Can Botox Treat Social Anxiety and Depression? Or is it Just a Temporary Fix?

Botox is used to medically treat muscular conditions and cosmetically remove wrinkles by paralyzing the muscles. But the question is, how can it cure depression? Dr. Eric Finzi, a Maryland dermatologist, has suggested it could be used to treat depression. In his study, published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research,  Dr. Finzi observed a reported 52 percent reduction in depressed patients injected with Botox, compared to 15 percent in the ones who received the saline placebo. One of his patients who had undergone the Botox treatment revealed that the paralyzing effect of the Botox on her facial muscles enabled her to lightheartedly approach every problems she comes to face, making her feel less happy and unaffected with those people who surround her.

With smiling alone believed to improve happiness and reduce social anxiety, it could be that Botox also helps by numbing the muscles in the brows that create expressions of sadness, anger and fear. But making your outside expression seem joyful doesn’t really reflect what you feel deep inside. After a while the effects of the drugs subside and let you go back to your old self, as the paralyzing effect of the drugs on your face began to wear off and you start to feel the other half of your face.

Depression is a mixture of sad feelings that you feel inside you. Botox may help you cover up for your real emotions but it doesn’t erase those depressive feelings. That feeling of worthlessness will still remain and after four months when the Botox effect has all gone you are back to your old depressed self again. There is no short cut in treating depression.

Instead, deal with your depressing realistically; acknowledge the things that are failing you. Make a daily schedule of what you want to accomplish for the entire day. Exercise and eat healthily as regular exercise seems to encourage the brain to re focused in a more positive way, which also helps to reduce social anxiety .

Take responsibility and challenge those negative thoughts in your head. Depression is a mental state, if you can devise a way to shift your negative thoughts into something positive and life enriching  then there you can achieve a happy and fulfilling life ahead of you.

 

 

Originally posted 2014-07-17 11:03:29. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Getting Over Social Anxiety – 5 Healthy Habits

Are you tired of always worrying, feeling uneasy when trap in social situations and getting nauseous and agitated for no apparent reason at all? I know what it feels like to have social anxiety because I was living with all these excessive uneasiness ad apprehension all my life. Until I woke up one day and decided that I needed to find a way of getting over social anxiety for good. I needed to do something different to drive my life into a new direction, I wanted to try something exciting and challenging that I know I get scared of doing before. I hate that feeling of having no grip on everything that’s happening in my life.

I always set goals for myself but there are some things that hinder me from doing what I am suppose to do. There are so many “What If’s” in my head until I decided to set my mind to pursue them no matter how much it would cost me. That was the time that I realizes that not finding a way of getting over social anxiety was  holding me back from living a fulfilling life.

Getting over social anxiety is not easy, however if you follow these simple habits then maybe you’ll get a chance of taking control of your life?

Getting Over Social Anxiety Tip 1. Acknowledge your Social Anxiety

This is the first step and perhaps the most important step to overcoming anxiety. Do not pretend it’s not there, by acknowledging it you are opening yourself to an opportunity for treatment. Accept that you are suffering from anxiety and you need help. Share your anxious feelings with your loved ones, family, friends and relatives. You can also seek for a professional help to guide you on what you are going through.

Getting Over Social Anxiety Tip  2. Learn some simple steps on how to deal with your Anxiety Symptoms

After your acceptance, it is time to make an action plan on how to cope up with your anxiety. There are a lot of step by step processes online on how to manage your anxiety. The National Institute of Anxiety and Stress has also made a downloadable audio and workbook exercises that would help you on how to deal with anxiety symptoms quickly, using a simple three-step formula to stop intense anxiety and a guide on what you need to do when you are having a panic attack. These easy to follow steps can be found here: http://ift.tt/1NQcLbp

Getting Over Social Anxiety Tip 3. Use “Power” Language

Words is a powerful tool and when you use it the right way it cannot only change one person’s perspective but can be a big influence to those people around you. Most people who have anxiety disorder are fond of using negative words that can destroy their self confidence. They always see themselves as victim and a few negative words that can be heard from them include; can’t, always, never, and should.
Learn how to beat anxiety by changing these negative words into “power” language. Power language is words that boost your self-esteem and personal power. Instead of saying “I can’t control my anxiety” you can change it to power language and it will become like “I can control my anxiety, and I’m learning skills to conquer it.” Practice this daily and you will be amazed how it can change your life for the better.

Getting Over Social Anxiety Tip 4. Tone your Inner Power Daily

Just like what the popular adage say, “Practice makes perfect” Practicing a healthy life strategy everyday would eventually increase your capability to overpower your anxiety. Start doing today what you couldn’t do yesterday, make this a habit and it will eventually become automatic. This is how you create lasting freedom from anxiety.

Getting Over Social Anxiety Tip 5. Finally get into a realization that “Now” is the perfect time to start feeling better.

Don’t wait another day to start a change in your life. The thing is, if you always postpone change would never happen. Don’t make excuses, if you can’t tackle your anxiety right now then when? There is no such thing as a “perfect time” you will end up waiting a lifetime for changes to happen.

Originally posted 2014-11-29 12:39:47. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Social Anxiety Disorder. Does it work?

In treating Social Anxiety Disorders, research shows that therapy is the most effective option. It is because therapy in Anxiety Disorders does treat the root symptoms of the problem rather than papering over the cracks when relying on anti-anxiety medication alone. Various studies have proven that one of the best therapies for treating social anxiety disorder is through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).

What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a combination of various methods, strategies and techniques that has proven its effectiveness in the past. They used this approach to help people successfully overcome their particular emotional problems. CBT aims to address the negative patterns and distortions on the way we look at the world and ourselves.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy has two main components:

Cognitive Therapy
It evaluates how our negative thoughts, or cognitions, contribute to anxiety. This basically means that it is our thoughts and not our outer environment affects the way we feel. It is our own perception of how things would eventually turn out that makes us either excited, neutral, happy, sad or anxious even the event has not yet taken place.
Behavioral Therapy
It examines how you behave and react in situations that trigger anxiety. This is however the opposite of cognitive therapy. In this scenario the event has already happened and your behavior is measured on how you react to the incident that took place. For example if you have done an embarrassing thing to the party that you attended, did you left with anger, were you sad, embarrassed or did you just took it lightly and shrugged it off as if nothing happened?
As a person who have been dealing with social anxiety disorder for a long time. I admit to have this sort of negative perceptions whenever I am anticipating a social gathering. There was a time that I was invited to my high school reunion. I was happy at first thought of seeing my high school classmates again after 10 years. But I eventually chicken out because of insecurity and I felt I haven’t accomplished that much compared to them. What if nobody would care to talk or what if someone remember my embarrassing moments in high school. I just couldn’t stand all those negative thoughts, so I did not show up at the end.

Improvement from cognitive behavioural therapy requires practice, patience and persistence

Cognitive restructuring or learning to think rationally is an essential component of cognitive therapy for social anxiety disorder. However you cannot automatically shut off those negative thoughts in your head once you decide to turn it off. It doesn’t work that way, it requires a step by step process to achieve a rational and realistic thinking.

According to Thomas A. Richards, Ph.d., Psychologist at The Social Anxiety Institute, both the cognitive and behavioral therapy must be thorough and comprehensive for the successful treatment of social anxiety. Of course it would not be accomplished if not coupled with persistence, consistency and motivation, says Richards.

Originally posted 2014-12-15 06:26:17. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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YouTube Videos on Social Anxiety Disorder

Vladimir has recently overtaken the Shy and Quiet blog if you’d like to read a personal account on getting to grips with overcoming social anxiety. He’s also bravely posted some videos onto YouTube, which you might  find helpful, in which he discusses the causes of his problem and his determination to overcome them.

Whilst on YouTube I also stumbled upon this video featuring a former sufferer who has managed to overcome his social anxiety by realising why certain situations made him feel uncomfortable and then learning what he needed to do to overcome his social phobia.

I hope you find the videos useful, and you might also like to read some of the comments underneath to remind yourself that you’re not alone and that social anxiety is more common than you might think.

Originally posted 2009-02-07 19:55:23. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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