Ease Anxiety And Stress: Take A Breather
- By Matthew Solan, Executive Editor, Harvard Men’s Health Watch
Quick: think of three things that make you feel anxious or stressed. Most of us have no trouble reeling off answers. And people who suffer from anxiety disorders such as social anxiety, phobias, or generalized anxiety may have a variety of triggers that send anxiety soaring. While belly breathing alone cant fix deep-seated anxieties, it works well as a tool to help ease anxiety and garden-variety stress. Regularly engaging in belly breathing can help you turn a fight-or-flight response into a relaxation response thats beneficial to your health.
Make A Drink With Apple Cider Vinegar
When your stomach is aching, a shot of acidic apple cider vinegar might be the last thing you want to put in it, but it could actually make you feel better.
There are two reasons for this.
First, apple cider vinegar kills bacteria, so if youve got a bacterial infection in your stomach, the vinegar can help clear it out.
Second, apple cider vinegar balances your stomach acid, which can help with acid reflux issues.
Dont ever drink apple cider vinegar on its own its too strong, and it could damage your teeth.
Instead, mix it with something else. Try stirring a tablespoon of vinegar into a cup of warm water or fruit juice.
Add some honey to improve the taste if you want.
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How To Ease A Nervous Stomach
Fact Checked
“Nervous stomach” is a term often used interchangeably with Irritable Bowel Syndrome, or IBS 13. IBS causes stomach pain and sickness. The triggers are different for each IBS sufferer, but the treatments are the same. You can help ease a nervous stomach by knowing and understanding your triggers so you know how to properly treat your individual reason for a nervous stomach. The right foods, stress reduction and medication can help ease your nervous stomach.
If you are experiencing serious medical symptoms, seek emergency treatment immediately.
Identify the triggers for your nervous stomach. If stress and anxiety seem to be the culprits, you may need to engage in stress-reduction tactics, rather than diet changes to manage your nervous stomach.
Eat foods rich in fiber, including fruits, vegetables, nuts and whole grains, notes The Cleveland Clinic. Insoluble fiber can help regulate your digestive system for a more settled stomach.
Avoid foods that commonly trigger upset stomach and irritable bowels. NHS.uk lists these foods as carbonated drinks, alcohol, fatty and fried foods, processed snacks and chips, chocolate and foods with caffeine.
Keep a food journal so that when you eat something and it gives you a nervous stomach, you can write it down to remember for later. Dairy products are frequent culprits, since your stomach may be sensitive to lactose.
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Find Space For Yourself To Relax
Ultimately, find time and space for yourself to clear your head and take control of your nervousness, even if it must be total alone time. Dont be afraid to excuse yourself, even from an important event.
If talking to a friend, family member, or loved one helps, do so during this time. Talking with someone you trust can help you overcome anxiety.
How To Relieve Nervous Stomach
If you experience occasional symptoms of this condition, it may be resolved using natural remedies and healthy lifestyle changes to improve digestive functions. On the other hand, if you experience it with increased frequency, such as daily or weekly, you should seek medical attention.
Diet
It is important to consider your diet and you should keep track of the foods that improve or worsen your symptoms. Drinking beverages such as carbonated drinks and dairy products as well as high fat foods, beans, cabbage, and broccoli may contribute to the build-up of gas. In addition, extremely spicy foods may cause indigestion and worsen your stomach discomfort. Caffeine and alcohol cause dehydration and irritate the lining of the stomach, which may have a negative impact on the digestive system. On the other hand, honey, mint, ginger, fennel and cinnamon may relieve the symptoms. Instead of drinking fruit juices that are normally very acidic and contribute to stomach problems, you should drink lots of water to soothe your stomach and to maintain normal bowel functions. Similarly, a cup of hot tea may soothe the stomach.
Medicines and herbal supplements
Physical activity
Exercise is a great stress reliever and it stimulates digestion. In addition, exercise stimulates the release of endorphins, which are the body’s naturally occurring”happy drug”. And endorphins can help to relieve symptoms of stomach problems.
Lifestyle changes
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How To Calm An Anxious Stomach: The Brain
Ever wonder why you get butterflies in your stomach before doing something stressful? Or why you feel like your stomach is tied in knots after an argument? Ever had a meeting with a toilet that went longer than expected and it wasnt caused by anything you ate? Stomach problems are one of the most common symptoms of stress and anxiety.
Researchers have identified a powerful connection between the gut and the brain. Like the brain, the gut is full of nerves. It contains the largest area of nerves outside the brain with the digestive tract and the brain sharing many of the same nerve connections.
Whether its a single nerve-wracking event or chronic worry and stress over time, stress can exact a physical toll on your digestive system. When you are anxious, some of the hormones and chemicals released by your body enter your digestive tract, where they interfere with digestion. They have a negative effect on your gut flora and decrease antibody production. The resulting chemical imbalance can cause a number of gastrointestinal conditions.
Common stress-related gut symptoms and conditions include:
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome
- and peptic ulcers
Six Tips for Reducing Stress and Anxiety
A Word From Mindset Health
If you suffer anxiety and abdominal pain, and diagnostic testing finds no physical cause, you may have IBS. The gut-brain connection suggests how physical symptoms of IBS such as stomach aches may be linked to anxiety symptoms and stress levels. Seeking help from a mental health professional and receiving psychotherapies such as gut-directed hypnosis will offer the chance for your gut and mind to be healed as one.
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What Causes Anxiety Related Upset Stomach
Scientists have many different theories about why anxiety causes an upset stomach. One of the key beliefs is that anxiety causes changes in neurotransmitter function, particularly serotonin. There are serotonin receptors in the gut, and so when your body is experiencing anxiety, it’s likely receiving chemicals that tell it to respond with that upset feeling.
Other causes include:
- Adrenaline Body Changes Adrenaline works with cortisol, the stress hormone, to allow the body to respond to danger quickly. These hormones may change the general physiological traits of the gut. Further, the ratio of good versus bad bacteria in the GI system may be altered by these hormones.
- Slowed Digestion Anxiety activates the fight or flight system. Studies have shown that the speed of digestion decreases as a result of the fight or flight system, and this may cause discomfort in the stomach and intestines as a result.
- Stomach Tension Anxiety also puts a great deal of pressure on the stomach muscles, and these, in turn, put pressure on the stomach. Any stomach pressure has the potential to change the way that your stomach feels during periods of stress.
All of these are potential issues that lead to problems with your stomach during periods of stress.
Coping Techniques And Resources To Help Kids Thrive
With functional abdominal pain, there isnt necessarily a definite treatment or medication that will cure kids discomfort.
Its more about helping these kids learn coping techniques and identify the triggers that exacerbate their symptoms, said Pattamanuch. Children may need more screening for depression or anxiety from a mental health professional. There are helpful clinics at Seattle Childrens for this.
Some kids may be referred to the Biofeedback Clinic, where they can learn relaxation techniques to decrease the intensity of their pain. They may also be referred to the Pain Medicine Clinic where they could undergo an in-depth assessment to help manage their pain.
Aside from these resources, Pattamanuch often works with kids on simple techniques they can practice at home and implement into their daily lives to alleviate their recurring abdominal pain and discomfort. These include:
While all kids have unique needs, some may require medication to help with their symptoms. However, Pattamanuch says theres careful consideration when offering this treatment.
When needed, we have some medications we can prescribe to help relax the gastrointestinal tract, but often they arent useful because theyre not addressing the root cause of the issue, said Pattamanuch. Its most beneficial for kids to learn how to get in-tune with their psychological triggers and try to address those issues first and foremost.
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Take A Few Deep Breaths
How To Calm A Nervous Stomach
Given the importance of the psychological process in IBS, it is unsurprising that psychological therapies are an effective treatment option. Several psychotherapies are effective in reducing gastrointestinal distress:
- Gut-directed hypnosis . This hypnosis involves the patient visualizing their gut as a set of slimy tubes and other gut-related imagery. This helps to restore the gut-brain communication to reduce symptoms of IBS. Smartphone-based versions such as Nerva have recently become available, and offer convenient access to hypnotherapy.
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy . This skill-based therapy teaches control over negative thought patterns and modifies patterns of behavior. Relaxation techniques help to control the stress response, and cognitive restructuring allows the patient to avoid catastrophizing. These techniques help to reduce the symptoms of IBS.
- Mindfulness-based therapies. This practice involves attending to the present moment and cultivating non-judgemental attitudes. Mindfulness therapies reduce levels of stress and sensitivity to pain, a key symptom of IBS. The effects have been shown to last over three months , although these therapies can be less effective than GDH and CBT.
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Talk To A Doctor If Your Nerves Interfere With Daily Life
What Is Eaet And Could These Results Help You
The EAET group were provided with specific skills to improve emotional expression such as learning how to describe their feelings about others. They were also encouraged to express their emotions directly in person.
If you are someone who tends to suppress emotions because you dont want to hurt other peoples feelings, then its time to do something about it, because it could be physically affecting your health. Some people are so good at hiding their feelings that others find it difficult to believe you are suffering. But this only increases the isolation and overwhelm.
You can start the process of accepting and expressing your emotions by starting a journal. . This can increase your awareness of what are you feeling in the moment. It will allow you to observe your emotions and feel free to write them down.
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So What If The Quick Tricks Didnt Work
You know how we talked about physical symptoms coming before the psychological? Well, there may be a condition for that. Cases of irritable bowel syndrome , which you may have seen in countless TV ads, have been increasing.
While not every stomach issue is IBS, chronically coping with diarrhea thats linked to some form of mental distress could definitely indicate a condition is at the root of the problem.
Experts arent sure exactly what causes IBS which can cause a lot of the issues related to anxiety diarrhea but stress and anxiety are known triggers. In fact, IBS commonly co-occurs with anxiety and depression .
There are also some theories suggesting that people who develop IBS may have overly sensitive colons, which increases the chance of GI symptoms from specific foods or emotional experiences.
So again, youre very likely not imagining things if you feel like your anxiety goes off the charts and then your gut follows suit .
Practice Some Breathing Exercises
If you have been experiencing nervous stomach because of anxiousness and stress, the best way to combat that is by deep breathing exercises.
These have been found to help ease nervous stomach and even help you collect your thoughts that have been a complete haywire all throughout. They dont necessarily have any kinds of impacts on the digestive properties associated with nervous stomach but does help promote in handling the symptoms thats associated with the accessory symptoms around.
It soothes the mind and helps promote better handling of the mind and mental health as well.
- Start by sitting somewhere down
- Start by inhaling in some air deeply
- Then exhale the same slowly
- Repeat this process a few times till you feel yourself calm down
How often?
- Whenever needed
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How Can You Get Rid Of These Symptoms
To get rid of the anxious feeling in your stomach, there are different approaches you can take. This could involve managing the stomach issues or treating anxiety as the root cause of the stomach pain. This can help improve stomach pain and even prevent it from occurring in the future.
Although these suggestions are practical and evidence-based, it is important to understand that everyone has different experiences, so some approaches may not be effective for you.
If you cannot manage your symptoms through these strategies, or they last for longer than a few days, you should see your doctor for an evaluation. They will be able to rule out other causes and physical conditions, provide you with mental health support or refer you to a specialist, such as a therapist, psychologist, or gastroenterologist.
Is Stress Causing Your Stomach Ache 3 Fixes That May Help You Feel Better
A few months ago, a new scientific paper discussing a link between mental stress and digestive trouble crossed my desk. I was immediately intrigued-partly because at the time I was stressed , but also because at one time or another everyone feels taxed. This was information I knew you, our reader, could use!
And sure enough, once word got out among our staff, the whole office was buzzing: How does stress affect my gastrointestinal tract? And because I’m the nutrition editor, I was also asked, are there any soothing foods that I can eat?
Must-Read:
I now can answer those questions-thanks to Karen Ansel, who researched and wrote about the topic in the March/April issue of EatingWell Magazine. Here’s what she found:
There’s a reason why when you’re upset, you feel a knot in the pit of your stomach. “The brain and the digestive tract share many of the same nerve connections,” says Douglas A. Drossman, M.D., a gastroenterologist and psychiatrist and co-director of the University of North Carolina Center for Functional GI and Motility Disorders in Chapel Hill. It’s because, in the womb, the nerves that eventually separate into the brain, spinal cord and nerves of the intestine all have the same beginnings and remain interconnected.
Luckily, science suggests that, when stress strikes, reaching for certain foods can soothe your psyche and your GI tract. Here are three to get things back on track:
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Psychological Treatment For Ibs
Researchers at Wayne State University conducted a study in 2017 on a specialized form of talking therapy called Emotional Awareness and Expression Training , which helps people to recognize and express their emotions fully.
They compared the treatment to relaxation training and a control group of patients on a waiting list. Both the EAET and relaxation groups received three 50-minute training sessions delivered once a week.
At the end of the 10-week follow-up period 63% of the people in the EAET group reported significant improvements in their IBS symptoms compared to those in the relaxation and waiting list groups.