Everyone who suffers from an anxiety disorder has a unique set of symptoms that can affect them.  Since everyone is slightly different biologically we all experience anxiety in our own way.  Anxiety symptoms are grouped into two primary categories:  physical and emotional .

Common physical anxiety symptoms:

•     Restlessness
•     Tremors
•     Sweating
•     Difficult Concentrating
•     Muscle Tension
•     Sleeping Problems Including Insomnia
•     Headaches
•     Fatigue
•     Chest Pains
•     Having Hot Flashes
•     Chills
•     Frequent Urination Or Diarrhea
•     Difficulty Breathing Or Shortness Of Breath
•     A Choking Sensation
•     Frequent Dry Throat
•     Having Trouble Swallowing
•     Heart Palpitations
•     Shaking And Unsteadiness
•     Dizziness Or Lightheaded
•     Feeling The Need To Throw Up
•     Stomach Upset Or Cramps

Common emotional anxiety symptoms:

•     Feeling Tense Or On Edge
•    Avoiding Situations Out Of Fear
•     Feeling Out Of Control
•     A Strong Urge To Flee Or Escape A Place
•     Having Trouble Concentrating
•     A Sudden Fear Of Dying Or Going Crazy
•     Anticipating Something Bad
•     Irritability And/Or Sudden Anger
•     Feelings Of Fear And Apprehension
•     Restlessness
•     Looking For Danger Signs (Being Paranoid)
•     Becoming Taciturn Or Less Social

It’s important to understand that even though many of these symptoms are uncomfortable and sometimes downright scary they are not harmful to you.  I frequently hear from people who tell me that when anxiety symptoms strike it feels as though they are ‘dying’.  I’ve felt this way myself.  But the fact is that anxiety cannot kill you even if it feels like it can.  Anxiety symptoms are not warning signs of a serious medical condition.

Studies show that men tend to experience more of the emotional  symptoms while women suffer from more from the physical symptoms of anxiety.  These signs and symptoms often overlap and can trigger others.

Anxiety symptoms generally do not last a long time.  They will diminish when both your body and mind begin to calm down.  Luckily, there are many good coping techniques you can use to calm yourself  quickly without having to wait for your body to catch up with you.  There are also some excellent lifestyle and diet changes you can implement that will reduce the chances that anxiety will interfere with your life.

Interestingly, the word anxiety itself derives from the Latin word anxietas which means to choke or upset.

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1. Sudden avoidance behavior such as wanting to skip normal activities including school and sports/activities
2. Overacting behavior such as crying, anger, frustration, sadness, embarrassment, and fear
3. Changes in sleep behavior or appetite
4. Paranoid, worrying, and/or constantly seeking reassurance
5. Overly concerned about doing everything right:  perfectionism
6. Apologizing excessively even for trivial things
7. Worrying well in advance of a planned activity, test, or event

How To Help A Child Cope With Anxiety:

Before you decide to take your child to their doctor or pediatrician take these steps to determine if its serious enough for doctor intervention:

• Communicate with your children and let them know that it is normal to feel anxious in some situations and that its nothing to be embarrassed about.  Encourage them to talk with you openly about what they’re experiencing that is causing their fear, stress, or anxiety
• Try to establish a daily routine for your child to settle into.  A non-structured routine adds stress and uncertainty to an already anxious young mind.  Plan snacks, meals, homework, and bedtime around the same time every day as much as possible
• Tell your child its OK to have a timeout from the routine every once and awhile.  For example, there is nothing wrong if your child wants to skip soccer practice or dance class every once and awhile.  Failure to allow this can lead to avoidance behavior since kids can get burned out on normal activities just like adults do.
• Ask them if there is anything going on at school or amongst their circle of friends that is bothering them.  Children can be ultra-dramatic at times but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t bullying or problematic relationships going on that can lead to more serious consequences
• Get involved in your child’s activities at school or in sporting events.  Schools are always looking for volunteers to help out with school functions.  Get to know your kid’s teachers and other peers at the school
• If your child is spending too much time inside playing video games or watching TV encourage them to get out of the house frequently.  Outside activities are a great mood booster and promotes physical activity that also works off stress
• If none of these suggestions helps it may be time to schedule an appointment with their doctor or pediatrician to talk things over.  Be very careful if your doctor suggests any prescription anti-anxiety drugs such as antidepressants or benzos.  These are powerful mind-altering chemicals that can lead to serious health problems for children and their still-developing brains

If you would like to avoid all meds and are interested in an excellent cognitive program designed specifically for child-anxiety please click here:

http://budurl.com/anxietyfreechildren

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As a driving ideology of comedy, this is pretty standard stuff. But consider for a second how radically it contrasts with the philosophy that guides most memoirs of mental illness, which would have you see the book itself as evidence of healing. Sometimes, you get the sense that this really is the case. But, as plenty of critics have observed, many such memoirs devolve into something resembling public therapy sessions, which suggests that they are not so much proof of triumph over adversity as chaotic, tortured efforts to come to terms with the difficult legacy of mental illness.

This is not the case with Agorafabulous! Benincasa, a young comedian who specializes in stand-up and short, online videos, and who adapted the book from a one-woman show of the same name, doesn’t spend her time wrestling with the meaning of her past problems. Instead, she’s focused on setting up for the punchline. When she tells you she draped a tie-dyed cloth over her TV because it “copped an attitude,” or that she started peeing in Le Creuset dinnerware because she was afraid of her toilet, she’s not going for disclosure for the sake of disclosure. She’s just trying to make you laugh. You know you’re being manipulated, of course, but more often than not, it works.

Slipped in along the way, almost as asides, are some rather deft — and deftly written — observations about mental illness. When Benincasa is headed for a breakdown, “things began to curdle and spoil” inside her. Anxiety, she smartly notes, is chameleonlike, manifesting in unexpected ways. She points out that it tends to shows up as an array of embarrassing physical maladies — and that people would much rather discuss these ailments than the underlying emotional distress. And she points out that anxiety often masquerades as insight, creating the false impression that you benefit from a sixth sense, when in fact you’re just imagining crazy scenarios while everyone else remains firmly rooted in reality.

Benincasa notes that while at her worst she let herself “wallow in the rising swamp of my own shame.” But in this retrospective account she doesn’t let herself wallow in self-pity, which is mostly a good thing. She has a comic’s sense of timing, which means she knows when to move on and keep things from getting maudlin or simply too pathetic.

That said, she has a weakness for neat and tidy resolutions. Either because she’s been truly lucky or because she just tweaks the narrative details accordingly, she seems to get rescued from the stickiest situations not by any kind of epiphany or enhanced self-understanding, but by other people’s well-timed kindness. A sympathetic guidance counselor cancels her high school tour group’s beach day in Sicily so a panicking Benincasa can go to a local hospital and get a sedative; her best friends from college stage an intervention when she won’t leave her apartment; her no-nonsense mother drives up from New Jersey to bring her home in the middle of the night; two more best girlfriends and some kindly nurses cheer her up while they wait in the ER during a possibly suicidal post-break-up freakout. You get the picture.

These successful interventions, while sometimes irritatingly pat, do serve the purpose of reminding us that although Benincasa and millions of other young people like her seem relatively high-functioning, they’re actually only a step or two away from some potentially devastating breakdowns. Caring friends and family often make the difference in truly dire situations. But ultimately, as Benincasa’s chronicle of her long, halting recovery demonstrates, she and her peers have to take responsibility for their own healing (for her, Prozac and Xanax helped a lot, too).

On the other hand, when considering Agorafabulous! as an account of mental illness, you have to question how heavily Benincasa has filtered her past pain through her present identity as an apparently stable and happy young woman and an up-and-coming comedian. There’s nothing wrong with turning pain into fodder for an act; arguably, that’s the basis of most great comedy. But for a book billed as an account of mental illness, the question becomes whether she has struck the right balance. Her flashes of insight are prescient, but they are often subsumed by digressions and whole stories that have little or nothing to do with the book’s stated subject. A Viagra-induced boner in one of her former middle-school students has, so far as I can tell, absolutely no connection to her psychiatric troubles, yet somehow it garners an entire chapter in the book.

Benincasa has been suffering from panic attacks since she was 10 and depression since her mid-teens and has been medicated for both conditions since she was 16. It’s rare to get a child’s perspective on mental illness, even retrospectively. Feeling that you’ve gotten to know the very funny Ms. Benincasa and knowing that her problems began much earlier than her stories do only makes the omission of her early struggles more glaring. I would have far preferred to see her devote more space to exploring her childhood and adolescent state of mind, rather than giving it over to “Billy’s boner.”

In the end, Agorafabulous! manages the rather sneaky feat of making what Benincasa astutely calls “the wrong kind of different” seem not so wrong at all. She conjures up images that are not just weird, but downright gross — bowls of pee in her room, herself curled up in a fetid-smelling public bathroom having a panic attack and a miscarriage. Considering that these topics are not inherently hilarious, it’s impressive that she transforms them into something that is, if not laugh-out loud funny, then amusingly, blissfully normal.”

source= Huffingpost.com

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A significant number of overweight Americans suffer from compulsive eating disorders. Compulsive overeating is hallmarked by uncontrollable eating and constant weight gain.

Although this behavior may be a temporary fix these episodes of indulgence and over eating lead to overwhelming feelings of guilt, shame, disgust and further depression and other psychological problems.

Most eating disorders are fueled by anxiety. Anorexia patients are obsessed with their weight and body image. Bulimics go through cycles of binging and purging and will use food as a way to manage their stress.

Compulsive eaters often over indulge in sugary foods and use them as a mood elevator. A similarity between anorexia and bulimia and compulsive overeating is that individuals with compulsive overeating disorder are unhappy with their weight and self image and constant dieting may become a way of life. In most cases each diet ends in failure and lost weight is regained.

Compulsive eating is a serious problem and like anorexia and bulimia can lead to major health problems which could result in death at an early age.

Some signs and symptoms of compulsive overeating are:

» Binge eating

» Fear of not being able to stop eating voluntarily

» Depression

» Going on many different diets

» Eating little in public, while maintaining a high weight

» The belief that they would be a better person if they were thin

Compulsive eating usually begins early in childhood when eating patterns are formed and can be influenced by factors such as family history, metabolism, developmental and personality factors.

People with compulsive eating disorder are unable to stop eating and eat very fast when they are not hungry. They eat when they are alone and they eat nonstop during the day. The amount and duration of food can vary for a person struggling with this disorder, but damage is done both mentally and physically.

Compulsive eating is sometimes referred to as “food addiction” and is characterized as an unhealthy obsessive/compulsive relationship to food.

Compulsive eaters spend time thinking about food and desiring it and use food as a way to cope with stress, feelings of helplessness or emotional problems. The food blocks out feelings and emotions and some people use eating as a way to numb themselves to the everyday stressors going on around them.

With proper psychological treatment, therapy and medical and nutritional counseling compulsive overeating and other eating disorders can be overcome.

Let me know what you think or ask me a question by e-mailing me atsquiggylpc@hotmail.com.

Source = Coloradoan.com

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Rising life expectancy means having to pay for a longer retirement. The lack of a pension or frozen benefits translate to fewer, smaller checks from ex-employers. And the days of being able to count on averaging 10 percent annual returns from the stock market are over.

All that makes it even more important for retirees to know just how much they can take out of their portfolios every year without drawing them down too fast.

There isn’t one model that fits all. It depends on individual circumstances, best reviewed with a financial adviser.

But the classic guideline long followed by many, and still respected, is widely known as the 4 percent rule. It holds that if you withdraw no more than 4 percent from your savings the first year of retirement and adjust the amount upward for inflation every year, you can be confident you won’t run out of money during a 30-year retirement.

The strategy is credited to financial planner William Bengen, who published his research in the Journal of Financial Planning in 1994.

The twist is this: The father of the 4 percent rule says the complete number is actually 4.5 percent.

“A 4 percent rule is just so easy to think about. People just kind of ignore the extra half,” chuckles Bengen, 64, who operates Bengen Financial Services in La Quinta, Calif.

Bengen spoke about his rule and the proper approach to withdrawals in a recent interview. Edited excerpts follow:

Q: How did the rule come about?

A: I started getting clients who were thinking seriously about retirement. They asked me, ‘How much can I take out of my portfolio when I retire?’ I really hadn’t a clue. So I started looking and I found no substantial information anywhere. I looked at data on investments and inflation going back to 1926 and reconstructed the investment experience of retirees over the decades.

Q: The Wall Street Journal characterized your findings at the time as “scary for retirees and depressing for everybody else” because they suggested you can’t squeeze nearly as much income out of retirement savings as had been thought. Did financial planners resist the new number?

A: It met a lot of resistance initially. I was surprised, too. People were assuming it was 6 percent, 7 percent. But they were using average rates of return, which is very dangerous.

It’s like the guy who drowned in a lake with an average depth of 3 feet. You go out to the middle of the lake and it’s 10 feet. So that doesn’t help you to know what the average depth is. You have to be able to survive worst-case scenarios.

Q: What has changed, if anything, since you did your research?

A: Not much. I still think the rule is valid, although we’re in a period of time which may challenge it.

People who retired in 2000 are of the greatest concern. They’re the ones who started and had two major bear markets, which is unprecedented — two big 50 percent drops in the market. A lot of it depends on what happens to stock market returns and inflation over the next five years. The real problem will come about if we get a big boost of inflation (well above its historical average of 3 percent), in that retirees are required to increase their withdrawals. That may make it hard for the 4 percent rule to fly.

Q: What about the outlook for those retiring now?

A: If you’re retiring today, you probably can’t expect much more than 5 percent a year from U.S. stocks over the next five to seven years. That’s a pretty bad start to your retirement. Bonds also don’t look very good.

People retiring today have to be very careful. They may be better off not retiring for a couple of years. The greatest asset you have in an environment like this is a good-paying job so you’re not dependent on the stock market or the bond market to support you.

Q: You mentioned having enough money in your scenarios for a 30-year retirement. With lifespans lengthening, is that a long enough period to use as a base?

A: If you feel you could live for 40 years in retirement, either because you’re retiring early or you have an exceptional genetic predisposition, you wouldn’t want to take 4.5 percent, you’d want to take 4.1 or 4.2 percent. If on the other hand you expect a very short retirement — you have bad health — you could think about taking out 6 percent or 7 percent.

Q: What else can retirees do to help their savings last besides sticking to the withdrawal strategy?

A: Besides cutting back on expenses, there’s a couple of things they can look at.

One is to utilize the equity in their home and consider a reverse mortgage. That could take the pressure off their withdrawals. If they can get some money out of their house, they can take less out of their investment portfolio.

The other is maybe convert a portion of their portfolio to a fixed annuity. If you’re age 80, you can get a fixed annuity paying you 8 percent, and if you’re 85, almost 10 percent. So you could take 10 or 20 percent of your investment portfolio and convert it to a fixed annuity and get a very high payout.

Q: Do you have any other financial advice for retirees?

A: Be conservative in both your living expenses and your investments.

It’s also a good time to actively manage your portfolio. Buy and hold in this environment probably is counterproductive. It worked in the ’80s and ’90s and I think it’ll work again someday, but not in this environment, where there are so many risks and threats to capital.

Protect your nest egg. Don’t let anyone step on it.”

source= thetowntalk.com

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Most of us have heard that deep breathing and mindful thinking can help to eliminate anxiety, but these strategies can also backfire. Anxiety tends to fester when anxiety sufferers fixate on it, and when traditional anxiety remedies don’t work immediately, this can actually make anxiety worse.

One of the simplest ways to temporarily alleviate anxiety is to find a distraction that prevents your mind from wandering. Walking your dog, playing a video game or reading a riveting book can all help eliminate anxiety. Moreover, recreational activities can help to alleviate anxiety on a long-term basis, so take time each day to do something fun that completely takes your mind off of stress.

Exercise

Exercise is perhaps the single most effective strategy for fighting anxiety. Aerobic exercise releases endorphins that can help you feel happier and less stressed. Over time, exercise can also help your body produce lower quantities of stress hormones such as cortisol. Because exercise improves blood pressure and pulse, it also works to alleviate the physical symptoms of anxiety and helps your body avoid reacting to stress with panic.

Healthy Living

Anxiety isn’t just all in your head. It also takes its toll on your body. If you’re not living a healthy lifestyle, it’s easier for your brain to default to an anxious setting, causing you to feel frightened and jittery even when you’re not facing external stressors.

Some foods are especially likely to increase anxiety. Caffeine and sugar have both been shown to worsen stress, particularly among people who consume large quantities of these foods.

Hunger and malnourishment are also common culprits, so take a multivitamin and take time out of your day to eat balanced meals and healthy snacks.

Many anxious people struggle with sleep, alternating between insomnia and excessive sleep. Good sleep hygiene can make it easier to sleep, and adequate sleep reduces anxiety. Wake up at the same time every day and avoid sugar, snacks and caffeine for two hours before bedtime. Try meditating, listening to soft music or reading a soothing book before bed.

Sex is also effective at helping some people sleep, so don’t use your daily stress to avoid intimacy with your partner. Instead, take advantage of the sleep-inducing and endorphin-releasing properties of sex before bedtime.

Connecting with Others

Work deadlines, family obligations and financial difficulties can all serve as distractions from relationships with other people. But connecting with others is one of the single most important things you can do to reduce anxiety and improve overall happiness. Spend a few minutes each day chatting with a friend or your spouse, and carve out time every week to do something social with people you enjoy being around.

Quick Tricks

Sometimes a momentary flash of anxiety can be physically overwhelming, and it can be difficult to find strategies to deal with this kind of anxiety. Fortunately, there are a few tricks you can use to head off momentary anxiety.

If you’re feeling light-headed, stand up and lock your knees while tensing the muscles in your legs. Release after one to two seconds and repeat until you feel better. This encourages blood flow to the head, relieving dizziness. When facing an overwhelming task list, slow down your thoughts by asking yourself what the next thing you need to do is, and focus only on that task. For butterflies in the stomach, try tensing and releasing your stomach muscles while breathing deeply.”

Sources:

Burns, D. D. (2007). When panic attacks: The new, drug-free anxiety therapy that can change your life. New York, NY: Morgan Road Books.

Costin, C. (2007).

prehensive guide to the causes, treatments and prevention of eating disorders. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill.

Edited by Jody Smith

Thank You : GoodTherapy.org

Source = empowher.com

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“Both of Mackenzie Bourque’s parents are soldiers, but she doesn’t like to talk about their job.

She was only six the first time her mother shipped out to Afghanistan. Four years later, her dad went.

She is probably still too young to fully appreciate the complexities of war, but 11-year-old Mackenzie knows a lot about the fear of staying home while her parents are off fighting.

“Because they could die,” she says simply.

“She said that I couldn’t go back unless I was sitting behind a desk,” says Mackenzie’s mother, Gwen.

Although Gwen and her husband, Chris Bourque, have returned safely from their tours, the war has affected their family life.

“There’s apprehension. Even though (the kids) are small children, they know what’s going on,” Chris says.

“They know that mom is a soldier and they know that dad is a soldier and that’s our job, that’s our duty.”

The high-school sweet-hearts joined the military shortly after graduation and before they got married.

After their children were born, Gwen did a seven-month tour in Afghanistan, working with government aid agencies on reconstruction projects.

Chris, who was deployed in Bosnia and the former Yugoslavia before joining the war in Afghanistan, worked in force protection and camp security.

“If we would have been there at the same time, (Chris) would have been my protection,” Gwen says.

Chris first deployed to Bosnia when their oldest daughter, Victoria, was only three, and before Mackenzie was born.

When Gwen went to Afghanistan, Chris says it was hard to ignore the dangers she was facing – dangers he was all too familiar with. But the real shock was simply the reality of living as a single parent.

“You realize how much your spouse actually does around the home. Some-times the laundry got piled up,” Chris laughs.

“Cleaning – that was my biggest concern,” Gwen interjects.

“Everyone would always ask me, ‘What are you worried about?’ I would say, ‘That Chris is going to have a messy house and that my kids will be living in a pig sty.’ ”

It wasn’t until his second tour that Chris’s absence put a noticeable strain on the family.

His daughters better understood what it meant to be a Canadian soldier in Afghanistan.

Victoria “had a hard time when he went the last time, a very hard time,” Gwen says.

Mackenzie remembers when her father got home from Afghanistan, he “didn’t talk very much.” Like Gwen, he had known friends and colleagues who were killed or injured.

“You mourn, but you have to carry on,” Chris says.

The Bourque family carries on.

All four of them have been back home together for nearly two years. Only now are they fully adjusting to family life.

“We are getting back into normal life again, but for so long it didn’t feel like things were that normal,” Gwen says.

“I just remember I felt very removed from the whole family when I got back. It didn’t feel real.”

The spouses can take comfort in understanding what each is going through. Even if at times it is scary, on some level, that under-standing is a luxury.

“I really had some days where I literally laid in bed and hid in the room and did nothing,” Gwen says.

“I don’t know how other people would have handled that. (Chris) kind of hid the kids from me too so they didn’t see that.”

Unlike her older sister, Mackenzie has an interest in military life.

In fact, Mackenzie says she is thinking pretty seriously about joining up once she is old enough.

It’s an aspiration her parents are simultaneously proud of and cautious about.

“That was one of the reasons I went (to Afghanistan), is I wanted to show my girls that women can do these roles. I guess we won’t see for another couple of years if they got it,” Gwen says.

Gwen believes one day she will deploy again.

Chris, on the other hand, isn’t so sure. Coming home just feels so right.

“Soldiers get the itch or the bug. You do a tour and come back and three or four years later you are like, ‘let’s go again.’ Maybe it’s just the pace of the operation or just the excitement. You crave it,” he says.

“But at some point in your career, you say, ‘Enough. It’s time to step back and let someone else continue on the fight.’ ”

As a young musician at the time, such a spotlight could only be good for Shock’s career.

Then the panic attack hit.

“I didn’t give a good interview because I was almost suffocating. I was trying to stay alive. I was not in danger, but every time you have the crisis, you don’t know.”

The incident happened 20 years ago and Shock has since gotten his panic attacks under control. But the memories of the almost daily events are vivid.

“I acted strange because I couldn’t breathe,” he recalled in an interview. “I felt like I was losing consciousness.”

He would try to catch his breath or hold onto his chest because he felt pain. He would wiggle his fingers because he couldn’t feel the tips or he would hyperventilate.

And it could happen anytime — even on a warm summer day, for example, when he was relaxing with a cold beer.

“A panic attack doesn’t wait for you to feel some stress about a particular situation,” he said.

“It’s not physical pain, but it’s torture. And you know it can always come back. There comes a time when you learn how to deal with it and to face it and to accept that it’s part of your life.

“It’s part of what you are and you have to find ways not to poison your life with it.”

Camillo Zacchia, a psychologist with Montreal’s Douglas Institute, says that 50 to 70 per cent of people will suffer symptoms similar to a panic attack in a given year but most will blow it off.

Ten per cent of people suffer from an anxiety disorder and panic attacks are part of almost all anxiety disorders.

But Zacchia points out that anxiety disorders are among the most treatable psychological problems through the use of behaviour therapy or medication — or sometimes a combination of both.

Zacchia also recommends that people who are diagnosed with an anxiety disorder see a specialist.

“You want to bring anxiety to a level where it no longer controls your life, no longer interferes with your functioning,” Zacchia says. “It’s OK to be anxious, it’s OK to worry because that’s normal human experience.

“Anxiety disorders are treatable and you will be able to live without panic, but you won’t be able to live without any anxiety because otherwise you’d be dead.”

Zacchia points out that anxiety is normal. People are, in fact, born with it.

For example, children are afraid of monsters under their beds or being separated from their parents, he notes. Teenagers worry about being accepted. Adults fret about success and the elderly are concerned about their health.

“Anxiety is what we feel when we’re threatened,” he explained, noting some people feel more anxious than others.

“When anxiety is working in balance, we avoid things that are dangerous. We don’t drive too fast when it’s slippery, we go to the doctor when we feel a pain. That’s why anxiety is about degree.

“When it starts to become exaggerated, it controls our lives.”

One of the biggest fears of people who have panic disorders is having a panic attack.

Shock takes medication to control night terrors which wake him up with a hammering heart and disorientation. But the musician says he has never suffered a panic attack on stage and it has never stopped him from performing.

He has felt the occasional bit of stage fright, which is normal for performers, but says “stage fright ends once you put your foot on stage.”

Shock, 42, says doctors blamed a chemical imbalance for his panic attacks.

Zacchia says panic is one aspect of anxiety and it’s felt when the anxiety is acute. The body goes into alarm mode but the anxiety mechanism works against itself triggering what he called “the fear of fear mechanism.”

“It’s like an alarm that rings in the face of danger,” Zacchia said of the anxiety mechanism. “But what if I’m afraid of being anxious?

“If I’m threatened by anxiety, the minute I feel any anxiety, the anxiety alarm goes off. So anxiety triggers anxiety and that creates a stronger response. That’s why people go from feeling almost nothing to complete panic in almost no time at all.”

He cited the case of one man who had a history of panic attacks in classrooms. He would panic and have to leave.

Zacchia said one day the man was taking a class on human sexuality where large slides of female reproductive organs were projected on a screen.

“He gets the thought: ‘What if I panic now? If I panic now and I have to leave everyone is going to think it’s because I’m uncomfortable with the vagina so I’d better not panic now!’

“Of course, the fact that he felt anxiety became a threat and then his body reacted naturally and he panicked.”

Zacchia said that in 30 years of treating patients, none of them had a panic attack when he asked them to do so in his office.

Shock went for two years without treatment because he was unaware of his anxiety disorder. He is active in trying to inform the public and is one of the spokespeople for Bell’s mental health awareness campaign.

He said some people still feel there are stigmas attached to having the problem or admitting to it but he urges sufferers to seek help.

“All the help is available easily,” Shock said. “It’s not mysterious so there’s no reason for someone to have problems like that and do nothing.

“I waited and waited. It came a time when I couldn’t stand it anymore. I was feeling miserable because day after day for two years, it gets you down. I was exhausted.

“So why wait?”

Best Self-Help Panic Program:  Panic Away

Best Natural Anti-Anxiety Supplement: Panicyl

Source = HuffingingtonPost.com

Complaining of stomach aches, unable to eat and becoming very grey around the face each morning, the last thing Justin’s parents expected was that he was suffering from a form of anxiety, medically known as school refusal.

”We were seriously worried he had a physical problem we couldn’t find like cancer or something,” Justin’s father, who didn’t want to be identified, says.

How many times have you started a diet thinking that it would make your anxiety or stressful life go away?

How many times have you bashed your body when anxiety about something else was the real gnawing issue?

Anxiety plays a significant role in body dissatisfaction and disordered eating — and in many different ways.

Some of us are used to using food to quell or manage anxiety. Some of us get nervous about eating certain “bad” foods or trusting our bodies in general.

Some of us experience anxiety and automatically assume that our bad bodies are to blame.

Some of us get super stressed and have a tough time knowing how to deal with it.

That’s why it’s so important to find effective ways to handle stress and anxiety. What’s especially helpful is to have a toolbox of  your favorite strategies. This way, when anxiety or stress strikes, instead of moving toward unhealthy methods, you can pick a healthy tool and use it.

For instance, mindfulness is very helpful for coping with worry-wart and jittery-prone ways.

Recently, I read an excellent book called Daily Meditations for Calming Your Anxious Mind by Jeffrey Brantley, M.D., and Wendy Millstine, NC. It’s filled with valuable activities based on mindfulness. They describe mindfulness as:

 an awareness that is sensitive, open, kind, gentle and curious. Mindfulness is a basic human capacity. It arises from paying attention on purpose in a way that is nonjudging, friendly and does not try to add or subtract anything from whatever is happening.

Today, I wanted to share three of my favorite anxiety-alleviating activities from the book. (Yesterday, Psych Central published this post I wrote listing other great practices.)

1. “Prayer Scroll.”

Whether you’re religious or not, many health studies have demonstrated the benefits of prayer, according to Dr. Brantley and Millstine. They suggest creating a prayer scroll, which includes a prayer for yourself, for your loved ones and for all living things. You can say these prayers out loud or in silence, depending on what you prefer. Here are their examples for each type of prayer.

For yourself:

May I be free from harm. May I be loved and give love. May I be safe. May I be happy and well. May I be healthy.

For your loved ones:

May they be free from harm. May they be loved and give love. May they be safe. May they be happy and well. May they be healthy.

For all living things:

May there be peace on earth. May there be health and harmony. May there be loving-kindness for all.

2. Stopping the “spin cycle.”

“There are times when your mind gets stuck in an endless loop of problems and possible worrisome outcomes with no end in sight,” according to the authors. And why is it that this cycle usually happens at night? When all our worries seem to wash over us like a 50-foot wave?

Dr. Brantley and Millstine recommend readers simply giving thanks — thanks to your body and surroundings. You can do this exercise while lying in bed or kneeling at your bedside with the lights off. These are their suggestions on what to say:

I am grateful for this body of cells, molecules, blood, veins, arteries, nerves, organs, muscles, tendons, flesh and bones. I am grateful for my head, face, hair, neck, arms, shoulders, fingers, chest, breasts, back, torso, hips, buttocks, pelvis, thighs, calves, ankles, feet and toes.

I am grateful for this bed, pillow, blankets…bathroom, living room, dinner table and home.

I am grateful for the backyard…neighbors, cars, cafe, corner store…and city. I am grateful for every seed, root, flower, blade of grass, shrub, tree, lawn and garden…I am grateful for the sky, sun, moon, stars, planets, solar system, universe and galaxies far and wide…I am surrendering my mind, body and spirit to the free fall of sleep.

3. “Strong as a mountain.”

As Dr. Brantley and Millstine  write, mountains are strong and solid, and they are the earth. Whenever you’re doubting your strength and don’t feel grounded, they suggest thinking about mountains for support. Visualizing mountains can help you gain back your strength.

First, they suggest taking a comfortable position and breathing deeply. Next, visualize a mountain in front of you. Maybe you’ve seen the mountain in person or in a photo or movie. Either way, let it be an incredible mountain, which is both “soothing and reassuring.”

Then get closer, and notice the mountain’s details. Pay attention to its shapes, colors. “Perhaps there are trees and grasses, or snow or great cliffs and jagged edges. Perhaps you notice boulders and barren spaces, or rich meadows filled with flowers.” Maybe there are clouds, rain or snow or sunlight or fog.

Next, step back and appreciate the grandeur and strength of your mountain. “Notice how the mountain accepts changing conditions yet remains unmoved as people and animals, all types of weather, day and night, and all the seasons move over and around it.”

“Shift attention and focus again on the stillness and steadiness within yourself and your living, breathing body. Feel your own strength now. Let the mountain — accepting, steady, unshakable — be in you. Feel yourself become the mountain.”

You also can repeat the phrase “strong as a mountain,” as you feel “the beauty and majesty of your heart, mind, and body, and your connectedness to the earth.”

Do you find these activities helpful? What helps you cope with anxiety?

By Margarita Tartakovsky, MS

C/O  PsychCentral.com