Free Yourself from Anxiety by Emma Fletcher Read Free Book Online Page B

some feel an almost miraculous change when they give it up, whereas others feel there is little difference.
    Take a look at the food and drink records you kept for the exercise above, and count up the caffeine based drinks you have in an average day. Caffeine is found in tea, coffee, most cola drinks and energy drinks. If you are having more than two or three caffeine drinks a day it would be worth cutting down, or even better, giving up altogether.
    Do it gradually, because stopping suddenly can give you a withdrawal headache and a few days of feeling mildly unwell. (Of course for anyone who does experience this, it is a sure sign that they are sensitive to caffeine and would be better off without it). Try cutting out every other drink, or make your drinks smaller. Make sure you keep your fluid levels up by substituting water, milk or fruit juice. Give yourself at least two weeks to give up caffeine, making small changes each day.
    Once you have stopped having caffeine you need to maintain that throughout your Anxiety recovery programme. You may feel some immediate benefit, but the greatest improvements happen quite slowly. Those people who are very sensitive to caffeine would be best to give it up permanently.
Checklist – food and drink
    It’s time to look at your eating and drinking habits and decide where you might benefit from making changes. Use the checklist to help you focus – any box that you can’t tick is one that you can choose to work on.
    eating something within 20 minutes of waking up
    breakfast, either then or not long after
    mid-morning snack
    lunch
    mid-afternoon snack
    dinner
    light supper
    avoiding sweets and chocolate
    avoiding cakes and biscuits
    avoiding caffeine
    eating fresh fruit and vegetables
    eating a wide variety of foods
    drinking plenty of water
    Use your goal setting skills to make these changes.
Compare your diaries
    Once you have a set of records for both your Anxiety and your food and drink intake then you can compare them. Look to see if there is a pattern.
    Ask yourself:
    • Is my Anxiety worst when my system is empty?
    • Does my Anxiety go up after a caffeine-based drink, or after eating sweets or biscuits?
    • Do I feel calmer after a meal?
    For some people the link is very strong, and it can come as quite a shock to realise how much impact poor eating habits can have on Anxiety.
    GROUP MEMBERS TALK ABOUT CAFFEINE
    ‘I’ve never felt that caffeine was a factor in my anxiety – I have tried cutting down and it made no difference, although I am aware of the effects if I have too much coffee.’
A NDREW
    ‘I gave up caffeine and it helped me quite a lot.’
J ULIE
    ‘I know I drink too much coffee. I started because I was on medication which made me tired. Now I am off the medication that made me so tired but drinking too much coffee has become a habit. Also took caffeine pills – I used to get very anxious around bedtime because of nightmares, so I wanted to keep awake. I overdosed on the pills and they made me feel sick, also anxiety increased because I was worried about getting sick and the fact that I had too much caffeine in my system.’
S ARAH
    ‘I’ve never worried about caffeine, and I like the sugar in a coffee. If I’m out sometimes I have a coffee, I feel I need the sugar. You’ve got to find out what suits you.’
W ENDY

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Understanding Alcohol, Nicotine and Other Drugs
Alcohol
    Many anxious people resort to alcohol in the belief that it helps them cope with stressful situations. Unfortunately alcohol is a depressant, and therefore not helpful to Anxiety sufferers. Examine your records from the exercise above and be honest with yourself about the amount of alcohol you consume – could you, for instance, go a whole week without an alcoholic drink? If the answer is yes, then take alcohol out of your diet for a week just to prove that you can. Once you’ve done that, you can allow yourself occasional social drinks during your recovery.
    If the answer is