Hardcore Ways to Beat Anxiety in Super-Tense Times

You can feel the tension in the air. Inflation is high...or maybe we're being lied to, and it only feels that way? You're wondering if that friendly neighbor is really so friendly. Monopolies are gouging us. Marginalized communities are being blamed for all our country's ills.

It makes sense that if you're already an anxious person, your anxiety meter is now at 11.

But have you ever noticed that every anxiety-related article, app, and book seems to offer the same lukewarm advice? Take a bath! Meditate! Try some yoga! Breathe!

These are, of course, sound tips...for some people. However:

People who have been dealing with anxiety for ages have probably already tried all these tactics...and more. As someone who has suffered from generalized anxiety disorder for 40 years, when I read these tips I can’t help but silently snark: "Oh gee, why didn’t I think of that? All I need to do is sip a chamomile tea and do a downward dog, and my decades of entrenched anxiety will disappear!" If these basic techniques worked for everyone, no one would have anxiety, ever. We’d all just take a nice, calming breath and carry on.
Extreme times require more extreme anxiety busters. If you’re already suffering from anxiety, it may have turned into a full-on dread lately—no matter where you are on the political spectrum.

I've had ages to try out dozens and dozens of anxiety-busting tricks—and the ones that work for me, I’ve never seen in a listicle a meditation app.

Some of these tactics required me to go down a rabbit hole researching seemingly unrelated phenomena, and others were the result of experiment or accident. Some are instant fixes that can help you calm down in the moment, while others are processes to help over the long term.

And some, as I said, are much more intense than the usual methods. They may be more time consuming, they may test your patience, or they may be actually painful.

So this advice comes with all the disclaimers: I am not a doctor, therapist, or psychiatrist. Please consult a doctor, therapist, or psychiatrist if your anxiety disrupts your life. I am not to be held liable if you experiment with one of these techniques and it backfires or doesn't work. We’re all different, and you know yourself best.

With that out of the way, here are my anxiety-reducing tactics.

Anxiety-Busting Technique #1: Ask Yourself if It’s Mental or Physical

For many people, anxiety sneaks in as a physical feeling. Maybe you get a weird tingling in the chest, stomach upset, or hot flashes. Or you suddenly can’t sit still, and have to get up and move.

If you're like me, you identify the feeling as anxiety and immediately start racking your brain to figure out why it’s happening. Is it that exam you have tomorrow? Are you worried about an upcoming event? Is work stressing you out? Global warming? The election?

Then comes the part where you frantically try to fix the problem that you've decided is causing the physical feelings. Should you quit your job? And then what? Hire a career coach? With what money? Maybe change the way you work? How?

Dredging up all your problems—real and imagined—and mulling over potential solutions then ramps up your nerves for real. You never thought your job was that bad, but something is making you anxious and that's as good a culprit as any.

Now you're in a cycle of physical discomfort and mental stress, each feeding off the other.

But what if the physical feelings were just that...physical feelings?

The next time you experience that familiar dizziness or tightness in the chest, try this: Do not allow yourself to ruminate over what you might be anxious about. If there’s not something insanely obvious making your heart race or your hands go numb—a sick kid, impending bankruptcy—it could be just a misdirection.

Instead, focus on the feeling. Where does it start? Does it move around? How would you describe it: tingly, hot, constricted? Is it more on the right side of your body or the left? Keep your focus on the feeling, be curious about it, and just let it be there.

I've found that in many cases, the physical symptoms of what might or might not be anxiety simply melt away on their own.

You don’t need to be lying down for this; you can do it anywhere, anytime the feeling pops up, and it only takes a minute.

Anxiety-Busting Technique #2: Tackle Your Allergies

Do you wake up with puffy eyes? Are you always reaching for the tissues?

If your reply is, "Sure, but it’s not that bad," I urge you to consider treating your allergies.

Allergic reactions involve histamine. I won’t get into a long spiel, because I’m not an actual professional, but many trustworthy resources point out the connection between high histamine levels and symptoms like anxiety. If your symptoms match these lists, you might want to look into histamine intolerance and Mast Cell Activation Syndrome in case one of these histamine-related conditions is causing your anxiety.

I’m a long-time allergy sufferer, and usually I just deal using minimal medication. But after discovering these conditions and doing some research, I started:

1. Taking two Zyrtec per day, one in the morning and one at night

Zyrtec (cetirizine) is a basic allergy medication that typically doesn’t make you drowsy (unlike, for example, Benadryl).

The dosages on the labels instruct users to take just one tablet each day, but my research shows that two per day is safe. However, please do not increase your dosage beyond what the label instructions say without first talking to your healthcare provider.

2. Taking a histamine-2 inhibitor (Pepcid), one in the morning and one at night

This has the benefit of both treating acid reflux and blocking the action of histamine in the stomach wall.

3. Taking quercetin

This flavonoid is thought to help control histamine levels, and which was recommended by my nutritionist friend. It’s available in many supermarkets.

4. Avoiding (but not completely eliminating) high-histamine foods

Some of the biggest culprits include aged cheese, bananas, tomatoes, avocados, chocolate, citrus, and alcohol. You know, all the most delicious foods. Here’s a list of low-histamine and high-histamine foods my nutritionist friend gives to her clients.

I noticed immediately that I felt calmer and slept better. It’s been a few weeks now, and I have much less anxiety and much more energy. I’m hoping it’s really the histamine and not just a fluke!

Extra credit: Some sources report that a shortage of a digestive enzyme called Diamine Oxidase (DAO) in the body can let histamine go haywire. I’ve been taking DAO supplements, but they don’t seem to work for me as well as simply avoiding high-histamine foods.

Anxiety-Busting Technique #3: Take a (Very) Hot Bath

I’ve found that taking a dunk in a bath that’s almost too hot to handle takes care of both the physical and mental symptoms of my anxiety...instantly.

I’m not talking about the “nice, soothing warm bath” that’s always recommended in articles about how to banish anxiety. I’m talking hot-tub temperature, which is a maximum of 104°F.

Since a long soak in very hot water can have negative health effects, here’s a handy chart that tells you how long it’s safe for a healthy adult to soak at different temperatures. (My bath feels even hotter than a typical hot tub, but I know I can handle it, and I make it quick.)

My original thought was that the sensation of heat takes over your brain and body—hothothothot!—leaving no room for lesser physical sensations or rumination. Kind of like when you pinch your hand to distract yourself from the pain of a vaccination.

However, when I started researching the phenomenon, I discovered a possibly concerning overlap between the hot bath technique and self-injury. Here is an excellent paper from Cornell that explains “pain offset relief,” which is why we might feel better emotionally after experiencing physical pain. It also points out that we all experience this phenomenon:

"Many self-injury researchers initially assumed that pain offset relief would be something that is only experienced by people who self-injure or are at-risk for self-injury. Surprisingly, however, pain offset relief appears to be a near-universal phenomenon experienced by nearly all living creatures, not an abnormal psychological or biological feature that predisposes some people to self-injury."

Even so, this can lead into some scary territory for some people. You should probably talk to a professional before trying the very-hot-bath technique, just in case.

Extra credit: If the hot water dunk isn’t right for you, there is also research about the anxiety-reducing effects of dunking your face into ice cold water, which works through a different mechanism from pain offset relief.

Anxiety-Busting Technique #4: Try the 5-4-3-2-1 Exercise

This coping technique helps redirect your focus from the mental and physical symptoms of anxiety so you have the space to self-regulate. Here’s how it works.

Stop and:

Notice five things you see around you. Do you see photos on the wall, a novelty mug, a book?
Notice four things you feel. Maybe you can feel heat coming in through a vent, your hands folded in your lap, or your cat lying on your legs.
Notice three things you can hear outside your body. Dogs barking, the AC system clicking on, and the TV in the next room all count.
Notice two things you can smell. It could be as simple as the detergent from your clothes or the scent of your hand lotion. It’s OK to go off in search of two things to smell if there’s not anything near you; for example, grab a lemon from the kitchen or some soap from the bathroom.
Notice one thing you can taste. Did you just have a cup of coffee? Are you chewing gum?

This quick exercise sounds too simple to be true, but it’s surprising how well—and how quickly—it can work.

Anxiety-Busting Technique #5: Breathe (No, Really!)

I know, I know, I panned the "just take a deep breath" technique earlier. But let me explain.

It’s true that there’s no end to the number of websites, apps, and meditation podcasts telling us to "just breathe." But how many of us actually do it, rather than huffing in exasperation at the tired advice and moving on?

I was one of those huff-and-move-on types, until I discovered that just stopping for a second and actually taking the damn breath really does help.

Not only that, you may discover a breathing technique that works for you when no others will. For example, a few of my favorites are:

1. Breath sips

Take the deepest breath you can, then take in small "sips" of air until you truly can’t hold any more. Hold for a few seconds, then slowly let it out. Repeat a few times.

2. Box breathing

Find any square or rectangle in your environment. It might be a door, a window, or the side of a building. Run your gaze along the edges of the box, using the sides to represent deep inhales, exhales, and holds. For example, inhale up the left side, hold across the top, exhale down the right side, and hold across the bottom.

3. The Valsalva Maneuver

The vagus nerve runs from the base of the brain to part of the colon, branching out throughout the chest and abdomen along the way. Medical experts already know that stimulating this nerve helps slow the heart rate, and a study in the journal Biological Psychiatry shows that it may help reduce fear and anxiety as well.

There are several easy ways to stimulate the vagus nerve. One I learned years ago from a book about taming the fear of flying is to take a deep breath, strain to push the breath out against your closed nose and mouth for a few seconds, then slowly let the breath out. You may want to pinch your nose closed for this. If you’re doing it right, it will feel like you’re straining to make a bowel movement.

Danger, danger: This maneuver puts pressure on your eyes and belly, so don’t use it if you have any issues with these. Also avoid if you have heart disease. This article offers some additional ways to do the Valsalva maneuver, along with details on who should not try it.

Don’t Stop

A friend once said to me:

“You may just be a person who needs to continually push anxiety out of your body.”

In other words, quelling anxiety is typically not a one-and-done thing. But once you have a toolbox full of techniques that work for you, you become adept at pulling out the right one at the right time. Not only that, you may find that more hardcore measures help bring relief from long-term or severe anxiety.

I hope these experience-tested tools work for you...especially in these tense times.