September 2, 2009 | Posted by
Phobias are the most common psychiatric illness among women of all ages, and the second most common illness among men older than 25. Phobias are thought to be caused by a combination of biological factors and life events, much in the way other disorders (such as diabetes or heart disease) are influenced by a person’s genes and lifestyle. Phobias are more than extreme fear, they are irrational fear.
Phobias are the most easily treated of all psychological issues, with successful treatment being achieved in some cases within a few hours. They are seen as maladaptive learned responses which are able to be corrected by learning new ways of responding. The general symptoms of phobias include the following: Feelings of panic, dread, horror, or terror; recognition that the fear goes beyond what is considered normal and is out of proportion to the actual threat of danger; reactions that are automatic and uncontrollable, and seem to take over the person’s thoughts; rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, trembling, and an overwhelming desire to escape the situation. Extreme measures are often taken to avoid the feared object or situation.
Sometimes they start in childhood for no apparent reason; sometimes they emerge after a traumatic event; and sometimes the develop from an attempt to make sense of an unexpected and intense anxiety or panic (e. Some individuals can simply avoid the subject of their fear and suffer only relatively mild anxiety over that fear. When the anxiety has gone, remind yourself that you have survived, and have not gone mad, lost control or died. When and where to seek further help If your phobias are interfering with your ability to lead a full, normal life and you don’t make any progress in challenging them yourself. If you are experiencing a lot of anxiety or distress, and you seem to be feeling like this often. If you are avoiding situations that matter or if you suffer from overwhelming blushing/trembling/sweating in social situations or feel that you lack social skills, you may be more prone. Studies have also shown that the occurrence or anticipation of stressful life events, anxiety in childhood, over-protective parental behaviour and substance abuse are common among people with panic disorder.
Treatment exists to help people with phobias and panic disorder, and research into new therapies and techniques continues. During therapy, a person can slowly learn to become comfortable with the situation or object through exposure treatment or reconditioning. If the object of fear is easy to avoid, people with phobias may not feel the need to seek treatment.
Most individuals understand that they are suffering from an irrational fear, but are powerless to override their initial panic reaction. Even professional entertainers can experience cold sweat, nausea, vomiting, and light-headedness when they step out in front of an audience. Group therapy has also been successful in providing social phobics with a supportive circle of people who can empathize with their experience and serve as a significant first rebellion against the very nature of the disease.
Psychologists have categorized as many as 500 phobias, and according to the estimates of some health professionals, as many as 50 million individuals in the United States suffer from some kind of phobia.
Glossophobia, a fear of public speaking, is one of the most common of phobias and one that must be overcome by many individuals who find themselves in the position of having to make a speech to a group of people for business, professional, or educational reasons.
Phobias are in fact a fear of being afraid and demonstrate the brain’s ability to learn instantly, potentially a very effective survival mechanism. If you are interested in finding out more about phobias and what you can do to relieve them, they are listed alphabetically and indexed by their definitions on the website.
Peter Fisher is an expert Author and webmaster for WAHM-Info.com where you will find help with overcoming your fears and anxieties
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http://EzineArticles.com/?Fears-and-Phobias-Defined&id=620562
Categories: Anxiety, Panic Attacks, Wellbeing | 
Tags: anxiety attack while speaking, coping with panic attacks, Fears and phobias, irrational fear | 
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September 1, 2009 | Posted by
According to a recent Harris poll, 72% of American households are thinking about starting a home-based business. You are not alone. Start today and be there first.
- More and more people are dropping out of the rat race to provide services and/or goods from home. Start part-time and build until you can drop the “day job.”
- For many, working from home is the best choice (ex., the stay-at-home spouse, or those who are retired).
- For others, working from home may be the only option (ex., house-bound due to health or to care for elderly parents).
- And it has even proven to be an excellent (if unexpected) opportunity for hundreds of thousands (ex., the “downsized”).
But…
This area is fraught with “get rich quick” schemes. So evaluate the opportunities carefully. Anything that offers great rewards for no-or-low work is a fraud. Think about it — why would they need you?
Bad News, Good News
Building a real business, no matter what kind of business, requires work. “That’s the bad news.”
The good news is that there has never been a better time to start a business from home. The Internet makes it a low-cost (i.e., low-risk), high-potential route.
Forget the long string of “classic work-at-home” dead-end jobs (ex., envelope-stuffing and telemarketing). Use the Web to build something terrific that excites you, a business to be proud of, that you own, and that earns you substantial income.
Do you have any idea how proud the small business people on our Family Bulletin Board are when they tell friends what they NOW do for a living? Join thousands just like them — take control and start your own home-based business.
Bottom Line? Use the Web to Build Something Real.
Only One Question…. How??
Let me show you here: SBI Review
Or view this short video…
Categories: Work At Home | Tags: happiness, positive feelings, Work At Home | No Comments »
August 25, 2009 | Posted by
This is another great article from Jon Mercer of www.easycalm.com where you can learn how to control and eliminate all of your anxiety attacks.
Have you ever felt like your mind was spinning on a hamster wheel? You know; you get caught in an endless loop, running over the same old fears again and again, feeling unable to just stop the ride and get off?
I think we have all felt this way at one time or another, and if you have a history of anxiety or panic issues, you have surely done a few laps on the old hamster wheel. I know I have!
This obsessive re-examining of a fearful or worrying situation is what some people call a “cognitive loop.” It is uncomfortable at best, and at its worse, can have a negative affect on every area of your life, including your actual physical health.
That’s right. Research shows that over time, mental distress of this type can actually cause physical distress, quickening the pulse rate, raising blood pressure, and even weakening the immune system. All the more reason to learn how to “jump off the hamster wheel.” So let’s define what this “loop” actually is, and how you can put an end to this vicious cycle.
I think of a cognitive loop like a computer “hang up.” Remember the last time your computer froze on you? It became unresponsive and all forward progress came to a screeching halt, right? Probably your only alternative was to “reboot” and start over, because as everyone knows, once that endless loop starts running, you’re not going to get anything done until you do!
And that is exactly how you handle a loop in your thinking!
Once the loop of fear or worry begins, all progress stops. Your mind has basically “hung up,” and you’re not getting anything productive done until you call a time out and “re-boot” your system. And just how do you re-boot your mind?
Physical Change = Emotional Change
Our physical state and our mental state are very closely linked. For example, I notice that I always feel calm and centered when I exercise regularly and drink plenty of water. So to change a faulty (but temporary) mental state, like the cognitive loop, I recommend immediately changing your physical state.
The easiest way to do this is to just notice what you are doing with your body, and then do the opposite of that. If you’re sitting–stand up, or even go for a short walk. If you’re slouching, straighten your posture-chin up, chest out, back straight.
Notice your breathing. Are you taking short, shallow breaths? Take a few slow, deep breaths, breathing out slightly longer than you breath in. Do a few slow and deliberate stretches with your arms and legs to increase circulation.
Anything you can do to change your physical state will immediately begin to affect your mental state. And the more extreme the change in your physical state, the more extreme the change in your mental state will be. That’s one reason that exercise is so good for your mental health-especially as a preventive measure.
Walking or bike-riding are both really good for the nerves, but any movement that changes your physical state will have a positive effect. One easy way to remember this:
“When you change what your body is doing, you change what your mind is doing.”
© Jon Mercer — www.easycalm.com
Categories: Anxiety, General Health, Panic Attacks, Wellbeing | Tags: anxiety stress and panic, coping strategies, coping with panic attacks, feelings of anxiety and panic, stop anxiety attack | No Comments »
June 23, 2009 | Posted by
Do you know what really enhances the appeal of a true male? It is the perfectly shaped and chiseled body and most importantly the biceps. Think of some of the hottest Hollywood stars and you are bound to get attracted by their biceps.
Biceps is one of the most visible and impressive part of our body. [...]
Categories: Anxiety, Body Image, Panic Attacks, Wellbeing, Wellbeing And Health Management | Tags: | No Comments »
June 20, 2009 | Posted by
Author: Ian Spencer
The preparatory phase will take you through a few steps that normally precede anxiety attacks. Some of these are preventive measures, while others are meant to equip you to cope with the anxiety attack if it develops to a full-blown form. As mentioned earlier, it is very critical to the success of these steps that you understand you would not get rid of anxiety until and unless you apply yourself fully to the reverse the symptoms and expel negativity from your mind and life.
Learn To Recognize The Warning Signals
When you are about to have an anxiety attack there would be little warning signals that would tell you it is coming. Most people tend to ignore these signs because they account it to their stressful lives or initial stages of a disease. You need to hone your mind to recognize the warning signals that precede your anxiety attack and when you do so, reiterate to yourself with full confidence that, “It is nothing more than an anxiety attack, which would pass in no time.”
Stop Negative Thinking
Anxiety attacks thrive on negative thoughts. You start with a tiny worry, which would gradually escalate out of proportion paving the way to a full-blown anxiety attack. When you consider the fact that this could feel as bad as a heart attack, you would agree that this is definitely something you should try to avert. When you realize that you are feeding yourself negative thoughts, stop. Will yourself to think positively. Put in all your efforts to change the negative thinking into positive thinking.
Breathe In, Breathe Out
Yoga and many forms of meditation would teach you how to breathe in and out with intense concentration. You would need to watch your abdomen raise and fall steadily while you focus entirely on your breath as it goes in and out. After some time, you would be aware of nothing else but a sweet nothingness in your head and the awareness of your breathing. You will find that your body relaxes and the anxiety, which was threatening to strike, has long since disappeared.
Is There A Logical Justification Backing Up Your Worries
Look carefully at the things that are causing you to worry. Are your worries logically justified or are you blowing things out of proportion? It would be difficult for you to remove yourself from the present and look at the situation objectively, but with practice you would be able to separate instances where worry is justified and where it is not.
Reorganize Your Thoughts
Look at the worse possible scenario and ask yourself what you can do best to avert it. If there is any action that you could take, do so. If there is nothing you can do, will yourself to stop worrying and even thinking about whatever worries you. Tell yourself that you would cross the bridge when it comes. For all its worth, it often happens that the things you worry about most never happens. Why torture yourself in advance for something that might never happen? Why invite an anxiety attack for something imaginary?
Apply The Writing Therapy
The best would be to talk with someone about your feelings, not as a confessional but as a sounding board. When you are stressed, you might not like to talk, but you need to ventilate your thoughts to release the tension that has built within you.
At such times, take out a paper and write down your thoughts – what bothers you the most? What you would want otherwise? How much you can help the situation if you apply yourself to it? You would be surprised about the clarity you would get by just voicing your thoughts (speaking with someone) or penning them down. Often, when your worrisome thoughts are crammed in your mind, they seem much more terrible than when they are ‘taken out to light’. This is something like a cluttered table; at first it looks like there 10 thousand things on it and nothing makes sense, but oncethings are arranged and the desk is de-cluttered, tasks do not look scary and impossible to do anymore.
Establish A Safe Place For Yourself
You need to mentally allot a place in your home and/ or workplace where you declare it ‘safe’. This should be like a sanctuary where nothing bad or harmful can ever reach or touch you. This could a room, your bed, a large armchair, your garden, your coffee lounge, or even bathroom. When you feel the anxiety rising within you, just rush to your safe place and let the feeling of security and safety wash over you.
Imagine that you have reached a place where every bad thing would be turned away – like you would be under the direct protection of God Himself or Providence or whatever super power you believe in. This would give you time and scope to rest your mind and find relief from stress for a while, enough time to enable you change your negative thoughts into positive ones.
Make A List Of Your Pet Worries
Let your worries escalate a little and when you feel that they are about to take a good grip of you, take out a pen and paper and write them down one by one. Write exactly what you are afraid of in bullet points and allot each one a number. Once you have exhausted your sources of worry, take a long look at each one of the points you wrote and then crumple the paper and burn it. At that time, imagine that you have burnt away all your worries and they have left you forever. Repeat this exercise every time you feel an anxiety attack is about to strike, and gradually you would observe that the number of your worries and their intensity decrease.
Force Your Thoughts On To Realty
This works best when you are free of anxiety or any of its symptoms. Take a pen and paper and make a table with two columns. In one of the columns enumerate carefully all the worries that plagued you until date and in the other write ‘yes’ against the worries that came true and ‘no’ against those who never materialized. When you complete the list, the realty would be quite clear to you as you would be able to see it in black and white on your paper. It would be heartening and so reassuring to see and realize that only a very tiny number of worries ever materialize. So, why worry at all?
This Too, Shall Pass
These four words represent a very deep truth of life. Everything in life is transient – both good and bad. We all feel that bad things are harder and emotionally more draining because they hurt, while the good things pass much too fast because they make us happy. The truth is that life is indeed ‘like a box of chocolates’. You need to keep in mind when you are happy as when you are sad that ‘this too shall pass’. They say, ‘You are never as good as they say when you succeed, nor as bad as they say when you fail.” The secret to prevent anxiety attacks is often this simple.
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Categories: Anxiety, Body Image, Panic Attacks, Wellbeing, Wellbeing And Health Management | Tags: anxiety attack while speaking, anxiety stress and panic, causes of panic attacks, coping with panic attacks | No Comments »
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