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"Different Types of Anxiety Disorders"

2010-08-07T08:49:00.000-07:00

Anxiety is a common occurrence when a person faces potentially problematic or dangerous situations. It is also felt when a person perceives an external threat. However, chronic and irrational anxiety can lead to a form of anxiety disorder. There are different types of anxiety disorder depending on their causes or triggers.

Common forms of anxiety disorders

Generalized anxiety disorder

A person who has this type of anxiety disorder usually experience prolonged anxiety that is often without basis. More accurately, people with generalized anxiety disorders cannot articulate the reason behind their anxiety. This type of anxiety usually last for six months and often affect women. Due to the persistence of the anxiety, people affected with generalized anxiety disorder constantly fret and worry. This results to heart palpitations, insomnia, headaches, and dizzy spells.

Specific phobia

Unlike someone with generalized anxiety disorder, a person who has a specific phobia experiences extreme and often irrational fear of a certain situation or object. When exposed to the object or situation they fear, people with specific phobias exhibit signs of intense fear like shaking, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, and nausea. Common specific phobias include fear of heights, enclosed spaces, blood, and animals. The fear a person with phobia feels can be so extreme that he or she may disregard safety just to escape the situation.

Panic disorder

Also known as Agoraphobia, panic disorders are characterized by recurring panic attacks which are often unexpected. Symptoms are usually shaking, chest pains, dizziness, fear of losing control, and reluctance of being alone. People with panic disorder are aware that their panic is usually unfounded and illogical. This is why they avoid public situations and being alone. A panic attack can be so severe that people may lose control and hurt themselves.

Social phobia

Alternatively called social anxiety, a person with social phobia may exhibit similar symptoms like those of panic disorder especially in social situations. Shaking, dizziness, shortness of breath, and heart palpitations may ensue when a person with social phobia finds his or herself at the center of attention or in the company of many people, regardless whether they are strangers or not.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder

People with obsessive-compulsive disorder experience anxiety caused by a persistent obsession or idea. They tend to avoid experiencing anxiety by resorting to repetitive actions or behaviors that prevent anxiety. For example, a person who is obsessed about cleanliness may experience anxiety at the mere sight of a vase placed slightly off-center. To prevent anxiety, he or she will clean and organize everything compulsively or without reason.

PTSD

Post-traumatic stress disorder may occur after a person experienced a severely traumatic event. He or she may relive the experience in his or her mind which causes stress and anxiety. If a person with PTSD comes into contact with stimuli (any object, person, or situation) that he or she associates with the traumatic event, he or she may literally re-experience the event by crying uncontrollably, panicking, or losing control. Subtler symptoms include insomnia and avoidant behavior. PTSD may manifest itself immediately after the traumatic event or even years after.

Determining the type of anxiety disorder a person has is crucial to seeking treatment and recovery. Techniques and methods that are used to help a person cope with a certain anxiety usually target not only the management of symptoms but coping mechanisms when exposed to triggers. Only after thorough diagnosis can treatment and recovery for anxiety disorders really commence.

“Cool” or “Uncool”

2010-08-06T10:57:00.000-07:00

Health experts believe that every year 2.5 million people around the world including 400,000 from America die because of smoking. And probably millions more suffer from smoke-related illness. According to studies, additional 3,000 deaths occur in America because of lung cancer due to inhaling second hand smoke.

Smoking is linked to lung cancer which is the leading cause of cancer death. Studies show that smoking harms almost every organ of the body causing smokers to have poor health. Common diseases that may occur because of smoking are bronchitis, emphysema, and heart attacks. Smoking is also responsible for the rapid aging of skin, stained fingers and teeth because of exposure to nicotine.

But why do people smoke? People smoke for various reasons. Some smoke because they think it’s cool. Others think that it will make them lose appetite and therefore lose some weight in the process. Many believe that nicotine intake calms the mind.

Majority of smokers know the adverse effects of smoking but they just cannot or do not stop. Cigarettes contain nicotine which is a very addictive substance. Nicotine according to studies when taken in small amounts acts as a stimulant. In effect it may enhance brain activity which will be helpful in the cognitive process and also enhances one’s memory. Increase in heart rate and blood pressure are some of its harmful effects. That is probably the reason why smokers breathe faster compared to non-smokers. Large amounts of nicotine are used as pesticides.

People who don’t smoke are fitter and healthier compared to their smoking counterparts because their lungs and other organs are healthier. Also non-smokers tend to live longer than those who smoke.

Smokers should try to quit smoking for it may lessen the possibility of having smoking-related illnesses such as lung cancer and emphysema. Making someone to quit smoking is always easier said than done for it needs discipline, commitment, and sometimes medication.

Scores of “quit-smoking” products are available in the market. They come in different varieties and forms—patches, pills, and sprays. Unfortunately they are also pretty expensive.

Zyban is a drug that would help an individual quit smoking. And it is cheaper compared to its counter parts. Zyban’s side effects are generally tolerable. Dry mouth, increased sweating, headache, nausea, fatigue, and blurred vision may are some of the effects one may encounter while taking this drug.

Zyban is taken orally. Each pill should be swallowed in full. It should not be crushed or chewed otherwise the effectiveness of Zyban will be spoiled and the chances of side-effect occurrences might increase.

If Zyban overdose occurs, contact the nearest local poison control center or hospital. Symptoms of overdose may include blurred vision, confusion, nausea, and seizures.

Though there are several “quit-smoking” products out in the market. One ought to realize that quitting smoking and being successful in that task is within. It will depend on the commitment and sincerity of the one trying to overcome this adversity. There is no magical “quit-smoking” product.

Pregnant and breastfeeding women are advised to consult their physician before trying Zyban. Bupropion is the generic name of Zyban.

ab exercises that you can do at home

2010-07-12T10:11:00.000-07:00

There are plenty of simple ab exercises that you can do on your own, in your house, with no special equipment required.

Most of the best exercises for strengthening the ab muscles are crunches. Crunches are exercises where you bring your body right forward, curling upwards to bend yourself into a tight ‘V’ shape. There are very many variations on crunches.

One of the most popular is the exercise ball crunch, which is where you lie back onto an exercise ball, and then do a crunch slowly, without the ball moving. This allows you to keep a good crunch speed, as well as supporting your back while you crunch.

Another good method is the full crunch, where you extend out your legs and then put your hands behind your head. As you pull yourself up with your hands, push outwards with your legs. If it is done right, this will exercise both your upper and lower body.

You might also try the reverse crunch (sometimes known as a V-up), where you lie on the floor, put your legs in the air, and then instead of bending up towards your legs, you bend your legs back towards you. This has the same effect, but is less strenuous, as you are lifting less weight.

A word of warning: as ab exercise becomes more popular, some companies are trying to cash in by hawking ab exercise machines and tools – those little frames that you put around yourself while you exercise, and that rock you back and forward. However, research has shown that there is no difference between the benefits of using these machines and just doing a normal ab crunch. There is, however, certainly a very large difference in price (the difference between free and very expensive), so it’s best to just avoid them altogether.

Do you take running seriously?

2010-07-12T10:01:00.000-07:00

If you were thinking of getting a treadmill for your home, you might not have realised how much trouble it can be. Instead, it is generally much easier to just join a gym.

A good gym will have the most expensive treadmills around, with all the extra luxury features there for you to take advantage of. They won’t be limited on space either, meaning that they can have the models that are big enough to run on comfortably without having to worry about straying a little from side to side.

If you take your running seriously, and will be doing some of your training using a treadmill, another advantage gyms have over home treadmills is that they can provide qualified instructors who know what they’re doing. They can set up the treadmill so it closely mirrors the conditions you’re going to be running in, and advise you on how much to run so you don’t strain any of your muscles. At home, you would just have to figure these things out for yourself.

Whether you are using a treadmill to get fit or training to be a runner, the social side of going to the gym is not to be underestimated. As everyone there is working towards the same goals – exercise and fitness – and has it as an interest in common, you can make good friends and motivate each other to try harder and not give up. Seeing the people who have been coming to the gym for a long time is a big part of going there, as it lets you see the results of what you’re doing long before you’ve achieved them for yourself. It’s all about motivation – and after all, if you’re just sitting at home, and the sofa is right there next to your treadmill, who’s going to motivate you to keep going?