Anxiety is NOT Mental Health

I have to be honest, whenever I scroll through Instagram or I go through YouTube and I see all these posts emphasizing anxiety as a part of mental health, I get pissed because I don't think anxiety is mental health. Now in this video I want to share not only what I think anxiety is from a Chinese medicine perspective, but also my three clinically most useful exercises and practices that you can do on your own. Hey guys, I'm Dr. Alex Hein, doctor of Chinese medicine and licensed acupuncturist. So before we jump in here to this video there are two important links right below. The first is if you'd like to become a patient of mine locally in Los Angeles or virtually via telemedicine. The contact info for my private practice and clinic office is down below this video. Now the second is for a free download which is four daily rituals that can potentially help you add years to your life with traditional Chinese medicine. So those are right below this video. Now I like to think of anxiety as something somatic, meaning in the body, not as mental health. And I don't know why I get so frustrated whenever I see people recommending journaling or cognitive exercises like just talking yourself out of the anxiety or even seated meditation to be honest because I find that for so many people anxiety is something really physiological or there's something going on with the nervous system you know where the pulse rate is double or even triple. Now I know that's not everyone's anxiety and I know that there's a spectrum of anxiety where there's anxiety where my thoughts are just racing and there's anxiety where people can't sleep at all all night because the nervous system and the physiology is so gone haywire that it's the body is literally preventing the whole human the whole person from sleeping. But whenever I see oh do you meditate do you journal do you do this for anxiety it really fundamentally bothers me. All of this stuff is based on a fundamental philosophy. Anxiety is in your mind therefore treat and calm your mind. But I would strongly disadvise you of thinking of anxiety as something that's in your head or something that is mental health or something that is mental illness whatever the terms you know that are in the zeitgeist today. Let's start with my best tip number one which is physical exercise. Yes better than meditation, yes better than journaling, yes better than pretty much anything for anxiety. Now I remember reading this whole research paper some years ago and it was talking about the comparison in the reduction of symptoms for anxiety and depression comparing physical exercise versus a leading antidepressant at the time. What they found was actually very interesting which was that there wasn't a big difference in the reduction in symptoms between the two. So the news was broadcasting this front page news exercise may be as helpful as an antidepressant in relieving anxiety and depression. Now what I find that for so many people that just to be able to change one's state by changing one's physiology is the most important aspect of anxiety even depression as well but specifically anxiety. And for so many people anxiety is the state where the nervous system is revved up too much where the person is already a sensitive kind of person or a sensitive constitution in our view meaning they're prone to being anxious. They've always been that kind of nervous system, they're sensitive, they're sensitive to foods, they're sensitive to people, they're sensitive to noise. So it is their body's tendency already and now it has become exacerbated to the point where it's pathological and they can't function. And in my experience physical exercise you know moderate physical exercise not going for a walk, moderate physical exercise like weight lifting or a moderate intensity stairmaster or run to the point of the person breaking a light sweat for at least a half hour is very very effective clinically, a change in your state right now. The second clinical practice or the second ritual I've noticed is time in nature. So besides this being just an anecdotal observation and there is research behind this one thing I stumbled upon was this idea of forest bathing in Japan. Now apparently this is a whole practice and this is something that's well studied by environmentalists and biologists but this idea that when people spend an hour or two in the woods or in nature they actually see boosts in the immune system for up to several weeks after which I was not aware of. And you look at other aspects that measure markers of anxiety or depression or physiological disruption that may preclude those conditions and these walks in the woods will actually help people scientifically when you look at the chemistry. And I thought that was very very interesting but anecdotally I've seen for so many people the combination of exercise and nature is an incredibly powerful combination to feel calm. You know just do an experiment for yourself. One day work five hours and use your computer or use your phone, be on technology. Another day when you have time off spend five hours in the woods planting, making a garden, your hands in the soil, swimming in the ocean, your feet in the sand, whatever it is. Try to see how you feel internally when you spend five hours in nature with your hands in dirt, breaking sticks, climbing trees versus five hours typing on a computer, answering emails or on your phone through Instagram. Just pay attention to that. No science, no study needed. See how you feel. Now the third ritual I find helps people the most is somatic forms of therapy. So I see so many people they get anxiety or depression and they think I need to go to a therapist. Just my opinion I don't find them to be very helpful therapies for those conditions. The cognitive aspect can help people. Learning to rethink and reframe or no longer have this catastrophic thinking that something bad is going to happen. But what I find is that the change in physiology is so important to feel better with anxiety and that I would really only personally recommend somatic forms of therapy i.e. therapies involving your body like yoga or Feldenkrais or acupuncture is another one, chiropractic, massage, doing a yoga class that falls maybe into the exercise or somatic therapy. But another word that is maybe synonymous with this is touch-based therapies. So anything involving physical touch, playing with a dog, getting a massage, getting body work done, something that is touch-oriented. I find that these somatic-based therapies are extremely effective for dealing with anxiety and taking the nervous system down a few notches. So those are practices you can do on your own or at home. You don't need to see a professional for them and I find that those are the three things I would recommend. If you are acutely feeling that way and nothing is helping, you could do one or all of them today and it will help. Alright guys, that's what I have for you today. Again, if you want to research more on becoming a patient of mine locally in Los Angeles, info right below this video. And before you go, I have two other videos for you.