вЂњYour gut and your brain are definitely linked.вЂќ вЂњPeople with anxiety tend to have distorted microbiomes,вЂќ says Gerard Mullin, MD, author of The Gut Balance Revolution. The microbiome inside your gut has trillions of microbes that help digest your food-and also protect you against bacteria that can cause health problems. Turns out, your upset stomach and test anxiety were probably related. When you were a kid, your mom thought you were faking it if you got sick on the day of your math test. But if those solutions donвЂ™t ease your symptoms, you may not be successfully controlling your anxiety. Mindfulness, relaxation exercises, and yoga can help relieve your anxiety-and those aching muscles. No wonder youвЂ™re constantly achy or in pain. You may find yourself clenching your jaw or hunching your shoulders. One of your bodyвЂ™s ways of coping with stress is to tighten your muscles and get poised to fend off an attack. In addition, deep breathing resets your anxiety response.Д«ut if you dread darkness because you know there will be no rest for you, talk to your clinician. It promotes better sleep and also helps you calm down in the moment. But if youвЂ™re worrying about money, a pounding heart wonвЂ™t help you pay the mortgage.ДЄ great solution for run-of-the-mill insomnia: exercise. They had to sleep with one eye open to spot the tiger lurking beyond the campfire. ItвЂ™s a vicious cycle: You canвЂ™t fall asleep because youвЂ™re anxious-and youвЂ™re exhausted the next day, which makes you even more anxious.ДЇor our ancestors, late-night anxiety was a survival technique. So those fears we learn as children can still be at work when weвЂ™re grown up. Behaviors that we learn as little kids, such as not talking back to our parents, can stick-and our brains donвЂ™t always realize that now weвЂ™re adults. Instead of avoiding conflict, it is possible to reduce anxiety by getting more comfortable with it. Or you might avoid an uncomfortable conversation with a significant other that could improve your relationship.

You could miss out on a promotion because youвЂ™re afraid to participate in a conference. If youвЂ™re anxiously imagining all of the things that could go wrong and avoiding the things that scare you, anxiety is holding you back. Worried about giving a presentation or talking to other people? If talk therapy isnвЂ™t enough to help control your anxiety, your clinician may recommend prescription medications to treat it. In that case, bring that up with your clinician or find one who can explain what is happening to you. However, if you often feel like youвЂ™re standing at the edge of a cliff-heart racing, palms sweating, feeling like you might faint-you could be having panic attacks. Talk therapy will sometimes do the trick.

If you feel edgy almost every day, itвЂ™s a good idea to seek help. Here are seven signs that you might benefit from a new approach. ThatвЂ™s common-and it can sometimes be controlled with talk therapy or strategies like exercise and meditation.Д«ut if anxiety is your constant companion or it continues to interfere with your daily life, it might be time to ask your mental health clinician about medication for anxiety. Welcome to life on Planet Earth, where everybody gets nervous and worried now and then.

Anxiety meds to take as needed