Reply To: ANXIETY

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yytz
Participant

Susceptibility to anxiety is to a large degree caused by genes (are any of your parents or grandparents anxious?) and environment (did you suffer from traumatic experiences, drink a lot of coffee, use marijuana, etc.) I wouldn’t say you could necessarily blame it on a particular midah like bitachon.

By all means, you should work on your emuna/bitachon, as should pretty much everyone. Read R’ Shalom Arush’s seforim, other related seforim, daven at length in your own words for greater bitachon, etc. Avoid any disputes or arguments with other people, even on the Internet, because this will cause worry.

But you should also do things that are generally recommended for anxiety.

For example, stop drinking caffeine for a while, even dark chocolate (or at least switch from coffee to green tea). Engage in a few minutes of (kosher) meditation daily to calm your mind (there are tons of studies on how effective this is), or better yet make your davening meditative. Do some exercise in the morning or mid-day, especially aerobic exercise.

If you are worrying a lot, try to stop yourself by reassuring yourself that everything will be for the best, and by starting to think about something else. There are many books (secular as well as Jewish) about how to stop such thinking patterns.

Also, try not to put yourself in anxiety-provoking situations.

Finally, I know from friends’ experiences that Chinese medicine (ie, acupuncture, acupressure, etc.) is extremely effective for anxiety. Hatzlacha!