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Unraveling Anxiety’s Tangled Knot

By Robert Gerzon, LMHC

Anxiety disorders are the number one mental health problem in America, affecting one out of six Americans each year. During the last few years the word anxiety has escaped the bounds of psychology and leaped into the larger social, economic and political arena. Our minds are oversaturated with contradictory worldviews. Anxiety thrives on this uncertainty and confusion.
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Featured Columns


Why Women Have Trouble With Self-Confidence...

By Colette Dowling, LMSW

Women actually learn low self-confidence; they're trained for it. Studies show that girls--especially smarter ones--have severe problems with self-confidence. They consistently underestimate their own ability.

Building Better Boundaries

By David Sternberg, LICSW

Recently, several women in their 20s have come to see me because of their troubling relationships with their mothers. These young women are smart, ambitious, and otherwise successful in their careers and intimate relationships. But when it comes to their mothers, they haven’t developed the skills necessary to maintain healthy boundaries and enter therapy depressed, anxious, or sometimes both.

Anxiety…I Have It and I Don't Want It…Now What?

By Dr. Dorothy McCoy

It’s not uncommon for automatic negative thoughts and feelings of fear to rise up in the face of anxious situations. When this happens, it can seem as if the emotional consequences are unendurable and it’s tempting to go to whatever extreme measures it may take to avoid confronting the situation. But when this course of action (or, more precisely, inaction) is taken, the opportunity to defeat the fear is lost.

Fear

By Michelle Gottlieb, Psy.D., MFT

We have nothing to fear, but fear itself. We are all familiar with this quote. However, it is amazing how much fear itself can stop us from pursuing what we really want. How many times have you thought about doing something and backed out due to fear? It might have been going for a new job, or perhaps asking someone out on a date, or even trying a new food.

Finding Your Way Back From Depression and Anxiety

By Susan Pazak, Ph.D.

Whatever you have been through, whatever symptoms you may be experiencing, can be addressed and modified by first identifying how you view your current circumstance or situation. If you sincerely desire change, seek out the necessary help to assist in the process.

Becoming Fully Alive Through Bioenergetic Analysis

By Nicole Cardoza Dockter, LCSW

Bioenergetics explores the language of the body. In Bioenergetic therapy, one learns to "tune in" to bodily sensations, particularly as they accompany thoughts and emotions. One comes to understand how they relate to important issues and relationships. As bodily awareness grows, one forms a stronger, fuller sense of self.

Navigating the Turbulent Waters of Change

By Jim Weinstein, MFT

Many changes, particularly gradual ones, can be negotiated relatively effortlessly and painlessly. But at dozens, or perhaps even hundreds of times in life, changes occur that are abrupt (perhaps unexpected, perhaps not) and often painful, even if the changes are so-called "positive" ones.

Claustrophobia at the Dentist's

by Selma Holm, R-CSW

A simple, yet excellent, technique to quell your anxiety at the dentist's is to slow down your breath. Do this through the yoga technique of correct breathing from the diaphragm, and focus your slow breathing there.

Breathing Technique Can Calm Emotion of Fear

By Dr. Bradley Olson

If the emotion of fear becomes intense or overwhelming, it's helpful to breathe deeply, from the lower abdomen as in a yoga exercise, and simply continue to follow one's breath.

Why Me?

Scientists aren't quite sure why some people get anxiety disorders. Different people exposed to the same situation can react in very different ways. Part of this difference may be in the genes they have inherited. For example, children of parents with panic disorders have a higher incidence of behavioral disorders very early in life, before you would think major environmental impacts would occur.

When Anxiety Emerges--and Persists

Many of the nearly 20 million Americans who suffer from an anxiety disorder don't reach out for help--perhaps because they're unaware they have a treatable condition, or because they fear what others will think. But the sooner a person gets help, the quicker he or she can feel good again--often feeling calm and "back to normal" for the first time in many months or even years.

Could Anxiety Be Putting You at Risk of Panic Attacks?

Out of the blue, you feel terror. Your heart is pounding. You're dizzy and you can't catch your breath. You begin to sweat profusely and perhaps even feel pain in your chest. You're certain that you're on the brink of a heart attack--or even, as inexplicable as it may seem, fear you're going to die. You may have just had a panic attack.

Feeling Anxious?

Anxiety disorders affect nearly 20 million Americans each year. They come in many forms and in varying degrees, sometimes out of the blue, sometimes after painful or traumatic experiences. But however anxiety disorders manifest, effective research-based treatments--which include certain types of psychotherapy, medication or a combination of both--can reduce many symptoms in a matter of weeks.

Anxiety in Developmentally Disabled Adults, Adolescents and Children

By Grant Kono, LCSW

While I have an extensive background in understanding and treating anxiety in developmentally disabled adults, adolescents and children, the following information is meant to be anecdotal in nature. The ideas I present can generally be found in mainstream research, however, they are not necessarily completely supported by theories and literature that are considered to be mainstream.

Don’t Panic!

By Stanley E. Hibbs, Ph.D.

Does this ever happen to you? Out of nowhere, you experience a number of troubling physical symptoms. You heart begins to pound or you have difficulty breathing. You might experience chest pains or stomach upset. Perhaps you fear that you are dying or about to go crazy.

Overcoming Performance Anxieties

By Mitchell Milch, CSW

Performance anxieties are like fire alarms that signal danger. They appear to exist outside of us but, in truth, are projections of fear inspired recollections and/or apprehensions of what could’ve, should’ve or would’ve happened to us during childhood.

The Myth of the Tormented Artist: Destiny or Decision?

By Jennifer A. Neely, CSW

This article explores the myth of the artist who suffers to invoke the creative process. It cites the lives of several successful people from various disciplines who have overcome their inner demons and continue to flourish creatively.

Meditation

By James Fuller, Ph.D.

Meditation is potentially a very effective way to discipline the mind. Essentially, it is a focusing technique which provides a neutral, grounded point where the mind can learn to go and let go. The effects of meditation are subtle, and accumulate gradually over time.


Related Information


Mood Disorders Predict Later Substance Abuse Problems

Findings from an extensive, long-term study "confirm the link between mood disorders and substance abuse or dependence problems...they also suggest that earlier detection of bipolar symptoms could help to prevent consequent substance abuse problems.”

Memory-sustaining Enzyme May Help Treat PTSD, Cognitive Decline

Study finds chemically blocking an enzyme in a specific area in the brain’s cortex, or outer mantle, can erase a long-term memory of an aversive event that had been learned. The erasing occurred even if the blocking agent was administered weeks after the event and appeared to be permanent.

Making the Connection Between Sexual Problems and Anxiety Disorders

Over the past few years, psychiatrists have become increasingly aware of the importance of asking patients suffering from anxiety disorders about pre-existing sexual problems, since it has become apparent that certain drugs commonly prescribed for psychological disorders can affect sexual functioning.

Emotion-Regulating Protein Lacking in Panic Disorder

Each year, panic attacks strike about 2.4 million American adults "out of the blue," with feelings of intense fear and physical symptoms sometimes confused with a heart attack. A new study reveals how three brain areas of panic disorder patients are lacking in a key component of a chemical messenger system that regulates emotion.

Mimicking Brain's "All Clear" Signal Tricks Rats Into Not Feeling Scared

Researchers have now demonstrated that stimulating a site in the front part of the brain, the prefrontal cortex, can extinguish the fear response by mimicking the brain's own "safety signal."

Timing of Chemical Signal Critical for Normal Emotional Development

A signaling protein suspected of malfunctioning in anxiety and mood disorders plays a key role in the development of emotional behavior. Rene Hen, Ph.D., Columbia University, and colleagues created mice that lacked the protein, which brain cells use to receive signals from the chemical messenger serotonin, by knocking-out the gene that codes for it.

Does This Sound Like You?

Many times people think their feelings are unique, the product of their own lives and experiences. Read these brief descriptions of anxiety disorders. See if they sound like you. Many people share these patterns. You can begin to seek help to feel better.

 





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