Anxiety Disorders
Most people experience feelings of anxiety before an important event such as a big exam, business presentation or first date. Anxiety disorders, however, are illnesses that cause people to feel frightened, distressed and uneasy for no apparent reason. Left untreated, these disorders can dramatically reduce productivity and significantly diminish an individual's quality of life.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Obsessive-compulsive disorder is characterized by anxious thoughts or rituals you feel you can't control. If you have OCD, as it's called, you may be plagued by persistent, unwelcome thoughts or images, or by the urgent need to engage in certain rituals.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
PTSD is a debilitating condition that follows a terrifying event. Often, people with PTSD have persistent frightening thoughts and memories of their ordeal and feel emotionally numb, especially with people they were once close to.
Phobia
Phobias occur in several forms. A specific phobia is a fear of a particular object or situation. Social phobia is a fear of being painfully embarrassed in a social setting. And agoraphobia, which often accompanies panic disorder, is a fear of being in any situation that might provoke a panic attack, or from which escape might be difficult if one occurred.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is much more than the normal anxiety people experience day to day. It's chronic and exaggerated worry and tension, even though nothing seems to provoke it. Having this disorder means always anticipating disaster, often worrying excessively about health, money, family, or work. Sometimes, though, the source of the worry is hard to pinpoint. Simply the thought of getting through the day provokes anxiety
Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia
All humans have a built-in “alarm system” that goes off when they feel threatened. This alarm starts chemical, physical and emotional changes that prepare us to either flee or fight the danger that triggered the alarm (“Flight or Fight Response).
Understanding Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) : From the AAFP.
Seasonal affective disorder (also called SAD) is a type of depression that follows the seasons. The most common type of SAD is called winter depression. It usually begins in late fall or early winter and goes away by summer
Unmasking Depression
When you think of depression you may think of “feeling blue” or “being down in the dumps.” These feelings certainly are a part of depression for most people. But for others, depression may be hidden beneath other symptoms that seem to have nothing to do with “the blues.”
The Wakefield Questionnaire for Depression
The questionnaire contains groups of statements. Carefully read each group of statements; then circle the number in front of the statement that best describes how you are feeling. Make sure you pick the statement that describes how you are feeling now, not how you were feeling in the past or how you hope to feel in the future.
General Guidelines for Coping
You may KNOW every single strategy on this list but only by practicing these suggestions and incorporating them into your lifestyle will you reap their powerful rewards. ….
The Power of the Mind
Expectation is a powerful force in sickness and in health. Psychological factors do indeed influence the course of illness, though we're a long way from understanding how this works.
