Many Anxiety Treatments Available for the Stressed Student

Society is increasingly neurotic even outside of the current economic climate.

Anxiety has become a medicated condition, but it is more endemic to our habits, to the rush, rush rush we all go through, in a world where we have been taught that faster is better. But paradoxically, slow is better. And actually more effective. And, it relieves the anxiety. It’s the difference between a shotgun and a sniper. The sniper will hit his mark cleanly, and effectively. But the shotgun can miss, or not hit the target with sufficient force to be effective. It’s the belief that scattering the effort will work. It can. But consider the effort.

In college as a student I started to get anxiety attacks, there was nothing more terrible, and I was willing to try anything for just a little relief. I was a poor student, unable to afford expensive counseling, and so the only anxiety treatment available to me was drugs. Back then they didn’t have the meds we have now, drugs like Xanax, Librium, and Valium, as well as non-prescription self-medication with pot and alcohol. But all these  anxiety treatments did was create a cycle of dependency, whether they were doctor prescribed, or self-administered. Although sedatives can be a great relief from a sudden anxiety attack, in the long run they make you even more unable to cope with your problems.

After these, and several other anxiety treatments, I finally discovered meditation. I cannot tell you how much it changed my life. No matter what problems you face in your life, meditation is really a panacea. The only problem is that it requires a lot of self discipline and at least an hour a day time commitment. For a while, I tried more conventional anxiety treatments, such as therapy, but I found these unsettling.

I could talk about my problems, and that provided some kind of relief, but although the strength of the anxiety attacks decreased somewhat, they still persisted until I got into meditation. Many people will say that you need to go to a doctor for anxiety treatments, but these people have not discovered the do-it-yourself method of calming the mind and body which I have profited from personally.

After years of therapy I can safely say that Meditation did more for me than years of therapy. The therapy was a bandaid, and became a dependency of its own. I don’t rule it out to help those in crisis, and by all means take the meds to alleviate the symptoms (THEY WORK!) But begin to meditate.An excellent book I used to get me started was Tobin Blakes “The Power of Stillness” which is available from Amazon. I’ll be adding a live link soon, so please check back.

You may be plagued by anxiety attacks, and just knowing that if they do come, you have a quick and easy way to stop them is really a precious bit of reassurance. Whatever anxiety treatments you are using, it is still best to have an emergency weapon against the dreaded panic attack. If they are severe, use a doctor and take the medications. If you want a long-lasting change, learn to meditate. It will change your life. You will learn joy.

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