Dizziness is a common condition that affects people all over the world.
Although dizziness feels different for everyone, in general, dizziness is a feeling of being unsteady on your feet, feeling faint or lightheaded, or feeling like the world is spinning around you.
Dizziness itself can cause anxiety, making people feel unsafe when standing, afraid of falling, or causing general concern about their health. In some cases, anxiety is thought to be the main cause of dizziness. When people feel anxious, they may breathe rapidly. This type of breathing changes the balance of gases in the blood and causes the brain to feel weak and faint.
How to Control Anxiety and Prevent Dizziness Without Medication?
If you don’t want to take medication, you can try these techniques:
1. Stay Active
When you feel dizzy or anxious, it’s tempting to sit or lie down and wait for the feeling to pass. However, exercise can be a helpful part of coping with dizziness. It helps your body regulate the feeling of being off balance and relieves symptoms.
Exercise also releases endorphins and other feel-good hormones, which help your brain deal with stress. When you move your body, your mind tends to take a step away from whatever might be causing your anxiety.
To make it easier to get out the door, choose an exercise that you enjoy. Get outside and enjoy nature to help build a sense of connection.
If you feel overwhelmed by exercising on your own, talk to your doctor and see if they can refer you to a vestibular physical therapist.
2. Physical Therapy
If you have anxiety-related dizziness, working with a physical therapist may be helpful. Physical therapists target the central vestibular system with a variety of exercises to help it function as efficiently as possible.
They can also talk to you about situations that cause you to experience anxiety-related dizziness.
Often, these situations can be environments like shopping malls, grocery stores, or even open spaces. By understanding the potential triggers for dizziness, your physical therapist can determine the best treatment.
Working with a physical therapist doesn’t have to be a big step. They will work with you at your own pace and gradually increase your activity level.
3. Take Deep Breaths
There are many breathing techniques that can help you relax, manage stress, and manage your dizziness symptoms.
One strategy is diaphragmatic breathing, also known as belly breathing, in which you engage your entire stomach, abdominal muscles, and diaphragm. This technique is designed to help slow your breathing when you feel anxious.
You may have also heard of people breathing in and out through brown paper bags, which is another way to control your breathing.
Another technique is called progressive muscle relaxation, which involves you relaxing in a two-step process. First, you tense different muscle groups in your body, then you release the tension and pay attention to how it feels as the muscles relax.
4. Coping with Anxiety
Everyone copes with anxiety in different ways. Reading, especially fiction, can be a great way to relax and forget about whatever might be causing you stress. You can also find similar joy in music, podcasts, drawing, and other forms of arts and crafts.
Animals can also be highly therapeutic, especially cats and dogs. They provide companionship, encourage their owners to be playful and active, help reduce stress and anxiety, and improve mood.
Talking to a friend or family member who you feel safe confiding in can be helpful in relieving the burden of any stress that may be fueling your anxiety. If you prefer to keep your worries private, write them down in a journal or somewhere private.
Visualization is another tool that can be used to help manage stress and associated dizziness. Visualization is when you imagine something pleasant for a few minutes so that you feel better afterwards. An example might be your favorite vacation destination.
When you think about these pleasant scenarios, your body and brain are more likely to relax and calm down.
5. Talk Therapy
You may also choose to engage in talk therapy to address anxiety, stress, or depression. Cognitive behavioral therapy is often used to treat anxiety. It involves exploring how you perceive things and then challenging you with tasks to get rid of unhelpful thoughts. The focus is on training your brain to stop thinking negatively by replacing those thoughts with positive options.
