I find chamomile tea to be helpful. I drink it every night, before bed. Kava tea is also good for relaxation and stress relief, but I've read that you shouldn't drink it constantly, because over a period of time, it can cause liver damage. I've been trying to avoid the meds, as well. I find aromatherapy to be somewhat helpful. When I'm stressed or anxious, I take a hot bath with chamomile and lavender bath salts.


There are many different things you can try. I've read that even changing your diet and cutting out anything with gluten in it, can help. A friend of mine actually tried this, and told me it helped her a lot.

Meditating first thing each morning - On a scale of 1 - 10 with 10 being awesomely helpful and 0 being crummy, meditation (every morning - not during an attack) is an 8. But I have to be consistent.

L-Theanine - good for general anxiety level. I'd put this at an 8 as well - but not for an all out panic attack. It's something you take each day.

Rescue Remedy - I didn't find this particularly helpful. I'd give it a 2.

Dietary change - cutting out processed food, gluten, dairy and added sugar. This didn't help right away but over time my anxiety got better and better. So this is maybe a 7 or 8.

Feldenkrais - Just started this. It's a type of massage that helps calm your nervous system. I like it - it feels nice - not sure if it works yet.

Creating a plan and back up plans for myself - brilliantly helpful. Having a plan b and c - even more helpful.

That might mean finding different ways to do things - asking to take your tests in a quiet room away from the class, sitting in front or in back of the classroom, avoiding classes first thing in the morning, etc.

Then have a plan for if things don't work out - who can you call or what can you do? Do you need time alone? With a safe person? Where is your safe place? Your room? Outside?

Just putting some plans in place can really help a LOT.

During an attack - putting on a movie or tv show that is really funny that I can immerse myself in (preferably the same one each time).

Some people suggest music that takes you out of the attack which is fine if it works for you. Smells work well for me - just things I associate with feeling calm and peaceful.

How I talk to myself during an attack is really important. If I allow myself to ask "what am I so afraid of?" I wander down the wrong path. It's absolutely perfectly normal and makes sense to look at "why" so you can avoid it in the future but with anxiety it winds up limiting you.

Here's the why: You have anxiety because your body randomly releases adrenalin. Period.

When you connect that random release to people, places and things, you start to avoid those people, places and things and your life gets smaller.

But if you can say, "Oh, okay. I'm getting an adrenalin rush right now and I need to take a few minutes to handle it. I'll be fine but I just need time to ride this out. I've been through this before and what works is to sit quietly outside (or whatever)" - you just allow the adrenalin to rise and fall and go away. And then you get back to life.

People are SHOCKINGLY understanding. One of the best natural treatments for me was to get honest about it. Before I'd try to hide it which would make it worse. When I started saying, "I'm sorry. I need to excuse myself for a few minutes" people rarely asked why but when they asked (sometimes) "are you okay?" and I'd say - "I'm fine. I have panic attacks sometimes and just sitting alone until it passes seems to help. I'll be back in a few minutes."

When I'd come back, nearly everyone would say, "I have panic too" or they know someone with anxiety. It's not a big deal.

Cognitive behavioral therapy is helpful for a lot of people. And I may have mentioned it before but I love Byron Katie's "Is that true?" exercise. It has helped me a LOT with anxiety.

So, you're starting to have a panic attack and you say to yourself - "This is horrible!!!" Ask yourself - "Is that true?" Maybe it's horrible, but probably it's just sort of inconvenient or a pain in the neck or a small setback. That can stop an attack or make it less bad.

Hope some of this is helpful to try. You'll get there!

Wow, Reed, you always have great advice. I second everything you said.

I am reading The Mood Cure right now, which is all about using supplements and diet to treat various forms of depression and anxiety. Someone on here posted about it so I thought I'd check it out.

In the book, you answer questions to determine what kind of deficiencies you have in order to determine the intervention. Not every kind of supplement plan works for everyone. Tryptophan is recommended for anxiety types.

However, I don't think there are a lot of studies to support the claims that supplements are a completely safe and effective way to treat anxiety and depression, aside from St. John's Wort. You should definitely talk to a doctor before trying it (the book actually says that at the beginning).

What I did find helpful are all the sections on cutting out "bad mood" foods (refined starch and sugar, processed foods etc) and eating more "good mood" foods (protein, vegetables, fruit).

There's also a very well-designed test you can do yourself to identify food allergies. Some of the main culprits are milk, gluten, and corn. I am thinking of trying that to see if there are any foods I could eliminate to help with my anxiety and headaches.

I have been taking melatonin to help me sleep. It's also recommended in the book and in various articles. I think it really helps because lack of sleep intensifies my anxiety and my SAD symptoms. I am also considering taking fish oil supplements.

I would just say, whatever you read or hear about a supplement, "fact check" it somewhere else to make sure it's right for you.

Thank you all for the great information. I also am trying to find alternatives to taking meds, I had no idea there were so many dietary factors to consider and supplements available.

I know this is not what you asked, but personally I am skeptical of the supplement approach when the industry is not regulated and you have no idea if you are getting what the label claims. Just food for thought.

Exercise and cognitive therapy self help books are two ways to help relieve anxiety.

Thank you all for your responses. I've been told by many people to try chamomile for the calming effect that it has. I drink tea all the time anyways, so I figured that would be an easy thing to try.

I can't believe how many possibilities there are. All of these suggestions certaintly give me some hope that there is something out there that is going to work for me and that life without anxiety is possible.