Harmful Habits for Anxiety Treatment

If you are having an anxiety attack, you may be so desperate for a quick fix that you are willing to do anything to get rid of the anxious feeling. Some of the most harmful habits that will only aid on depression and anxiety are as follows:

Cigarette Smoking

Many people say that they smoke because it “calms their nerves.” Nothing could be further from the truth. Cigarette smoking will not calm your nerves. In fact, it will make your nerves worse than they were before you started smoking in the first place. Cigarette smoking constricts the blood vessels and makes your heart even beat faster. It does not calm the nerves, but merely exacerbates the anxiety attack.

Quitting cigarette smoking is very difficult to do. In fact, it is said that cigarette smoking is akin to heroin addiction. Some say that quitting heroin is easier than cigarette smoking. Many people try to quit smoking to no avail. They try patches and other types of gimmicks so that they can be smoke free.

The truth of the matter is that you have to make up your mind to quit smoking and stick with it. Once you go for three days without a cigarette, the nicotine has left your body and the physical addiction is past. You can then move forward to quitting the psychological addiction.

Alcohol

Many people, when they have a problem with anxiety, will start drinking alcohol. Alcohol numbs the mind and makes things seem a bit brighter. But it is a false cure. It may make you feel better temporarily, but in the long run it will end up making you feel worse. And alcohol is a depressant. If you are not depressed by the time you start drinking, you will be after you are finished.

And alcohol is a drug. Just like any other drug, it builds up a tolerance in your system. The more you drink, the less it affects you. Pretty soon, you are drinking more an more to get the same effect and to drown your sorrows.

Do not drown your sorrows in booze. Look for another way out. While some people contend that alcoholism is a disease unto itself, others disagree and see it as merely a symptom of a disease. A disease that stems from depression and anxiety. This is why Alcoholics Anonymous encourages people to control what they can control and recognize the fact that they cannot control everything.

As anxiety and depression all stem from control (or lack of control), one of the reasons that AA works is that it gives this valuable insight to members who feel that most of life is out of their control.

Street Drugs

Street drugs like marijuana are often used to stop anxiety and make a person feel better. It has the opposite effect. While marijuana may not be as addictive and harmful as alcohol, it is still illegal. And inhaling hot smoke into your lungs is not going to do you any good.

There is also evidence that marijuana kills off brain cells. Street drugs are not the answer for depression. While some may say that this drug has medicinal purposes, one of them is not to alleviate depression or anxiety - it merely masks them and doesn’t allow the person taking it to face their own demons.

If you have a problem with depression or anxiety, do not try to self medicate. Look for healthier ways to try to get your body and brain chemicals in balance rather than resorting to nicotine, alcohol and street drugs.