Smiling Better than Prozac for Overcoming Depression and Anxiety

July 28, 2008 | 2 Comments

Since embarking on my voyage into understanding what causes anxiety and its effects rarely a week passes without hearing news on how it can be treated. From everything I’ve heard I believe that popping ‘happy pills’, such as Prozac, on their own are not the answer. Drugs can help cushion some of anxiety and depression’s harsher symptoms, but you have to change the way you think and behave for long term recovery.

In the UK’s national news today the findings of research by Professor Jane Plant and Janet Stephenson (National Health Service psychologist) were announced, which are described in their new book: ‘Beating Stress, Anxiety and Depression’.

With 2.4 million Brits estimated to suffer from anxiety and one in six expected to experience depression at some stage, the two experts’ constructive suggestions, based on scientific evidence, have been well received.

Their advice is to change your diet, behaviour and appearance to improve your self esteem and sense of well being. Relying on a prescription from the doctor alone to solve your problem is not the answer (although a visit is always recommended on your road to recovery).

Their suggestions include:

Smile - even if you feel the weight of anxiety pushing down on you, at least appearing happier and more approachable will improve how people respond to you. This in turn can help lift your mood and improve how you interact with others.
Eat fish packed with omega-3 fatty acids for breakfast and porridge at night to help you sleep.
Make lifestyle changes to be more active such as going out dancing (any form of regular exercise is highly recommended if not essential)
Treat yourself to a new hairstyle or clothes to improve your self confidence (I’d suggest this is more of a temporary measure and relying on ‘retail therapy’ to improve your mood poses its own risks)
Avoid living a materialistic lifestyle or getting sucked into celebrity culture - everybody has their strengths and weaknesses and you shouldn’t regard touched up images and glamorised lifestyles as a yardstick for valuing yourself as a human being.

I think any book that uses scientific evidence to show that you need to change the way you think and behave in order to overcome depression and anxiety is a welcome addition to any bookshelf.

You might have to find your own path to a happier, more fulfilling life, but there’s are plenty of helpful information on the web and on bookstore shelves to help you find the way.

Posted by Matt | Filed Under Blog, Social anxiety news, social anxiety disorder

Overcoming the Anxiety, Panic and Fear of Strangers

July 24, 2008 | Leave a Comment

If you suffer from social anxiety then the fear of what people think can sometimes be overwhelming. Simple activities like walking into a crowded room or sitting near a group of strangers can be enough to set off your alarm bells and cause you to panic. Because you’re convinced people are judging you and talking about you. In the worst case scenario you might hear someone laugh, which of course you think is aimed at you.

If this sounds familiar then you’re not alone. Literally millions of people around the world suffer from social anxiety and panic in uncomfortable situations. It’s estimated that 10% will suffer social anxiety at some stage in their life.

Why do I suffer anxiety and fear of strangers?

There are believed to be a few reasons why you might have developed social anxiety and the fear of people you don’t know. The main causes are believed to be rooted in your childhood: growing up with anxious or overly critical parents; or bullied or neglected as a child.

The low self esteem these experiences can cause can mean that you’re always looking to win the approval of others. This in turn makes you feel anxious because you’re constantly worrying about what people think and whether they’ll reject you.

Can social anxiety be overcome?

Social anxiety is believed to be the third most common psychiatric disorder, after depression and alcoholism, and in recent years extensive studies have been conducted into its causes and effects. With a diagnosis comes treatment, and thousands of people have learned to overcome their anxiety and panic through a combination of:

cognitive behavioural therapy (which teaches you how to replace your uncomfortable thoughts with more helpful ways of thinking)
exercise
relaxation techniques
being more active
medication (a magic bullet doesn’t exist for social anxiety. But a doctor can prescribe drugs that will take the edge off your sense of panic in social situations to help you change the way you think and behave and overcome your anxiety in the long term)

There’s an abundance of information to help you pacify your panic

When I’ve (finally) finished my Overcoming Social Anxiety eBook it will provide an overview of cognitive behavioural therapy and practical exercises you can use to gradually change the way you think and behave. And there’s already a wealth of information available in books and on the web to help you understand what social anxiety is and what strategies you can use to overcome its symptoms.

A particularly useful site (directed to by Ileana at the Beating Social Anxiety blog) is about.com’s Social Anxiety Disorder site. There’s plenty of informative articles on here to get you started in understanding your condition, and to help you realise that you’re not alone in experiencing panic in social situations.

Posted by Matt | Filed Under Blog, social anxiety disorder

How Mindfulness Meditation Can Reduce Your Anxiety

July 15, 2008 | 4 Comments

[Photo courtesy Gerry K.]

Along with being more active and regular exercise, mindfulness meditation is highly recommended for overcoming social anxiety. Its popularity amongst psychotherapists has grown tremendously in recent years, because of its effectiveness in treating depression, anxiety and chronic pain.

Mindfulness helps you learn to let troubling thoughts pass through your mind without causing you to feel upset. When meditating, you simply suspend your judgement on whether something is good or bad. This can help you make more realistic assessments of the people and situations that would otherwise make you feel anxious.

Anxiety is driven by painful memories of the past and unhelpful predictions of the future. Mindfulness meditation helps you to break out of these modes of thinking, and focus more objectively on the present.

What is mindfulness meditation?

Mindfulness meditation originates in Zen Buddhism. Its success in helping those suffering from depression or anxiety has led to its popularity as a self help technique.

Mindfulness is a state in which you focus on the present: the sounds in the trees, the softness of your cushions and the feelings in your body. Whilst meditating, you observe your thoughts as they arrive and then simply allow them to pass by, without passing judgement on whether they’re true or not.

With practice (and patience) mindfulness meditation teaches you to treat thoughts as just temporary pulses in your mind. This can help to reduce your tendency to automatically assume your thoughts are facts, which in turn can reduce how they make you feel.

The ability to accept thoughts and feelings as temporary sensations can help you to control how you respond. If they’re unhelpful or inaccurate then you’ll be able to let them pass by without them making you feel upset.

How do I practice mindfulness?

Take ten minutes out of your day. Find somewhere quiet. Sit or lie in a comfortable position, and slowly relax your breathing.

Focus your thoughts on the world around you: where can you feel tension in your body, what you can hear from the street or smell in the room. Allow yourself to accept the present, and that things are just the way that they are.

When you first try meditating your thoughts will probably wander. So when you start playing over things in the past or worrying about the future, allow your thoughts to pass by without making judgements. Just accept them as merely thoughts, rather than facts.

A useful technique is to imagine your thoughts as passing cars. See yourself as a pedestrian watching them as they arrive and then disappear into the distance, without you catching a lift or giving them too much attention.

Through mindfulness meditation you should notice how your mind is constantly chattering away, with thoughts constantly coming and going.

Your thoughts aren’t facts

If you suffer from depression or low self esteem then your thought processes are often inaccurate and unhelpful. By using mindfulness to suspend judgement on your thoughts, rather than assume they’re facts, you’ll be able to make more objective judgements on whether they’re accurate.

You can practice mindfulness at anytime. Try using it when you’re walking down a crowded street. Treat your negative thoughts about people looking down on you as merely temporary impulses passing through your brain. Accept your negative thinking as something that’s rooted in your past, and not something that’s a fact about your present.

I know this sounds easier than done. But with practice and patience you should find that other time mindfulness meditation can help suspend your negative automatic judgements. If they’re unhelpful or inaccurate then just let them pass by like cars on the road.

You feel the way that you think

Anxiety is caused by your brain constantly making judgements based on past memories and future predictions. Mindfulness teaches you to focus on the present.

Learning to suspend your judgements on people and situations before you’ve got evidence to form an opinion will help you respond more objectively. Over time this should help reduce your anxiety and live in the present without letting unhelpful thoughts affect how you feel.

Mindfulness meditation takes practice and patience.

However, its effectiveness and popularity for treating depression and anxiety means it’s another valuable daily exercise you should add to your strategy for overcoming social anxiety disorder.

Posted by Matt | Filed Under Blog, meditation, social anxiety disorder

Why Exercise Can Reduce Anxiety

July 7, 2008 | 4 Comments

Ever heard the saying ‘healthy body, healthy mind’? When it comes to anxiety treatment this saying has never been truer. Studies have shown that regular exercise can brighten your mood, reduce anxious thoughts and decrease the physical symptoms. Along with medication and psychotherapy, regular exercise should be a key part of your strategy for overcoming social anxiety disorder.

How does exercise reduce anxiety?

Although we don’t know exactly why, it’s believed there are a range of reasons why exercise relieves anxiety and chases away the black clouds of depression:

Distraction - focusing your thoughts on hitting a tennis ball or running around an open manhole prevents you from mulling over your last (probably incorrectly perceived) social calamity. Anxiety is driven by negative thinking. So using your brain more constructively can give your emotions a welcome break.
Biological - exercise safely releases stored up adrenaline, which is what causes you to sweat or feel sick when you’re anxious. This means you’ll feel more relaxed and less on edge after you’ve finished your run.
Strengthens your heart - your heart is a muscle and making it stronger will help it perform better in stressful situations. As your heart strengthens, from regular exercise, it’s less likely to start hammering in your chest in anxious situations.
Improves your mood - the increased blood flow to your brain causes mood enhancing ‘endorphins’ to be released. Endorphins are feel good hormones, and when they’re freed they can brighten your mood and evaporate gloomy thoughts.
Self esteem boost - just knowing that you’re doing something practical to relieve your anxiety, rather than feeling miserable in bed, will make you feel better about yourself. Regular exercise will make you feel fitter, stronger and give you a much needed boost to your self esteem.

The best way to beat ‘do nothingness’ is to do anything!

Whilst the idea of running through a crowded park or risk losing at tennis might seem off putting, the only way to beat the bedridden blues is to start doing more. In my previous article I discussed why you should be more active if you want to overcome your social anxiety disorder in the long-term.

Lying in bed mulling over your latest (perceived) mishaps is only going to make you feel miserable and think the world is an unfriendly place. To break out of the pattern of hiding at home, you need to pursue activities that will give you a sense of accomplishment and give your mind healthier stimulation. Exercise can make you feel better about yourself and will also give you fulfilling goals to pursue, such as improving your golf swing or being able to jog further.

Exercise should be fun, so choose a type that you’ll enjoy and won’t feel like a chore. Here are a few ideas you should think about trying:

Walking or jogging - these will get you out and about so you can say hello to strangers (and even smile if you’re feeling brave) to help overcome your fears. Gentle, regular exercise can strengthen your heart, lungs and reduce anxiety’s physical symptoms.
Weight lifting or sprinting - explosive bursts of energy will make you bigger and stronger. Being physically fit will help you feel better about yourself knowing you’re in trim shape.
Tennis or golf - taking up a skilful sport will give you a fulfilling goal to pursue as you strive to improve. Just remember to be easy on yourself if you don’t play as well as you’d like. Nobody got better at anything without practice.
Yoga - Ileana at Beating Social Anxiety would be able to tell you about the benefits of yoga for anxiety treatment. Yoga will help release some of the strain in your muscles from feeling tense, as well as enable your thoughts to drift and encourage a more relaxed state of mind.

Whichever type of exercise you choose to do, you should aim to fit 20-30 minute sessions at least three times a week into your schedule.

Regular exercise’s wide range of positive effects, in reducing both the physical and mental symptoms, means that it should be a key part of your journey to overcoming social anxiety disorder.