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August 17th, 2009

Signs of Depression and Anxiety

Posted in Better Medical Resources, Psychologists Center, The Healthy Way

Signs of Anxiety

There are numerous signs of depression; among the most common symptoms we find a notion of sadness, emptiness and very no self-esteem. Symptoms can alter and they will sometimes pass away over time, but usually depression demands medication.

Treatment for depression should ideally be a combination of talks and drugs. Antidepressant Drugs can make a huge difference for most individuals, while addressing the underlying reasons for depression is done by multiple talks with a clinical psychologist or shrink.

10 signs of anxiety:

Feeling Low
Feeling low and painful, having no involvement in conversation or engagements

No Pleasure
A person may show markedly decreased pleasure or concern in everyday activities.

Weight Gain or Weight Loss
Unintentional weight loss or weight gain can be a symptom of depression

Sleep Disturbances
Sleep Disturbances or sleeping too much can be a symptom of anxiety

Loss of Power
Loss of power and interest in your relatives

Feeling of Guild
Feeling guilty for no reason

Feeling of Worthlessness
Feeling of having no value and no self-esteem

Trouble on Thinking
Decision-making becomes unusual hard and the ability to conclude seems gone.

Suicidal Thoughts
Suicidal thoughts and repetitive thoughts of death

Restlessness or too relaxed
Either agitated or slowed down in their movements

Antidepressant Drugs

Antidepressants are medicines that handle depressive disorder, anxiousness and dysthymia. The most common and
efficient drugs are of the SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors) type and the list of drugs include, Paroxetine.

April 18th, 2008

Coping with Anxiety

Posted in Psychologists Center

Anxiety is a part of everyone’s life. There are different ways of dealing with different of anxiety owing different causes. Proper treatment and support can help a person to deal with their anxiety in a better way and making living with it better. And with time one can find himself or herself free from the majority of their issues.
Causes and types

Anxiety is mainly of two types. One type is that type of anxiety with which you can deal and the other type is worsened form of anxiety which leaves a mark on your personality. The first type of anxiety is easy to deal with. Support from your near and dear ones can help you to come out of your anxiety or you can always deal with it on your own, without needing any support. But the second type of anxiety requires some effort to make living easy. The first thing that is needed to be done is to determine which the type of your anxiety is and then find out the root cause of it.
Causes for anxiety can be external as well. So in order to deal with your anxiety in a better way you need to find out whether your anxiety is caused due to an external factor or not. Any bitter incident which took place in your past life can be the cause or sometimes it can be an indistinct intuition that something is not right but if your anxiety is due to some external factors then you should work towards dealing with it. However there is no obvious external cause for anxiety reactions to life.

Studies are still conducted to find out the cause of anxiety in people who don’t have any reasonable past traumatic experience which could lead to anxiety. People with deep rooted anxiety may have chemical imbalances in their brains for improper registration of neuro chemicals. However you should be aware that it is not a proven fact with any concrete evidence. A relatively new study conducted in 2005 showed that it is possible to do a normal blood test to find out the chemicals present in the brain which can cause anxiety.

Symptoms

More or less all the anxiety symptoms are quite well known because over the years people have experienced anxiety. The usual symptoms are prolific sweating, ‘lump in the throat’, palpitations, twitching, dry mouth, chest pain and shortness of breath or wheezing. However these symptoms can exist as side effects of some other medicines or some other psychological issues. When linked to a phobia, as opposed to being ‘general’ anxiety disorder, the symptoms normally only happen in reaction to explicit stimuli.

Treatment

Groups like Toastmasters International helps you with specific anxieties that have not yet reached a weakening stage. After you notice the anxiety symptoms in yourself you must consult a psychiatrist or a professional health professional.

A qualified mental health professional can assess your anxiety, diagnose your psychological issues, and plan a course of treatment that suits you best. If you detect that your anxiety is reaching a bad stage then at once you must seek advice from your doctor. So that there are full chances of your recovery. If you have full support from your family and from all those people who understands you can help you treating your anxiety. Thus you can cope with anxiety in a better way and your recovery will be quick and complete.

Journaling, therapy, group sessions, or medication are the various methods of treatment. However cognitive-behavioral therapy is the most common type of therapy. In this kind of treatment the mental health professional aids the patient in shagging the ways of thinking that contribute to the cause of anxiety. The professional then introduce the patient to the situations that helps in controlling their anxiety. Common types of medication include anxiolytics such as Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) and Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) are the common medicines and also tricyclic anti-depressants, though these days those are prescribed less often. It is seen that over 90% of patients get recovered by availing these treatment options.

Get more information on coping with anxiety here.

Jacob Felts is the author of www.anxietycure.org - Learn about anxiety and chest pain here.

April 14th, 2008

Bad Review Out of the Blue

Posted in Psychologists Center

Sometimes it happens. You think things are going along well at work, or at least adequately enough, until your boss summons you to his or her office and delivers a shock: Unless your performance improves, you will soon be out of a job.

In an ideal world, news like this wouldn’t come out of the blue. You would have had indications, such as frequent and constructive feedback from your boss, repeated attempts to work with you, show you where you’re off track, and attempts to let you rectify things.

Unfortunately, not all bosses communicate effectively with their employees. Some don’t bother to deliver this kind of feedback until they’ve already determined to get rid of an employee - - and then they have conversations like this so that they can “document” that they tried to “work” with the employee on whatever the issue is. This way, they can get rid of an employee without getting into trouble with human resources. They’re just covering their tracks.

If this has happened to you recently, here are some steps to consider taking:

1. Decide if you even really like the job. If you don’t like your job, this could be reflecting in your work, even if you didn’t realize it. If you don’t like your job, consider this a sign from the Universe that it’s time to update your resume or consider a career change. Then do it.

2. If you think the job is worth fighting for, make an appointment with your boss and ask for some specifics. Does your boss think you’re not a fit for the position at all, or are there areas of your work that can be improved upon? Get a sense of what your boss is looking for in terms of outcomes. Is your boss willing to help you improve? (If not, this is a sign that your boss is just laying the foundation for a future dismissal.)

3. Silently prepare for the worst. If you’re asked to leave, you might not be permitted to go to your office for your personal items. They’ll promise they’ll send them to you, but do you want them pawing through your stuff? Take personal items home. Clear anything off your computer that isn’t work-related. (And if you’re an internet surfer, be sure to delete your cookies and internet history. Sure, they can trace it if they want to, but why make it easy for them?) And don’t make any major purchases in the near future!

4. After you’ve had some time to calm down, do some honest reflecting. If any part of your boss’s review had merit, use it as a lesson. However, also remember that your boss’s assessment is just one opinion. It’s possible that your boss is wrong about you. Usually the truth is somewhere in the middle. The worst thing you can do is beat yourself up.

You are not alone. This has happened to countless individuals. Some of the very smartest, sharpest, most successful people in the world have had bad reviews at work. There are a multitude of reasons for this:

- Sometimes a good employee goes through a difficult phase in life. They might be depressed or unhealthy, which makes it difficult to perform their best.

- Occasionally even the best and well-intentioned employee really isn’t a good fit for the position.

- Sometimes the boss has his or her own agenda. It’s not unheard of for a boss to prefer supervising people he or she hired, rather than the people hired by the boss’s predecessor. Sometimes, unconsciously or not, such a boss will work to wear employees down by constant criticism, until the employees give up and go someplace else.

There are a million other reasons why a good employee might get a bad review. The point is that it’s not to be taken personally. Learn from it, decide your course of action, and then move forward.

Holly Zenith is a professional woman by day and a netpreneur by night. Her mission is to help women move forward in their lives and make their dreams come true. Please visit her at http://hollyzenith.com/sq.html

March 31st, 2008

Seven Ways to Cope With Burnout

Posted in Psychologists Center

If you reach a point where you feel you can’t take it anymore,
you’ve arrived–at a point of overwhelm that pop psychology
refers to as “burnout.” It is a point of emotional exhaustion,
mental confusion, and even physical fatigue.

The word itself originated from a description of a busted light
bulb.

However, while you can’t do anything about a light bulb that
won’t work anymore, there is plenty that you can do with
psychological overwhelm. You might even say that unlike a light
bulb, a human being is a self-renewing system.

Here are seven simple remedies to renew your mind, body, and
soul.

One. Step out into nature. Go to the mountains, the forest, or
the ocean. And if you’re really strapped for natural resources,
go to a local park. I’m not sure how this works, but when you
spend a sufficient amount of time in nature, you feel
rejuvenated and your mind comes up with fresh ideas on how to
cope with your pressing situation.

Two. Reframe. If you feel stressed because you are doing a task
that you dislike, use your imagination to make it more
enjoyable. For example, if you’re raking leaves, and you just
hate gardening, then imagine that you’re raking in money, and
that each leaf represents a hundred dollar bill. This will
actually spark creative ideas in your mind on how you can
improve your income.

Three. Energize. Go to a health-food store and get an energy
supplement. Vitamins, minerals, and herbs can help your
metabolism recuperate from the stress. Most health-food stores
have someone to assist you, as well as reference books and
videos on what to take for your particular condition.

Four. Introspect. In a notebook, write down everything that
bothers you until you can come up with a way that you can change
the situation. Start with a question. “What can I do about…?”
Then keep writing until you come up with an answer. I once did
this for two hours and came up with a new model on how I could
radically improve every aspect of my life.

Five. Try music. Listen to beautiful, serene, uplifting music.
Don’t do anything else as you listen to the music–or you’ll
simply find a way to tune it out. Listen to every note, every
word sung, and every interval of silence in the music. It’s
amazing how this will transform you. Music has been said to tame
a wild beast. It will do the same for the wild beast of your
major upset.

Six. Relax deeply. Massages, hot baths, and stretching exercises
can all be used to unknot your muscles. It’s impossible to be
unhappy when your body is completely relaxed. The rise of stress
hormones in your body, create a fight-or-flight response in your
nervous system. Systematic physical relaxation reverses this
condition.

Seven. Talk to an expert. Visit someone who can help you or read
a book or hear an audio program by a stress reduction expert. As
you open your mind to new information, you shift your stuck
thinking and find new ways of dealing with the troubling
situation.

Using any of these simple remedies or a combination for burnout
will help you get your perspective back.