Transcript
WEBVTT
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Welcome back to the Women's Mental Health Podcast.
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I'm Randi.
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And I'm Jess.
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And we're two licensed psychotherapists.
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This is a safe space where we talk about mental health, well being, and strategies for coping with life's challenges.
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And how all
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of this is normal.
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And you are not alone.
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We're in this together.
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Absolutely.
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So today's podcast, we're going to explore hangxiety.
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Yes, you've heard that before, I'm sure.
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But anxiety, it's impact on women's mental health, and we're going to look at some, insights and strategies for coping and how to avoid some of this anxiety.
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Right.
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Although this is not a formal diagnosis, it's something that is not really new, but like the term is new.
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But it has been trending a lot on social media and TikTok and things like that.
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So we thought we would dive into it and give you guys a better understanding about it.
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And
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so we're going to talk about adopting mindful drinking practices, engaging in self care, seeking support, to effectively manage anxiety and really prioritizing your mental well
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being.
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And you can find us and more resources on womensmentalhealthpodcast.
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com.
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Okay,
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have you ever had these
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thoughts?
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What is anxiety?
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How long does anxiety typically last?
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Can anxiety be prevented?
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Is anxiety a sign of a larger mental health
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problem?
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Can anxiety be treated?
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Mmm, what are some effective strategies for dealing with anxiety in the moment?
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Will
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avoiding alcohol completely eradicate anxiety?
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Can anxiety be passed down through genetics?
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Ooh, that's a good one.
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How is anxiety different from a regular hangover?
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Right,
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just a regular old hangover.
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Okay, so let's really first break down what is anxiety.
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Okay,
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so, I know, at first I was like, what?
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What is happening?
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At first I thought it was like having anxiety about hanging with friends.
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See, I thought it was an after effect of your anxiety, like an anxiety hangover.
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Yeah, so, really, That's why it's important for us to talk about it, because we didn't know what it was either.
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Anxiety is a term used to describe the feelings of anxiety and an ease that often accompany a hangover.
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Oh.
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So it's like a hangover, anxiety because of your hangover that you're having, after you've been drinking.
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Interesting.
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So it's kind of like the walk of shame.
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Yeah.
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Kind of like buyer's remorse.
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Like you're like, Oh God, I shouldn't have done that.
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What did I do?
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this is horrible.
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Or you feel just anxious or your body feels like off.
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So it's really important to understand this so you can.
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Navigate social situations with alcohol, or even if you're at home drinking, or, and really bring this into part of your self care routine if you are going to drink.
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let's talk, a normal hangover is, headache, nausea, fatigue, but many women, will get the anxiety piece of it is really having the anxiety.
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Of the drinking because alcohol increases anxiety.
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Yeah, so not only are you Hang hang.
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I can't even say that word anymore anxiety Not only you're having anxiety because you have a hangover and the what the did I do last night?
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Yeah Yeah.
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But the drinking is increasing anxiety, right?
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So
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it exacerbates if you already have symptoms like generalized anxiety disorder or social anxiety disorder, panic disorder.
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It can make these things
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worse.
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Absolutely.
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Oh, it makes everything worse.
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Yeah.
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Be real, especially if in large amounts or on daily, like a daily thing.
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If it's something that your body's like, I have to have
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that.
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Yeah.
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So when you're combining the physical.
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symptoms and discomfort of having a hangover with the heightened anxiety.
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And then it leads you to fall into this dark hole of feeling guilt, shame, regret, especially if you did, drink excessively.
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And especially if you're like a younger woman too, and I didn't drink until I was like, in college, but then I was like, Oh my gosh, what am I doing?
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Why am I acting, out this way?
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And Oh, I shouldn't have acted that way, like blah, blah, blah.
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So it really can impact everything overall.
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also, it's not just drinking that this can happen with.
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This happens also with people with eating disorders too.
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Think about binge eating.
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They binge eat.
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Oh God, why did I do that?
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Or vomiting.
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I'm gonna gain weight.
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I shouldn't have eaten that.
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It's, it happens when, it almost feels like when we're out of control.
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And that's what happens when people drink.
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They get a little out of control sometimes.
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Yeah.
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Hmm.
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So let's define hanganxiety.
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What exactly is it?
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It is a term used to describe feelings of anxiety and ease, that come with a hangover.
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I don't know if it's the necessarily, The leftover from last night, if it's, it just feels a, we feel off kilter.
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It's like an ick.
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And yeah, it's like an ick.
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It's like a, I don't know.
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It's like a
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WTF,
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what did I just do?
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Well, cause you think about it, right?
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Anxiety impacts your sleep.
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Your mood.
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Yeah.
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Your overall well being.
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I mean, you're just like, Oh God, why does it take you two days sometimes you're like, I'm never drinking again.
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Yeah,
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like the older I get, the less I have enjoyed drinking because well to as like a parent and a caregiver, like I have to get up in the morning and I have all these responsibilities.
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And I'm like, I can't do that when I feel this way.
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And it's just.
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It's not worth like the consequences afterwards, I've come to realize, but you can still, you can manage, you can learn to manage, your drinking with some of these things.
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So what causes hangxiety then?
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So it's con It's thought to be influenced by the way alcohol really affects our brain chemistry.
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So as alcohol is metabolized in our system, it can disrupt our neurotransmitters, which are like our beep, beep, beep before in the brain, leading to you having this rebound effect of anxiety.
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Once the effects of the alcohol start wearing off, like everything comes to the surface.
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Hmm.
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a lot of people get really anxious and when they're anxious and they're drinking, my first thing is I need you to maybe slow down or take a step back because it's affecting you or if you're getting poor sleep quality.
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So yeah, it feels great at the moment, which is why most people will have a drink.
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Yeah.
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You know, like Xanax.
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and alcohol, they affect the same receptor, right?
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And Xanax is used for anxiety attacks.
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But
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yeah, so a lot of people use it as a coping mechanism if especially if they don't have access to medication.
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Oh, and they're not
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giving out Xanax anymore because it's so hard.
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How long does anxiety typically last?
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I think it varies from person to person.
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Just like a regular hangover, Often it's only for a few hours, maybe the entire day, depending upon how bad
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everything was.
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And I think it depends too, if you already have a panic disorder, anxiety disorder.
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Or things like that affecting you, if it's going to compound it, tenfold or not.
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Exactly.
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how can we prevent
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anxiety then?
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like anything, there's no foolproof way to really prevent it altogether.
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unless you abstain from alcohol.
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But you can take steps to minimize its impact.
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So, really moderating your alcohol consumption.
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Figuring out, is one glass too much?
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Enough is two glass, like what can I handle?
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Staying hydrated while you drink and even when you get home, like drinking when you get home, drink your eight ounces of water and eating nutritious food too, to help balance your metabolism and how you're metabolizing like the alcohol as well.
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That can Help prevent some of the symptoms if you are taking care of yourself, really, it comes down to self care.
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Are you caring for yourself, physically, mentally, emotionally and checking off all those boxes?
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we talked about back in, uh, was it?
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December right around the holidays, how to drink and the around the
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holidays when there's a lot more pressure to drink and parties and things
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like
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that.
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Yeah.
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And so what you were just talking about, like staying hydrated is maybe instead of having another drink, you have a mocktail, right?
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you switch it up.
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You have a drink, you have a mocktail,
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we talked about those tips to when you feel socially pressured to drink.
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A lot of times I will just hold a glass of something in my hand because then people don't.
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Ask me like, why aren't you drinking?
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Why aren't you drinking?
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Like, why aren't you, you know, and I'm like, what do you care?
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Like relax, but yeah, so it's just they
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want it.
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They want you to drink.
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So it makes
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them feel bad, right?
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So avoiding kind of those social pitfall pitfalls Just is anxiety a sign of a larger mental health problem?
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if you have it occasionally, I don't know if that's going to be like a larger problem.
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If you're having anxiety more often, though, I think, yeah.
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I think that you either need to look at your drinking, you need to, look at managing your anxiety better.
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Mm hmm.
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maybe look at what is going on in your life that is causing this.
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I can't give a diagnosis right now.
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I don't want to be like, you need to go to AA, you need
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to do that.
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Well, that's why it's important to talk to a therapist or talk to a doctor or talk to a friend even, so you can get more clarity and support on the topic.
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Okay.
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So then
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let's go into the next one then is how can it be treated, Randi?
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So it really involves, like we were talking about, addressing the symptoms that you're having, anxiety symptoms, and finding healthy coping mechanisms for the stress.
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And we have lots of articles, too, on our website about how to deal with stress management.
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And coping.
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Yeah, and coping, and using techniques like mindfulness.
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regularly exercising, engaging in things that you love, that you enjoy, that make you happy, seeking support, from your family, from your friends, from your coworkers, any, a lot of that, especially having a strong support system can help.
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alleviate having this anxiety?
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And so what are some other effective strategies for dealing with anxiety?
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Like when you're in the thick of it,
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right in the moment, you know, I, you know, me and my
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bubbles.
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I know, I know, I know.
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We love the bubbles,
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blow bubbles.
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If you don't have them because you're like, I can't even find them right now.
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Just act like you're blowing bubbles because what we do not breathe enough.
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The other one,
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we don't.
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We did a whole thing about breathing.
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I called her out.
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She doesn't breathe.
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I do
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not breathe.
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Yeah.
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But it is sitting upright.
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putting your shoulders back and taking deep breaths, but remembering to also hold them.
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when you're having a panic attack, the triangle breathing is really good.
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Not just the box, but the triangle piece of it, because what the triangle does is you inhale through your nose to the count of three or four.
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You hold it to three or four and then you exhale through your mouth.
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Just do it nice and slowly and like exhaust, make it a big sound, right?
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Because most of us, but neither one of us held our breath by the way.
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You can do that.
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do some stretching if you're sitting there and you're just like, okay, I can't do this.
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Just do some stretching.
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the other one I like is putting your feet up on the wall.
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So lay on your back.
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And this will help reset you a little bit, lay on your back, put your feet up against the wall, and just have your arms out and
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breathe.
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That's like grounding, taking off your shoes and going out and putting your feet in the grass and, feeling the ground underneath you.
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Also, something I've used with clients and stuff in the past too, is eating.
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Or sucking on something that is very sour will help you snap out of if you're having like anxiety or panic.
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Something about the way the taste buds and your receptors and stuff will help you like calm down in the moment.
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I think
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it's like shocking yourself.
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Yeah, right.
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It is without shocking yourself.
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have people that take a cold shower, putting, some cold water on your face, right?
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There is something it is about distracting you and shocking you.
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I'll have to try the sour thing.
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So will avoiding alcohol completely eradicate anxiety
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though?
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if you abstain from alcohol, it will likely prevent anxiety, but it's not the only option.
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So many people can enjoy alcohol in, moderation without experiencing significant symptoms that anxiety can bring.
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It's really understanding your limits.
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It's listening to your body, taking care of your body and finding that balance that works for you.
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Because like we said, if you have other panic or anxiety or depression going on underneath it, it's going to exacerbate it.
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So really you have to go to the source of that symptom and kind of deal with that.
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And do we know if anxiety can be passed down through genetics?
