Four Amazing Nootropics For Anxiety & How To Use Them Safely

If anxiety, stress, depression, or any combination of those things are acute, they can be debilitating. People are searching for alternatives that are less invasive than antianxiety and depression medications.

This guide to using nootropic drugs for anxiety, depression, and socializing, is going to cover everything you need to know in easy to understand details.

We will talk about what causes anxiety, and how it’s dealt with naturally. Why other methods fail to deal with anxiety, and importantly, why sensibly used nootropic smart drugs can work miracles.

What Causes Anxiety?

It’s impossible to document exactly what causes anxiety here. For a start, even experts aren’t sure how the triggers manifest themselves so damagingly.

But it’s all to do with brain chemicals. Whether it’s triggered from certain feelings and emotions, situations, visual stimuli, whatever it is, or a permanent chemical change created by stress and trauma, we know it’s to do with chemical balance.

When those chemicals in your body are unbalanced, you start to panic. All those classic stressful feelings physically and emotionally begin, and you struggle to stop them snowballing. With depression it’s the other way around, you struggle to function. But both conditions can it cause partial or total social paralysis.

Anxiety has been linked to a variety of sources through:

  • Feelings and emotions
  • Overuse of recreational drugs and alcohol
  • A natural chemical imbalance
  • Past events triggering default responses
  • Life problems

So the truth is no you really know what causes them, but what is clear is it is linked to our primal fight or flight response system, with some big clues in what we’ve just covered. When it’s triggered, we try and escape either physically or mentally (or both). In the past, it’s kept us safe, but in the modern world, unfortunately, there are so many nuances that it is triggered by a myriad of things.

what causing anxiety

Dealing With Anxiety & Stress Naturally

Now I don’t want to spend ages here trying to tell you how to deal with anxiety and stress naturally, or depression for that matter, because I know you will have already tried.

But some people do deal with anxiety and depression naturally once they understand the root cause. But getting at that root cause can be incredibly difficult.

That’s why some people find that smart drugs help them, because they give them “breathing space” over weeks and months to calm down, take a step back, and analyze exactly what is happening so they can change things, without replacing one problem with another (as long as you are sensible with a dose frequency of use).

Why Alcohol And Narcotics Are Not Good For Anxiety

Just to be clear here, alcohol and narcotics are not in the same boat as nootropics. Alcohol is an incredible depressant chemical. Physically and emotionally it’s a depressant, and those effects can build up over time.

But one of the side effects of alcohol use is anxiety. If you feel anxious and you get drunk to calm anxiety, when the alcohol wears off you get withdrawal symptoms mixed with the anxiety which makes the problem even worse.

That’s the same with narcotics as well. A lot of people get into using drugs to trying numb themselves, every time they come up for air, they panic because they haven’t dealt with the underlying issues, and so they swamp themselves again. It’s a vicious cycle that kills people.

alcohol and anxiety

The Benefits Of Using Nootropics For Depression And Anxiety Relief

Sensibly used smart drugs are a completely different ball game to alcohol and narcotics though.

But if you do find the right smart drug for you at a sensible dose, then with moderate use you can get significant benefits:

  • Calmness which allows you to confront problems
  • Clear thinking which nullifies clouded panic
  • Time and space emotionally to analyze what’s causing it
  • The ability to deal with stressful situations with ease
  • Better mental and physical energy levels

It’s important to say that one smart drug will be good for one person, but it won’t be a great fit for another. That’s because different smart drugs interact with different neurotransmitters, hormones, and receptors in the body.

Broadly, the key chemicals in our bodies which are involved in the good and the bad of anxiety and depression are:

  1. Serotonin is the crucial chemical in our body which deals with happiness and well-being. It also helps to regulate our body clock. To an imbalance in serotonin can create depression, uneven mood, and cause problems with sleep.
  2. Dopamine is another neurotransmitter linked to serotonin. It helps with drive and determination, confidence and self-esteem. It’s no coincidence that a lot of self-esteem and social anxiety problems are beaten by boosting dopamine production. Too much of it though can also be problematic, as it creates risk-taking behavior.
  3. GABA is the body’s main inhibitory neurotransmitter. An imbalance of it means that it doesn’t regulate responses in our central nervous system as well, which creates swings that cause things like anxiety and depression.
  1. Glutamate is the last of our famous four. Just as GABA is our main inhibitory neurotransmitter, so glutamate is a main excitatory one. An imbalance of it can again create feelings of anxiety and depression.
  1. Anxiety

Nootropics can help with anxiety by interacting with various neurotransmitters. Unfortunately, because smart drugs affect different neurotransmitters, you have to work out which one is most likely to address your problem. That can lead to some trial and error. But really, you’re looking at any smart drug or related substance that can calm you down

  1. Stress

With stress and anxiety you’re looking at calming yourself down. So something that has a sedative effect, or that restores and neurotransmitters balance (or inhibits it) to calm down your response is crucial.

  1. Depression

Depression is different for anxiety and stress because the balance creates a feeling of numbness, detachment. You don’t want to do anything, physically or mentally. This means you’re looking at smart drugs that have the ability to restore balance, or to be excitatory, stimulating, both mentally and physically.

Top 4 Best Nootropics For Anxiety & Depression

Hopefully, you now got a better idea of what feeds into this complicated subject. It’s definitely not something that you can nail down specifically. Trial and error will be crucial. You cannot just say “If you’re anxious to take X nootropic”.

That means you’re going to have to work on dosing sensibly and making a great choice on which nootropic drug to trial for the condition or problem you face.

So what I’m going to do now is run through four of the best nootropics supplements for anxiety. I’m also going to talk to you about nootropics for depression within this as well.

1. Aniracetam

Racetams are the most widely used class of smart drugs on the planet. They have all been created in the past few decades, but originated in the Soviet Union in the 1960s. Newer drugs have been developed with similar cellular structures, and put in this class.

The problem with racetams is that not only are scientists unsure how each one produces its effects in the brain, but also each one has a different method of action. So whereas Piracetam is a GABA analogue, Aniracetam modulates something called the AMPA receptor.

What’s important is that it’s a receptor for glutamate. It boosts neural signaling because it increases the efficiency of glutamate. The results of this produce the following benefits:

  • More glutamate regulation creates better focus and concentration
  • You will have better cognitive function generally
  • Memory and recall are improved
  • Has cognitive enhancing and neuroprotective properties
  • Has been found to produce strong anxiolytic (anti-anxiety) effects

What you’re getting something which improves glutamate bioavailability, having the effects of improving cognitive function, making us feel calm and more in control. But glutamate regulation also (in ways that are not understood) also affect dopamine and serotonin levels, which means Aniracetam acts as an antidepressant as well, which is great for depression and social anxiety.

aniracetam

  1. Phenibut

Phenibut is a central nervous system depressant that has strong antianxiety effects. Again, it was created in the Soviet Union in the 1960s and is still prescribed for anxiety in several old Soviet bloc countries.

It works as a full GABA agonist. At higher doses, it can create sedation because it’s such a strong central nervous system depressant. This characteristic makes means it’s not one of the recommended nootropics for depression, this is something you would use to calm you down, basically it’s an antianxiety tool.

But what you’re getting in terms of benefits for anxiety using Phenibut as your best nootropic choice are:

  • Increasing GABA leads to a calmer central nervous system
  • Even a moderate dose can calm anxiety and fear
  • Is incredibly good for social anxiety at lower doses
  • Maintains cognitive performance unless doses very high
  • At higher doses, it induces a minor euphoria

Phenibut is looking like something that can really help with anxiety in most people. You have to watch your doses because Phenibut has been linked to addiction problems in people taking high doses over long periods. But if you are sensible and only use it to head off moments of acute anxiety, it can be incredibly useful.

Plus, it’s one of the best nootropics for socializing because of how it can calm you down, but make you happy and focused as well.

nootropics for social anxiety

3. Noopept

Third, on the list is Noopept. It’s a prodrug for a chemical called cycloprolylglycine, which has significant nootropic, neuroprotective, and antianxiety properties.

It’s often classed as a racetam but is actually structurally different. It speeds up how quickly our brain works, by boosting our levels of something called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF).

The benefits and effects of Noopept are:

  • It improves alpha brain wave levels and performance
  • Removes brain fog and promote clearer thinking
  • It is a strong mood enhancer
  • Noopept has proven anti-anxiety effects
  • You will feel sharper and happier

Noopept calms anxiety and stress because its main metabolite affects the hippocampus, where many benzodiazepine receptors are. So it’s actually the cellular waste product in Noopept that promotes calmness and lowers levels of anxiety.

nootropics for depression

4. Kratom

Last on the list of the top four nootropics for anxiety is kratom. Kratom is a naturally occurring substance. It’s formed from the dried and ground leaves of the kratom tree (a member of the coffee family).

It works slightly differently because it is a partial agonist of the opioid receptors. Although work is not as developed into studying the opioid receptors for mood disorders compared to pain and appetite regulation, that link has now been proven.

It’s difficult to quantify kratom because of the effects of change. But at lower doses it’s a stimulant. That can make it great for helping with depression. It will give you mental and physical energy, positivity, and determination.

As the dose increases, the sedative and pain-relieving effects kick in. At a slightly higher dose, therefore, kratom is a great antianxiety nootropic, but also retains mental and physical energy, sharpness, and confidence.

Put together, kratom delivers the following key benefits for people wanting to use it for social anxiety, generalized anxiety disorder, or depression:

  • At lower doses, kratom produces mental and physical stimulation
  • At higher doses, kratom is calming and sedating
  • Kratom still produces the cognitive and physical energy boost at higher doses
  • Kratom is widely used for socializing and social anxiety problems
  • You will feel calmer, sharper, happier, energized and focused using kratom

Using kratom for anxiety and depression is a big topic. But broadly, anxiety is calmed best with red and green kratom, while depression can be removed with the energizing and positive effects of white kratom.

kratom for anxiety

Where To Buy Smart Drugs That Are Pure & Safe

Looking at nootropics for treating anxiety, kratom can be great at a moderate dose. So can Noopept, Aniracetam, and Phenibut.

Phenibut is slightly more problematic because it’s a significant central nervous system depressant. But at very high doses so is kratom. Which means you have to be sensible with dosing those two things.

But all four of them are definitely nootropics for social anxiety, depression, and great for socializing as long as you are responsible. If you’re looking to buy smart drugs or kratom, the problem is getting guaranteed pure and safe supplies to experiment with.

But there are a couple of places I’d like to recommend to you as fantastic places to start, who offer third-party independent quality guarantees:

  1. Science.bio sell an incredible range of nootropic drugs and supporting supplements. They sell Aniracetam, Phenibut, and Noopept both as powder, and as an infused liquid solution. The powder is far cheaper, but you will need a micro-scale to dose it. Everything they sell is a third-party independent lab tested for quality and purity.
  2. For kratom, Coastline Kratom is a fantastic resource. Quality guaranteed they sell all the main types of kratom. Every strain you could think of in red, green, and white. Prices are really good, with loose powder being far cheaper but again, you will have to weigh it to dose it. Kratom is also available in capsules, but you will pay a significant premium for the convenience of using them (but for me, I love that convenience).