A Mental Health Journey:

With Jamie Jackson Spannhake

A Guest Post By Jamie Spannhake

I suffer from anxiety. Clinical anxiety is a real thing. It includes generalized anxiety and panic disorders. It’s not just getting easily annoyed or irritated or having a racing heart. It can cloud your mind and thought processes, inhibit your personality, and prevent you from enjoying your life, especially your social life. It is a true struggle.Thankfully, I have learned ways to manage my anxiety so that it doesn’t negatively affect my career or my daily life.

I took medication for anxiety for nearly four years. I knew it was time for help beyond what I could manage on my own after a particularly stressful time at work. I was handling a large corporate arbitration that was extremely contentious. Opposing counsel was a dreadful person who flat-out lied to the arbitrator on numerous occasions. During one telephonic hearing with all counsel and the arbitrator, I was sitting in my office with the phone on speaker, listening to opposing counsel spout lies. I could feel my blood pressure rising, my heartbeat increasing, which at first felt normal for the situation. But then it went beyond normal. I began shaking. My mind began racing. I was having a hard time concentrating and breathing normally. I don’t recall exactly how that hearing ended, but I remember getting out of my office and walking the entire city block twice before I began to feel a little more normal. But my heart rate didn’t return to a normal resting rate.

From then on, my heart rate was at least 90 beats a minute, even when I was trying to go to sleep. When I did sleep, I had terrible dreams in which someone or something was after me and trying to kill me. I woke up in a near state of panic each morning and things only got worse as the day went on. I was shaking by the end of most days, unable to calm down or quiet my mind. I had been building up to this massive anxiety, just holding it at bay. Now it was released and I couldn’t manage it anymore. I went to my doctor, who prescribed a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). This worked really well for me, as did yoga and talk therapy with my wonderful therapist.

My point in telling you this is twofold. First, if you are taking medication for anxiety, do not stop your medication without discussing it with your doctor. Medication can be necessary for some people and some circumstances. It was necessary for me to “reset” my body and mind to get back to a place where I can manage my anxiety without it. 
Second, whether you have clinical anxiety or situational anxiety or no anxiety, meditation and mindfulness are helpful. With regular meditation and yoga practice, I am able to manage my anxiety without medication. For now. There may come a time when I am not able to live my best life because I find I can no longer manage the anxiety alone, even though I meditate and practice yoga regularly. If that time comes, I’ll go back to medication without any shame.

One of my favorite quotes about anxiety comes from Mark Twain. Okay, it’s not directly about anxiety, but it sums up my experience of anxiety perfectly: “I … have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.” I have learned to not waste my time wringing my hands about things that might go wrong. Instead, I prepare, control what I can (which is often very little), and let the rest go. I’ve learned to not be so attached to the outcome. I’ve learned to focus on the moment and the process, putting one foot in front of the other. I’ve learned that no matter what happens, I will be able to handle it.

There are other tools I use to handle my anxiety that focus on increasing the levels of serotonin in the brain. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter, a kind of chemical messenger that helps the brain function. More specifically, serotonin is a “feel good” neurotransmitter and a mood stabilizer that boosts feelings of wellness and balance. When serotonin levels are optimal, we are able to think more clearly, act rather than react, and address stressful situations with calm and clarity. My top serotonin tools are:

1. A Healthy Diet. A healthy, balanced diet is important for optimal serotonin levels. In particular, fish, eggs, nuts and seeds, pineapples, and complex carbohydrates (like fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains) increase serotonin levels. It is also important to limit added sugars because sugar disrupts normal chemical reactions in the brain, which can inhibit serotonin processing and production. You can also supplement your healthy diet with B vitamins, fish oil, holy basil, rhodiola, and L-tyrosine, all of which help the brain produce more serotonin.

2. Exercise is the most effective way to increase serotonin levels. There are no side effects, and it always works. As little as 30 minutes of brisk walking three times each week will help.

3. Body Work, including massage, acupuncture, acupressure, and reflexology relieve stress and boost serotonin levels.

4. Use Your Mind. Thinking about past happy experiences, or looking at photos of those experiences, can boost serotonin levels. The same is true for keeping a gratitude journal and daydreaming about happy times. 

5. Take a Mental Health Day. I try to find at least one day each week, or at least each month, to find some peace and mental clarity by taking a day to relax or do nothing or do something that I enjoy. 
Anxiety can sometimes make us feel like we can’t handle life. But that’s not true. It can be managed and we can work and live to our full potential!