Artwork by Cristine Cambrea
Check out the new article by Ryan Rivera, “Adult Separation Anxiety Disorder: Its Roots and Branches – Ryan Rivera!”
Adult Separation Anxiety Disorder (ASAD) did not exist 15 years ago, at least as far as the psychiatric community was concerned.
Separation Anxiety Disorder is well recognized as a psychiatric disorder of childhood, but it is rarely diagnosed in adults. Yet the core symptoms of Separation Anxiety — excessive and often disabling distress when faced with actual or perceived separation from major attachment figures — may persist or even arise during adulthood.
A recent study led by Katherine Shear found that the adult lifetime estimate for ASAD was a conservative 6.6 percent of the American population. That’s 20,207,408 adults who will suffer with ASAD in their lifetimes! In contrast, only 4.1 percent of children will have childhood Separation Anxiety Disorder.
This two-part post accompanies the posting of the reference article on Adult Separation Anxiety Disorder. The current post is the first of two. The two posts are a short version of the reference article, which has full information about the disorder. The information in this post falls under the following headings:
- Just what is Adult Separation Anxiety Disorder?
- How many people have Adult Separation Anxiety Disorder?
- What are the diagnostic criteria for Adult Separation Anxiety Disorder?
Tomorrow’s post continues with these headings:
- How does Adult Separation Anxiety Disorder affect your life?
- Adult Separation Anxiety Disorder and other mental disorders
- What is the treatment for Adult Separation Anxiety Disorder?
[Read the entire article...]
Tagged as:
Adult Separation Anxiety Disorder,
Anxiety,
Anxiety Disorder
Acne can cause Anxiety and can lead to Anxiety Disorders and depression.
Up to 60 percent of acne sufferers show significant levels of Anxiety. Some researchers even think that acne can cause these mental disorders. It is certain that stress can cause acne and exacerbate existing Anxiety Disorders and depression.
What is not apparent is how many suicides are attributable to acne. Thirty-five percent of teenagers with bad acne have suicidal thoughts, and more than 10 percent have tried to kill themselves. The numbers are not available for adult suicide ideation and attempts, but there is reason to believe that they are similar.
The first post in this series described how acne affects the lives of both adolescents and adults. This post discusses the interrelation of acne and the Anxiety Disorders and stress, as well as getting help. The headings are:
- Acne and Anxiety
- Acne and stress
- Warning signs that your mental condition is getting out of control
- Get help
The first part of this series details how acne can affect people psychologically and emotionally under the following headings:
- How many people have acne?
- How acne affects your life
- Acne and quality of life
- Adult acne
[Read the entire article...]
Tagged as:
Acne,
Anxiety,
Anxiety Disorder,
Depression,
SAD - Social Phobia
Acne would seem to be a strange topic for a blog on the Anxiety Disorders.
But acne is one of the leading causes of Anxiety among adolescents and adults. A recent study published in the British Journal of Dermatology found that acne sufferers experienced social, psychological, and emotional consequences at the same level of those with chronic health problems, such as epilepsy, diabetes, and arthritis.
Adults have acne, too, on into their 30′s and 40′s and beyond. And they are more likely than adolescents to feel that acne negatively affects their lives, regardless of how severe their acne is. This may be because there is a greater social stigma for adults with acne. It can lead to clinical Anxiety Disorders, depression, unemployment, and social isolation.
This post is part of a two-part series. Today’s post details who can have acne and how it affects their life under the following headings:
- How many people have acne?
- How acne affects your life
- Acne and quality of life
- Adult acne
Tomorrow’s post goes into the interaction of Anxiety, stress, and suicide, as well as getting help:
- Acne and Anxiety
- Acne and stress
- Warning signs that your mental condition is getting out of control
- Get help
[Read the entire article...]
Tagged as:
Acne,
Anxiety,
Anxiety Disorder,
Depression,
SAD - Social Phobia
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has released a new report, Grading the States, assessing the nation’s public mental health care system for adults.
The average grade in 2009 for the United States was a D. This grade has not budged from the D the US received from NAMI in 2006. Fourteen states improved their grades in 2009. Twelve states fell backwards.
This national grade, an average of the state grades, reflects our country’s utter neglect of its most vulnerable citizens. The lack of improvement over time brings into sharp relief our complete failure to take charge of an ineffective system and begin to transform it.
Michael J. Fitzpatrick, NAMI’s executive director, said:
Mental health care in America is in crisis. Even states that have worked hard to build life-saving, recovery-oriented systems of care stand to see their progress wiped out.
Ironically, state budget cuts occur during a time of economic crisis when mental heath services are needed even more urgently than before. It is a vicious cycle that can lead to ruin. States need to move forward, not retreat.
Too many people living with mental illness end up hospitalized, on the street, in jail or dead. We need governors and legislators willing to make investments in change.
This post provides details of the NAMI report, makes recommendations, and analyzes the implications of this dire situation for mental health in America.
[Read the entire article...]
Tagged as:
Mental Health,
NAMI,
National Alliance on Mental Health
A reader named Dave left a comment on the post, “I’m Dying: What a Panic Attack Feels Like” that told the story of how he overcame his panic attacks.
It tells how he had panic attacks for many years, but has not had them now for 11 years! He conquered them with therapy — and without medication. I thought that Dave’s story should not remain buried in the comments, so I asked Dave to expand his comment into a post.
Anxiety Disorders cause us to turn inward, to focus on our woes. We tend to believe that no one else has the same problems, and that there is no hope for ever becoming fully functional again.
So it’s doubly reassuring to hear Dave’s story: it lets us hear that we are not alone, and that there are effective treatments that can help us learn to control and manage our symptoms for a lifetime!
[Read the entire article...]
Tagged as:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy,
Panic Attacks,
Therapy
The search for the causes of panic attacks and Panic Disorder continues to turn up new and surprising clues to the origins and contributors to the disorders.
A new vein of research has been trying to find out if panic attacks are related to personality traits that are not mental illnesses. Researchers in Italy and Denmark have published studies in the last few months that show a distinct relationship between alexithymia, the inability to talk about feelings, and Panic Disorder.
Alexithymia is a relatively new field of study. The personality trait was only named in 1972, and has received increasing attention in the past few years as a cause or contributor to a number of medical and psychological maladies.
This post discusses alexithymia and its relationship to panic attacks and Panic Disorder under these headings:
- What is alexithymia?
- How do I tell if I’m alexithymic?
- What relationship do panic attacks and Panic Disorder have with alexithymia?
[Read the entire article...]
Tagged as:
Alexithymia,
Panic Attacks,
Panic Disorder
Every blog has posts that seem to be overlooked by readers, some deservedly, and some not.
The posts in this list are those that I feel are important for various reasons. They run the gamut from groundbreaking new research, to reasons why we don’t see therapists, to effectively managing your medications.
According to site statistics, these posts have received very little attention from readers, and I am not sure why! Because of their subject matter or their keywords, they haven’t received much search engine traffic, either.
Rather than let these posts recede into oblivion, I’m asking you to take a second look and maybe give them a little love!
[Read the entire article...]
Tagged as:
2008,
Writing
As you probably know, I do very few personal posts on Anxiety, Panic & Health.
There’s a simple reason behind it: I want to provide you with the best information possible concerning the Anxiety Disorders, not moan and groan over my own mental state. However, I have had a couple of interviews on other sites that might be of interest to you.
Alec Satin has an excellent blog called Making Project Management Better. He covers all aspects of project management and also discusses personal development topics. I did a podcast interview with him in October, “Dealing with Stress at Work.” It covers such subjects as how to know if your stress level is out of hand, what to do to manage stress, and whether admitting a problem with stress is a sign of weakness. If you ever wanted to hear my voice, now’s your chance!
Pro Writing Tips is John Roach’s blog about grammar and writing help. I have greatly enjoyed reading his blog, and he always has easily-understood, humorous posts on various aspects of writing and grammar. His post today is an interview with me entitled “The power of research: Interview with Mike Nichols.” He asked some very good questions about my preparation for writing this blog, why I write about mental health issues, and my actual writing process.
As a lagniappe I direct you toward a story I wrote for Time Goes By’s Elder Storytelling Place. Its title is “The Night I Was a Leprechaun.” It details a humorous incident when I played in the orchestra in a little town in Mississippi.
So now I’ve tooted my own horn enough. I hear sighs of relief from around the globe!
Tagged as:
Interviews,
Story
Rich Presta is the author of today’s guest post. Rich is the creator of The Driving Fear Program, which is used by people and clinicians worldwide to tame the fear of driving.
I was walking through my local mega-bookstore a couple days ago; you know the one, with the coffee shop and bakery, 124,748 different magazines to pick from, and an elevator to get to the nonfiction section….
I was there to see if any interesting books had come out on anxiety, panic attacks, or phobias.
I was looking everything over, and you know what word was on virtually all of them? I’m telling you, it kept leaping off the covers and poking me in the eye…
Relax
Here’s just a small sample of some titles I saw on one shelf:
“The Relaxation Response”
“Simply Relax”
“1,001 Ways to Relax”
“365 Ways to Relax”
“Relax and Renew”
“Learn to Relax”
Well that seems glaringly obvious enough doesn’t it?
I mean, when you’re having a panic attack or feeling anxious, you should relax, right? Everybody knows that.
Well….maybe not.
Perhaps relaxing is the LAST thing you need to be doing.
[Read the entire article...]
Tagged as:
Anxiety Disorder,
Driving Fear,
Guest Post,
Relax
Where Have You Been? Inquiring Minds Want to Know!
by Mike Nichols on March 13, 2009 · 13 comments
However, I feel that I owe it to my readers to let you know why there have been no new posts in over two months, and what I’m doing about it.
The primary focus of this blog is the Anxiety Disorders, obviously. The blog’s genesis arose from my own struggles with multiple Anxiety Disorders, with the hope that I could help someone else.
But if you read the “About Me” or the “My Story” tabs, you will learn that I also have bipolar disorder with rapid cycling. Dealing with my underlying bipolar disorder can be challenging, to say the least.
I have been in a depressive cycle for over 2 months, and it has been very difficult to perform the basic functions in my life, much less write blog articles. Though I have good medication that prevents me from going into the deepest depression, I still could not focus or concentrate enough to write. My therapist and I are working on ways for me to continue with this blog when I am depressed, and I believe we have made good progress.
While I’m not out of the woods yet, my bipolar disorder is beginning to cycle away from the depression. In addition, I have learned some things that will help me write, no matter what mood I happen to be in at the time.
I am working on new articles now, and I expect to resume posting very soon. I definitely am not abandoning this blog — let’s just say I’ve had a long time-out!
Tagged as: Anxiety Disorder, Bipolar
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