Health Stress and Anxiety

Archive for the ‘Phobias’ Category

Anxiety is a well known mood condition that occurs without a specific triggering stimulus. As such, it is distinguished from fear, which occurs in the presence of a perceived threat.

Another view is that anxiety is a “future-oriented mood state in which the experiencer is poised to cope with upcoming negative events” suggesting that it is a distinction between present vs. future dangers that divides fear and anxiety.

Anxiety is marked with an intensification of somatic reactions that help the organism to deal with the threat. Heart rate and blood pressure are increased, sweating is increased, blood flow to the major muscle groups is increased, while immune and digestive system functions are slowed down (the fight or flight response).

Anxiety does not only consist of bodily signs. Many emotional effects are involved as well. Some of those include: “Feelings of dread or apprehension, trouble focusing, feeling tense or jumpy, anticipating the worst, irritability, restlessness, watching (and waiting) for occurrences (and signs) or danger, and, feeling as if your mind has gone blank.” There is also, “nightmares/bad dreams, obsessions about sensations, a ‘trapped in your mind’ feeling, deja vu, and feeling like everything is scary.”

Although there are many techniques to stop panic attacks, the most successful ones are listed below and include discovering your own method to calm your body down.

Daily exercise not only helps keep you in good shape, but it also offers an outlet in which to release much of your pent up stress and anxiety. Dedicating at least an hour a day to some form of fitness, whether it be walking around the block or cardio can do wonders for your tension and help to calm your panic attacks in the long run.

A key ingredient in controlling the worst part of a panic attack is discovering a relaxation method that will help you control your breathing and allow you to settle down. Enrollment in a yoga class, which can teach you various meditation and breathing techniques can go a long way in preventing anxiety attacks in the future.

Believing that alcohol or other mood-altering drugs can relax you is an illusion as they will worsen your anxiety in the long run and intensify its symptoms.

If none of these other steps work in controlling your panic symptoms, then you might want to talk with your doctor about medication alternatives. There are many different prescription drugs that can help reduce your anxiety while you learn new. While it is not in your best interest to become dependent on medication, if you need urgent help in calming yourself after an episode, this appears to be the best choice.

Social phobia is another name for social anxiety disorder. Social phobia affects over 15 million Americans each year, making it the third largest psychological problem in the United States. As many people as there are affected by social phobia, it is still very misunderstood by mental health care professionals such as doctors, therapists and psychologists. Patients suffering from social phobia are misdiagnosed approximately 90% of the time. Often they are mistakenly labeled as manic-depressive, panic disordered, schizophrenic or clinically depressed.

Social phobia is not a disorder that is discussed a lot on television on in the media; so many sufferers don’t realize just how common their problem is in the world. Rather, they feel there is something wrong with just them so they don’t seek treatment. Without knowledge of social phobia and proper treatment, the condition can get worse over time. Another thing that makes social phobia so difficult is that it does not come and go as a symptom of some diseases, but it is with you every day of your life.

Some of the different circumstances that may bring on an attack of social phobia include being the center of attention; meeting new people, being watched or observed while you’re doing something; looking someone in the eye, embarrassing easily, being criticized or teased. Most people that suffer from social phobia also experience physical symptoms like sweating, palpitating, blushing, dry throat and many more.

Cognitive-behavior therapy has been quite successful in the treatment for social phobia. Most people that suffer from social phobia realize that they have no valid reason to feel the way they do, but they still can’t seem to help themselves. It is this acknowledgement of their condition with makes the therapy work better towards helping the patient recover and lead a normal life. Many health professionals will also prescribe medication such as antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs, which are quite helpful when used with the cognitive-behavior therapy.