Your Anxiety Might Be Coming From Your Body (Kira Newman)

Diet, sleep, and inflammation can all contribute to anxiety—but taking care of your body could help alleviate some of it.
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Anxiety is “that hypervigilant feeling that escalates swiftly to a sense of catastrophe and doom,” writes Ellen Vora, M.D., in her new book, The Anatomy of Anxiety: Understanding and Overcoming the Body’s Fear Response. Anxiety is “as grounded in the body as it is in the mind.”

Too often, she argues, we turn to only mental solutions for what is in part a physical problem.

That resonates with me. When I feel anxious, some solutions I try—like talking to a friend or watching TV—are hit or miss. Over the years, the only foolproof remedies I’ve found have to do with the body: A good high-intensity workout is bound to make me feel better, and cutting out caffeine has sometimes eliminated anxious feelings for months at a time. Taking care of our body represents a different pathway to healing for many of us, who are already doing everything we can to tend to our minds through therapy or other cognitive tactics. more...