My son is 24 years old and has had an anxiety disorder for the last couple of years. I've always felt it has come about because of the computer war games he used to play a lot of the time. He feels that has no relevance to his issue. He is a very heavy sleeper and sleeps all night but always feels extremely tired. He's been to his doctor and had the usual blood tests but nothing is amiss from that angle. Next week he is set to see a sleep specialist in case he has sleep apnoeia. Years ago because of severe acne he took ro-accutane for a while.

Do you think there would be some natural supplements he could take that would help his anxiety and continual tiredness? All suggestions and thoughts will be appreciated.

Do you have wireless internet/phones?

Is his bedroom located near the main electrical hookup to your home?

Have him remove all the electrical things in his bedroom, placing his clock as far away from his bed that he can & covering the light emited from it. He should also put his cellphone in another room.
Give it a week & see if it improves.

Does he exercise? If not, get him to take a 20 minute walk everyday at a pace where he can still talk, but with a little difficulity.

__________________

Could be a number of things. It's a rough time in the world for people between the ages of 16 and 30 I'd say. It's constantly changing, and is very stressful. Out of school, so many choices, so many roads to be taken, where do you go? What do you do? When do you leave the nest?

What do you do with your life? Yes, very stressful indeed.

I would suggest green tea, chamomille, manzanilla, naranjo-agrio and the like for the anxiety, it does help. In terms of energy there are some healthy energy boosting drinks which are a mix of green-tea and jinseng, or ginger and jinseng and the like. Some of those might help.

But feeling tired all the time can be a sign of depression as well. Anxiety and depression often go hand in hand.. (been there, done that..)

The important thing is to be supportive, and don't blame the video games, that is just a cop out that is NEVER the underlying issue.

Cookie's suggestions are good ones as well, I would add maybe getting a sleep mask if you guys live in the city as there is always ambient light of some kind.

I would try Rhodiola Rosea. My own son has used this, for similar reasons, and it worked quite well.

Dan

I wouldnt try any of this stuff. I'd be getting him to a good classical homeopath. Why load a young kid up on all kinds of herbals that probably wont cure when homeopathy can.

And I agree with him... the video games are not causing this... but excessive use may be a symptom of a mental state that likes to get zoned out

Homeoapthy first, always. Only if it fails seek out other options.

__________________

Thank you so much, all of you. Jeremy is now living in his own place. He bought a run down old house (renovator's dream??) and is renovatiing it as he gets time. It's been a wonderful experience for him. I shall pass on everything in this thread to him and he can make a start on the suggestions. He went to a homeopath when he was a child and responded very well so he can easily organize that and hopefully have some success. I think he even has his mobile phone and his lap top in his bedroom at night so he could remove them and do something about his clock too. Exercise is something he wants to get back into. I think lack of motivation is the problem there. But now he can make a concerted. plan of action. Many thanks.

If anyone else has any other suggestions please do let us know.

in terms of the exercise that is a common affliction lol! You can start out going strong, and then in a few days, weeks, months (however long it is) you just fall back into the same routine.

It is said to be 100% happy and healthy that you need to have at least 30 minutes of exercise a day.

However, judging from your post, maybe his issue was that he was just plain bored... Had nothing to do. You said it was a handyman special? Maybe that's the trick, maybe he just wanted something to do, to feel USEFUL to have a PURPOSE... We all need that sort of feeling in our life, and if we don't have it, emptiness resides, and then of course, mild bitterness, then anxiety, and of course depression... (experience talking here...)

Glad he got it worked out though Sounds like he's on the way to doing what he wants, and that's important.

I agree with Tick on using Chamomile for anxiety, also on the fact that feeling tired/lethargic can be a form of mild depression, even if it's just being in a slump. He's sleeping good at night, but he may be showing the subconscious desire to nap all day if he could, another symptom of depression.

Some other supplements that would be helpful for anxiety is Magnesium Citrate, and the amino acid L-Theanine. Skullcap and Passionflower are also herbs that can relax. More info on Chamomile, etc. in our Wiki, tab at top of forum page.

Also, as Cookie suggested, exercise can help us feel better overall, physically, mentally and emotionally. If he gets into something he likes to do and looks forward to, his fatigue and anxiety may melt away.

The computer gaming, especially if it's in the past, likely has little or nothing to do with it.

__________________
"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." ~Immanual Kant~

More advice - that's great. I've emailed the address of this thread to Jeremy so hopefully he will even join in the conversation himself. Thank you all.

well, if he does come by we'll be more than happy to share experience and offer some links with some information so he can come to some conclusions

He needs to know that even though we have these experiences etc he is a unique individual and what is good for the goose is not necessarily good for the gander. So, he needs to know what works for him, and what makes HIM happy.

If we help to do that great, but he should check many sources for information as well. He might also consider some support group if he feels it is needed. There are lots of them available.

Point taken.

I have a little bit of anxiety in my opinion and I can tell you what has helped me. I would avoid caffeine, especially coffees or soda and even though green tea has caffeine it has helped me relax more. I've noticed rooibos tea has helped me a lot and I would consider taking St. John's wart and or passion flower as well. Maybe take St. John's wart in the morning as it won't make him tired and then take passion flower at night.

I drink rooibos tea every night, but sometimes I mix some chamomile in it as well.

Thanks jbo. Jeremy had to leave work at midday on Thursday because he was so incredibly tired and unwell. He went home and slept for 5 hours in the afternoon. Next day he went to his doctor who wants him to see a cognitive behaviour therapist. He did see someone before but he feels that if he visits another therapist he would prefer it to be someone closer to his own age. So hopefully that will produce some good results. In the meantime he has been to one of our local health shops and the lady there felt he could benefit from magnesium so he's bought that. I've been reading a book called Re-Wiring Your Brain by John B Arden which is very informative and he has also written an anxiety workbook that sounds wonderful. I've ordered it online but I reckon it will take ages to get here to Australia which is a pity.

I'll pass your info on to Jeremy. Thank you so much.

Yes, everyone is different but it's a big difference for people depending on age who they prefer to see for a therapist.

For example, I know of cases where they would rather talk to someone as close to their own age as possible, as they can relate more. It has also been said that this might be because they are at the stage in their life where they don't really like being told what to do, and they feel with someone closer to their own age it is more like advice. This is a common misconception as therapists really won't tell you what to do (well, psychiatrists anyway -- Well, they aren't SUPPOSED to)

Some people prefer older therapists as they feel more secure in the fact that they have more experience.

However, in almost all cases the person is the same age or older. You never really hear any success stories if the therapist happens to be younger.

Yes, it is sometimes hard to take advice from someone younger. I think we tend to think "Well what would YOU know?"