The first time I had a panic attack I thought I must have some sort of virus that made me nauseous and that gave me diarrhea. My face was flushed and I was convinced I had a fever.  I was at a Christmas party at the time and spent the majority of the evening in the powder room.  I felt just miserable all night. Its amazing how strong are The Astonishing Power of Emotions.   I didn’t understand then that the waves coming up over me through out the evening were actually panic.  It took me two days for my stomach to recover.   Social Anxiety can sneak up on you and without help the phobia keeps getting re enforced by your behavior. Read the rest of this entry »

Fear and Anxiety

Have you been affected by fear and anxiety?  For me it was like a domino effect with stress causing anxiety, then panic appears and finally you fear the panic happening again.  Stress over a long time was the trigger for me.

Fear and anxiety are a normal part of life and have evolved on the basis that you adapt in response to threat.  They are closely linked but quite different and you need to deal with them in different ways.  Anxiety is a vague unpleasant emotional state and it often appears to have no basis or direct threat.  Fear is similar except that it has a specific object. Read the rest of this entry »

This is a selection from a  poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

For me this poem is all about growing older, getting through the dark days, knowing sunny days are coming and to accept that our life is not perfect.  Being ‘blue’ is ok if you give it a time frame to experience it, then move on.

Overcoming depression

I am going to do something a bit different this week and talk to you about a video I really love, and which reminds me of a time from childhood to my teenage years when I was a confident and outgoing person.  I don’t know really where my confidence went but it disappeared in early adulthood and I was left with anxiety and panic but I really want to rule the world again.

The video is the Grammy Award winning song “Viva la Vida” and also known as ‘When I ruled the world“.   It’s a very stirring song and a little bit sad as well.   I would like you to listen to it but don’t examine every word but just enjoy the song.  When I first heard it I thought immediately of my young days when I was a confident young lady who loved to mix and had many friends.  I became an anxious and reserved person who preferred her own company or only those of some close friends  and family.

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Anxiety is an emotional state where you feel frightened and confused because of your reactions to a perceived or actual threat.

Most people will experience this in their lifetime and yet most people don’t know what is anxiety and why it happens. The reason for its increase in recent years includes a variety of causes, including living in a more stressful society, unhealthy diets, and the rise in substance abuse.

Peaceful and beautiful

Anxiety disorders occur when the anxiety system doesn’t work properly or when overwhelmed. It can make you feel you are losing control and even to the extreme where you think that you are going to die. It makes the body go into a ‘fight or flight’ response. Anxiety can stop you from living your life the way you want and that is when it is called a disorder.

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Now the “Don’t worry,  be happy” song had a simple message but can this simple philosophy be really achieved?  Worry is something you choose to do and you do have some control over it. You can accept it, limit it or reject it, it is your choice.

Life is full of stresses but by adapting ourselves to be resilient and positive is a way we can live our life being happy.  How we react to stress and problems in our lives will determine the outcome.  Being happy within ourselves and knowing how to increase it is a way to make our lives more fulfilled and also more healthy.  You have a choice so don’t worry, be happy as the song says.

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Like most anxieties we often avoid the problem rather than face it and this is the case with fear of failure.  It is easier not to take the risk so we go in avoidance mode.  We must understand what has made us fear failing in the first place.  Has outside influences had a part in our feelings?

An example of this might be that we are told in our youth that we can never do anything right and so be believe it.   Is this outside assessment an accurate one or just something we have accepted as truth?  Fear can immobilize us and we get so wrapped up in that fear that we really will fail or not try at all.

Think of ways to overcome this fear of failure.  What would be the outcome of taking the risk?  What is the worst case scenario?  How long would it take you to recover from the failure if you did take it?  Looking at these things will help you decide to face the fear and act or not.

When you plan things, especially in smaller steps, then it is easier to take a risk.  Have a back up plan also, and this especially will give you the confidence to act and face the fear.  Once you do it, it will become easier the next time eg joining a club, making a speech or having a first date.

The greatest obstacles to your success is avoidance and procrastination.  We tell ourselves we will do it tomorrow or not at all.  If we don’t take risks and face our fears then we will be in the same situation we are in today, tomorrow, next week and next year.

Fear can immobilize us but we can face our fears and our lives will be change hopefully for the better.  We don’t need to worry about the fear of failure, just take the chance.

We all need to eat but the problem starts when you comfort eat when you are anxious.  Stress and anxiety can be a bad aspect of your life if you react to it by overeating.  This can lead to weight gain and health problems as well.  I was one who was a comfort eater and when things went wrong for me I would take pleasure in my food.

Finding out what your stressors are is very important so you are aware of why you are overeating.  Sometimes we can’t change the stressors eg a bereavement, but we can control how we react to it.  We often hope that the comfort we get will make the underlying problem go away but unfortunately it just makes it worse or creates other problems.

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I control my anxiety and subsequent panic attacks by keeping my stress levels down.  This can be a challenge as you don’t always know that stress and anxiety are building until it is too late and you are showing signs like, in my case, talking quickly, being agitated and getting upset at small things.

I had recently finished a job and was starting another and in between we were having a few days break at the coast.  The time just beforehand had been stressful but I was now looking forward to the new job starting.  A few days break away was what I needed.

I didn’t realize how stressed I really was until we got to our destination.  I thought at first I was a little car sick but after a few hours I knew that it really was anxiety.  Maybe all that stress that was built up just needed to release.  I didn’t want it to ruin my weekend.

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Generalized Anxiety Disorder is commonly known as GAD and it affects many millions of people in the United States and around the world.  More women than men have this anxiety disorder and the age group it affects is broad, ranging from childhood to middle age, so it really can affect anyone at any age.

GAD usually occurs with another problem which can include an addiction for example and so that has to be addressed first before treating the Generalized Anxiety Disorder and it is also often associated with other anxiety disorders like panic disorder.

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