Social Anxiety Resource

Social anxiety is devastating for those that suffer form it. It often makes it difficult for people to leave the emotional safety of home, even to spend an evening with friends, co-workers and even family members without feeling self-conscious and extremely uncomfortable.

Social anxiety disorder leaves the sufferer with the fear of being judged or embarrassed, not knowing what to say, how to respond to questions or even how to mingle. They leave the social situation feeling inadequate and depressed, wishing they never went to the event in the first place.

If someone has these anxious and self-deprecating thoughts and feelings in social situations, but is fine alone at home, she may have “social anxiety” issues and be desperately seeking to overcome shyness and social phobias.

This anxiety is a disorder that has become more common than most people think. There are millions of sufferers seeking help and advice, but are too afraid to ask for it. Even seeking help can be traumatic and difficult, and many can’t get to this first step, sadly.

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Social anxiety can be eliminated with the right type of therapy work and consistency – most people in therapy do feel stronger and more able to face the world without cowering in corners.

There is hope for sufferers of social anxiety disorder.  The best known treatment method is cognitive behavioral therapy, and clinical evidential results show it to be successful for many people afflicted with SAD. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) should be in-depth if it is going to help people, and should apply specifically to social anxiety.

The best therapy programs are built around specific strategies with a view toward change. It teaches sufferers to practice methods in social situations and works on changing how they feel in those situations with more rational thoughts coming into play.  The key is to train the brain’s cognitive thoughts, to change into more positive thoughts, in other words, to think differently.

When seeking professional help for social anxiety disorder, look for someone who comes recommended by your physician, someone who specializes in the field of  social anxiety and someone who has had proven results with their patients.

Ask questions of the therapist to ensure he or she understands your symptoms and is sensitive to them. You do not want your feelings played down as though they are only in your imagination. That will only make it worse. Not all therapists are created equal.

Even though you know your feelings are irrational, they are still your feelings and you need to find a away to take this theraputic journey into wellness.  Make sure to do your own research and you will understand the disorder better. Go into therapy well-informed, so you can make sure you are pairing up with the right therapist or CBT program.

A professional therapist will be helpful and understanding and will answer your questions fully. If this does not happen, that therapist may not be for you.

Anxiety night sweats are very common to women especially during the menopause stage but can also occur in men. They can be triggered by many conditions and may be the symptom of a serious underlying disease such as cancer, tuberculosis, heart disease, hyperthyroidism and others. What usually happens is that one wakes up in the middle of the night feeling cold or hot and drenched in sweat. Anxiety night sweats may be accompanied by heart palpitations, fatigue, fever, headaches and stress.

The most common cause of anxiety night sweats is the pre-menopause and menopause stage of women. Anxiety night sweats occur together with hot flashes, headaches and nausea. The frequency and intensity can vary and may be related to daily events and activities.

There are many ways to manage anxiety night sweats. They fall into three main categories: lifestyle changes, natural remedies and medication. All three are discussed below in more detail.

Lifestyle changes include simple as well as more difficult changes for managing anxiety night sweats. For example, simple and easy changes can be limiting the number of blankets in bed, taking a cold shower and making sure that the bedroom is at a comfortable temperature before sleep. This way, one knows that it is not the environmental conditions that trigger the anxiety night sweats. Other simple ways to reduce incidence and intensity of anxiety night sweats are to limit daily caffeine and alcohol intake, and avoid hot spicy foods. More difficult changes to implement are exercising regularly, maintaining a healthy body weight and learning to manage stress through relaxation and meditation techniques. Yoga can be particularly effective at managing anxiety night sweats as the body and brain are conditioned to relax and change course once stressed.

The second way to manage anxiety night sweats is the use of natural remedies. Certain herbal supplements that contain phytoestrogens seem to be effective. Sage, herbal tea, and many others seem to reduce the frequency of anxiety night sweats. However, before taking any herbal supplements, it is advisable to consult your doctor as many of these can be unsafe when taken with other medications or their quality can be questionable, especially if purchased online with no proof of origin and manufacture.

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Lastly, the third way to manage anxiety night sweats is with medication. This is also called hormone replacement therapy. During menopause, hormone regulation changes and is the cause of anxiety night sweats and other symptoms. There are drugs on the market to help regulate hormone generation. However, these drugs, as all drugs, can lead to significant side effects and other conditions. Therefore, it is imperative to consult a medical professional to decide whether this option would be beneficial at managing anxiety night sweats and whether the benefits would outweigh the potential risks.

It is advisable to consider all options with the help of medical professionals and try first the simple ways for managing anxiety night sweats. While certain lifestyle changes such as regular exercise, weight loss and learning to relax and meditate can take time to learn and implement, they are more effective and long-term approaches without any safety and side effect issues.

A panic attack is most certainly not a laughing matter. Difficulty breathing and fast heart rate can be really traumatic when experiencing a panic attack. Most people sometimes experience mild panic attacks and unfortunately for some, it is a debilitating problem that occurs quite often. There are several ways that you can decrease and shorten panic attacks without seeing a doctor or a therapist. All you need is informative knowledge and willingness to learn and follow those tips and guide.

If you often suffer from mild panic attacks it is better if you can identify what triggers those attacks. Is it the crowd of people, the food you ate, the person you are with, the place and setting? Try to find a pattern on the events where you experienced those panic attacks.

During an episode try getting outside of your head, as difficult as that sounds. Have your favorite calming and relaxing music nearby and ready to play. Focus on the sounds. Enjoy the majestic melodies. Let the music transport you away to an imaginary relaxing place that is very mellow.

Unfortunately, you cannot always avoid or anticipate these events that induce panic attacks. Shortness of breath is common in panic attacks. In order to somehow decrease and shorten panic attacks you have to control your breathing. Going to yoga classes can help you learn the technique of controlling your breathing rhythm. It can help you lower your heart rate which in turn gives you firm control over your panic attacks.

It is also recommended that you can take vitamin supplements to control your panic attacks better. It is said that people who are always under stress lack vitamin B-12 in their diet. By having more vitamin supplement of B-12 you can take control of your stress reactions. You can also research on different herbs that have a calming effect on the body and mind. Some of these herbs are bought in pill form and some can be brewed as tea.

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Joining a support group can have enormous benefit. Just hearing that one is not alone in this fight can be profoundly beneficial.

However, some people have severe panic attacks that all these tips cannot curb or lessen the impact. In these cases, it is necessary for the person to seek psychological or medical help so that they can be given proper treatment. Informative knowledge is also necessary if you can curb or lessen your mild panic attacks yourself. The behaviorist therapy known as the cognitive behavioral approach can be enormously beneficial in dealing with this condition. Do not lose hope or think that there’s no help for how to get rid of panic attacks.

What is mindfulness?

Mindfulness is a mental faculty for arousing non-judgmental and present-moment-focused awareness of mind. Internal attention directed at non-judgmental observation of inner and outer movements of oneself leads to mindfulness.

What is Anxiety and how does it turn into a mental disorder?

Anxiety in itself is not a problem. On the other hand, it is a defense system of brain that perceives the threat and prepares the body to fight-flee-or-freeze according to the situation. This natural mechanism backfires when the person perceives imaginary threat in non-emergency events. The brain responds to them by stimulating adrenal gland reflected by several symptoms as if it is a real threat. Hormones released by adrenal don’t find any outlet in absence of physical or mental activities. Thus, hormones turn into toxics and produces symptoms of anxiety and fear in absence of any solid emergency. Gradually anxiety starts interfering with the subject’s ability to perform normal day-to-day activities, and it turns into an anxiety disorder.

How to stop panic attacks and anxiety by practicing mindfulness?

Cultivating mindfulness results in healing of emotional blockages, psychological fear and conditioned responses by the act of bringing these mental stuffs into the light of conscious awareness. When cognitive and behavioral perceptions are seen with uninterrupted attention, now-centered awareness and a sense of compassion towards oneself; a healing process starts talking place that gives you power to transform you unconscious perception and behaviors into conscious and wise responses.

When one becomes aware of the experience of anxiety without being identified with the thoughts that arouses it – and not labeling the experience as good or bad – you obtain the power to turn reactivity into equanimity and aversion into self-regulation.

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Meditation and mindfulness

Meditation is a widely used tool for developing mindfulness since many centuries. There are various meditation techniques such as Buddhist meditation, Zen meditation, chakra meditation and yoga meditation for beginners to choose from. Though these techniques differ in practice, ultimately they all lead to make you  more aware of your mental, physiological and emotional sensations.

A person is said to have panic disorder when he/she suffers repeated occurrence of panic attacks. According to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder, panic attacks usually strike abruptly and reach the extreme within 10 minutes.

They are normally characterized by 4 or more of the below enlisted symptoms like shortness of breath, chest pain, dizziness, numbness, choked throat, sweating, tingling, hot/cold flashes, shivering, nausea, rapid heart rate, fear of losing control over body-mind, or sense of dying.

Episode of panic attack is a horrific experience. Fear of happening panic attack lead to more worry and eventually result in another panic attack and ultimately full fledged panic disorder.

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There are many drugs investigated for overcoming panic attacks. Among them, benzodiazepines and antidepressants have proved to be the most effective.

Benzodiazepine
Research studies have proved its effectiveness in curing panic attacks. Normally, benzodiazepine shows results within six to eight weeks from the commencement of the treatment. It starts minimizing frequent occurrences from the first week itself. However, there is another side of the coin. Benzodiazepines involve risk of tolerance and make patient addicted to it. Most common types of benzodiazepines used in treatment of panic attacks are alprazolam and clonazepam.

Antidepressants
In its effectiveness to cure panic attacks, antidepressants are as effective as benzodiazepines. In fact, unlike benzodiazepine, they are free from risk of tolerance and dependency. But they take longer to yield apparent results. Normally significant improvement in condition of patients is not seen before a month of starting the treatment. In category of antidepressants, SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) is the most preferred drug for the treatment of panic attacks. Tricyclic antidepressants are also another type of antidepressants that is used for the same purpose.

Nowadays, alternate therapies like cognitive behavioral therapy and hypnotherapy are preferred over prescribed drugs due to their non-invasive nature and long lasting results. Follow here to know more about how to stop panic attacks naturally without medicines.