Self awareness is important because when we have a better understanding of ourselves, we are able to experience ourselves as unique and separate individuals. We are then empowered to make changes and to build on our areas of strength as well as identify areas where we would like to make improvements.

Hypervigilance is a state of increased alertness. If you’re in a state of hypervigilance, you’re extremely sensitive to your surroundings. Hypervigilance can be a symptom of mental health conditions, including: post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Hyperawareness or sensorimotor obsessions are characterized by an excessive concern that your attention to some otherwise forgettable or involuntary bodily process will become totally and permanently conscious. In other words, we do a lot without thinking about it, so thinking about it feels uncomfortable.

Try these when you’re feeling anxious or stressed:

1. Take a time-out.
2. Eat well-balanced meals.
3. Limit alcohol and caffeine, which can aggravate anxiety and trigger panic attacks.
4. Get enough sleep.
5. Exercise daily to help you feel good and maintain your health.
6. Take deep breaths.
7. Count to 10 slowly.
8. Do your best.

If you perform each step thoroughly, anxiety will subside and go away.

1. Step 1: Get out of the mind and back into the body. Let’s say that you find yourself having anxious thoughts.
2. Step 2: Clear the fear response. Now that you feel your body, bring its unpleasant sensations to an end.
3. Step 3: Calm the body.

By biasing attention, anxiety alters what we are conscious of, and in turn, the way we experience reality. This can have profound consequences. Anxiety’s effects on attention may shape worldviews and belief systems in specific and predictable ways. It can even affect our politics without us knowing.

Avoidance is a common behaviour when anxiety strikes and learning how to cope through approach rather than avoidance is an important tool. Although when we first avoid we might feel less anxious, after a while the thing we are avoiding can seem harder to approach.

Vitamin D Some research suggests that having a vitamin D deficiency could also be linked with anxiety disorders. For example: A 2015 review study reports that people with symptoms of anxiety or depression had lower levels of calcidiol, a byproduct of vitamin D breakdown, in their bodies.

7 Best Vitamins and Supplements to Combat Stress

1. Rhodiola rosea. Rhodiola (Rhodiola rosea), is an herb that grows in the cold, mountainous regions of Russia and Asia.
2. Melatonin. Getting adequate amounts of quality sleep is important for relieving stress.
3. Glycine.
4. Ashwagandha.
5. L-theanine.
6. B complex vitamins.
7. Kava.

How can I tell if I have low magnesium? Early symptoms of magnesium deficiency can include nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite, tiredness, and weakness. Although many people are not getting enough magnesium, deficiency is rare, and symptoms usually indicate an underlying health condition.

Studies have shown a link between vitamin D deficiency and depression. Researchers behind a 2013 meta-analysis noticed that study participants with depression also had low vitamin D levels. The same analysis found that, statistically, people with low vitamin D were at a much greater risk of depression.

Patrick and Dr. Ames show that vitamin D hormone activates the gene that makes the enzyme tryptophan hydroxylase 2 (TPH2), that converts the essential amino acid tryptophan, to serotonin in the brain.

Vitamin D toxicity, also called hypervitaminosis D, is a rare but potentially serious condition that occurs when you have excessive amounts of vitamin D in your body. Vitamin D toxicity is usually caused by large doses of vitamin D supplements — not by diet or sun exposure.

They found substantial evidence that a decrease in the vitamin B-12 serum correlates with an increase in depression. They also state that high vitamin B-12 status may be associated with better treatment outcome of depression. The researchers suggest people with depression take a 1-milligram supplement of B-12 daily.

Vitamin B12 is needed for the production of serotonin, a chemical responsible for regulating mood. Vitamin B12 supplements may help improve mood in people with an existing deficiency.

On the basis of current data, we suggest that oral doses of both folic acid (800 microg daily) and vitamin B12 (1 mg daily) should be tried to improve treatment outcome in depression.

Read on to learn about different ways to increase serotonin naturally.

1. Food. You can’t directly get serotonin from food, but you can get tryptophan, an amino acid that’s converted to serotonin in your brain.
2. Exercise.
3. Bright light.
4. Supplements.
5. Massage.
6. Mood induction.

CBD doesn’t necessarily boost serotonin levels, but it may affect how your brain’s chemical receptors respond to the serotonin that’s already in your system. A 2014 animal study found that CBD’s effect on these receptors in the brain produced both antidepressant and anti-anxiety effects.

Vitamin B6, also known as pyridoxine, has special importance as a precursor of serotonin and tryptophan and can also play a role in behavior and mood. Magnesium is essential for many biochemical reactions in the body and brain.

B12 acts as a cofactor in synthesis of neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine, thus B12 deficiency affects mood, emotions and sleeping and can lead to psychiatric disorders.

Supplemen- tation with adenosine also increased brain tryptophan concentration, but decreased brain levels of serotonin and 5-HIAA. When fed with caffeine, adenosine partially re- duced the caffeine-elicited increase in brain serotonin.

Symptoms

• Agitation or restlessness.
• Confusion.
• Rapid heart rate and high blood pressure.
• Dilated pupils.
• Loss of muscle coordination or twitching muscles.
• Muscle rigidity.
• Heavy sweating.
• Diarrhea.