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October 31, 2008

Anxiety and Anxiety Attacks

anxiety
Anxiety disorders are the most common of emotional disorders, annually affecting more than 20 million Americans. Anxiety which interferes with normal activities like going outside or interacting with other people. Anxiety attacks are the most extreme example of an anxiety reaction. Anxiety disorders fill people’s lives with overwhelming anxiety and fear. When anxiety reaches a level at which the symptoms cause the sufferer to experience symptoms which exceed those normally experienced during an appropriate anxiety reaction, an anxiety attack is formed. Anxiety reactions are formed in the subconscious mind by a small organ called the Amygdala. Anxiety attacks can be eliminated very simply. Because anxiety attacks and high anxiety are the result of a learning process in the subconscious mind which causes the amygdala to react inappropriately, it can be ‘un-learned’ in the same way. Anxiety attacks are strong sensations that for many people creates the feeling of dying or going crazy. Anxiety attacks, also called panic attacks, are unexpected episodes of intense terror or fear. Anxiety disorders tend to run in families. People with anxiety disorders often have a family history of anxiety disorders, mood disorders, or substance abuse.

Anxiety attacks usually come without warning, and although the fear is generally irrational, the perceived danger is very real. Symptoms of anxiety and panic attacks / anxiety attacks include racing heart, hyperventilation or breathing difficulties, as well as chest pain, nausea or dizziness, headaches, shaking and trembling, and many more. Anxiety can also exacerbate many pre-existing medical conditions, such as ulcers, hypertension, and respiratory conditions including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Furthermore, anxiety is associated with mitral valve prolapse, chronic fatigue syndrome, sleep apnea, irritable bowel syndrome, and chronic tension headaches. Behavioural therapy - performed with a mental health professional to help gain control over unwanted behaviour. Cognitive therapy - similar to behavioural therapy but dealing with unhelpful and unproductive thoughts patterns.Anxiety medications can be habit forming and may have unwanted side effects, so be sure to research your options.

Medication - A short prescription of benzodiazepine tablets, such as diazepam, may be helpful in relieving short-term stress-related anxieties. Beta blockers are the best drug class to control physical symptoms of anxiety & panic attack and are normaly prescribed to prevent rapid heartbeat, shaking and trembling related symptoms. Buspirone is another medicine that is prescribed in the short-term to relieve anxiety. Antidepressants such as paroxetine may be prescribed for certain anxiety disorders such as generalised anxiety disorder, social phobia and OCD, and when anxiety is associated with depression. Group therapy - with one or two specialised therapists, particularly helpfully for certain conditions such as difficultly relating to others or being scrutinised by others. Psychoeducation - recognition by the patient that they have a treatable medical condition, and self-education through books and websites, and mental health professionals.

Anxiety and Anxiety Attacks Treatment Tips

1. Cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) is very effective in the treatment of anxiety disorders.

2. Medication is sometimes used in the short-term to alleviate severe symptoms so that other forms of therapy can be pursued.

3. Relaxation techniques – Relaxation techniques such as progressive muscle relaxation, controlled breathing, and guided imagery may reduce anxiety.

4. Biofeedback – Using sensors that measure physiological arousal brought on by anxiety.

5. Hypnotherapy – Hypnosis for anxiety is conducted by a clinical hypnotherapist.



By: Juliet Cohen

About the Author:

Juliet Cohen writes articles for depression clinic and how to treat depression. For more information visit our site at http://www.depression-clinic.com.



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October 30, 2008

How to Give the Right Anxiety Treatment

Filed under: Diseases And Conditions — Tags: , , — admin @ 11:22 pm
anxiety
Anxiety comes with fear and uncertainty that can lead to panic attacks and the feeling that you have lost control. There can be a genetic link and it may even be on a subconscious level. How to give the right anxiety treatment depends on the response that you have when you are under anxiety. The severity of a person’s anxiety and how much it is affecting their life will both have an affect on the anxiety treatment that is utilized.

There are two types of anxiety attacks either chronic or acute. When the attack is acute it can last for just a few minutes or for a couple of hours. The panic or feeling of terror that is experienced does not have a rational cause and you can not associate it with rational thought. It makes it difficult to find the right anxiety treatment without finding the cause of your anxiety and recognizing the symptoms that are associated with anxiety.

The symptoms that come with anxiety include dizziness, nausea, hyperventilation, and even chest pains. How to give the right anxiety treatment is largely dependant upon the symptoms. Other symptoms include cold sweats, irregular heartbeats and hand tremors. These symptoms make how to give the right anxiety treatment more difficult since the severity and side effects of the symptoms will have an affect on the correct treatment for you.

There can be stiffness in the muscles of the extremities which can even involve tingling. Losing touch with reality can cause those suffering to experience hyperventilation which makes the attacks worse. In more severe cases the one experiencing the anxiety attack can lose consciousness and even be at risk of losing their life.

The symptoms of chronic anxiety last longer though they may be less severe. Fatigue and insomnia can go along with the anxiety which can make the symptoms all the more difficult to live with. You will need to see a doctor to make sure that it is in fact anxiety and not a more serious condition; this way you can have a better idea of the correct treatment for you.

Naturopathy is one treatment for anxiety which does not require a medical prescription. It is a way of changing what you take in and what you do. The change has to be complete in order to make a change in your life and make the symptoms better. You don’t want to simply mask the symptoms of anxiety but you want to make the cause of the anxiety go away.

Aromatherapy is ancient method of healing that can be rather effective at treating anxiety. The essential oils help the body to return to its normal balance. The relaxation that the scents induce will let the mind regain control over the emotions that you are feeling. It is incredible for a wide range of problems and can be combined with other anxiety treatments. Massage therapy can incorporate aromatherapy as long as the essential oils used are diluted. The use of aromatic oils can reduce the feelings of anxiety and panic that a person is experiencing. Liquid extracts can have an effect that is long lasting when it comes to finding a solution to your anxiety.

How to give the right anxiety treatment will have a lot to do with the individual suffering from the anxiety attacks. Herbs are known for their positive effects on the systems of the body. The correct amount of herbal medication has to be determined through trial and error. The digestive system of the person being treated will have a lot to do with whether or not herbs are effective for them. Liquid extracts from herbs will be digested faster than regular herbs which will allow results to appear faster.

How to give the right anxiety treatment will also be largely dependant on the person that is experiencing the symptoms of anxiety.



By: Ronen David

About the Author:

Ronen David is the chairman of “Malam” (an Israeli organization supporting and representing those dealing with mental disabilities). He is the author of the “The Coping With Psychosis & Schizophrenia Self Help Handbook”.
Visit his web site and learn aboutAnxiety Treatment



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Understanding the Causes of Depression

Filed under: Diseases And Conditions — Tags: , , — admin @ 11:01 pm
depression
Depression is a very widespread problem today affecting one in four women and one in eight men. Many people are aware of the many symptoms of depression, including feelings of hopelessness or helplessness, obsessive negative thoughts, loss or gain in appetite, insomnia or an increased need for sleep, social withdrawal, irritability and loss of memory or concentration, and recurrent thoughts of death or *******. It is tempting to think that depression is sadness and the causes of depression will simply disappear and the negative feelings will subside. However, the causes of depression are not so simple, and while a negative event may trigger depression, the causes of depression are not external factors alone. Many of the causes of depression are issues with the sufferer.

Causes of depression are 40 – 70% hereditary and children of depressed children are more likely to be depressed. This would mean that the potential for depression lies in one’s genetic makeup, and a stressor may trigger a latent potential for depression. However those who dispute heredity as one of the causes of depression cite other true observations that those who live with depressed individuals are more likely to be depressed, and a depressed parent may lack parenting skills or the necessary energy or patience to deal with a child properly, and may be one of the causes of depression. It is hard to know who really wins the nature versus nurture argument, but once we learn more about the role heredity plays among the causes of depression, the better we will understand how genes have an impact on our moods.

Whether causes of depression are hereditary or not, there is a physiological basis for the problem, which refutes claims that depression is nothing more than a bad mood that will pass. Low serotonin levels have been shown to be one of the causes of depression, and loss of neurotransmitters in the hippocampus has also been identified as one of the causes of depression. Seasonal affective disorder is also one of the causes of depression, and it has been shown that those who are deprived of light and warmth in the wintertime and become depressed as a result are not merely suffering from the “winter blues” but have a problem caused by the shorter days and longer nights. Seasonal effective disorder can develop into full blown depression if it not treated as one of the series causes of depression. Hormones may also play a role as one of the causes of depression, especially among those women who suffer from Pre Menstrual Syndrome or post-partum depression. In fact, while one out of every four women suffers from depression compared to one in every eight men, this discrepancy disappears among women who have undergone menopause, when there are lower levels of estrogen. More study is needed to determine whether these hormonal fluctuations are actual causes of depression, or merely triggers.

Losing one’s job, getting a divorce or a death in the family may not be actual causes of depression, but they can trigger the problem in those who have a predisposition for the problem. Certainly, such events can cause sadness and a feeling of worthlessness, but if these feelings are not persistent, they are normal aspects of the grieving process and are not causes of depression. However, if the negative feelings are prolonged and obsessive, they may be triggers in setting off depression. There are some physical aliments which are included among causes of depression. Hepatitis and heart conditions can be causes of depression, in addition to Aids and other illnesses which cause weakness and fatigue.



By: Juliet Cohen

About the Author:

Juliet Cohen writes articles for depression treatment and depression clinic. She also writes articles for depression home remedies.



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What Can I Do About Anxiety?

Filed under: Diseases And Conditions — Tags: , , — admin @ 7:23 pm
anxiety
For many years one of the biggest problems some people face is nervousness and anxiety. To the onlooker, who only experiences mild nervousness every now and then, it doesn’t seem like much of a problem. However, to the person fighting extreme nervousness, complete with attacks of anxiety and/or panic, it seems like an insurmountable problem!

Though many think anxiety is some new manifestation that has come on the scene in recent years; this is not true. Anxiety has been around forever. It doesn’t have a favorite era, nor does it prefer one gender to another or one particular age group.

Anxiety pulls people into a maze of bewilderment. It plays tricks on their minds and bodies. Worst of all, the harder we fight to break free of its grip, the more we are drawn under its control and the more our lives become disorganized by it.

Those effected by anxiety, only care about becoming free of it and living the life they once knew, where they controlled their fear instead of having fear controlling them.

In this article, we will discuss the three preliminary steps to becoming anxiety free. When you are through reading it, you will be familiar with the essential ingredients necessary to overcoming anxiety. As this knowledge seeps in, you will start to gain control over the illness of anxiety. This doesn’t mean a short article can be a cure all, but don’t think it cannot be very helpful.

First… Understand how anxiety works.

Anxiety works through adrenal glands in your body. If you are just a little nervous or very nervous, or if you are experiencing a full-fledged panic attack, it is adrenaline causing the feelings you are experiencing. It is as simple as that. What is causing your glands to secret the adrenaline is another story, but it is insignificant as far as overcoming anxiety is concerned.

Knowing there is nothing more than adrenaline causing the horrible manifestations of anxiety is helpful because adrenaline secretion is a normal function of the human body. When we are in an anxious state we are just secreting too much of it, that’s all.

Adrenaline is a response to fight or flight. So, when we are fighting or running away we are secreting adrenaline. This is important to know because if we are afraid of the feelings adrenaline brings us, we will become more anxious to fight it or run away from it. So, what is the antidote to this extra anxiety we bring on by fearing adrenaline’s wrath?

Second… Facing anxiety is a necessary step towards overcoming it.

When we become nervous for any reason and then we try to run away from or fight the feelings it has brought us, we become more anxious. Maybe, we will even promote panic attacks.

By the same token, if we are not currently experiencing anxiety but we are afraid we will, we might just bring on anxiety. The trick is to take whatever anxiety gives us and let it be. Well this may seem easier said than done, with practice we can master the art of accepting anxiety without adding any more anxiety to it.

Once we do master passively living with anxiety, the anxiety attacks we experience will become weaker and weaker until one day, they will disappear. What do we do in the meantime?

Three… Don’t hide your anxiety while you are recovering.

This is just part of being yourself. Pretending your life is not being affected by anxiety is running away and of course, running away brings on adrenaline.

There is no sin to being anxious or suffering panic attacks. Suffering the effects of adrenaline just means you are under the weather. You don’t mind telling people you have a cold. There is no difference if you are ill with anxiety.

In closing, don’t put a lot of pressure on yourself. You will get better on your own timeline. Don’t race. Just digest what has been said in this article and you have started on the road to recovery.

By the way, I know these things because I have been through it all with anxiety and panic attacks. I no longer experience these things. I am cured of nervous illness and you will be, too.



By: Ed Lathrop

About the Author:

The author of this article is Ed Lathrop. Having lived through an anxiety disorder more than 20 years ago and being free of all its symptoms since that time, he has built a website that deals with anxiety in all it’s different forms. This is a free Website and gives help to anxiety sufferers in a way only a former sufferer of anxiety could. This website can be found at: Treatments for Anxiety Disorder.



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Have You Discovered The Cause Of Your Anxiety

Filed under: Diseases And Conditions — Tags: , , — admin @ 5:17 pm
anxiety
Many people have funny notions about what causes anxiety attacks. There are all kinds of myths and misinformation. Anxiety attacks are hard to deal with as it is without having people look at you strangely, like you are afflicted with some sort of communicable disease. Worse yet some people banter around the word crazy when referring to people with anxiety attacks.

If you are a person that is dealing with anxiety attacks, finding information about what the cause of anxiety attack is can be frustrating. There are many different ideas about the causes of anxiety attacks and some of them are wrong. When a person is having regular anxiety attacks they can feel depressed and bad about themselves because they feel it is their fault. Many people feel they are the cause of the anxiety attack and that if they just had greater control over themselves that they would not have them.

Suffererss who have knowledge about the cause of anxiety attacks are the individuals who are most likely to succeed and breakthrough and having this is one of the greatest tools to use to stop them. It is knowledge, not control that is the key to overcoming anxiety attacks.

One of the more common myths about the cause of anxiety attacks is that a person is going crazy, more specifically, that they have some form of schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a genetic disorder that is not caused by anxiety. It may contain anxiety components, but is much different than anxiety attacks. People with schizophrenia usually have disjointed thoughts, speech babbling and are plagued with delusions and hallucinations. People with anxiety attacks usually do not suffer from these symptoms.

Schizophrenia usually begins in a persons teen age years and is diagnosable by age 25. Schizophrenia is not a disorder than suddenly appears; it is a gradual debilitating disease that a person is born with. So unless you have a strong family history of schizophrenia it is not something you should worry about nor should you think that it is a cause of your anxiety attack.

Another belief about the cause of anxiety attacks is that it is about losing control. People believe that they will die, lose organ function or lose their grip on reality. People believe that you might go on killing spree or pass out in a car and run into a shopping mall.

These are all fallacies of the mind. You are not going to do any of those things. Anxiety is the bodies natural response to feeling that it is in danger. Anxiety is not dangerous and neither are you.

A lot of people with panic attacks believe they are going to lose total control of themselves. The fact is that most of the anxiety attack occurs in the mind. People around the person having the attack rarely notice they are having a problem. The fear of embarrassing yourself can actually make the anxiety worse. It is the feeling of losing control in front of others that can trigger the anxiety attack. It becomes a self fulfilling prophecy except that people usually never lose control of themselves during an anxiety attack.

Some people feel that when an anxiety attack occurs that they will pass out in a public place. They imagine that they will be in the middle of a grocery store lying prone and unconscious in the floor. Worse than that some people believe that they will have an attack and no one will be around. They worry that they will be strewn in some ditch somewhere.

The fact is the fainting is not common with people having a panic attack. Fainting is usually the result of not enough oxygen going to the brain. When a person is having an anxiety attack their heart is usually pumping hard to circulate oxygen rich blood through out the body. A person may feel light headed because they may be hyperventilating but this usually does not lead to a fainting spell.

Another myth about anxiety attacks is that they are somehow caused by the heart. People believe they are having a heart attack. They feel tightness or pain in their chest, their heart is beating fast, they may be sweating and their respirations have increased. It is easy to see where the myth came from but the heart is not the cause of an anxiety attack not does an anxiety attack result in a heart attack.

Heart attacks usually occur when the heart is under stress that is during physical exertion. Panic attacks occur at anytime. Heart attacks are usually abated by resting and reducing the stress on the heart. A panic attack usually goes on and a person must calm themselves mentally before it really begins to subside. It is not a matter of control; it is more a matter of relinquishing control.

If you were to hook a person up to an EKG that is having a heart attack you would see unusual heart beats. A person having an anxiety attack usually only has an elevated heart rate.

The best way to reduce your anxiety of your heart is to see your doctor and have an EKG. Once you realize there is nothing to worry about it should reduce your anxiety over having a heart attack.

As you can see people worry about symptoms of anxiety attacks and misdiagnose themselves. They believe that the cause of an anxiety attack is mental or physical disease. Once they realize that it is not they can learn to overcome anxiety attacks for good.



By: Ben Butt

About the Author:

Ben is most known for his interviews with ex-sufferers where he delves into finding the secrets to their success. For more information on interviews with ex-anxiety sufferers click here and listen to a full interview uncovering successful startegies.



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