Anxiety is a psychological state and is a profound manifestation of worry due to the feeling of an imminent but vague threat of a stressful event.

Sometimes called “stress”, “anxiety” or “worry”, anxiety is a physical and psychological discomfort which can occur from time to time and can disappear quickly. Anxiety is manifested by the feeling of having “a knotted stomach”, palpitations, sweating, nausea, trouble sleeping and chills.

Anxieties can occur as a result of several causes:

• Personal and psychological factors can be the source of anxiety. Extremist attitudes during childhood on the part of parents can develop a lack of self-confidence, a shift from reality due to too harsh an assessment or conversely, overly protective parents. In both cases, anxieties can appear because the benchmarks of childhood are out of step with reality.
• Trauma in adulthood such as physical assault for example can lead to anxiety because the experience is not processed by the brain.
• Living with anxious parents would promote the possibility of having anxiety states in the child because he tends to reproduce the behaviors of adults.
• Metabolic disturbances in the brain, i.e. insufficient concentration of serotonin, norepinephrine and gamma aminobutyric acid (= chemical messengers in the brain that transmit signals between cells) that lead to a change in mood can cause anguish.
• Hormonal changes such as during menopause or pregnancy that will increase the level of estrogen in the body and cause mood changes can promote the onset of anxiety.

Other reasons can be a source of anxiety such as fear, alcohol and certain medications, medical problems affecting the glands, heart, lungs and brain, or even psychiatric disorders such as severe depression or psychosis.

Anxiety can have several consequences such as dryness and tightening of the muscles of the throat, paleness, redness, hyperventilation (= accelerated or amplified breathing), sleep disorders, palpitations, irritability or even depression.

Regarding food, anxieties can suppress the appetite due to the inability to swallow anything. Food cravings can also occur to “compensate” and escape the state of anxiety, and not from hunger.

Natural health products such as herbal teas or essential oils such as bitter orange, ylang ylang, or even Roman chamomile can help relieve anxiety, by consulting a therapist beforehand.

Taking certain medications can also help relieve anxiety. Consult a doctor first.

Solutions such as acupuncture or light therapy can be effective means against anxiety states, as well as anti-stress breathing exercises.

Do not hesitate to contact your doctor in order to detect the cause of your anxieties.