Anxiety: The Levers That Work Are Behavioural, Not Pills

Summary

The strongest non-drug levers for anxiety are behavioural, not pharmacological: **regular aerobic exercise** (Tier 1, moderate effect), **cutting caffeine** (Tier 1, dose-dependent panic link), **reducing alcohol** (Tier 1, breaks a self-medication cycle), **slow breathing at ~5–6 breaths/min** (Tier 2, reliable acute relief), and **the CBT/graded-exposure principle of approaching rather than avoiding** (Tier 1, first-line) — with sleep restoration sitting underneath all of them; the "anxiety supplement" shelf (ashwagandha, L-theanine, CBD) is where the evidence weakens sharply, and none of th