depression-and-anxiety > anxiety-and-panic-what-may-help

increase your Anxiety.. Don't be frightened to discuss them with your doctor. You will wonder what you can do yourself to help reduce your levels of anxiety. The following suggestions may help:

avoid drinks that contain caffeine such as cola, coffee and tea
drinks such as hot chocolate or chamomile tea can be useful to relax you, particularly at bedtime
if you are a smoker, try hard to reduce the number you smoke – nicotine, like caffeine, is a stimulant drug
do not self medicate with alcohol, or other sedative drugs, to help you relax or get to sleep – this is a very dangerous pathway
try to keep to a regular daily routine of tasks to be done, meals, time in bed etc
even though you may feel tired, try to take regular exercise – perhaps somebody could go for walks with you and, if you like swimming, this is particularly relaxing
look regularly at the things you've got to do and try to set a reasonable plan for what you can manage each day – consider which are the important tasks and which ones can be left
be open about your feelings with anybody close to you – sharing your problems with another person is very important.

Anxiety and Depression are very real illnesses and not just a failure to cope, as some people wrongly believe. Fortunately, they are very treatable and, however bad things seem at present, with appropriate help there is every prospect that you will make a full recovery.

(published with permission in writing from:http://www.dascot.org)