From Anxiety to Comfort - A Guide to Treating Anxiety

Anxiety disorders are becoming a common cultural issue affecting more people than one might think. Seeking relief comes naturally under the influence of anxiety and often leads to developing coping mechanisms, which are not necessarily healthy. What might help your anxiety in the moment may make it worse later on hence it is important to draw a distinguishing line between techniques that help and the techniques that do the rather opposite.

Generally avoid the following:

Alcohol and cigarettes - sure they bring immediate relief with each gulp and puff, but also cause considerable damage if you rely on these aids daily and solely. Both exhibit neurotoxic and carcinogenic properties and fighting anxiety by inhibiting/pruning already malfunctioning neural connections does not induce relief, but on the contrary, produces anxiety.

Consuming excess sugars - dwelling on soft, sweet drinks as the primary source of fluids is a habit you might consider dropping. It is true that glucose is absolutely necessary for proper brain function, but only to a certain point. Beyond a saturation point you are inducing more brain fog and mood swings than clarity.

Lacking sleep - Sleep is absolutely necessary for proper body and brain function and regeneration. You might have noticed that a day after an inadequate sleeping session you find yourself experiencing elevated anxiety or depression levels, both of which you are here to avoid.

What you might consider implementing into your daily routine in order to bring relief without sacrificing, but rather preserving, long-term health:

Exercise - Aerobic exercise including jogging, swimming, cycling and many others do more good for your mental health than you would expect. Exercise results in formation of new neural connections within the brain region, inherent to memory formation and retention, known as hippocampus, so it actually induces morphological changes!

Meditate - Meditation too causes changes in brain's structure for the better - it results in thickening of the cerebral cortex, which is associated with a broad set of cognitive functions including self-control and focus.

Eat healthily - try to include, often repulsive yet healthy, vegetables and fruits in your diet and spread your meals into several small ones rather than few ample portions. A healthy diet equals a healthy brain. All the essential amino acids and vitamins, deficiencies and imbalances of which might contribute to the feelings of anxiety, are usually found in green foods.

Follow this basic guideline, or at least a part of it, and enjoy the gained benefits for yourself. If you do not feel like taking up on some of these tips then just supplement/substitute the items on the list with any additional techniques you consider are worth employing, you never know what might work the best for you.

As my guide to treating my anxiety I have used this web-page:
Treating your depersonalization -
It provides all the information about the supplementation, medication and natural techniques that will help you reduce and finally overcome your anxiety

I wish all of you the best and a quick recovery!

Paddy

Original article

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Panic Attacks

If you experience an unexplained, sudden, and intense fear and anxiety that causes your body to have intense physical symptoms, such as, rapid heartbeat, sweating, chest pain, or hyperventilation, you may be having a panic attack. If you experience regular attacks, your doctor may diagnose you with panic disorder.

The two typical panic attack treatments are medications and psychotherapy. Sometimes, the two are combined. However, medications have many potential side effects, some of them serious. For this reason, you may want to consider therapy first.

The most common, and studies suggest the most effective, therapy for panic disorder attacks is cognitive behavioral therapy (also called CBT). CBT usually lasts for 10 to 20 sessions with a cognitive behavioral therapist.

Goals of CBT

The goals of cognitive behavioral therapy for panic attacks are for you to understand the nature of your attacks, reduce your fear of attacks and their physical symptoms, and reduce your fear and avoidance of situations that in the past have triggered panic attacks.

CBT will teach you to change your reactions in situations that provoke anxiety and panic and to change how you associate panic attacks with certain situations and bodily sensations. In other words, you learn to replace thoughts that support attacks with more accurate thoughts about yourself and the situations in which you find yourself.

How CBT Works

Although your therapist will use CBT techniques specific to your condition, the basic steps of CBT are:
You learn how to identify anxious thoughts and reactions as they happen. One technique is to keep a daily journal where you record anxious and panicky thoughts and the events related to them.
You learn to understand and challenge your well-established and automatic thoughts and reactions.
You complete behavioral homework assignments from your therapist to help you change your behavior.
Through observing yourself and your reactions, you start to recognize the false assumptions underlying your anxiety and panic.
As you recognize these assumptions, you find and implement new ways to deal with your fears.

According to the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, CBT typically has a lasting effect, with low rates of relapse, without continued psychotherapy or medication. Other supportive therapies that are part of CBT include general counseling and deep breathing exercises for relaxation.

If you experience panic attacks, help is available. Talk to your healthcare provider about cognitive behavioral therapy and other panic attack treatments.

Carol Wiley is a freelance writer who writes a lot about health and wellness, among other topics. For more information about panic attack treatments, visit http://www.squidoo.com/panic-attack-treatments-for-you.

Original article

Tips for Fighting Panic Attacks May Not Have Considered Before

People, who suffer from panic attacks must remember that such a problem is nothing but a feeling. It should be allowed to have full control on mind. One may feel some signs of sweating, fast heart beat and other erratic movement of the body, for example, trembling and shaking. When a person goes through continuous fear and isolation, then these can make the attack more serious.

For the person who is suffering from attacks, it is advantageous to know that they do not have to be embarrassed of their situation or feel disgraced. Just have to know that how to be able to control it and help it in soothing.

Constructive tips for battling panic attacks;

There are a few tips may not have considered before when trying to get rid of attacks.Here, are a few tips that one should consider battling panic attack:

To avoid attacks must realize what caused them. There are many causes why people have these attacks such as, phobias, drugs, heredity and distressing events.

It is hard to remain calm particularly in a busy schedule crowded with monotony, stress and many other problems, but above all these, should try to be relaxed. Panic is called for when severe conditions occur. But trying to be relaxed daily one will gradually get use to the thought that small issues should not cause panic or mess in mind.

Avoid cigarettes and coffee and other caffeinated drinks. These common things cause much harm to one's system. So, too much of these will make exposed to panic attack. It is also suggested getting away from diet tablets, and non-sleepy medications as these can hold tonics.

Try to get more and more exercise. It also aids blazing extreme adrenaline. By constant exercise, one is able to release panic.

Panic attack without any medication is muscle relaxation. Soothing the body by targeting one muscle group at one time can reduce overall tension. The more relaxed one is the less anxious one will be.

Learning to overcome feelings of panic and fear begins with a mental state because to what one thinks can either aggravate the condition. One's panic will continue if persistently expects failure or that anything awful will occur. The power of constructive thoughts can succeed over negative thoughts.

When one feels that is on the edge of experiencing a panic attack, it is advantageous to take a bath with warm water or cold water.

Read books and solve puzzles to keep mind busy, so that one does not think about core panics. There are many puzzles and books are obtainable for people who experience anxiety problems or panic attacks.

If feels that anxiety takes over the body, it is advantageous to drink a glass of water comfortably and promptly and it is also advantageous to have a cup of tea.

Taking deep breaths can be helpful to eliminate attacks because one is able to power the hypertension. When one is competent to control the velocity of breathing, can also control the racing of heart. This will develop the feeling of being faint, trembling and any other sign of attack.

These easy tips can help to cure stress and panic attack and keep the whole lot under control, so one can recover one's life and do not influence by this depressing feeling that can harm one's way of living.

Visit http://www.anxiety-and-panic.net/ to get more information on panic attack.

Original article