I'm an expert on anxiety

[NJCher]

7. some background, a new article

I don't belong to this group, but I'm one of those, too. Always have to be doing something useful or that meets my goals. I have all kinds of organizing worksheets, timers, and I keep all the worksheets in a three-ring notebook so I could tell you what I've done at any given minute in the last decade. I know, kinda' obsessive.

However, I have more interests than most people, and to make progress on all of them, it's essential that I organize my time and divide it among the interests, i.e., writing, gardening, creative endeavors, keeping up my house, jobs (3, all of which are however much time I want to put in on them).

I started doing regular focus exercise sessions slightly over a year ago, not for reasons of anxiety or any mental disorder. I had another goal, but what I learned along the way is not only was that an excellent way to achieve my goal, it had other side benefits, such as more creativity in my writing.

I also learned the main reason people engage in regular focus exercises is that it helps anxiety.

Consequently, it is easy to do when I view it as something that makes me more effective in my other work.

Here's a new article on it; just published by the Washington Post yesterday.

Mindfulness exercises can be as effective as anxiety drugs, study shows
Breathing and body exercises helped relieve anxiety as effectively as medications over an eight-week study of 208 people

snip

Practicing mindfulness to relieve anxiety can be just as effective as medication, new research shows.

A recent study published in JAMA Psychiatry showed that people who received eight weeks of mindfulness-based interventions experienced a decrease in anxiety that matched those who were prescribed escitalopram, a common anti-anxiety medication that is often prescribed under the brand name Lexapro.

snip

She believes the findings help support the use of mindfulness as a viable intervention that may be better than traditional treatments for some people, such as those who aren’t comfortable seeing a psychiatrist or who experience negative side effects from medication.

“We can’t yet predict who will do better with which type of treatment,” Hoge said. “But there’s nothing that says you couldn’t do both at the same time.”

snip

Paywall-free link:

https://wapo.st/3H2LVws

There's another interesting article out which I'll try to find and post at some point.