The number of Americans overdosing on prescription anxiety drugs has quadrupled in the past 2 decades!

In recent years a lot more Americans are taking drugs for anxiety, and they are taking higher doses. This finding was reported in the American Journal of Public Health. The most commonly used anxiety drugs are Xanax and Valium. These drugs are known as benzodiazepines, (commonly referred to as benzos). The death rate from overdoses has increased more than four fold since 1996.

More than 5 percent of adults in the United States fill a benzodiazepine prescription every year. Apart from anxiety, they are also used for mood disorders and insomnia. These drugs are highly addictive and, in 2013, almost a third of the 23,000 people who died from prescription drug overdoses were taking a benzodiazepine.

We are definitely living in the age of anxiety. Many people are experiencing increasing levels of stress in their life which is causing problems with sleep and day to day life. Anxiety and depression often go together and most sufferers experience a bit of both.

Sometimes you find yourself in a difficult situation involving finances, relationships or health that triggers high levels of anxiety. It might be impossible to change the circumstances around you, but you can help your body to cope with the stress a little better. Magnesium is such a relaxing mineral and I find that all my stressed patients feel significantly better on it, and they sleep better while taking it. Meditation, stretching, yoga, deep breathing and exercise are also incredibly powerful ways to feel calmer. Even if you just do these activities for 5 minutes, you are guaranteed to feel a little better afterwards.

See our other tips for reducing anxiety naturally.

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