Today’s world poses innumerable problems for a person which may result in causing anxiety within him. With effective and efficient management of stress, however, the person afflicted with attacks of anxiety can tide over this unpleasant depression which is sparked off at place of work, domestic problems. This is a common phenomenon affecting millions of people from all walks of life. Some of these people are adept at dealing with pangs of anxiety but others are hit with such gravity that they have to seek external help or turn to medicines in order to get on with their diurnal activities.

In modern times anxiety is commonly accepted as any other minor ailment. Acknowledgment of anxiety is of prime importance towards remedial treatment. The more the severity of anxiety, the more complicated the management process of it. A person who is gripped by anxiety for the first time, becomes more susceptible to future attacks. This is called getting ’sensitized’ to attacks of panic. (more…)

Estimates indicate that somewhere between ten and thirteen percent of women who deliver babies experience postpartum depression and sometimes, anxiety. Anxiety and postpartum depression often go hand-in-hand simply because of the immense life changes that occur with the arrival of a baby. Even in women with no previous history of depression, worries about being a good mother, unrealistic expectations of themselves, massive hormonal changes that occur during pregnancy and childbirth, and the financial changes that often accompany parenthood can combine to create a situation where postpartum depression and anxiety can lead to overwhelming feelings of helplessness, fear, sadness, listlessness, sleep difficulties, and paralyzing disinterest in activities that you once found enjoyable and interesting.

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Anxiety can be a real drag, everyone else seems to be getting on with their lives and you’re stuck there with your anxious thoughts and feelings. Anxiety greets you in the morning and again before you go to bed and if you’re lucky it doesn’t disturb your sleep too much.

If this sounds in any way familiar to you and you are troubled in this way the following tips will help you.

1) Stop pushing it away

When we experience anything in life that is unpleasant it’s natural enough for us to want to push it away, but when it comes to anxiety this is to our detriment. The harder we push any emotion away the harder it pushes back towards us. So the key here is to simply stop pushing your fear away and let it in a for a while. This is a new practise and may take some time to achieve. Just practise with it and see what happens. (more…)

I’d like to discuss anger’s role in the generation and sustenance of panic attacks and anxiety. To give the matter its due, I’ve decided to present the information in two parts. In this edition, part one, we’ll review what anger is in the eyes of the psychoanalysts and cognitivists. And in part two we’ll have a closer look at how anger directly impacts panic and anxiety. Well, are you ready? Let’s get to work.

The French psychiatrist, Jacques Lacan, a 20th Century pioneer in psychoanalysis, believed aggression is generated as a psychological defense against the threat of something known as fragmentation; the mental and emotional sense of losing control over self-cohesion. Now, fragmentation may present in a feeling of low-grade distress, or it may manifest in all-out panic and terror, for fear of total annihilation. Lacan took the whole matter to infancy where a human is simply a mish-mash of biological functions well beyond internal management. And the only goal one could have is to at least make an effort to pull everything together into some semblance of cohesive identity. (more…)

Anxiety attacks too much fear, worry or stress. It is during this crucial period that a person may be reduced to a nervous wreck or come out of it still whole and live a normal life.

In order to avoid the onset of an attack it is important that you must understand what an anxiety attack is and what are its symptoms. Of course, an average person must have experienced the symptoms at some point in their life but it is unlikely to have reached a certain level to cause panic. In other words it is manageable and within the range of our capacity to overcome the attack.

Do you remember giving a speech for the first time and you feel your heart pounding wildly or a relationship of a loved one at the brink of disaster? The possible loss of a job and a confrontation with your boss can cause you untold tension and misery. They are elements of disaster and if not handled correctly, an anxiety attack may set in. (more…)

In my ongoing quest for knowledge pertaining to the contributors to panic attacks and anxiety, as well as treatment strategies and techniques, I came upon some very cool stuff several years ago. It’s called Somatic Experiencing (SE) and it’s the amazing work of Peter A. Levine, Ph.D. This will be the first in a series of two articles. Here we’ll have a look at SE within the context of a contributor to panic and anxiety. The article that follows will approach SE from a treatment perspective. Well, tune-in because I know you’re going to find the information fascinating, hopeful, and helpful.

SE came to life as Dr. Levine observed that though wild animals of prey are under constant threat and siege, they’re rarely traumatized. Well, I never really gave that much thought, but I suppose it’s true. So, just how in the heck do they pull that off? Well, credit is given to an innate regulating mechanism that very efficiently manages and discharges the energy that accumulates in their bodies as a result of self-preservation behaviors. Levine observed that when an animal of prey survives a potentially deadly chase, it actually takes time to physically shake-off unused energy before moving on with the herd. Well, Levine posits we humans are equipped with essentially the same mechanism; however, ours is greatly inhibited by our more advanced cognitive capabilities. Man, how many times does thinking mess things up for us? By the way, isn’t it interesting that we so often use the phrase, “Just shake it off,” when someone takes a relatively minor hit of some kind. (more…)

Stress is a pervasive problem in society Today.

Everywhere you look people are talking about the doom and gloom in the economy, job losses etc. People are wondering how they will pay their mortgage what they will tell their children about the future on top of all the normal stresses and strains we deal with in everyday life.

When we are stressed out and worried constantly we can experience symptoms like irritability, muscle tension, sleeping difficulties etc. We cannot function at out best and cannot see clearly the decisions to make that are beneficial for us.

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In a previous article I discussed the importance of including balance issues in any discussion of the contributors to panic attacks and anxiety. Amazingly, this connection hasn’t received much attention, but it appears as though that’s changing. Yes, children with balance issues are being assessed for signs and symptoms of anxiety, and intervention strategies and techniques are being developed and implemented. This is great news, as it holds the potential to save millions from life-long suffering.

As you may know, in addition to our sense of hearing the inner ear is the headquarters of balance and equilibrium. Within the membranous labyrinth, a fluid-filled structure deep within the inner ear, is a relatively large area known as the vestibule. And it’s the “vestibular system” that monitors and manages balance and equilibrium by receiving and integrating input from the eyes, ears, and muscles of the trunk, neck, and limbs. Of course, the vestibular system gets a little help from its friends, one of which is the brain’s cerebellum. I guess it would make sense that the cerebellum is a major player in the integration of sensory perception, as well as motor control.

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The human brain is absolutely amazing. And as much as we’ve learned about it, it remains one incredibly mysterious three-pound mass of tissue and fluid. The brain’s functioning has certainly been a puzzle to me over the many years, as it’s facilitated a long bout with panic disorder, as well as dances with other distressing mental, emotional, and physical phenomena. Lately, I’ve become more and more fascinated with how a panic sufferer’s assorted pathological challenges present and interact. Here are just some of my thoughts.

I was nine-years-old when an episode of derealization struck me like a lightening bolt while I was sitting at a kitchen table with my parents and their friends. I panicked and ran from the scene. During that same timeframe it was often written on my report cards that I was seemingly unable to sit still and would occasionally wander around the classroom. As a junior in college intrusive thoughts entered my airspace. I was walking down the sidewalk in downtown East Lansing, MI. and saw a woman coming toward me pushing a stroller. Out of nowhere I wondered what would happen if I punched her baby right in the face. Wow!

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Anxiety disorders are a product of modern life. The amount of stress that we face daily may lead to serious anxiety disorders and panic disorders. Anxiety is characterized as extreme reactions to scary situations. Suppose someone follows you into a dark alley, those anxious feelings of a racing heartbeat and sweaty palms that you experience gives way to heightened senses and a rush of adrenalin that can save your life. Your body is preparing to run away or if that is not possible to fight till the end. This is called the fight or flight syndrome.

Each one of us has experienced at some time or the other panic or anxiety in small ways. Like the fight or flight example, it can save life. In new situations, a normal person gets panicky but when the outcome that he is afraid of fails to materialize, the anxiety stops. But for a person who is suffering from chronic anxiety, this is not the case.

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