Anxiety

[Newbegins]

I have suffered with anxiety for years, and years, I have tried counselling, hypnotherapy, reflexology and a few more methods to try and conquer it, with not a lot of success. I have found the past year or so, my anxiety has gotten worse, and my mood has often been low or angry, there are a lot of things going on in my life, and I am expected, and need to be spinning a lot of plates at once, with not a lot of support. I persuaded my doctor to try HRT, they were not convinced i was perimenopausal, I hoped it would help, after 6 months, there was no improvement, so the doctor has prescribed me antidepressants. I have tried antidepressants previously, only for a day or two, I know not long enough to get any sort of improvement, but my anxiety heightened in that time, and it was a different type of anxiety, and I stopped taking them immediately. I do not have the opportunity for time by myself, I drink too much alcohol, and have a very poor diet, I am also an emotional/binge eater. I think I am asking for advice, should I start taking the antidepressants, or if I improve my lifestyle, diet and alcohol consumption, could things improve that way?

I would cut out the alcohol and ensure you are getting enough sleep before turning to anti depressants. Both those things are a known cause for anxiety.

Think of your body (and your mind by extension) as a machine - if you feed it low quality fuel then it will not perform as well as if you give it the type and quality of fuel it needs to be on top form.

We are what we eat is a very true statement.

Improving life style can definitely make a difference to anxiety.

I know it's not easy to cut down on self-medicating with food/alcohol, but try to reduce alcohol and eat healthier food.

Try to get outside into fresh air more often and think of things that make you feel better, could be reading, having a bath, doing your nails, listening to music, and make sure to incorporate time to do these self-care things in the week.

If you find it hard to reduce/moderate alcohol consumption, that is something to be aware of as that could indicate one problem (anxiety) becoming another problem (alcohol).

Have you ever had behavioural based therapy, eg CBT or DBT? Could be useful for you.

If improving lifestyle doesn't help- or you find you're not able to- please go to your GP for advice.