Stress is a funny word. Loaded with the emotional bias of being a “bad” thing, the word stress can be quite deceiving, making it harder to handle than it needs to be. So we will offer a new way to look at it—and very effective ways to address it.

As the healing arts grows, it is important to remember that there are four key domains in healing:

1. Biochemistry. This includes herbals, nutrition and medications.
2. Structural. Including areas such as manipulation, surgery, breathing, exercise, and ergonomics.
3. Biophysics. For example, Acupuncture, Chakra work, Yoga, and NAET.
4. Mind-Body-Spirit. Understanding how the body is a metaphor for what is occurring at a deeper level. For most illnesses, including anxiety and even cancer, complete healing is unlikely to occur unless this is also attended to.

You will find that healing occurs best when all four of these areas are addressed. No individual healer is likely to have complete expertise in all of these areas. As our new healthcare system evolves, and the current one heads to extinction, it is good to see health practitioners from diverse backgrounds communicating and working together more.

So let's look at how a Comprehensive Medicine approach works when addressing anxiety and stress. I will focus predominantly on mind-body and biochemical aspects, as these are where my expertise is.

Treating Mind-Body Issues
Stress is not inherently good or bad. In fact, stress can be used to force flowers to bloom, and this analogy applies to people as well. The problem is when stress becomes chronic, and is no longer enjoyable. This then contributes to chronic elevation of the stress hormone cortisol, directly triggering anxiety. As the excessive stress becomes chronic, cortisol levels then go too low—ironically also triggering anxiety by causing recurrent bouts of low blood sugar.

A simple way to tell if stress is healthy? Simply check in to see how it feels. If it feels good, it is healthy. What is enjoyable can vary markedly from person to person. For example I enjoyed the stress of skydiving, while for my wife it would feel awful.

A Novel Treatment
The key stress antidote? Check in to see how things feel. This is so important, that I am being purposely redundant. Learn to say NO to things that feel bad. Leave your brain out of it. Our brain is the product of our societal and family training. It simply feeds back to us what we were taught that we should do to make others happy. Our feelings, on the other hand, tap into our own personal authenticity. So choose to focus on, and do, those things that feel good. Once you've determined what feels good, then your mind can figure out how to make it happen.

And yes, it is OK to simply choose to focus on what feels good in life, without being in constant battle mode against things you don't like. Like food choices at a buffet, we don't have to protest for the removal of those foods we don't choose to eat. Simply ignore them and pick those things you like. You will find that the rest will soon stop appearing in your life. This is part of how I suspect “free will” works. Our focus is like the remote control on our TV. What we focus on keeps showing up on our screen. This is why our constant “Wars on…” just seem to create more of what we are attacking.

Is it truly OK to do what feels good? Some will make the argument that “Heroin feels good, and perhaps also smacking that person who makes me angry over the head with a two-byfour.” This is why we add two caveats:

1. Don't hurt others.
2. Ask yourself “How is that working out for me?”

Doing this, people will find their anxiety is often coming from their choosing what they think they should do over what feels good (i.e. doing what others want, instead of what is authentic to them). Notice if you are constantly feeling, “I should do this, or I should do that.” This is euphemistically called “Shoulding on yourself.” I invite you to change that toxic behavior.

If hyperventilation is present, one will usually have buried feelings that are bubbling to the surface during periods of relative calm. Counseling to help them learn to feel their feelings helps over time. Also, as panic attacks often leave people feeling like they are going to die, understanding that the symptoms are not dangerous helps. Simply being told this may not be enough to reassure you though. You can confirm hyperventilation is the cause by breathing rapidly for up to 30–60 seconds and seeing how it amplifies your symptoms. Unfortunately, this can also precipitate a full-blown panic attack, so be forewarned, and pick a safe time and place to do this test!

My e-book, “Three Steps to Happiness—Healing through Joy,” can help guide you through the mind-body healing process.

Balance The Biochemistry
Begin with ruling out and treating overt issues, including:

1. Overactive thyroid. Consider this if your Free T4 thyroid test is even in the upper 20th percentile of the normal range.
2. Low progesterone (women). Progesterone is like our body's natural Valium. Consider this if anxiety is worse around menses and ovulation.
3. Low testosterone (men). Consider if testosterone levels are in the lower quarter of the normal range.
4. Adrenal fatigue—caused by drops in blood sugar. A key tip-off? Irritability and anxiety that triggers sugar cravings and improves after eating.

Also optimize nutrient status, especially magnesium and B vitamins. Instead of blood testing, which is of questionable value here, I simply recommend (for most people—whether or not they have anxiety) a high potency multi powder called the Energy Revitalization System (by Enzymatic Therapy). With this, one drink replaces well over 35 pills, optimizing levels of most nutrients. Also have the person decrease sugar and caffeine intake to see if this helps.

Herbals can also be very helpful. For example, there is a unique extract, which can be as effective as Xanax, but is very safe. This special extract stimulates one of the most abundant neuroreceptors in the body, the cannabinoid receptors. Many of you may recognize this as the marijuana receptor, and in fact many people use cannabis to self-medicate for their anxiety. But what if you could get the benefits without the sedation and side effects?

The good news is that now you can. Recent research showed that a special extract of the roots of the narrow leafed coneflower (Echinacea angustifoliae) was more effective than the tranquilizer Librium, with none of the side effects. It also worked quickly, with effects building with continued use. This is not the same component used for immune enhancement, and isn't found at needed levels in standard Echinacea. It is available though as AnxioCalm (by EuroPharma—20 mg per tablet).

Let's look at a few studies of this unique extract.
A study published in the March 2012 issue of Phytotherapy Research included 33 volunteers. All experienced anxiety, assessed using the validated State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). The extract decreased STAI scores within three days, an effect that remained stable for the duration of the treatment (seven days) and for the two weeks that followed treatment. There were no dropouts and no side effects.

Another study looked at higher dosages (40 mg 2 x day) in a multi-center, placebo-controlled, double-blind Phase II study involving 26 volunteers diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Over a three week period, the number of severely anxious patients (HADS-A scores larger than 11) decreased from 11 to zero!

So I begin with two tablets of AnxioCalm 2x day for severe anxiety. After three weeks, the dose can often be dropped to one 20 mg tablet twice a day. It can also simply be used as needed, and serves as an excellent sleep aid.

Other helpful herbals include valerian, passion flower, hops, theanine, and lemon balm. These can be found in a combination called the “Revitalizing Sleep Formula,” which helps anxiety during the day and sleep at night. I personally use both AnxioCalm and the Revitalizing Sleep Formula at night to ensure 8–9 hours of deep sleep.

The smell of lavender oil is also calming, and a small drop on the upper lip, or even having a lavender bouquet in one's room, can be helpful.

Structural And Biophysics
Simply going for regular walks in the sunshine, and doing yoga, tai chi, and meditation can be very helpful. A technique called centering can help people feel that they are in the calm “eye of the cyclone” when panic attacks hit. In addition, it is helpful to explore a technique called Butyko breathing, which can be very helpful for anxiety and hyperventilation.

For PTSD or old emotional traumas, a technique called EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) can give near miraculous benefits in as little as 20 minutes (see EFT.Mercola.com). It may seem odd, but try it and you'll be amazed. Releasing old traumas through a simple “trembling” technique is also helpful, and the person can do it on their own. It is easy and simple instructions can be found in the book Waking the Tiger.

Ketamine's effectiveness is touted as a sedative, amnestic, mood-altering, and painkilling drug, but it is also now being used as a chemical receptor at IV infusion therapy clinics like Lone Star Infusion to successfully treat patients who suffer from depression and anxiety.

Most notably for patients who have treatment-resistant depressive disorders, Ketamine has proven to have a safety profile that allows patients to overcome symptoms temporarily with just one treatment. Is Ketamine the answer to depression and anxiety. For treatment-resistant patients, researchers are supporting this conclusion.

Early Ketamine Uses
Ketamine was first used as an anesthesia. Milder dosages were also found to relieve the pain of military men and women and reduced their dependency on addictive analgesics like morphine. Because of its potency, Ketamine quickly grew a reputation as a hallucinogenic party drug, which brought more attention to suitable usages. As Dr. John Abenstein, of the American Society of Anesthesiologists notes, Ketamine is a miracle drug¹ when in the appropriate hands.

It is the access to this medical miracle that people suffering from dissociative disorders seek most often at IV infusion therapy clinics nationwide where Ketamine can be administered safely.

As more patients have turned to Ketamine for severe depression and anxiety, researchers looked for additional ways that this drug could assist patients with treatment. While Ketamine is too potent for FDA approval, Esketamine, a by-product, just gained approval to treat depression.

Ketamine remains the most favored treatment for depression and anxiety when given during IV infusion therapy. Newly released studies also show that Ketamine is so effective that it relieves symptoms of depression in hours². Moreover, patients receive their treatments in medically controlled environments, so it is safer than other drugs used for dissociative disorders. It's also less addictive as patients require only one Ketamine treatment a week, although doses differ.

Ketamine Advancements
People who suffer from depression and anxiety generally had to use antidepressant prescriptions, but they often either took weeks to work or were not effective at all. Ketamine is fast-acting, so patients receive quicker relief from symptoms.

While there is much more researchers want to learn about Ketamine, they are sure the drug is unlike any on the market as people receive its benefits as it begins to leave the body rather than building up to be effective.

Scientists at the National Institute of Mental Health theorize that Ketamine, when given through IV infusion therapy, forms new nerve cells in the part of the brain that controls mood and emotion³. For someone who is suffering from severe depression or is suicidal, access to Ketamine would be far better and faster a solution to reduce symptoms than antidepressants, which is why the medical community has responded so favorably to these scientific findings.

Ketamine has a half-life of about seven to eleven minutes, which makes it highly effective as a pharmacokinetic. It takes only about a half-hour when injected intravenously to appear in the bloodstream as well Ketamine also delivers dissociative anesthetics benefits on opioid receptors, so the drug successfully works like medications that treat depression and anxiety. Ketamine is also a potent sedative and analgesia, so it leads to a cataleptic-like response.

Treating Depression And Anxiety

The most common mental health problems in American are depression and anxiety, although some people are still unable to determine their differences because many patients who have one gets diagnosed with the other. Here are significant symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Depression
There are more than 16.2 million Americans who suffer from at least one depressive episode annually. A person who experiences depression for more than two years is medically termed as suffering from severe depression, which Ketamine has successfully been found a viable drug option for treating long-term depressive disorders. While depression affects people of all ages, it is more prominent among teens and adults.

Depression is a treatable disorder that affects how a person thinks, acts, and feels. It also causes symptoms like mood deviation, feelings of sadness, insomnia, appetite fluctuations, loss of concentration, abnormally delayed movement, fatigue, feelings of insignificance, or suicidal thoughts. The continuous presence of these symptoms must last for more than fourteen days before a medical professional can diagnose a patient.

Anxiety
About forty million Americans suffer from anxiety disorders, yet only about a third of these people actively are receiving treatment. There is some belief that of those who do not seek treatment, there is a belief that anxious feelings do not always rise to professional oversight. It is when these feelings become abnormal and trigger harmful behaviors that people require medical intervention, which has boosted Ketamine usage.

There is a definitive difference between a person with mild anxiety who processes behaviors and emotions and someone with severe anxiety as it can affect one's day-to-day living. When a person has an anxiety disorder, he or she experiences elevated feelings of nervousness, uneasiness, fear, and concern that is sometimes termed as fight-or-flight reactions to stressors like social, familial, or financial issues.

The symptoms of these conditions often overlap, such as fatigue or inability to concentrate, so Ketamine IV infusion therapy is considered a better form of treatment than antidepressants.

Ketamine Therapy
Ketamine therapy is ideally suited to treat the symptoms of depression and anxiety as it targets the mood sensors. Typically, patients receive Ketamine therapy once a week on an on-going basis to reduce the symptoms of depression and anxiety, which is why it is recommended that patients speak to medical professionals about this medication as well as dosage therapy. As both depression and anxiety are treatable conditions, Ketamine is a highly effective medication.

Ketamine is used worldwide because of its low side-effects and treatment versatility. About 90% of patients globally have access to Ketamine as well making it a highly reliable drug. It also has a minimal rate of user complications for sedation, anesthesia, and analgesia that suggests it is safe when administered by practitioners in medical settings. Ketamine also has been found to reduce dependency on opioids by up to half⁴, which validates its curative properties significantly.

As the IV infusion therapy procedure has a safe and reputable user profile, more patients today are opting for Ketamine to treat depression and anxiety, which is leading to additional benefits.

References:

1. https://www.depressionalliance.org/ketamine-therapy/
2. https://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/detecting-depression
3. https://science.sciencemag.org/content/338/6103/68
4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6181464/

99 Simple Ways to Channel Your Secret Edge

Julian Brass
Foreword by Joe Minran
Page Two Books
Paperback
267 pages
$16.95 USD
$19.95 CND
ISBN 978-1-989025-62-8

Anxiety seems to have overtaken society. The author’s premise in “Own Your Own Anxiety” is “about owning your anxiety rather than being owned by it. It’s about seeing that anxiety as a gift, an invitation to a better way of living.” There are none of the usual “Get rid of” or “heal yourself.”

We have all been there when the situation sets our nerves to take over and run through our bodies turning us into a revolving whirl, it can be when we are put in a spotlight, going on stage, giving a presentation, dealing with a personal trauma, taking a test, relationship issues, going to the dentist or hearing results from your doctor. Some of us are more prone to these situations than others. We all have different reactions with our genetics influencing our own responses on various levels of seriousness. Most of us who have experienced anxiety know how to deal with it in a negative way i.e., eating, drinking, smoking, the list goes on. Here is your opportunity to turn those anxious moments into positive energy.

Brass focuses on 99 ways to convert your anxieties into working for you. And it is amazingly easy to get started with the help of “Own Your Own Anxiety.” The book is formatted into three parts: Own Your Body, Own Your Mind, and Own Your Soul. Within you’ll find The 99 ways—”Owning Anxiety is a series of decisions, all undertaken with love for your self.” You may find it helpful to refer to the book on a daily basis or sit down and go through the index marking the topics that are of interest to you. And later read those topics. Brass does have a way of turning issues into a positive and pleasant style.

Topics vary to name a few—Breathe, Smile More, Swim, Quit Or Reduce Coffee, Laugh More Often, Don’t Park Illegally, Give Gratitude, Know Your Direction, Keep Your Phone Away From Your Bed, Say “No” More, Own Your Finances, Visualize, and Get To Know Your Crossing Guard are just a few of the 99 featured.

You may find that not all of the 99 themes apply to you but you may have a family member or a friend that may benefit from having their own copy of “Own Your Own Anxiety.”