If you’ve been diagnosed by your doctor with general anxiety disorder, don’t convince yourself that you have a clinical illness—you don’t. This disorder doesn’t mean that you have a physical or mental illness. Your brain is fine, and your body is fine. You’re suffering from a sensitized, anxious state. You have probably come across this list of generalized anxiety disorder symptoms many times before. • Nausea • Dizziness • Exhaustion • Vision problems • Cramps • Intrusive thoughts • Feelings of unreality and depression • Sleep disturbance • Difficulty concentrating or mind going blank But what do these symptoms really
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There’s a fine line between anxiety and feelings of excitement. Instead of robbing you of your confidence and drive, anxiety can actually motivate and excite you. The following exercise demonstrates a simple way to handle the nervous energy you feel. When you feel anxious, accept the way you are feeling in that moment. Instead of getting upset by the anxiety, decide to turn it to your advantage. You can turn your nervous energy into excitement and stimulation by pretending you have just finished a strong cup of coffee! Just like caffeine, anxiety stimulates your nervous system. Under its influence your
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Are anxiety and panic attacks making it difficult for you to enjoy your daily life? If you’re like most people who suffer from high levels of anxiety and experience panic attacks on a regular basis, you may not be aware of what your “triggers” are. I talk more about what causes panic attacks and anxiety in my book, Panic Away. In most cases, the trigger for panic attacks and other forms of general anxiety are related to physical, mental and emotional exhaustion. Basically, you are more vulnerable to having a panic attack or experiencing an uncomfortable level of anxiety when
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People who experience a high level of anxiety on a regular basis, and those who suffer from frequent panic attacks, often struggle with dealing with unwanted anxious thoughts. These thoughts are typically based on a particular place, situation or thing, and may include worrying about one’s health, fear that a loved one is in trouble, or other fears that limit the person’s ability to make rational decisions. Unwanted anxious thoughts, sometimes know as intrusive thoughts, can become intrusive to the point that they lead to obsessive compulsive disorder or other disturbances that take away from the person’s quality of life.
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When it comes to herbs to help stop panic attacks, there are several options available and it can often be quite confusing when trying to decide which ones to try. To add to the confusion, several herbal supplements come combined in one remedy and are sold as all-in-one ‘cures for anxiety’. After several years of communicating with people who have used various different herbs for panic attacks, I can recommend two herbal supplements that appear to be effective for reducing panic attacks: Passiflora and Valerian. Passiflora (Passiflora incarnata) has traditionally been used as a folk remedy for anxiety and insomnia.
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When looking for help with panic attacks there are three basic points you should be made immediately aware of. The first point is that panic attacks have nothing to do with mental illness. Anxiety is a behavioral problem that can easily be corrected with the right guidance and information. That’s a really important point because many people fear that their anxiety problem is a sign of a mental illness. It is not. The second point is that panic attacks have nothing to do with a lack of courage, in fact it is quite the opposite. People with panic attacks actually
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Social interaction can cause many people to experience bodily reactions that make them feel highly uncomfortable around others. Common social anxiety disorder symptoms are blushing in public, sweating, and trembling hands. None of these are harmful in any way, but if people become overly conscious of these symptoms, it can lead to shying away from social contact, sometimes to the point of leaving their jobs. I’ll describe the approach I teach people to help them end this problem. I’ll use the example of a trembling hand, but the approach is the same for both blushing and sweating as well. I’ve
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Agoraphobia is linked to the experience of panic attacks. This is the fear of open spaces or of being in crowded, public places like shopping markets. It’s associated with leaving a safe zone, such as the home. Because of feeling vulnerable, people who experience this fear often suffer from panic attacks in these “open” situations. It’s true to say that many people who have regular panic attacks experience different degrees of agoraphobia. Some have a lingering background anxiety about being away from home should they experience a panic attack. Others are so immobilized by this fear that they find it
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I get several requests from people asking for my recommendation on natural anxiety remedies. Well to begin with, it goes without saying that its important to get the right balance of vitamins and minerals in order to treat anxiety naturally. All the vitamins and minerals we need are usually found naturally in the food that we eat. However, the vitamin and mineral content in our food has diminished over the years therefore, it may be necessary to take supplements. To help reduce feelings of anxiety I suggest you take a good B complex vitamin along with Magnesium Citrate 3 times
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One of the most effective ways to lower your anxiety is to increase your acceptance of it. Anxiety works like this. The more resistance you create towards it, the more anxious you feel. The friction of fighting against your anxious feelings fuels it on even further. Each time you think ‘I cant handle this anxiety! I can’t handle these bodily sensations’ the more fuel you toss on the fire. There is a way to reverse this and end the anxiety. You can do it by simply increasing your level of acceptance towards the anxiety you feel. Imagine for a moment
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Even when you’ve made significant changes to your lifestyle and have accepted the fact that you experience panic and anxiety attacks, a panic attack can happen at any time and throw you for a loop. Many people that experience panic attacks on a regular basis find it difficult to undertake new activities, maintain a healthy social life, and participate in activities that will improve their lifestyle because they are afraid of having another panic attack and being unable to cope with its effects. The good news is, there are several ways to re-balance or “ground” yourself after a panic attack
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Starting a new job can be a nerve-wracking experience, and it will take a few weeks to adjust to the new environment and get acquainted with the people you work with. Many people experience a great deal of social anxiety when starting a new job, and if you’re already predisposed to anxiety or panic attacks, you may experience a higher degree of social anxiety during this stressful time. Fortunately, there are several ways to cure social anxiety and find some relief from the extreme levels of anxiety you experience when meeting your new colleagues and associates. I discuss some effective
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