How Common is Stress & Anxiety in the U.S.?
Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults in the United States age 18 and older, or 19.1% of the population every year. Anxiety disorders are highly treatable, yet only 36.9% of those suffering receive treatment.
Several recent studies have found links between the women’s levels of day-to-day stress and lowered chances of pregnancy. For example, women whose saliva had high levels of alpha-amylase, an enzyme that marks stress, were 12% less likely to get pregnant compared to those who had less.
Anxiety is so common that almost everyone knows someone that suffers from this condition.
In a recent article published by the NIH, scientists said that the stress response is “an adaptive mechanism designed to maintain the relative stability of the body’s overall physiological functioning”. However, when the stress response occurs with a high frequency, it can have long-term repercussions.
Anxiety is a relatively common condition, especially when trying to conceive!
There are numerous prescriptions for anxiety, but there are also many holistic approaches that can help address the root cause of your anxiety. It’s important to determine the cause of the anxiety in order to create a solution to reduce your anxiety.
4 Quick Tips for Naturally Reducing Stress & Anxiety
- Increase your L-theanine levels
- Use lavender
- Lavender can help promote a calm state, which makes it a great essential oil to keep on hand.
- Studies have shown that lavender oil can improve symptoms such as restlessness and disturbed sleep. Scientists have also observed that lavender oil can have a beneficial influence on general well-being and quality of life.
- Try smelling lavender before hopping into bed or just before a meditation or yoga session!
- Give yoga a try
- Research suggests that as little as one hour of yoga per week can help promote relaxation and reduce anxiety. It can play an effective role against depression, and can even help reduce the medical cost of treating conditions with medication!
- In a study by the NIH, 12 sessions of regular hatha yoga was shown to decrease the number of participants claiming that they were depressed/anxious/stressed by 10%!
As little as one hour of yoga each week can help promote relaxation and reduce anxiety.
4. Get more Vitamin C!
- Studies have shown that Vitamin C can boost progesterone production in patients that have ovulation disorders.
- Scientists have also discovered that progesterone can have a calming effect on the brain and improve cognitive performance.