Can You Biohack Your Anxiety?

Sara Anderson knows exactly what she needs to manage her anxiety: seven hours and 18 minutes of sleep; 20-30 minutes of journaling and 10 minutes of meditation each morning; a vitamin B8 supplement that she says lightens the tightness in her chest and helps her sleep; no cold food (it causes her to tense up); and limited caffeine, alcohol and sugar.

- Maridel Reyes

The 28-year-old, who works for a tech company, first saw a doctor about her anxiety as a teen. He prescribed sleeping pills to help with her insomnia (which he thought was contributing to her anxiety), but she never took the medication – and never fully addressed her anxiety. She coped by doing yoga and meditating, but her symptoms persisted.

Then, in her early 20s, Sara moved to a different city to work at a startup where 80% of the company was male. “It was very stressful,” she says. “I was successful in my career, but I was really anxious and edgy. I couldn’t focus, my body hurt and I was so fatigued I could barely keep my eyes open at work.”

She didn’t want to take medication, so when Sara, who’s always been very analytical, heard about biohacking – tracking your personal metrics like sleep, diet and exercise to glean insights about your body and tweaking those variables to feel better – she jumped at the chance to try it. Using data to deal with her anxiety made perfect sense to her. After more than two years of tinkering with her sleep, diet and even her birth control, she says she feels anxiety-free and better than ever.

WHAT IS BIOHACKING?