Treatment for depression and anxiety

6 Effective Relaxation Techniques For Anxiety

2010-03-28T01:35:00.000-07:00

If you are scouring the internet for relaxation techniques for anxiety, chances are you are desperate to find anything to relieve the anxiety you feel right now. Been there, done that.

Anxiety attacks and panic attacks should serve as a warning sign that your mind, body and spirit are out of wack. You need some oxygen in your brain and body. Here are a few things you can do right now to re-balance your energy and feel whole again:

1.) Take a HOT BATH: A toxic mind (full of worry) equals a toxic body. Take a bath and add 1 cup of epsom salt and 1 cup of baking soda added to hot water. This will draw any toxins out of your body through the skin. On a spiritual level, epsom salt and baking soda absorb and clear away any negative energy that may be attached to you. If you do it in the morning, allow yourself some time to take a nap afterward. A hot bath is always excellent for relaxation and stress reduction. Soak for 20-30 with your eyes closed and focus on your breathing.

2.) BREATHE: As someone who has suffered horribly from anxiety attacks in the past, I know first hand that it is almost impossible to take a deep breath in the middle of the physical pain of a panic attack. But make this your focus. Breathe in deep through your nose and concentrate on filling the lower lobes of your lungs. Then blow out through your mouth, force the breath out until there is nothing left.

3.) Try EFT (the Emotional Freedom Technique): EFT is incredibly simple and super effective. EFT is a series of taps along energy meridians throughout the face and body. Look at anxiety as trapped energy with nowhere to go. EFT breaks up this intense energy allowing you to release it. I have listed a link below in the resource box to watch some instructional EFT videos. Or you can google the phrase "emotional freedom technique" to download the free manual. If you haven't tried EFT yet, learn it and use it. It works.

4.) Have yourself a bonafide temper tantrum: (it's best to do this when you are alone;). Throw yourself on your bed, kick your legs, flail around, wiggle, jiggle, punch your pillow, scream into your pillow at the top of your lungs (you get the picture). This is one of THE best relaxation techniques for stress. Sounds crazy, but it's true. You just need to cut loose and let it go. IMPORTANT: stay on the soft bed and avoid contact with anything hard than can physically harm your head, hands, feet or body.

5.) Channel your Anxiety into writing: Take some time to examine your fears. What is running through your mind when you have an anxiety attack? What fears trigger the anxiety? Grab a piece of paper and start writing like a maniac. Don't judge what you are writing, just write down every thought running through your head. Take all your worries and frustrations and put them on paper. If you feel like crying, don't hold back. Let it go. A good cry is equally as healthy as a good laugh.

6.) Eat some raw green veggies: You need oxygen! Go grab some raw broccoli or chomp down a healthy green leaf spinach salad. Raw, green veggies will increase oxygen to your brain and body. Anxiety attacks are a sure sign you are not taking care of yourself in some way or another. It could be what you are eating. Go get some raw green food and eat it.

You may be feeling completely overwhelmed right now and can't see your way out. This is an illusion! Your mind and emotions are creating a threat where none exists. Assure yourself right now that you are going to be ok. Say to yourself "I am safe. I am secure. I am OK."

Give yourself a gift today...a day to fully relax. Allow the anxiety attacks you are experiencing to serve as a warning sign. You need a day to rest, eat some good food and mellow out. Go for that walk, take that bath, write down your thoughts, let go of all of those things you "think" you have to do everyday and just BE. You deserve to feel healthy and whole for yourself and your family.

If you have tried everything under the sun and still can't find any relief, get yourself to a doctor. There may be some underlying issue causing the anxiety attacks. Get a check up as soon as you can.

Fear On The Road, Panic Attacks Help

2010-02-13T23:19:00.000-08:00

Panic attacks help is essential for those that have had attacks on the road and continue to drive in fear. There are those who are terrified of driving and find it hard to get into a car even as a passenger. Causes of such dread depends on each individual. Having been in an accident or knowing someone close who's been in one can trigger fear and anxiety about driving.

When a person perceives a threat or danger the body responds to this, which in some people can be interpreted as an anxiety attack. This stress response can be set off with mere thoughts and feelings of danger. In prehistoric times the stress response enabled man to fight with more speed, strength and alertness. With no fear of being eaten in modern society, the fight or flight response has lost some of its usefulness. Stress itself is the main cause of unnecessary activation of the fight or flight response.

We have all experienced stress and the symptoms of stress at some point in our lives and especially those with anxiety or depressive disorders. Persons with a phobia or anxiety disorder generally possess a more sympathetic nervous system. Driving fears may sometimes be linked to a distressing experience but usually they develop over time. Several small incidences of panic can build up and cause an attack.

People who fear driving may have specific reasons that cause them anxiety such as; being held up in traffic, driving through bad weather, driving down a hill and getting lost. In just a few seconds a little fear can turn into a panic attack. A driver might feel their chest hurt, temperature increase and muscles shake uncontrollably. This kind of event can be very damaging and traumatic to the human psyche.

It's understandable some drivers get anxious about driving again. Some people may be happy to not drive again while others may seek panic attacks treatment to cure their fear. For some people it may be impractical to not drive.

Common panic attacks help comes in the form of therapy or medication. Anxiety medication may help reduce symptoms of anxiety and the occurrence of panic attacks, but advice from a doctor must be sought before taking medication. Because medication sometimes cause side effects, they shouldn't be taken when driving. Therapies that require no use of medication are perhaps better suited to this phobia.

Breathing exercises, EFT and positive affirmations are also useful for those looking for alternative panic attacks help. Preparation is a great help for those who are anxious about driving. If you're very anxious or stressed, avoid getting in the car. Go through a breathing exercise to calm you before you drive. Ensure that you take a cell phone in case of an emergency and some music to listen.

Ensure that you plan your route carefully and you know exactly where you're going. If possible avoid peak driving times. When driving, play some music to help you relax and be aware of your body. As you drive, keep a relaxed and steady breath, and relax you body. Remind yourself that you will arrive safe and sound, and use positive affirmations.

At the beginning of an attack you might feel a little panicky but keep breathing steadily and recognize these sensations as no more than excess adrenaline. As soon as you think that you're going to have a panic attack, find a safe place to pull over. Use a paper bag to help you breathe if you begin to hyperventilate. If you don't feel fit to drive don't, try to call for assistance instead.

Agoraphobia Treatment

2010-02-13T23:16:00.001-08:00

Agoraphobia is a generalized anxiety disorder that is considered to be caused by the fear of having a type of panic attack in a public setting. Many people who suffer from agoraphobia do not go into public places or any place they are not familiar with, and some people may even become reclusive and stay at home at all times, as this is considered a safe place. Triggers for agoraphobia can include crowds or open spaces, traveling and can be severe in nature. Most sufferers are also afflicted with an overwhelming fear of being embarrassed in public, which is also called social agoraphobia. There are other problems such as PTSD and OCDs that can contribute to agoraphobia, and generally affects women twice as often as men.

There are many online websites that offer CBT or cognitive behavioral therapy online, without seeking help from a psychologist first. These sites normally require that you become a member and take a short test to see how severe the agoraphobia is in your case. Most of the test will help the professionals on the site be able to customize therapy sessions and worksheets as well as activities for you to complete, and others will allow you to see your test at various stages in therapy to see your marked progress.

Treatment sessions may be required by your website, and these can be set up in your preferences as to how often and how long the therapy sessions will go on. Some require 2 weeks of sessions, while others may require up to 10 weeks of sessions. This will depend on the site you choose as well as the severity of your agoraphobia. The therapy sessions will not only help to find the cause of your agoraphobia, but will help to identify triggers and ways of coping. Treatments are normally done on your own time schedule online, through your chosen website without a professional available. These sessions are written by professionals, and are tried and true therapies that are commonly used in face to face sessions.

Many sites will offer you tools such as worksheets and activities to complete along with your therapy sessions. This is to help reinforce the behaviors you are learning in therapy sessions, and will also give you a way of seeing how far you have come in your therapy sessions. If you once found it difficult to walk into a room of people you do not know, and now are able to do so without sweating, this is a major breakthrough for your therapy sessions. Being able to keep track of this is essential for many people, as it gives them something to look at and prove to themselves that therapy is working.

The sites that offer agoraphobia treatments online generally ask that you take part in a forum or chat room on a regular basis. This gives you a place to comment on your therapy sessions, your progress and to talk to others who have the same issues and situations as yourself. These forums are normally monitored by professional psychologists, therefore any questions you may have can be asked safely through the forum.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

2010-02-13T23:15:00.000-08:00

Cognitive behavioral therapy or online CBT is commonly used online to treat persons that are seeking self help with agoraphobia, social phobias as well as depression or anxiety and panic attacks. This is the most recommended type of therapy, when it comes to persons wanting to use self help to cure themselves of the ailments. There are many platforms for CBT, and some websites that offer these services online are able to help people in as little as 8 weeks of treatment.

Cognitive behavioral therapy online or CBT online is generally compiled by psychologists that study the specific areas mentioned. These professionals then look at the most popular and widely used cognitive behavioral approaches and therapies with the highest success rates, and apply this to an online website. Not only are more people able to use the therapy because they can do so from home, but many do not wish to let others know they have a problem, so they will avoid getting help. Using the online CBT gives everyone the option of getting the help they deserve without the embarrassment of others knowing your personal woes.

CBT treatments work by outlining the disorder or problem by asking for you to take a short test. This test will tell the professional what it is you are suffering from based on answers, as well as the severity of the disorder and the triggers. This helps to outline the treatment plan, worksheets and activities that will be required for treatment to be successful for your individual situation. The worksheets will differ from person to person, as no two people suffer in the same ways. Social phobias are not all the same, and all have different triggers, so the worksheets for two persons with the same social phobias will be different.

Many online sites that offer CBT will have a chat room or forum that is available to patients for speaking to others with their same problems or situations. This helps everyone to have a healthy outlet for emotions, a safe haven for questions and a means of communicating with others who understand the situation. Some of these sites have professionals on staff that monitor the sites, and are able to answer questions or give general advice. However, these professional psychologists generally will not give specific advice to any one person, as they are not going to be the professional that put your treatment plan together. Some sites will offer patients the information for their specific treatment professional, while others allow the professionals to be anonymous. This will depend on the site you join and their standards for privacy.

The experts that work for these online sites normally have many years of experience, and are able to give a person the options needed to stick with treatment. There are many people who would not seek help if they had to visit an office face to face. Using the online CBT, more people are comfortable knowing they are anonymous and no one will know about the troubles they are facing.

Panic Heart Attack - How To Avoid Panic And Heart Attacks?

2010-02-09T06:48:00.000-08:00

People often associate heart attack with panic. The reason behind this is the striking similarity between the symptoms of the two.

When one typically gets a panic attack the symptoms are not that bad if the attack is not severe. However in the case of a severe panic attack the symptoms will resemble the heart attack. The patient's heart will race or he/she will feel irregular heart beats, he/she might also profusely sweat and will complain of the chest pain.

Typically the patient will be dizzy and will express fears of a heart attack and the consequent death. Most of the americans mistake the panic attack for a heart attack especially if they have experienced it for the first time. The first timers are often rushed to the emergency rooms of the hospitals and get diagnosed with nothing.

Usually the number of cases of wrong diagnosis has been observed more in women as compared to the men. The suspected reason behind this is that more women suffer from the anxiety and the panic problems as compared to men. That is why it has become a tendency to misdiagnose the heart disease in the women as panic attacks.never delay seeking professional advice if you are dubious about the nature of the attack.

Keep in mind that a heart attack can be fatal enough to take your life. Other than that it can cause severe muscle problems and the problems of the blood vessels. Also if one does not get a life saving treatment in the first 30 minutes of an attack permanent heart damage or death can occur. Due to the severe chest pain too the heart attack can be misdiagnosed as a panic attack.

Even the best and the most reliable researches have not been able to find a link between the panic and the heart attacks and it can safely be stated that the panic does not cause heart attacks. This has not happened in any good hospital that a person diagnosed with panic and anxiety disorders actually had heart problems. The heart attacks are caused by an entirely different set of reasons.

The heart problems too can be genetic. But the attack occurs only when the life style of the patient is not good enough to resist an attack. Obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels can lead to a heart attack but the panic can not. It is true that the heart undergoes a brutal exercise during a panic attack but the point is that the life of the person experiencing the attack is not in danger.

When a panic attack occurs the major similar symptoms are rapid or the irregular heart beats which speed up with every passing moment. This irregular heart beat is often accompanied by some severe pains in the chest. But the difference between the two is that pain of a heart attack is marked by severe, sharp and pointed pain.

However, the pain in an anxiety attack is of a stationary nature. The pain does not move in to other part of the body whereas the situation is opposite in a heart attack. Panic anxiety attacks are often accompanied by severe sweating.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder Symptoms - Know About Gad Indications

2010-02-09T06:23:00.000-08:00

Generalized anxiety disorder is the fear about something that has not existed or the tendency to exaggerate about something that they fear will affect their life radically. A regular fear on something could result to intense worry. Generalized anxiety disorder symptoms vary but continuous fear is the most evident.

Anybody can have that feeling of being anxious with just about anything, such as a future event like taking an examination, public speaking engagement, facing the unknown and many other factors. Sometime, there is really nothing to be worried about. A normal individual may well be concerned about it but carry on with his regular and normal activities. When a person starts to worry about it and it starts to affect their daily life, then it becomes serious.

Generalized anxiety disorder symptoms get worse when you begin to worry or become restless about something gravely. A person suffering from GAD could become intensely disturbed and develop a severe anxiety problem. Other symptoms are insomnia, nausea, muscle tension, getting tired easily, unsteadiness, restlessness, stomach problems and soreness of muscles.

Those are the generalized anxiety disorder symptoms observed physically from a person who is having GAD. But, these are the obvious signs and symptoms but there are symptoms unseen on the outside. GAD patients can experience fear, incessant fearful thoughts, incapability to relax easily, bad temper, rejection and trouble in focusing on his normal activities.

Overstated anxious thoughts about everyday occurrences may aggravate generalized anxiety disorder symptoms. Albeit there's nothing to be worried about, GAD patients have anxiety thoughts like tragedies that will happen in their life. The problem starts when they can no longer control their anxiety. It must be treated to prevent it from getting worse.

A great way to handle GAD is to practice deep breathing exercise in order to relax the body and mind. Be able to stop worries so that these generalized anxiety disorder symptoms can also be stopped fully. It is advised to start the healing process internally with the use of meditations which can control the human mind.

Proper medication and deep breathing exercises help a lot in lessening bodily stress. In this manner, individuals can rid of manifested generalized anxiety disorder symptoms. It is also advisable to have a regular and proper diet because a healthy lifestyle is what you should strive to have. Further, you can seek the support of your family and friends in order for you to be healed immediately.

You Can Learn To Stop Anxiety Attacks, But How Do You Keep Anxiety Attacks From Starting?

2010-02-05T08:43:00.001-08:00

When you're in the middle of an anxiety attack, all you can really think about is wanting it to stop. There are breathing techniques, visualization and other methods of doing this, but stopping an anxiety attack in the moment is only a temporary fix. The real question is how do you keep the attacks from reoccurring?

In my experience, anxiety is not usually a "condition." It is a "lifestyle issue." I'm well aware that the medical establishment does not recognize panic disorder and anxiety attacks in this way, but then again, they also have a very poor track record for helping anxiety sufferers recover. Standard operating procedure seems to be to just throw pills that the problem and hope it goes away.

But there is another way of understanding and dealing with anxiety attacks that gets much better results: confronting the control issues and thinking habits that create a breeding ground for anxiety to exist in the first place.

I have written and talked about this method for years, and it is basically a way changing your day-to-day habits very subtly, that reduces the likelihood of suffering anxiety attacks.

To be sure, this method is not a "quick fix" to stop anxiety attacks. It is a gradual approach to consistently extinguish the old habits that cause the attacks to begin with. You'll notice I just said that your habits cause anxiety attacks, and in my experience this is true well over 90% of the time.

There are of course, certain medical conditions which can cause anxiety; so it's always a good idea to get checked by your doctor. But it is my belief that the vast majority of anxiety sufferers do not have a physical condition causing their problem -- it is the exception, not the rule.

Now, when I tell people that their habits cause anxiety and panic attacks, they occasionally get a bit upset and ask, "are you saying that I am causing the anxiety attacks myself?" The short answer to this question is, "yes."

Anxiety is a "thinking problem" in the overwhelming majority of cases; this means that the anxiety sufferer MUST take responsibility for their role in the attacks if they are going to stop them.

This does NOT mean that anyone should blame themselves because they have anxiety issues or panic attacks. But they should take responsibility. And in an odd way taking responsibility for anxiety attacks is actually very empowering. After all, if you (or something you are doing) is causing the attacks, that clearly demonstrates that they are under your control.

You are not a victim of anxiety attacks, you are a contributor to them, which means you can also stop them.

The alternative is to look at anxiety the way many people in the medical profession do: as something that is completely out of your control, where you are simply a helpless "victim" of a poorly understood condition. I'll speak plainly here: having suffered with anxiety attacks for more than 20 years (and having cured them myself), I find this point of view to be complete and utter nonsense.

Like so many others, I saw doctors, therapists and specialist, and was treated with anti-anxiety medications for years. It was a complete waste of time. It finally dawned on me that the doctors were treating me medically for something that was NOT a medical problem. It was entirely an emotional issue based on poor thinking habits and failure to understand my control issues.

While I cannot speak to anyone else's success or lack thereof in treating anxiety medically, I do know it was completely ineffective for me, and hundreds of people have echoed the same sentiment to me over the years. For this reason, I encourage all anxiety sufferers to take a look at the real problem: your habitual way of "being."

This means confronting your day-to-day habits, especially your thinking habits (we all have them), and your inner control freak. Because control -- or lack of it -- is the real issue during an anxiety attack. Think about it: people who feel everything is perfectly under control do not have anxiety attacks-- only people who perceive themselves or their situation to be out of control suffer these attacks.

With a little bit of effort, you can establish new habits that will effectively block the old habits that are creating an "anxiety friendly" environment to begin with. This has the effect of not only stopping anxiety attacks, but making it far less likely you will experience anxiety in the future.

Remember, these issues can not exist unless your day-to-day habits support them. People suffer with anxiety attacks sometimes, but they are never a "victim" of them.

Natural Herbal Supplements For Anxiety - How These Will Work?

2010-02-05T08:40:00.000-08:00

Generalized Anxiety Disorder Symptoms

2010-02-05T08:07:00.000-08:00