Posts tagged as:

Medical Health Professionals

therapist-session-sm
Anxiety Disorders cause severe distress and disrupt the lives of individuals suffering from them.

The frequency and intensity of anxiety involved in these Disorders is often debilitating. Fortunately, with proper and effective treatment, people suffering from Anxiety Disorders can lead normal, productive, and happy lives.

Many people think of treatment for Anxiety Disorders as being solely medication. While drugs can be effective, their remedy is temporary; they work only as long as you take them. And some medications for Anxiety Disorders are habit-forming and cannot be taken for more than a few months at a time.

But there is an equally effective treatment for Anxiety Disorders that will teach you how to manage and control them for the rest of your life: psychotherapy. Although psychotherapy requires more time to work than a pill, it is the best use of your time you will ever experience.

This article discusses the role of psychotherapy in the treatment of Anxiety Disorders under the following headings:

  • Avoidance is at the core of Anxiety Disorders
  • Why is it important to seek treatment for Anxiety Disorders?
  • Are there effective treatments available for Anxiety Disorders?
  • How can a qualified therapist help someone suffering from an Anxiety Disorder?
  • How long does psychological treatment take?

[Read the entire article...]

{ 6 comments }

I’m Dying: What a Panic Attack Feels Like

by Mike Nichols on October 1, 2008 · 103 comments

The term “panic attack” is part of our common language. We hear it all the time.

“When I saw the electricity bill I just had a panic attack!” Or, “I had a panic attack when I woke up and saw I was two hours late for work!” Or, “When I realized I’d just eaten a raw oyster I about had a panic attack!” All these statements are inaccurate uses of the term “panic attack,” and are what are called clinomorphisms, or exaggerated use of a medical term.

Panic attacks are no laughing matter, and people who have the real ones cringe when they hear the term bandied about in everyday speech like it was nothing. They know the feeling that you are about to die, the intense fear, and the sudden onset are far more than what most people think of as a “panic attack.”

So how does it really feel to have a panic attack? Few people, aside from panic attack sufferers themselves, really know. It’s the purpose of this post to give you an insider’s view of what it actually feels like to have a panic attack. 

[Read the entire article...]

{ 103 comments }

Up to 20 percent of the American public suffer from Anxiety, but only a small fraction seek treatment. That’s 60 million people in pain needlessly! 

Why do so many people avoid treatment? 

A man will think nothing about asking his doctor for a prescription for Viagra, but will often turn to alcohol or denial to deal with his Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

A woman will go in for her annual pap smear to guard against cancer, but refuses to acknowledge that her Social Anxiety Disorder is gradually shrinking her life into utter misery.

[Read the entire article...]

{ 2 comments }