Effective Strategies To Help Manage Stress and Anxiety

This is an assignment I wrote for my grade 12 health class, I wrote this in half an hour (I could've done better) I hope you enjoy it. 

 With an all time high of stress and anxiety in our society, many people are resorting to psychiatric drugs as a convenient solution. Antidepressant use in the United States has increased nearly 400 percent in the last two decades, This is an astonishing figure considering psychiatric drugs are not the only solution to mental health related issues. There are many different factors that have a positive effect on our mental health, such as eating nutritious foods, doing exercise/meditation, as well as exposure to nature, these are all considered to be effective strategies to help manage stress and anxiety.

 To begin, it has long been thought that eating a healthy and balanced diet can have a positive effect on our psychological well being. Maintaining adequate levels of vitamin D has been linked to improved mood, lower chances of depression and anxiety and reduced fatigue. A study done by Ohio State University states that, “After 8 weeks of treatment with vitamin D, depression scores improved in the patients receiving vitamin D supplementation.” The study found that patients with low vitamin D levels experience depression symptoms, these symptoms are improved after a 8 week treatment of vitamin D and stabilizes the patient's moods. Therefore eating a nutritious diet full of vitamins is an effective strategy to manage stress and anxiety. 

 Secondly, for hundreds of years maybe even thousands, many different cultures such as Hindus, Buddhists, Taoists have believed that by taking deep mindful breaths, we can relax our mind and body. In recent years, meditation and yoga has become increasingly popular due to their ability to relieve stress and anxiety. Yoga is composed of three elements which are, physical poses called asanas, controlled breathing combined with the asanas, and a period of mindfulness meditation. A study carried out by Harvard University states “By reducing perceived stress and anxiety, yoga appears to modulate stress response systems. This, in turn, decreases physiological arousal — for example, reducing the heart rate, lowering blood pressure, and easing respiration. There is also evidence that yoga practices help increase heart rate variability, an indicator of the body's ability to respond to stress more flexibly.”  This study found that yoga actually decreased physical symptoms such as high blood pressure and increased heart rate which are symptoms commonly associated with stress and anxiety. Therefore, activities such as mindful meditation, and yoga are proven to be effective strategies to help manage stress and anxiety.

 Finally, many people often find that spending time outdoors in nature can feel very refreshing. This is because being in nature, or even viewing pictures of nature reduces environmental or work-related stress. One recent study published in Environmental Science & Technology, investigated the impact of different types of images on stress recovery “Participants viewed slides of scenes from either nature or a built environment for 10 minutes, and then they completed a task designed to induce mental stress.The researchers found that participants who had viewed nature scenes had higher activity of the parasympathetic nervous system — the “rest and digest” branch of the autonomic nervous system, which helps balance the activity of the sympathetic, or “fight or flight,” branch — than the other participants. Newer research suggests that the more awe-inspiring the scene, the better.” This study required participants to complete a stressful task while viewing natural scenes, compared to an urban environment. The participants viewing natural scenes experienced less anxiety due to the nature scenes deactivating the fight or flight response which is commonly associated with stress and anxiety.

 In conclusion, psychiatric drugs are not the only solution to mental health related issues. There are many different factors that have a positive effect on our mental health, such as eating nutritious foods, doing exercise or yoga/meditation, as well as exposure to nature, these are all considered to be effective strategies to help manage stress and anxiety. 

 Works Cited:

"Antidepressant Use in Persons Aged 12 and Over: United States, 2005–2008." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 19 Oct. 2011. Web. 24 May 2017.

Publications, Harvard Health. "Yoga for anxiety and depression." Harvard Health. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2017.

"Could Vitamin D boost your Mood and Energy?" Emotional Fitness. N.p., 09 Dec. 2015. Web. 24 May 2017.

Rodriguez, Tori. "The Mental Health Benefits of Nature Exposure." Psychiatry Advisor. N.p., 20 Oct. 2015. Web. 24 May 2017. 

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