The Ultimate Guide to Treat Mood and Stress with Nootropics

When you think of nootropics, what imagery and sensations come to mind?

Imagine you wake up in the morning, have many mentally taxing tasks to complete, and you open your cabinet to find a nootropic that can help you. Usually it is going to improve your concentration, memory, or motivation, right?

While all of these are helpful, they can't help mental performance if you have a poor mood and mental stress in the way.  

In fact, one of the best ways to improve your mental performance is to improve mood and reduce stress. Think back to your high school or college days; when you were super fearful, worrysome, and nervous, did you do well? Usually these feelings decrease performance.

Treating Mood and Stress - Fight or Flight

Reducing stress and improving mood is a lifelong task. It requires re-wiring parts of the brain in the amygdala. This "fight or fight" response usually causes people much heartache because they are unable to discern real threats (a lion) versus false threats (an attractive woman).

A great way to start improving your general mood levels and reduce stress is to use meditation. Even though it may seem difficult or woo-woo, there is actually a lot of science about the benefits of meditation. But here is the problem...

Meditation takes a while to show serious mood improvement benefits.

If you are trying to take a major exam or you have deadlines at work, then meditation will not be useful for you in the short term. At least, it will not be useful enough to make a real lasting difference in your mood levels for near term exams and mental challenges.

There are ways to treat a poor mood with nootropics that are more effective and work quicker. While we advocate using meditation as a stress reduction technique, you should consider these nootropics for a short term fix.

Natural Stress and Mood Relief

L-Theanine - It seems like whether you need to increase focus or improve mood, L-Theanine is a great way to do so. However, when you are trying to improve concentration it is a good idea to combine L-Theanine with caffeine. In an attempt to reduce feeling of worry, sometimes it is best to avoid caffeine and take L-Theanine by itself.

Bacopa Monnieri - This is an ancient herb used in India for thousands of years. It is part of the Ayurvedic tradition of medicine and has numerous health effects, which are still used today. 

Lemon Balm - If you haven't already read my experience of lemon balm, it will be eye opening. This Mediterranean herb is not commonly used, but was incredibly effective for me to improve mood, feel stress free, and relax. Lemon balm works to relax individuals through the GABA brain chemical (specifically by inhibiting effects of GABA transaminase). It is included in our mood complex for this reason.

While not everyone will see the same exceptional results from lemon balm, it is worthwhile to try it out. I know my brain chemistry is skewed to need support with GABA, which is why lemon balm is so effective. Given that this mildly flavored tea is very affordable, it is a great option to try out in your mood-boosting concoction.

Mucuna Pruriens - While stress and mood treatments are highly specialized to the person, there are some sure to help everyone. Dopamine is a brain chemical that influences happiness and feelings of euphoria.

 

 

Mood Boosting Techniques & Nootropics

There are several ways people deal with mood and stress, but often they are not productive and certainly don't improve mental performance. When trying to treat mood and stress, it's important to tackle the problem with a two-sided attack.

 

• 1. Long term techniques - The longer term techniques include meditation, but many more as well. Try to find physical exertion that you find fun and enjoyable. The exercise will balance your brain chemicals and offer some advantages for your mood and improving your response to stress. Also, eating a diet that is free from too much sugar will make a big difference for your overall health.

• 2. Short term supplementation - In addition to your long term techniques to reduce your general stress levels, nootropics can be a great tool. Any mood treatment that does not involve prescriptions is a good thing.

If you avoid becoming dependent on nootropics to solve your problems with mood and stress, you can use them as needed to develop a better ability to handle these issues and perform cognitively.