A HYPOCHANDRIACS TALE

While it is no secret that we all feel anxious from time to time, for some people anxiety can become so overwhelming it becomes difficult to function. One of the first steps in finding anxiety relief is defining anxiety and separating how it is different from a simple case of nerves.

In normal doses, anxiety can actually be beneficial. It is what helps most people face difficult situations and make it through deadlines. Major problems can occur; however, when anxiety moves from being a normal and beneficial emotion to becoming a true illness. Anxiety is often genetic, running in families. In some cases, anxiety could be associated with the life experiences of the person impacted by it; however, because it is biological in makeup, there also may be no clear cut association with any recent event in the person’s life. It should be noted there are a variety of different anxiety disorders and each one possesses its own marked characteristics. Therefore it is important to find an anxiety relief method that will relieve the root of the problem and not merely mask the symptoms.

Persons who truly suffer from an anxiety disorder may feel anxious a large percentage of the time without any apparent reason at all. In some cases, the person impacted may become so uncomfortable it is difficult for them to function. Because of the anxiety they experience, they may eventually withdraw from everyday activities. In other cases, the anxiety may only be experienced occasionally but the anxiety attacks are so intense the person experiencing it becomes terrified and may even be immobilized by it.

Other symptoms of a generalized anxiety disorder may also include the following:

* Headaches
* Irritability
* Trembling and/or twitching
* Muscle tension
* Hot flashes or sweating
* Nausea
* Exaggerated startle response
* Difficulty concentrating
* Fatigue
* Feeling as though there is a lump in your throat
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Stop! Don't take another sip of that coffee. Here's why...

Caffeine, the stuff found in your coffee, tea, and cola, is
one of the most popular mood-enhancing drugs on the planet.
That's right, caffeine is technically classified as a drug,
and rightly so... it can cause havoc with your anxiety and
worry levels.

Caffeine makes you feel energetic and alert by increasing
levels of brain chemical called norepinephrine. But as with
most things in life, you don't get something for nothing.
Caffeine has a dark side...

"Caffeine is an energy loan shark. What it lends you in the
morning it takes back with heavy interest in the afternoon."
~ Jacob Teitelbaum, M.D.

And every time you drink caffeine your own natural abilities
to produce those feel-good chemicals are reduced, so
eventually you need even more coffee to get the same
alert/energetic feelings. Before long you become dependent
on coffee just to "feel OK." But that's not all...

1. Caffeine increases the levels of your stress hormone
adrenaline. This can trigger feelings of anxiety and cause
sensations of tension and stress. It's not uncommon for such
people to be prescribed anti-anxiety medication, when all
along the symptoms were triggered by caffeine intake. And
every time your body releases more adrenaline unnecessarily,
you are putting more stress and strain on your nervous system,
which ultimately makes you more prone to anxiety.

2. Caffeine blocks the effects of hormones serotonin and
melatonin. When this happens sleep becomes more difficult,
which also makes you more prone to anxiety.

3. Caffeine leeches vital vitamins and minerals out of your
body. Which (guess what?!) makes you more prone to anxiety.

I think you get the message by now. The good news is when you
reduce your caffeine levels you'll find yourself with higher
levels of calmness, more energy, and better sleep. And best
of all, less anxiety and worry. But coming off caffeine can
be tricky, there are some initial downsides...

You'll lose that almost instant energetic caffeine buzz. You
may find, only initially, you get more headaches. And whilst
you're on a caffeine comedown, you'll probably feel cranky
and irritable. Thankfully, all of these downsides are
short-lived.

The best way to become caffeine-free without harsh withdrawal
symptoms is by gradually reducing your intake week-by-week.
Your first job is to get down to just one cup of coffee a
day. So if you drink four cups a day, for the first week
drink three a day, for the second week drink two cups, and
for the third week drink just one cup.

If you are committed to eliminating caffeine from your life
and minimizing anxiety, once you are down to one cup, begin
the week by drinking just half a cup of coffee (that means
putting in half the measure of coffee you usually use, not
just half the amount of water!) For the next week you should
be able to go coffee-free without harsh withdrawal symptoms.

Ideally if anxiety and worry are dominating your life it would
be best to totally eliminate caffeine from your diet
altogether -- you will feel the most benefits that way. But
if you are a coffee/caffeine lover then at LEAST cut back to
100 mg maximum a day. Here are typical caffeine content
levels per drink:

Coffee 90-150 mg
Tea 30-70 mg
Red Bull 80 mg
Dr. Pepper 61 mg
Mountain Dew 55 mg
Surge 51 mg
Tab 47 mg
Coca-Cola 45 mg
Diet Coca-Cola 45 mg
Pepsi Cola 43 mg

It's crazy, just the simple act of having these seemingly
innocent drinks can cause very real anxiety problems. For
some people one cup of coffee is enough to set them up
for a day of worry and anxiety, without them even realizing.

What if...? Two tiny little words. And a whole world of
emotional discomfort. These two words are what drive *all*
forms of anxiety.

If you suffer from general anxiety you may find yourself
saying things like: "What if I get cancer?", "What if my
partner is falling out of love with me?", "What if I say
something and look like an idiot?", "What if I can't meet
that deadline at work?","What if I mess up that
presentation?", "What if...?"

All these "what ifs...?" keep anxiety stoked. When you are
worrying or anxious there is a stream of these "what if...?"
thoughts. So, what to do?

Well there are a number of methods you can use. But I'll
teach you a very simple one you can begin using today,
quickly and easily. It's a two step process...

1. Become Aware. Usually these "what if...?" thoughts happen
so automatically and naturally they barely register in
your conscious mind, you get caught up in a sort of
day-dream, or should that be day-mare! So the first step
is to become *aware* of when you are caught up in the
"what if...?" process. Just notice, and be aware.

2. So what...? When you become aware that you're in an
anxious or worrisome moment *reframe* you thoughts.
Instead of saying "what if...?" say to yourself "so what
if...?" This is a subtle but very significant change in
your relationship with worry. Saying "what if...?" is like
trying to confront an undefeatable enemy face-on and
battling away, but the more you do so the more drained you
become. Here, you can't win. But saying "so what if...?"
is like mentally shrugging your shoulders and just walking
away from that enemy. When you do this you save yourself a
whole lot of mental and physical energy.

While this method won't cure anxiety, for many people it
certainly takes the edge off. Give it a try, you might be
pleasantly surprised.

Anxiety and philosophy - what the heck do they have in
common, and why's it important for you? Read on and I'll tell
you...

Back in high school I read a philosophical essay by Albert
Camus called "The Myth of Sisyphus." (Bear with me here it
will all make sense in a moment)

It made a BIG impression on me. In the essay, Camus talks
about man's futile search for a sense of meaning in the face
of crazy illogical world. He goes on and compares the
craziness and struggles of our lives with the situation of
Sisyphus...

Sisyphus was a figure of Greek mythology, who was condemned
to repeat forever the same meaningless task of pushing a rock
up a mountain, only to see it roll down again. Don't we all
know *that* feeling all to well?!

Anyway, Camus concludes by saying:

"The struggle itself is enough to fill a man's heart. One
must imagine Sisyphus happy."

Read that quote again. Why? Because in those few words you
will find one of the keys for conquering your anxiety. There
are two reasons...

Reason One: Emotional control and happiness is an ongoing
process. When you are worried and wracked with anxiety, or
down and depressed, those feelings occupy you at the expense
of too many other things. I've been there.

And in fact I still have "off" days every now and again
*Everyone does* But that's not important. What is important
is how you handle pushing that rock up the hill only for it
to roll all the way back down again...

Like many people I'd get fed-up and down about the constant
seemingly non-stop struggle and worry. But I was totally
blind to what was really going on...

But now, when I have an off day, I'm aware of what's
happening. I ask myself "What's really happening, RIGHT NOW,
this very second?"; I bring my mind back to the present
moment.

When my mind is in the present moment, it's not wallowing
about the past, or worrying about the future. Yes, sometimes
being in the present moment hurts, but by being aware of it,
by accepting your anxiety and depression now, it begins to
dissipate.

Learning to use the present moment is one of the core
techniques of A hypochondriacs tale (cue shameless plug)...



It's an amazingly subtle yet powerful technique, that when
you understand something clicks in your mind - an "ah ha!"
moment. When this happens you suddenly have a means of taming
your anxiety and worry, you are able to start living rather
than being consumed by negative and painful feelings and
thoughts.

But there's also a second reason why Sisyphus's struggle is
important to understand...

Reason Two: If you excessively focus on the goal, that
"someday" you will finally be "free of anxiety" or have
"un-ending peace and happiness" or whatever -- if all you
care about is getting that rock up to the top of the hill --
you are reducing the now to a mere stepping stone.

When this happens life ceases to be an adventure, and becomes
an obsessive need to arrive, to MAKE IT. In effect you are
letting life pass you by, perhaps without even realizing...

You see, it isn't TIME that's precious, because time is an
illusion. So many people sit around doing nothing and say to
themselves, "I'll get around to that eventually." Or they
endlessly *prepare* and never take action.

The "now" is precious, because it's what most of us miss.

Any work toward planning or achieving goals happens now, but
at the same time you need to appreciate each moment as best
you can and not let life be something that just happens in
the future.

As Eckhart Tolle says, "Now, the present moment, is the most
precious thing because it's the ONLY thing." All we have is
the present moment.

Honor that moment.

Today I'm going to tell you about a little trick you can use
to take the edge off your anxiety, it only takes minutes to
do...

When you are feeling anxious your mind usually thinks forward
into the future and begins worrying about what *could* happen.
What follows is a sequence of thoughts where you become over
focused on the worst case scenario happening. It's this very
thinking that causes a lot of anxiety, creating those feelings
of dread, fear and nagging tension.

To counter act this some therapists have their anxiety
suffering patients work out the percentage chance of that
worst case scenario happening, and then use logic to try and
counter act anxiety. Trying to counter act emotion with logic
isn't ideal. It's the reason why men (more logical thinkers)
and women (more emotional thinkers) who are in close
relationships often argue.

Instead of using logic, try and switch your focus and feed
your brain alternative scenarios to work with. Your brain
reacts to imagined images as if they were real. This is why
you feel fear when you think about possible worst case
scenarios, even if it's probably never going happen!

But the good news is your brain also reacts to positive images
in the opposite way, causing the body and brain to relax,
which directly counters stress, worry and anxiety. To do this,
grab a pen and paper...

First write down the worst possible outcome of the thing you
are worrying about. Then write the best possible outcome.
Finally write down the probable outcome, the most likely
outcome that will happen. You only need write a sentence or
two for each. For example, if you are worried about an
upcoming presentation you have to make, you might write:

1. Worst Possible Outcome: I totally mess up and make an idiot
of myself, everyone laughs at me.

2. Best Possible Outcome: I surprise my self with a flawless
performance, there is rapturous applause and praise after.

3. Likely Outcome: I will do the presentation, maybe make or
two small errors which nobody will care about, and I'll get
through it just fine and wonder why I worried so much!

Now every time you start worrying about that topic again,
spend a couple of minutes imagining outcomes 2 and 3. If it
helps, close your eyes and picture the scene as if it were a
movie unfolding before your eyes.

This will help stem anxiety as positive and negative emotions
can only exist one at a time, so not only does this tip
prevent the build up of anxiety but also creates a sense of
relaxation and calm. Spend most of this time imagining the
best possible outcome.

Of course this trick shouldn't be used to avoid working out
solutions to worries. But for worries which are out of your
hands and you've done your best to prepare or work out
solutions for, then this is quite a handy little trick.

If you feel like stress and worry dominates your every waking
minute (or keeps you tossing and turning at night) then be
sure to check out my complete anxiety solution here...

Postmenopausal women who've had at least one panic attack may be at greater risk for heart disease, stroke and even death, new research suggests.

The study found that older women with a history of panic attacks were four times more likely to have heart disease than women who hadn't had a panic attack.

"Women who reported at least one panic attack were at higher risk of having cardiovascular illness and death after an average of five years of follow-up. Even after controlling for other risk factors, a panic attack remained an independent risk factor on its own," said study author Dr. Jordan Smoller, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

Symptoms of a panic attack include a sudden feeling of fear, anxiety or extreme discomfort that's out of proportion to your current situation. Panic attacks may also be accompanied by a rapid or irregular heartbeat, sweating, hot flashes, chills, chest pain, difficulty breathing, shaking, dizziness and a feeling that you might die. About one in 10 postmenopausal women has had at least one panic attack, according to the study.

The research, published in the October issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, included 3,369 postmenopausal women between the ages of 51 and 83. All of the women completed questionnaires about the occurrence of panic attacks in the previous six months. A full-blown panic attack was one in which sudden fear was accompanied by at least four other panic attack symptoms. A limited panic attack was one in which fear was accompanied by one to three additional symptoms.

After an average 5.3 years of follow-up, the researchers collected information on heart disease, stroke and death from any cause. The researchers also adjusted the data to account for other known cardiovascular disease risk factors, such as weight, alcohol use, hormone use, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, age, diabetes and smoking history.

There are a number of things in life that can cause a person to lose weight. Many causes relate to a number of different physical health problems, such as types of terminal illness or sicknesses that are not always easily treated, or mental health problems, such as depression or stress. While the weight loss that is caused by physical health problems are easy enough to figure out and even treat, the weight loss that is due to mental health problems can be more difficult to treat because there is no physical reason for the individual to be losing weight.

People suffering from depression can often have a change in appetite that will either greatly increase their weight or more commonly cause a loss in appetite, which often causes a loss in weight. Intense anxiety, however, more often causes a significant loss of appetite in a person, which can then cause them to lose a lot of weight. Anxiety is a stress on the body, especially when a person finds that they are more anxious about life than they should be. When most people are anxious or worried, they can have a difficult time in thinking of anything else other than about what makes them feel anxious or worried. The appeal of food goes away and they can’t bring themselves to eat because they are too tense to eat. They are distracted and their health becomes something that is no longer a great concern. Being this tense and not eating proper meals, or miss eating altogether, can be quite detrimental to a person’s health. If this is allowed to go on for too long, some people will lose so much weight that they will begin to suffer other medical problems caused by the lack of proper nourishment.

There are many reasons as to why someone would become so anxious about something, much in the same way that depression can be a result of many different things; it depends on the person, their personality, what they have been through, their genetics and what their life is like. Any of these factors can easily be what is contributing to a person’s anxiety and to their loss of appetite. Anyone who is so anxious and worried that they have lost their appetite to the point where they are beginning to lose weight should seriously consider contacting a therapist. Online therapy is becoming more popular for people to use these days, especially people who worry about other people finding out that they are seeing a therapist. The online therapist can communicate with the patient and find out why the patient is so distressed that their interest in food is gone. When the issue is found, the online therapist or counselor can then work with the patient to help them get over their anxiety and worries. In many cases, the therapist is successful in helping the patient deal with what is bothering them, and the patient begins to have more of an appetite as their issues are dealt with. Jennifer Baxt, LMHC, LMFT offers online audio/video counseling as well as works with children, individuals, couples, geriatric patients, depression, bipolar, anxiety and substance abuse