety.
Side effects of beta-sitosterol are generally mild and include indigestion, nausea, gas, constipation and diarrhoea.
The study was published in the journal Cell Reports Medicine (Panayotis et al., 2021).
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