Stanford Study finds the ‘Fear Center’ in Children that May Contribute to Social Anxiety as they Grow Up

Living in fear and excessive self consciousness is no way to live. Especially if you are just a kid. It’s hard to go through life and achieve your dreams if you were always anxious and calculated in every decision you make. Children are like delicate flowers that can easily be swayed and blown away by the force of nature. They tend to grow into their fears and not outgrow out of them.

Anxiety is a common mental health problem affecting many children and adolescents today. But the good thing is, it is a treatable condition. A new study from the Researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine says that kids with anxieties, like social anxiety, have larger amygdale or what’s better known as “fear center” – a set of neurons located deeply in the brain’s medial temporal lobe. They have conducted the research involving 76 children among the ages of seven and nine years old, a period where the researchers can accurately identify the anxiety levels of the children.

But some agencies and organizations are skeptical about the cause and effect of the new study. However, this is good news for parents who have children who suffer from excessive fears and anxiety. The study may be a breakthrough for identifying in advance social anxiety disorder risks for children.

I for one have my own fair share of anxieties as a kid. I know people who have dealt with social anxieties growing up and most of them were saying that if only they have open up more to their parents as a child. They could have spared the burden of what social anxiety have cost their lives all throughout adolescence and adulthood. As parents, we should be the one responsible in giving our children the quality of life they deserve. We should be in more careful watch of our children’s behavior and how they respond to those around them. Identifying the symptoms of anxiety as early as possible and finding effective treatments is always the best way to give your children a full and happy life.

Originally posted 2014-07-10 22:02:44. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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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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Top 5 Best Meditation Apps for Reducing Social Anxiety

From A-list celebrities to yoga mommies to top executives, all sort of people now use mediation to reduce their stress and anxiety. Meditation has ancient traditions, believed to have been first practiced by the Buddhist monks in Thailand as a path toward enlightenment and Nirvana. It helps to clear the mind and recognise troubling thoughts as merely passing traffic or leaves in the wind. For this reason, mindfulness meditation is highly recommended therapy for people who are suffering from social anxiety disorder, just like me.

It’s become easier than ever to try meditation with lots of new meditation apps you can download onto your smartphone or tablet, so you can help relax your mind and work towards reducing your social anxiety in a spare 10 minutes during the day.

If you’ve never tried it before, here’s my list of the top 5 best meditation apps that I personally recommend for reducing social anxiety disorder:

1. Relax Melodies

This app is great you’re suffering from a bout of insomnia. It lets you customize your own sleep soundtrack and save it for future use. The images, scenery of nature and breathtaking landscapes that the app provides will help you calm your brain and drift you off into slumber. The soothing sounds from the Relax Melodies app will gently lull you to sleep. Best to listen with good headphones or speakers, no interruption whatsoever from your surroundings and it would just take 10 minutes where your mind turns into meditative state.

2. Buddhist Meditation Trainer

The app is designed to serve as your daily reminder and to help you remain accountable to your meditation practice. It is definitely great if you want a moment of peace and take a few minutes of time out from your busy day. This app is your personal trainer for relaxing and enlightening meditation. It features 10 levels of enlightenment with deeper quotes to meditate on in every level.

3. Simply Being

The app is a meditation guide that will help you to stay on your present state, pushing those unwanted thoughts out of your mind through a calming voice from the app which will guide through your meditation session and help you find calm more quickly. You can select from 5 up to 20 minutes of meditation time. Simply Being App is simple, effective and quick to start. This is really helpful for those suffering wild mild panic attacks at night.

4. The Mindfulness App

Like Simply Being, this meditation apps is a straightforward and simple guided meditation sessions which can span from 3 to 30 minutes. Combined with modern technology and the ancient wisdom of mindfulness to get in contact of ourselves. Rather than letting your smartphones as a source of interruption or disruption in our lives. The mindfulness app converts your phone into an oasis of presents and tranquility.

5. Breathe2Relax

This is like a portable stress management device which caters detailed information on the effects of stress on the body as well as instructions and practice exercises. This is a great tool for professionals who are under a lot of stress at work and slow things down. If you are having a bad day at work, school or wherever let the Breathe2Relax app guide you through breathing sessions. You will find a better mood after a few minutes of simply following its instructions.

So if you’ve never tried mediation to reduce your social anxiety, I highly recommend downloading one of these to 5 best meditation apps and giving it a go. There are also lots of meditation videos on YouTube with soothing music, like this one…

Originally posted 2014-09-10 23:03:44. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Anxiety And Depression Across The UK [Infographic]

Anxiety is a complex and annoying mental condition that many people the world over suffer with, especially those in the UK. What with low unemployment rates and Christmas fast approaching it’s not a surprise that
more people than ever have had experience with it in some form. It can be hard for those around them too as a number of individuals don’t know the ins and outs that well.

The people at Klearminds have come up with a handy infographic detailing who suffers from it, what triggers it and how to cope with it as well as a bunch of interesting stats and facts. For instance, were you aware that two in every five workers experience anxiety? Why not have a look to see what you can learn:

Created by KlearMinds

Originally posted 2014-11-23 10:52:36. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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