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

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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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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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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I suffer from social anxiety.  Social anxiety Disorder is a recognized psychiatric condition and is common in both sexes and which causes distress and impaired ability to function in social situations in a person’s daily life. This is my personal story but I must say that I manage my anxiety well now, and keep my stress levels down as much as possible.  I won’t say that I am ‘cured’ but I am learning again to enjoy the things I once feared.

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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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I love to travel but I also get stressed out by the preparation and the actual traveling but I still go and I have fun the majority of the time.  I am going on a cruise and so for the last week I have felt my anxiety levels rising.  When I feel like this I know I have to start to bring that anxiety down.

I tell myself to relax as often as I remember to. This helps a lot over the day if I remember it enough.  Relaxation music is also helpful and I listen to that before I go to sleep and I find it helps too at the airport to relax me and diffuse that travel anxiety I might be feeling. Read the rest of this entry »

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 »

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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