Sports news has had Charlie Beljan, who publicly suffered through panic attacks on his way to his first PGA victory in November of 2012, in a position of bringing panic disorder into public awareness. In this recent article, it’s said that Charlie is using snacking on the course as a way to help him manage his panic. In this recent article (click here), it’s said that Charlie is using snacking on the course as a way to help him manage his panic.

A 2012 New York Times article which reveals more about his newsworthy situation is found HERE.

Encourageconnection.com wants to wish him the best in his golf career—and thanks him for his willingness to openly speak of his diagnosis for the sake of many others like him.

More and more people are “coming out of the closet,” so to speak, to share their experiences with anxiety. When those in the public eye are willing to expose their own challenges with anxiety disorders, it can be incredibly healing for those who may look up to them in one way or another.

This video came to our attention today, and we simply want to share it. Kendra’s candid discussion will surely be helpful to many of our visitors.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qmg6iZp6Cnk#!

For more information on her story and on anxiety disorders, please see:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2011/02/01/f-anxiety-disorder-young-people.html

Many panic attack sufferers report that panic hits them with no warning at all; others do have a sense of building panic leading up to a full-blown attack.

According to a recent study reported at Science Daily (www.sciencedaily.com), there appears to measurable physiological changes occurring for at least an hour preceding a panic attack.  This would suggest that attacks do not “come out of the blue,” but that sufferers are not aware of the internal changes taking place prior to a panic attack.

From the article:

“A study based on 24-hour monitoring of panic sufferers while they went about their daily activities captured panic attacks as they happened and discovered waves of significant physiological instability for at least 60 minutes before patients’ awareness of the panic attacks, said psychologist Alicia E. Meuret at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.”

To read more, you can follow this link:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110727122651.htm

Hello, everyone!

I must confess, I’m a “bookaholic!”  I have loved to read all of my life.  LOVE it!

Have you heard the term “bibliotherapy?”  It actually has a few slightly different meanings, but I find it to be a fantastic form of therapy, no matter how defined.

Which is why you’ll see a lot of book recommendations from me (thus the Amazon widgets and book marketplace you’ll notice on this site).  I’ll mention specific books or helpful products from time to time.  (Note: Your purchases do help us maintain our site, so many thanks to you if you should ever buy from these links.)

Having had panic disorder/anxiety, I found–as many do–that reading and re-reading those things that assist us in our healing process can be a godsend.  It is sometimes like having a personal therapist in your hands.  I know I’ve had a lot of “Aha!” moments, while reading, as I gained a better understanding of my experience. So many amazing insights arise….

Additionally, as a publisher of a newsletter on this subject, I was sent gobs of review copies of books in the field of anxiety disorders.  It was great to read each one, and often write about them in the newsletter.

Of course, reading is not enough.  Acting upon that newfound knowledge is what it really takes to see progress.  That knowledge truly is power when put to use.

I should add:  Don’t let seemingly conflicting information confuse and paralyze you!  Just take what feels right to you, and discard the rest—-or even save that other info for a time in the future. There will always be differences in opinions, but only you know what is best for you at any given moment.   Your own discernment is all that is needed.

Be Encouraged!
Pat

Over the many years of keeping up with treatment trends and scientific discoveries in the field of anxiety disorders, I’ve found it especially interesting to see all the “newer” attention on the brain.

Initially, when people were told that emotional and/or mental issues were “all in the head,” it was inferred that we could or SHOULD think or feel differently;  there was little basis to assume that physiology or biochemistry was at fault.  There was shame and blame felt.

SO, when science started pointing a finger at faulty chemistry in the brain, many were downright relieved.  ”Aha! See?  It is not my fault!  It’s just like DIABETES!”

Is it that simple?

I don’t think so.  A chunk of info has been left out:  Every thought we think affects our brain chemistry!

We DO have some “control” or some responsibility for what is seen going on in our brains.

Of course, that is oversimplified.  A brain injury, for example, isn’t changed with a simple thought, per se.

However, mood and emotion, and choice in response, is still the mandate of the conscious mind.

I won’t go into more detail here, except to say that I bring this up to point out a new way to think about our situations with anxiety.  We are more than our brain chemistry, and pharmaceuticals are simply NOT the ONLY route to affecting change in it.   Perhaps I can find some interesting links to share in the future, that better explain just how brain chemistry is modulated by our thinking and actions (as opposed to simply assuming pharmaceuticals are the only way).  Just think about a sucking on a lemon slice for a while, and you’ll soon see how your brain just sent a message to your salivary glands to turn on, even though you have no lemon at all….

Of course, medication can be helpful.  I know because I take some myself!

But, in my humble opinion, I must continue to oversee and witness my thoughts and to take great responsibility for my reactions, decisions and even mood.  I can take responsibility for my brain health, too, with proper exercise and very specific nutritional choices. I can make a huge difference in my brain’s activity AND I can override any genetic predisposition.  Genetic expression is not a given.

In any case, what good is shame or blame?  There isn’t a person on the planet who will not come face to face with challenges, insecurities or “issues.”  We are on equal footing, and there is no shame in being anxious, any more than there is shame in having diabetes.

And, to me, it isn’t because of supposed faulty biochemistry that I am off the hook.  It is because I am a human being, experiencing a chance to grow and better myself—–just like everybody else.

Be Encouraged!
Pat

With so many years behind me now, of being in touch with the community of people experiencing anxiety disorders, I can say with some certainty that most of us prefer an easy route.  So we wait to find one…

And who wouldn’t?

You have every right to decide when, where and how you will approach your dealings with anxiety.

Yet I would humbly suggest:  Don’t wait endlessly, in fear, for the perfect answer or a magic pill.

So many of us have complained that this or that program didn’t “cure” us.

Or we procrastinate, fearing to try ANYTHING!  I understand. It’s scary!

But every step we take–no matter how tiny, no matter how imperfect–brings us closer to healing.

And do we have to be “perfectly cured, perfectly normal” to have a worthwhile life?  After much contemplation, I believe it’s simply not the only goal. You can live a valued life no matter what.

We have to start somewhere.  There are all SORTS of competing products, competing ideas, and possibly confusing data.  It can feel overwhelming and paralyzing.  But I urge you:  START SOMEWHERE!

If money is an issue, then choose wisely.  For example, there are great books and workbooks that can get us going in a wonderful direction (if we are willing to DO the exercises and so forth).  These books, of course, are very cost-effective compared to weekly therapy.

No matter how much money you have to spend, though, remember that you are making an important and worthwhile investment–in YOU.

Give something a try.  Fail, if that should happen.  It’s all learning. Be willing to make mistakes.  Be willing to make progress.  Simply be willing.  Keep trying new things until you find what feels right to you!

Moving forward, if only an inch, feels better than standing still, frozen in fear.  What shall we wait for?

Be Encouraged!
Pat

With him, there are no good nor bad days, there are just “right now” days. Whatever that “right now” is, he’s fully in it. One can view him as simplistic, but life is quite simple, it’s us humans who complicate things. For instance, he is not overly optimistic, nor daft, he just has no clue he is incapable of flying. Evidence of this, each and every single time he spies an evil squirrel up a tree, he will try and fly up that tree. Dogs don’t climb trees. He’s such a toad. He’s being silly right? Except that time he defied gravity, pulled a Keanu move straight from the Matrix, and by goddess, flew up that impossible, no lower branched tree. The tail less squirrel, as we now refer to it, is still a bit peeved bite into more joy. Pun absolutely intended.

Well there missus, we are not dogs so what does this have to do with the price of panicky potatoes? Panic attacks make me believe I cannot fly. They slow me down, they make me stop trying, they never ever live in the present moment. They are running days, weeks, months ahead and focussing on every possible negative scenario from the past. Even positive, wonderful moments from my memory will be portrayed as awful dramas unworthy of even the worst soap opera award.

My dog doesn’t identify with painful memories, nor lack of wings, nor does he worry one whit what tomorrow will bring. He sees things quite clearly. I am here, I am in the now, I am love. Ta da!

In fact he doesn’t identify with egoic thoughts such as: “What if that squirrel comes back next week? What if we run out of treats? You know, I really ought to stop jumping like that, I might break a toe, I remember that time I hurt my paw, I had to spend days in the crate and visited the Poke and Stick doctor…” Nope, none of that.  With him, It’s 1-2-3 FLING in the air. 1-2-3 FLING even higher. Fail? Try again. Fun! Ouch! Get back up. Yay! Unbridled enthusiasm lesson 101.

Short of mastering the Art of Zen Whippetry, I practice taming the present moment, for it is, in fact, all I have. Past is gone, future doesn’t exist, it’s been said a million times, but we don’t adhere to it or else we could easily chuck the panic suit no problem. And, an ugly sweaty orange lycra spandex suit, no less. Identifying with a panic filled thought, making it mine, and adding its repertoire to my inner being, is, quite frankly, fraudulent. It doesn’t belong there, it is not who I am. It lies.

It is not who you are. Repeat it after me. Panic is not who I am.

Yes, I truly admire my dog. He knows who he is, where he is and what he wants. He has wings, he can fly, never a bad hair day and he never ever wears a suit. A cape, perhaps, but never a suit.

Carry on,
Kate

Kate is a guest blogger and proud whippet mom.

Is panic disorder a physical or mental problem… or both?

by William D. Kernodle, M.D

The following article is excerpted by permission from the book, Panic Disorder: The Medical Point of View, by William D. Kernodle, M.D. This section pertains to “Key Points About Panic Disorder.”

A panic attack is a normal physical reaction occurring at an inappropriate time. Panic disorder may affect 5% of the population. By diagnosing panic disorder early, effective treatment can begin which should control or eliminate panic disorder, as well as prevent any possible complications. Panic attacks are benign; the complications of panic disorder can be malignant. Possible complications are anticipatory anxiety, demoralization, depression, agoraphobia, alcoholism and even suicide.

The best way to prevent complications of panic disorder is to diagnose it early. Panic disorder should be a rule-in diagnosis, not a rule-out diagnosis.

There is strong evidence that panic disorder has a biological core. Its complications are primarily psychological. Panic disorder is believed to have a strong biological core because of its strong familial and genetic tendencies: because panic attacks can be reproduced by physical means in the majority of patients vulnerable to panic attacks; and because medication is highly effective in blocking panic attacks. This same medication can prevent panic attacks from being caused by physical agents such as sodium lactate. PET scan data have established brain abnormalities in panic disorder. More evidence for the biological core of panic disorder should be seen in the future.

Panic disorder fits well into the medical model, including diagnosis, treatment and prognosis. It is analogous to ulcer disease. There are different stages: mild, moderate and severe. It is often chronic. Stress is contributory but not a sufficient cause for panic disorder, just as in ulcer disease.

In motivated patients, treatment using medication, education and cognitive-behavioral techniques is 90% effective. While this treatment combination has been scientifically verified, it is not standard treatment in this area. Supportive psychotherapy may be helpful, but is not as specific in treating panic disorder. Long-term exploratory psychotherapy used to find the cause of panic disorder has been ineffective and cannot be verified scientifically. Psychological and social factors should certainly be addressed if other treatment methods have failed or are not bringing the desired results.

Multiple factors are involved in panic disorder. Even though we have not yet pinpointed the exact cause, or causes, of panic disorder, we now have extremely effective treatment to help patients live normal, productive lives.

Ed. note: We have had numerous inquiries as to the medical viewpoint versus a more psychologically-based causation stance. In an effort to share more of such information with our readers, we are pleased to provide this article. ENcourage Connection is committed to disseminating information supplying a broad spectrum of ideas, and we trust that our readers will benefit as a result of having a well-rounded “education” in furthering each person’s efforts toward wellness.

Image Credit: smokedsalmon / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

(This posted article was originally published in our ENcourage Connection Newsletter, print version.)

Expert advice on dealing with social phobia…

by Thomas A. Richards, Ph.D.

What would it be like to sit in front of the telephone and agonize for hours because you’re afraid to pick up the phone and make a call?

You’re even afraid to call some unknown person’s office although you know that the person will never know who you are. Still, you just can’t seem to lift the receiver and make the call. If you were to make it, you’re certain that your voice will falter, you will begin stammering, and you will sound weak or silly. You don’t want to sound weak or afraid, so you don’t make the call.

You want to go to parties and other social events–indeed, you are lonely–but you don’t go because you’re nervous about meeting new people. Too many people will be there and crowds bother you anyway. If you went, you know you’d be afraid and embarrassed, so you don’t go to the party.

You dread meetings at work because you know you’ll be “on the spot,” tense, and anxious. You’re intelligent, but you won’t be able to discuss matters freely in front of other people because you’re so worried about what they will think about you. You stare at the ground or fix your eyes on the table. When you have to speak, your voice sounds hesitant. You know you sound weak and sometimes you even stammer. Other people are probably thinking you’re dumb or just plain weird. The tension, anxiety, and fear continue to mount. It’s humiliating to feel this way, but the fear in the pit of your stomach won’t go away.

Finally, the meeting is over. A big wave of relief spills over you and you begin to relax. But the memory of the meeting is still with you. You are convinced you made a fool of yourself and that everyone else in the room saw how afraid you were and how stupid you acted in their presence.

In public places, such as work, meetings, or shopping, you feel that everyone is watching and staring at you. You can’t relax and enjoy yourself. In fact, you can never relax when other people are around. It feels like they are evaluating you, criticizing you, or making fun of you. They don’t do this openly, of course, but you still feel the judgment in their presence. So you avoid other people.

Many times you simply must be alone–closeted–with the door shut behind you. Even when you’re around familiar people, you feel overwhelmed and have the feeling that they are noticing your every movement, critiquing your every thought. You feel like they stare at you and that they’re making negative judgments.

What seems to be the very worst circumstance, though, is meeting new people who you think are “authority figures”–people such as bosses, supervisors, principals, and doctors. You feel that these people are more important than you are. You get a lump in your throat and your facial muscles just won’t work up into a smile when you meet them.

A job interview is pure torture; you know your anxiety will give you away. You’ll look funny, maybe you’ll even blush, and you won’t be able to find the right words to answer their questions. It is especially infuriating because you know you could do the job well if you could only get past the interview.

Welcome to the world of the social phobic.

Social phobia is a relatively common problem that affects millions of people–men and women almost equally. Unlike some other psychological problems, social phobia is not well understood by the general public or even among practitioners. Because few social phobics have heard of their problem and have never seen it discussed on the television talk shows, they think they are the only ones who have these symptoms. Unfortunately, without some kind of knowledge and treatment, social phobia continues to wreak havoc on their lives. Adding to the dilemma, social phobia does not come and go like other psychological problems. If you have it, you have it every day.

The feelings I described to you at the beginning of the article are those of people with “generalized” social phobia. That is, their symptoms apply to most social events and functions in almost every area of life. I suffered from social phobia myself for eighteen years before I ever saw the term or read about its symptoms in a textbook.

Luckily, my social phobia has, for the most part, been under control since I learned how to deal with it. I do not say that I’m “cured”–that term is too strong. I do say, though, that life is much easier, more bearable, and even enjoyable compared to how it used to be.

As with all problems, everyone with social phobia has slightly different symptoms. Some people, for example, cannot write in public because they fear people are watching and their hand will shake. Others are so introverted that they lack normal social skills, thus making it impossible to “fit in” with any social group. Still others have a severe phobia about eating or drinking in the presence of other people.

One thing that all social phobics share is the knowledge that their thoughts and fears are basically irrational. That is, social phobics know that people are really not critically judging or evaluating them all the time. They understand that people are not trying to embarrass or humiliate them. Yet, despite this head knowledge, they still continue to feel that way.

It is the automatic “feeling” and thoughts that occur in social situations that must be met and conquered in therapy. Usually, these feelings are tied to thoughts that are entwined in a vicious cycle in the person’s head.

What can be done about social phobia? Many therapeutic treatments have been tried, but cognitive-behavioral techniques have been shown to work best. Some of these techniques are the ones used for panic attacks, agoraphobia, generalized anxiety, and post-traumatic stress problems. Other techniques are entirely different.

Attacking irrational thoughts, role-playing real-life events that will occur, and imagining problems and learning to cope with them are therapeutic techniques that work for some anxiety problems. However, many social phobics benefit from shame-attacking exercises, role-playing and learning new social skills, realistic assertion-skill development, and an all-out campaign to ferret out the inaccurate thinking that is tied to anxiety.

Many times the results are dramatic. If therapy is structured toward teaching the patient to be responsible for thoughts and feelings, then progress generally continues after treatment. This is not to say that social phobics become anxiety-free after treatment. But quality of life is greatly enhanced, and people often find they can do things that they never would have considered before treatment.

Social phobia responds to relatively short term treatment, depending on the severity of the condition. I have seen significant progress in just six sessions, although most people respond better with ten to twelve meetings.

What social phobics do not need is years and years of therapy. In fact, social phobics who learn to “analyze” and “ruminate” over their problems usually make their social phobia worse.

There is hope for a better life for all social phobics. Without treatment, social phobia is a torturous emotional problem; with treatment, its bark is worse than its bite. Many of us have been through the crippling fears and constant anxiety that social phobia produces–and have come out healthier on the other side.

Thomas Richards, Ph.D. is a psychologist in private practice in Phoenix, Arizona and specializes in the treatment of anxiety disorders.

 

(This posted article was originally published in our ENcourage Connection Newsletter, print version.)