We’ll take a look and see whether there is consistent content to share on a regular basis, but at this point, it looks like things are getting a bit redundant.

If you have an idea for how you would like to see this blog go with regards to its direction, please feel free to leave a comment below and we’ll take each one into consideration.

If this is the end, it’s been a great ride, and this also happens to be post number fifty, which is kind of fitting.

Take care, and we’ll be back to either update this post, or back blogging on a daily or near daily basis.

There are a lot of ways to get over phobias, which a fear of public speaking is likely to fall under this categorization.  Getting to the root of the problem is one way some people get over a number of fears, but one way that a lot of people manage to move past the worst parts of their fears is to carry out what is commonly referred to as immersion therapy.  See Yaro’s take on this right below:

Immersion therapy – to feel the fear and do it anyway – is by far the best way to overcome something. Given enough exposure to what you fear, it will eventually have less power over you. You get used to it. That doesn’t make it an easy process to start, but at least you know the path.

I applied this process to many aspects in my life, from making friends, networking at events, parties, to even dancing in clubs, and of course meeting girls. Today I want to focus on public speaking, since that is very relevant to entrepreneurs.

Read the full article here

So, immersion therapy is really where you immerse yourself in whatever is causing your stress and panic.  This isn’t necessarily always the way to go.  An agoraphobic, or someone who has a fear of being in a position where it may be difficult to escape, may not do well just jumping into a spot without having a plan in place for when the anxiety sets in.  A baby step like approach is fairly common, and for those out there who have the proper support, it may be something to look into.

To be clear, Yaro’s experience may not fit in with others who are dealing with more severe cases of panic and anxiety.  That is in no way meant to discourage his progress in eliminating his fear of engaging in public speaking engagements at all.  Far from it. However, those who are dealing with clinical conditions may not be able to just draw from his experience and have the same progress.

What you should do, if you want to learn more about overcoming a fear of public speaking is to go and read the full article at his blog and see what else he did to overcome his anxiety of speaking in front of large groups.

Before we go, let’s share a personal experience somewhat on topic regarding getting over a fear of heights and how immersion helped defeat it.  It probably shouldn’t be called “immersion therapy” for obvious reasons once you read the rest of this post.  This is not recommended in the least.  In fact, it’s one of those things that you should definitely not do.  Ever.

When I was in high school, I had a hard time looking over the railing at a shopping mall.  It was all of 20-25 feet up, not something likely to kill me if the railing somehow gave out, even though serious injury was possible, but still, it’s not like looking over the edge of the Empire State Building.

Anyway, there was a lake that we used to spend most of our summers at growing up, and we eventually found a waterfall that was pretty high up, then if you did a little climbing, there was another spot a bit farther up that you could get to.  And when you were up there, you had two options.  Jump into the water, or climb back down.  Not wanting to be called a wimp, I climbed with my friends, and still not wanting to be a wimp, I jumped into the water.

It was plenty deep, but you had to be sure you jumped out far enough to make sure you didn’t get whacked on the way down.  Was it smart?  Well, it wasn’t completely idiotic, but it wasn’t really the sharpest idea either.  I did immerse myself in the experience, I jumped a few times, and before I knew it, heights weren’t such a big deal anymore.  Within reason anyway.

That’s it for today.  If you’ve had some experiences

First, a word of warning:  This post turned into more of a free flowing article that veered from the plan.  Hopefully you’ll still find something worth reading, even if it is a little more disjointed than usual.

What’s interesting is that many of the same techniques that have been written about on the site for relieving stress are also effective when it comes to stress management.  At least, in many anecdotal references and accounts that you can find by asking your friends or searching online for information, this seems to be the case.

You can look into different approaches that involve taking out personal time to make sure that you are free and clear of the stressors in your life so that you can unwind and recharge.  Or find some people who will exercise the stress away to make sure that they are mentally fresh so that they can manage the demands of their day and general life style.  Others like meditation, Qigong and other slower relaxation methods that also help them to unwind and unplug for a bit so that their stress isn’t such a big deal anymore.

There really is nothing new under the sun when it comes to the basics of stress management, stress relief etc.  What is important is that you take action.  This also brings me to an interesting find that showed up in the alerts for my email inbox on this story from care2.com.  It is about stressing about stress, which is awfully familiar if you take a look at the sidebar and see one of the earlier articles posted on this site.

Don’t Stress Over Stress – Care2.com

news.google.com

When you hear the word “stress” you can almost feel it – that sensation of being overwhelmed, of being unsure of what your next step should be, of frustration. But not all stress is bad. In fact, in the right doses it can help us achieve success. The key is to be able to identify our stress and manage it in a healthy way.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/dont-stress-over-stress.html#ixzz1q89X0cfH

The article is a good one, but what may be the most important point of the article can be summed up rather well in the difference between feeling shy, and actually having social anxiety disorder of some sort.  See what we’re talking about below, from WebMD:

“The social phobic person, at the prospect of the same party, would be overwhelmed by such anxiety that [he or she] would have a physical reaction — perhaps nausea, sweating, heart racing, dizziness — and would avoid it if at all possible. It’s a matter of degree.”

That’s pretty difficult to experience it would seem.  That sort of a reaction to a social situation may be somewhat rare, but what can be done when it comes to overcoming this sort of social anxiety?  After all, according to the article, there are estimates that up to 8% of the population may suffer from some form of a social anxiety disorder.  That’s quite a few people and would indicate that as many as 30 million people in the US would be dealing with some degree of social anxiety.

According to the article, social anxiety disorder is often accompanied with depression.  It goes on to make the point that many people who are diagnosed with one (anxiety or depression) may have the other overlooked and for it to go without proper diagnosis and treatment.

That’s not great, but the article does bring interesting points to light.

Head over to see the entire article, it’s two pages and shouldn’t take too long to read, to see the information on medication, cognitive behavioral therapy, group therapy and more.

Anyone who has comments or first hand knowledge on the information discussed within the article, please feel free to share in the comments below.  Have a good rest of the weekend everybody.

It looks like maybe people are still interested in this study and the potential role that smartphone apps could play in alleviating anxiety.  See the article link here and notice this particular excerpt from the article in the Crimson.

The results showed significant alleviation of daily anxiety for those in the test group as well as in the placebo treatment group, and no change for those in the no-treatment group. While encouraged by the participants’ progress, researchers were also confused by the equal outcomes from the active and placebo groups.

Enock said the placebo group may have improved because their choice to use the anxiety-treatment application in itself was empowering. Participants in both groups may also simply have been “expecting some improvement to come along.”

Full Article

I think it’s interesting that the placebo group, according to the article, may have done well because the decision was empowering.  There’s a lot to that thinking, but it’s obviously easier said than done.  You’ll hear some people on television and in books all note that no matter what, if you’ve got an option to do something positive, you’ve go to do it, no matter what.

Even for people not dealing with anxiety and depression, it can still be tough to do something positive.

In the case of a step to take towards positively handling feelings of anxiety, it surely can be more difficult.  Interesting stuff nonetheless.

The second article I wanted to highlight was more interesting than anything and it comes by way of The Huffington Post.  The article highlighted work by researches that indicated a lack of smell, or rather a complete inability to smell could lead to social anxiety and depression:

Being born with no sense of smell (known as ‘anosmia’), suggest researchers at the University of Dresden Medical School in Germany, makes you more vulnerable to anxiety and depression than those able to pick up life’s olfactory (smell) cues.

Read the Full Article

Read the full article if you’re interested in why this may be, even if the reasons could be fairly obvious for a lot of people.  If you can’t smell, then perhaps some self conscious feelings may start to creep up wondering what other people are smelling.

With the ability to smell and taste so closely linked, it seems obvious that it could also be problematic for people to get the same enjoyment out of food.

Just some rambling thoughts today.  Take a look at the smartphone app and anxiety study if you’re interested in this particular development any more, and the Huffington Post article is interesting and not too long of a read either.

See the point that made this article really share worthy, other than the idea that napping plenty can boost your health and wellness.

In 2007, a study of 24,000 adults done by the Harvard School of Public Health found that nappers were 40 percent less likely to die of heart disease than non-nappers. Working men received the most benefit of all.

Daytime napping for 45 minutes has also been shown to lower blood pressure and improve the rate of cardiovascular recovery after mental stress, according to 2011 research at Allegheny College.

See the full article on napping and better health here

You probably see a trend here then.  Napping boosts health in a number of ways, but for the purposes of this site, the link between lowered blood pressure and recovery after mental stress is a big one.  The mind is indeed very powerful, and we’ve talked a little bit about hypertension (high blood pressure) before on the site.  Seeing that there may be what is perhaps the most natural way to control it around should help encourage people to nap when they can.

Aside from the benefits listed in the article and in others, the big bonus for naps, at least from the point of view of the lazy author penning this post, is that naps are indicative of a lifestyle that a lot of people would like to have.  The good news is that if you can carve out just twenty or so minutes a day, or every couple of days, you could make napping a part of the way you live.

There is nothing lazy about naps, and seeing that you can get less stress and anxiety with a bit more rest, there isn’t a great reason not to sneak in a nap when you can.

If you’ve got your own reasons for skipping the naps, let us know in the comments.  Of course, medical restrictions on napping, whatever they may be, should supersede anything related in a shared article.

Get Some Sleep Or Look Like This Guy

today, a bit of depression.  Insomnia and depression appear to be linked rather closely, while anxiety and panic problems don’t exactly look like they’re being left out of the fold.  I’ve noticed that I get especially cranky if I go without enough sleep for too many nights in a row.  The sleep debt allows the anxiety to creep up, even though I’ve never really dealt with much in the way of depression.  When it comes to overcoming anxiety, it would make sense that getting a bit of rest and relaxing would be a good idea, and it makes at least as much sense that getting enough sleep would be able to ward off depression as well.  Let’s take a look at the short snippet from the article, be sure to read the whole thing at the source by the way, and then I’ll talk about a couple of things related to the topic.

Insomnia, depression closely linked – KSBW The Central Coast

news.google.com

At least 40 million Americans suffer from long-term sleep disorders, while another 20 million people experience occasional sleeping problems. Stress, anxiety, stimulants, medications, late night meals and schedule changes can all cause insomnia…

…

In fact, sleep disturbance is one of the core symptoms of clinical depression. People with sleep disorders are also more likely to suffer depressive and anxiety disorders.

Alright, I hope you read the whole article which is rather short but I found pretty interesting nonetheless.  I found it interesting with the correlation cited between sleep disorders and the likelihood of depressive and anxiety disorders.  Again, I know I’m a little redundant here, but it is both interesting and kind of “duh” inspiring.  Too obvious, perhaps.

Anyway, as I write the next paragraph or two, understand that I am not making any endorsements of products or specific practices and I’m just citing my own experiences in the past.  With that said, when I have had trouble sleeping, namely in college during midterms or finals when I was well studied, but still stressed about exams and speeches I had to give, I stumbled across the mention of natural sleep aids.  I didn’t really know what to think and started looking a bit more.

Eventually, I found that a lot of people liked Pharma Gaba, as well as htp-5.  These are both supposed to be naturally occurring compounds in the body that help to relax the mind and induce more restful sleep.  I got good results, but it could have been a placebo effect.  I didn’t feel comfortable asking for a sleep aid in a prescription form, and still don’t since I rarely take any sort of medicine at all, but I did do well with these over the counter supplements.

I don’t know how good of an idea they are to use, and whether there are specific side effects that tend to be most common as it can be tough to find information for supplements like these online due to a lack of clinical studies.  I certainly don’t recommend just winging it the way that I did, so do your research and make your own positive and well informed decision.  If you do know of more information on adverse reactions and side effects, it would be great if you would drop a line or a link in the comments so we can share with other readers.

One thing I do know is that going without sleep is no good, and if this article is any indication, insomnia and depression, anxiety etc, all go together.  If you’re not doing well getting the rest you need, seeing a doctor is certainly not the worst idea.  What’s your take on insomnia and depression?  Do you have experience with the issues discussed in today’s post?  Care to share?

Correct me if I’m wrong, but we’ve talked just a little bit about school stress in the past and as kids are getting done with Spring Break (or are they already back?) and going through midterms and heading into finals, there is quite a bit of school stress going on.  Kids have more and more stress on them each and every year.  It can be tough to have a lot of sympathy for students who usually do not have demanding jobs and still get to go to dances, play sports etc, but the stress levels, especially this time of year, can be monumental.  Managing school related stress is something that every parent can help their child to do more effectively.

A lot of kids won’t actually complain directly about the stress that they have, but they are still dealing with it quite a bit.  This article from Lehigh Valley Live more or less says so:

“I don’t know that we have kids complaining about stress, but you can see it in their face,” McKinney says. Her job is to offer tips and pointers for dealing with the pressure of deciding the next four years of their lives.

That quote is from a guidance counselor discussed within the article which you should take a look at to find out more methods for managing school stress.  The main focus of that article focuses on dealing with kids that are stressed out about going to college, which is a massive amount of stress for juniors and seniors in high school that just want to get into their first choice to ensure they have the best start possible when they get into the professional point of their lives.

What I thought was especially interesting and valuable within the context of this article was the point of using stress as a positive.

We are all going to have to deal with stress from time to time, and I cannot think of another time that I had more stress up until I was maybe 20 or 21 years old than the transition from junior high to high school (those seniors were huge!), and the lead up to getting accepted into college and then actually leaving for college.

I didn’t deal with stress so well, but I didn’t exactly crack up either.  I could have dealt with it better though.

Some of the points in the article were to use squeeze or koosh balls, for parents to make sure that communication opens up with their kids to discuss stress levels, and my personal appraoch taht I didn’t see listed was to ensure that some time is carved out every so often when nothing else matters but forgetting the stresses in your life.

Some have a hard time doing this, but learning to relax is a skill, and while everyone’s tolerance to stress is different, staying in that wound up, hyper-focused, excessively stress state is a great way to burn out and hurl yourself down the way towards even more serious problems like panic and anxiety attacks, or even physical problems like ulcers (does stress actually cause ulcers?), or hypertension, migraines etc.

If you want to keep yourself from ever having to deal with anxiety, then getting ahead of the problem is important.  This goes the same for kids in school trying to manage school related stress.

What are some of the tips and tricks you used for stress management in the past?  Did you handle things differently with your kids?  It would be great to hear your opinions on this subject in the comments.

How to combat anxiety – Body and Soul

news.google.com

Anxiety is best managed using a variety of techniques that may include counselling, diet, herbs, supplements, breathing techniques and meditation.

…

Logic is the enemy of anxiety sufferers, who are prone to exaggerating a small worry into a catastrophe. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), a school of psychology, suggests one questions one’s thoughts in a logical way. For example, if running late triggers anxiety, question what is the worst that can happen. Could you just work an extra half an hour and be done with it?

There are a number of nice points made in the article that should draw your attention, but the second point was one that I thought was especially interesting.  CBT is something that’s been touched on once or twice, I think, on the site before, but we haven’t gotten too involved in how it works and how it may apply to people wanting to overcome anxiety just yet.

With that said, the point stating that “logic is the enemy of anxiety sufferers” is an interesting one.   To be hones,t the way that the point is phrased is a little confusing.  It states that logic is the enemy, and then CBT helps people to consider their anxiety triggers in a logical way.

Whether that is normally how CBT is supposed to work or not, I don’t know entirely, but we’ll be doing some more research into the therapy technique to see what’s going on and how it may be applied for anxiety and panic sufferers.

Hopefully you’ll see some worthwhile information in the article today, and be sure to check back tomorrow as hopefully there will be a useful article on the site touching on CBT for combating anxiety disorders, panic attacks etc.

Anger management – Khaleej Times

news.google.com

Anger affects your physiology, increasing your heart rate and energy hormones. It is part of the fight-or-flight survival mechanism. When we perceive something as a threat, anger takes over our thinking, our actions and our physiology.

…

There are three ways that you can deal with anger: express it, suppress it or calm down.

Expressing yourself in an assertive — not aggressive — way is the healthiest response to anger. You make your needs clear, how you want them met, and with respect for others.

The last point was a very important one in my opinion.  The important point is to ensure that you are respectful of others, as well as yourself.  Disrespect in any situation, especially when emotions are running high is never good and can lead to a lasting negativity and erosion of important relationships in your life.

My take, when it comes to real anger management tips is to get active.  Sitting in one spot, fuming with anger while you try and deep breathe your problems away doesn’t do much to help the situation, in my opinion.  Some may do better to hang out a bit and decompress, but I prefer to get out and move.

To be clear, I’m not really an angry guy prone to outbursts.  If anything, I have been told a few times that I may be just a little too unresponsive to bad situations, but we all have those points where we get a little worked up.  And when those happen for me, I get out and take a walk, get a workout in, or something else that is active and productive.

What are some of your preferred ways to get past your angry times?  Do you feel like they are higher when you are dealing with more anxiety than usual?  I’d love to hear your opinions and some of the methods that you all like to use when you’re overcoming anger issues.  How about with your kids when they have their tantrums?