Stress management for better living » anxiety

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

David — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 02:22:37 +0000

Is anxiety a big part of your life? Do you worry about the smallest things, Make Mountains out of molehills, fret over everything? People who constantly worry about things that the rest of us would think are trivial, may have what is known as Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). Their everyday life involves worrying about everything that may or may not happen, anxiety so consumes their lives that it makes them emotional as well as physical wrecks.

Anxiety, according to Wikipedia is “a psychological and physiological state characterized by cognitive, somatic, emotional, and behavioral components.These components combine to create an unpleasant feeling that is typically associated with uneasiness, apprehension, fear, or worry.”

Why and when does GAD occur?

It could be hereditary or it could be due to a particularly bad stressor that has occurred. It is found that women have Generalized Anxiety Disorder much more than men. It is also found the elderly population. People with GAD often have other anxiety disorders and emotional problems like depression. Unfortunately many folks with GAD have problems with substance abuse also.

What are the cures of GAD?

The way GAD is treated varies from Cognitive Behavior Therapy to medication. Often CBT in used in conjunction with medication for treatments.

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Negative views and stress

David — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 22:24:17 +0000

With all the pressures that people have today its no wonder that stress is such an important issue. Stress can do a lot of damage to you physically as well as emotionally. Much has been written about how stress can be controlled through therapy or other techniques. But maybe you should be thinking about the root cause of your stress and how the way you negatively look at things creates that stress.

Self-examination is in order to correctly determine the source of your stress. Is it work or home or is it your feelings in general that gives your stress and anxiety. Much can be learned from how you think in certain situations. Are your thoughts negative and hopeless when you are in these situations or do you feel this way all the time? It might be helpful to write down your thoughts for a short period of time and see if you can pinpoint which things bring the stress on.

After a few days you might find that you become stressed in most every situation. So it really isn’t the situation as much as it is how you are looking at things. Changing the way you think and feel can be difficult but not impossible. It took time to develop this bad habit of constantly thinking negatively about things and it will definitely take time to change that process. The idea of positive thinking seems simple but it is also powerful. Although it may not be enough by itself to prevent negative thinking it’s a good start.

Remember that if you feel that you can’t do it alone check with your doctor to see if they what they would recommend.

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What is chronic stress?

David — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 20:06:36 +0000

Everyone in life has had stress sometime during their lives. It could be due to your job, your personal relationships, and your children or just about anything that causes anxiety and worry. In fact some stress is good so you don’t want to eliminate it completely but the problem is when stress becomes a regular or chronic part of your life. Then you have to do something about it.

Everybody know the feeling of stress, the knot in their stomach, the sweaty palms, the headache and irritability are just a few of the short term symptoms. But those can all go away if the stress is temporary or if you have your stress under control. What if they aren’t temporary and you continually have trouble dealing with stress then you might find yourself with chronic stress.

Chronic stress is where you are bombarded with stressors in your life. The stress is so constant and so deep that you can’t do anything about it. Not only are you affected emotionally by chronic stress but also physically. This type of stress can lead to stress burnout.

Long term effects of stress on your body.

Causes you to have sleep problems.
High blood pressure
Possible heart problems
Lowers your immune system which in turn makes you more susceptible to other illnesses.
Back problems

Another possible side effect of chronic stress is drug and alcohol addiction. With there is too much stress in life many folks turn to alcohol and drugs to help self-medicate themselves. Of course this leads to more problems than they already had.

What to do about chronic stress?

There are various stress management techniques that you can learn on your own or with the help of your doctor or counselor.

Some of the therapies and treatments are

Without engaging someway to control stress your health and emotional wellbeing will suffer greatly.

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Stress during the recession

David — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 03:00:40 +0000

Stress is always a part of everyday life. You worry about everything such as health, unexpected problems and even the traffic. But with the current economic situation it seems that your worries have doubled. Is your job in jeopardy? Can you pay the bills? What will you do?
The first thing to do is to take a deep breath.
After you have gained your composure then you need to make an assessment of all the things that are worrying you.
Take stock of all the problems that you may have and write them down. If you are worried about your job write it down. Before you do anything else take a minute to clear your thoughts and think. Think about what you would do if you lost your job. Your probably would go on unemployment first. Then you should plan out a job search strategy unless you win the lottery of course. Now write down on your piece of paper under where you wrote ‘lost your job’ the job strategy. Don’t worry if you can always change it later and add on to it. the important thing is that you are making a plan and when it is written down the anxiety of the unknown goes away.
You may need to get more paper because you should write down each problem that you have and write down the solution under it. I know that it sounds too easy but you have to do something to ease your mind of the unknown, stress flourishes when things are unknown.
So this is a start, just a start, to controlling your stress and anxiety of future challenges.

Aromatherapy and stress reduction

David — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 02:18:42 +0000

Certain scents or smells always bring out particular emotions in folks, whether it is something cooking in the morning or the smell of cologne or perfume. It makes you think of something as simple as you are hungry or it could remind you of a person or place you used to know. Of course it could also bring the opposite effect; certain smells may remind you of things that you would rather forget. The sense of smell is very powerful and can be used in a very positive way. Aromatherapy uses plant oil extracts or essential oils as a form of therapy to help with such things as reducing stress, depression and pain among other things.

Plant oils have been used since the beginning of time for therapeutic treatments and aromatherapy has been used for about the century or so. The Greeks and Egyptians were early users of fragrances as well as the Romans. The French started to use essential oils not only for therapy but also for medicinal use at the beginning of the century.

The two basic ways to use aromatherapy are by inhalation and by applying it to the skin. Putting a few drops of essential oils on a cloth or spraying them gently into the air will do the trick or by using lotions, body oils and other products with essential oils in them.

Aromatherapy can be very useful in the reduction of stress and anxiety as well as muscle relaxation.

Panic attacks

David — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 17:03:58 +0000

Your heart starts to pound and your hands are moist with sweat. Your breathing becomes rapid and you are filled with anxiety. Some people may think that they are having a heart attack but instead they are having a panic attack. It could be brought on by extreme worry or by terror or just by the thought that something terrible is going to happen. Physically you aren’t in danger but your emotional state is in turmoil.

Phobias are a major cause of panic attacks. An irrational fear such as a fear of heights or a fear of close places or even a fear of certain animals can lead to panic attacks. Agoraphobia is a common phobia where the individual is afraid of being in certain situations like being in public, being alone and other situations that are quite normal for most people.

Some people may only have one or two panic attacks in a lifetime but for others it is a common occurrence. For those with reoccurring panic attacks cognitive behavior treatment and medicine are options for treatment.

A lack of serotonin in the brain is believed to be the cause of panic attacks. That is why Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors became popular medications beginning with Prozac in the eighties. Not only is Prozac prescribed for depression it is also used for anxiety and panic attacks. Those with depression have also been found to be low in serotonin.

Cognitive Behavior therapy attempts to change the thinking of the panic victim. Replacing negative thinking with positive thinking and relaxation techniques are just 2 of many CBT’s tools for treatment.

Music therapy as a stress reducer

David — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 02:20:37 +0000

The idea that music helps us calm down is as old as music itself. Whether it is a pop song or a symphony, the sounds seem to go through our brains like waves that washes our stress out to sea. After a hard day of work the sound of a car radio almost seems therapeutic since our bodies are winding down and the music complements our natural relaxation response.

There have been studies that have shown that music does help relieve tension and anxiety. It lowers blood pressure, relaxes muscles and can help with depression.

Is it the music or is it the emotions that it stirs that makes it so relaxing to hear a favorite song? It is probably both. And it doesn’t have to be sounds of music that can soothe you, it can also be recordings of nature sounds that puts you in a mood, almost hypnotic, where the days problems can be forgotten or at least be better understood.

You don’t have to stay at home in your easy chair, combining a good walk with great tunes can lift your spirit and refresh you like few things can. Especially if the music has a quick beat that you can keep pace with.

Music therapy can also be used in conjunction with deep breathing exercises, where you on a sound of nature tape and breath. You will definitely reach a relaxed state that you will look forward to returning to in the future.