Alright /sci/, let's talk about Anxiety Disorder! What's

Work out.
Eat healthy.
Fixed sleep pattern.
When anxiety attack comes up, find a mechanism that works for you (without meds) that makes you calm the fuck down ASAP. I use a meditative pose and breathe in/out very controlled and slowly and I've basically gotten over them and can control them whenever they come up now.

Also: critically evaluate your own life, do some introspection. Could there be a reason you have anxiety? Addressing that problem and working towards facing your fears or getting rid of that situation might be extremely beneficial.

You need an active lifestyle that you will continually have to brush up on (you'll never be done with working on yourself), but it's a hell of a lot better than to feel like you're getting crushed by your own thought of impending doom

>>8960578
I had anxiety once.

Holidays helped reduce it until it was basically gone.

>>8960605
> meditative pose
could you provide more info on that? I'm interested.

>>8960640
It's not so fancy, so prepare yourself to be disappointed lol.
I just sit on my ass on the ground with my legs crossed at the ankles and my forearms resting on my knees. It's like an easier variant of lotus position. I close my eyes and focus on the deep, controlled breaths. You feel your heart racing, you feel your heart pounding, but you have to accept that. You pay no attention to it and you just breathe in/out. The less you're able to focus on the panic, and the more you focus on something you (your body) can do that you DO have under control, you'll start to relax once again. Anxiety is basically a mindset you trick your body into.

>>8960578
Speaking strictly in terms of psychopharmacology, a low dose benzodiazepine or gapapentin/pregabalin regimen (really any GABA agonist). The literature on SSRIs, tricylic antidepressants or atypical neuroleptics is painfully lacking. Get on like .5 mg of xanax, take it only when necessary and avoid raising your dose.-Psychopharm grad student

Best treatment is cuddling.
SSRI's do jack shit except make you sleepy.

>>8961095
I took lexapro (20mg/day) for more than 1 year, and it worked, now that I dropped, I'm experiencing some headaches and shit, it this normal?

>>8961288
Withdrawal, you'll get over it

exercise meditation and eating healthy won't help you, they might help you a little but it won't solve anything. talking from experience.

if you have an anxiety disorder it means that your nervous system goes from 10 to 100 in a very short time and the time it takes you to recover from such anxiety is much longer than average.
so in essence your amygdala is fucked. it dosen't matter how many carrots you eat or how much iron you pump. the only way to reset the amygdala to normal alertness levels is exposure therapy.
you will probably a ton of anger and stress issues while trying to do exposure so i recommend taking up something like boxing to reduce the stress

>>8961309
>in essence your amygdala is fucked
nope

I've been taking lithium and serequil for 5 months now. Haven't had any issues with anxiety since then. The side effects are bad, but no where near as bad as an anxiety attack. This isn't soething I want to do for the rest of my life. Strong possibility that I drank away my brains ability to ever be stable, however.

>>8961324
>The side effects are bad
how bad?

>>8961333

I take my meds twice a day. For about an hour or so when they first hit I am a zombie. Can't concentrate, can't think, sinuses close up so I can't breath. My mind is completely blank. I've had to start taking them at 4am and 4pm because these state interferes with work too much. But like I said all that only lasts for an hour. I have a hard time moving my face and lips around properly so I often times sound like a mumbling retard. This never goes away. I have to be really carefully when I try to talk and usually don't bother. Tremors too, mostly in my hands. Sometimes they are so bad I may as well have parkinsons.

>>8960578

I have had anxiety for pretty much my entire life ranging from social anxiety (was super anxious at parties, super anxious presenting to large crowds, anxious meeting people, etc...) to just general anxiety from trying new things. When I was in my late teens and early 20s, I self-medicated pretty heavily with alcohol and benzodiazepines which blossomed into a full on addiction. Combine that with my sedentary lifestyle, shit sleep pattern, and shit work ethic/motivation, and needless to say I was a complete mess. I was numbing myself and simply not making any progress in life.

I used to have this super bad obsession with my heart and I was always convinced that this energy drink would give me a heart attack and I would feel crazy palpitations at night and all that bullshit. Very common stuff. I literally made the decision one day to just "let go" and surrendered myself to the fact that alright if I am going to have a heart attack, then just let it happen. I don't give a shit anymore. I am ready to die.

Obviously the heart attack never happened and I am completely fine now and all that bullshit was 100% in my head.

I cleaned up my act and I have learned to live with my anxiety for the most part now. I don't drink, I don't smoke. I lift weights. I eat a lot of protein. I go to sleep at 11pm and wake up at 7am. I have a stable and successful career. I am still working on progress in the relationship aspect of my life (both personal and romantic) but I am significantly improved from my younger self.

One thing I have realized is that people with anxiety aren't as special or as much of an anomaly as they think. Yes, I know what you're thinking "No bro, you don't understand. I am literally shaking! I can't sleep, I can't eat, it's destroying my life. I feel like I am having a heart attack, etc... etc.."

Yeah, join the club buddy.

>>8961350
cool story bro, stay strong! I'm sure you will find your waifu.

I'm also obsessed with my heart, tomorrow I'm going to a cardiologist just to calm myself.

>>8961350
Everytime I smoke weed I have some lingering thought I'm going to get a heart attack or an aneurysm. But getting high is so much fun..

>>8961397
Good luck. If you're a very black and white type of person like I am, then you'll find some comfort in the test results. I forget what it was called but there is a test where they ultrasound your heart and that shit hurts so hf

bumpo

Look at Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). No meds, hard work but definitely effective.

>>8961874
how does that work? did it work for you?

>>8961288
Yes, headaches with lexapro is normal. But lexapro and other SSRIS or SNRIS are generally . a poor course of treatment for treating anxiety. The literature is really lacking regarding SSRI as a treatment for GAD or panic disorders. They seem to be effective in some cases of OCD.
Your psychiatrist is probably just scared of the DEA which is why he wont put u on a benzo course. also this >>8961874

>>8961350
>just b urself

>>8962175
Find a local psychotherapist who uses CBT. Basically you'll have normal therapy sessions and your therapist will employ a number of psychoanalytical techniques to discover the psychic etiology of your anxiety, and he'll provide you with techniques to tackle that anxiety. It's been show to equally as effective as psychotropic medications. It's the most effective psychosocial intervention.Great for anxiety, depression, compulsive disorders, substance abuse, eating disorders etc.
I was a high school drop out and a heroin addict for three years and found a good psychotherapist who was well versed in CBT, now im in grad school.

>>8960578
I have Social Anxiety Disorder. Do some LSD and really think while tripping. It has helped me magnitudes. I also take 40mg of Paxil everyday. So drugs are good

>>8960578
>>8960605
Also recommend reading "How Stop Worry and Start Living" by Dale Carnegie
the title makes it sound like a gimmick, but it one of the most published self-help books (first ediiton is 1948!) from the master dale carnegie and has pretty simple to follow exercises to do to combat anxiety.

you have to put in the work, but its helped me a lot..

one lesson is to live life in "1-day compartments" and focus on today's amount of work, and not let the idea of tommorrow creep on you..
(i simplfied the idea from the book, it has some exercises that expand on this idea that are benefical)

the books is dirt cheap too on amazon, 2-3$ used

>>8962279
> Dale Carnegie
he's dead lol

>>8962279
thanks m8, I will try that book

>>8962279
Other book reccomendation >>8961874 because I was gonna chime in about how CBT helped me.

"Feeling Good" really got me through my anxiety recently. My main issue was being unable to stop the physical sensations because of my thoughts which I knew weren't logical. It's focused on depression but you can apply it to anything, and it's helped me a lot in other parts of my life unrelated to the anxiety.

Has anyone completely eliminated anxiety? I'd stop drinking if I knew it would completely eliminate it but from my times trying to quit, it seems like anxiety is just something you have to live with.

ritalin works very well for me