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Anxiety setbacks - reader email
2007-09-30 22:27:00
Hi! I recently received an email from a reader who asked me about setbacks. She kindly allowed me to post my reply on this blog: ----- Hi! Thanks for your email. Nice to know someone's reading! Sorry to hear you are not feeling too good at the moment, I will try to answer your questions as best I can!!! I have also had setbacks in the past and they are irritating nasty things. But strangely they are your friend. It can be tempting for people with anxiety to treat anxiety as something outside of themselves which they have no control over. You often hear people say "My anxiety subsided for a while and then came back" or "it comes and goes". Thinking of anxiety in this way is all well and good if you can let your anxiety do what it wants, and continue with your life regardless. I don't know if you've heard of Claire Weekes, an Australian doctor who advised "acceptance" – just letting your anxiety get on with it and waiting for it to go away while pushing yourself through you...
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Be Set Free Fast for Anxiety and Phobias
2007-09-09 23:48:00
From time to time people ask me if I can recommend a treatment programme for their anxiety, phobias, depression, panic stress related IBS etc etc. For the most part I recommend them the things which I know from personal experience to be helpful but I always advise them that what works for me does not necessarily work for everyone. I suggest they experiment from prescription medicines under the guidance of a sympathetic and knowledgeable doctor. I suggest they seek therapy and also learn some CBT techniques and do Mindfulness Meditation. I also suggest they start to experiment with some alternative solutions, such as acupuncture or EFT. I always add though, that the alternative healthcare sector is awash with charlatans and shrewd business people, who see those people that suffer from issues that may well include low self-esteem as easy prey. I am particularly suspicious of expensive online courses and of techniques with names that sound like they were dreamt up in marketing departme...
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Depression over-diagnosed?
2007-09-01 14:41:00
Last week the BBC reported that a leading British psychiatrist, Professor Gordon Parker, had claimed that depression was being over-diagnosed. He suggested that people who are simply a bit unhappy or suffering from short term low mood are being diagnosed by doctors as being depressed. We should remember that no one feels happy everyday of their lives, and that we the troughs in life, the times which aren't so good, make us appreciate the good times that much more. Life cannot be a constant high, despite the best attempts of the media and celebrity culture to persuade us otherwise. So to some extent I would like to agree with Professor Parker. The word depression has become over used and doctors need to be more careful over diagnosis. Certainly the over use of anti-depressants continues to be a problem. And there does seem to be a trend for people to look for solutions to the problems in their lives outside of themselves, either through drugs or by looking for labels ...
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Coming off Citalopram - reader question
2007-08-14 23:09:00
Hi   A comment on this blog today, which can be read here, asks for advice about quitting Citalopram. The reader is obviously having some difficulties after having quit the drug. The first piece of advice that one has to give is to speak to your doctor.   It is a good idea to start coming off SSRI's like citalopram after you have made some positive changes in your life or dealt with some issues through counseling. These drugs can be incredibly effective, however they treat the symptoms and do not necessarily treat the cause. They can be a great way of stopping the symptoms and can kickstart your recovery...but only with the aid of positive change and or sorting out some of the internal issues (of course in a blog like I can not be too prescriptive; I am not a doctor or a psychologist and in any case everyone is different. I can talk about my own opinions and experiences only).   So when coming off the drugs seems to lead to, or at least coincide with, a recurrence o...
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Depression and Anxiety, a round up of the latest news
2007-08-07 21:01:00
Recent research has found a clear link between jobs which cause tiredness, moodiness, bad temper and irritability and depression. Of course that might not be any surprise to people whose stressful jobs have obviously caused and aggravated their depression and low mood, but an established and proven link is a new thing. According to this study as much as 45% of new cases of depression and anxiety were due to work conditions, with these being the worst triggers:   Long time spent working (hours) Lack of understanding, support or flexibility from managers Continually pressing deadlines High volume of work, with no end in sight. What was surprising was that this did not apply just to office workers in companies with narrow minded bosses. It also affected members of the emergency services, people from the entertainment industry, refuse collectors people in fact from all walks of life. Other patterns shown in the study went along similar lines to what is already known. For some...
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rimonabant - Risks too high
2007-07-23 13:08:00
Rimonabant (also known as Acomplia) is a drug which is used to treat obese patients with a risk of developing diabetes.As I blogged about a month or so ago, the drug is considered controversial. There is now evidence to suggest that one in every ten people that take the drug suffer from some kind of psychiatric side-effect.We say this is too high! Mental health issues are not taken seriously enough, and any drug which has this much potential to cause psychiatric side-effects should be banned (as it is already in the USA).Treating diabetes and obesity related cardiovascular disease is important, but not at the risk of causing suicidal thoughts, depression, and, in one known case, self-harm.It is time for some joined up thinking when it comes to medication which effects how our brain functions. The organisations and bodies that licence drugs need to be better prepared to stop harmful drugs reaching patients. This habit of stopping drugs which have now been used , and done harm, for so...
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Anti-Depressants: When Should You Withdraw?
2007-07-17 21:46:00
A large proportion of people who have suffered from anxiety and depression have been offered anti-depressants such as Prozac, lexapro and Celexa. A percentage of these people will not have taken the drugs for any length of time. There are often tolerance and side effect issues that cause many people to cease using the drugs at an early stage and seek alternatives. But for those who are lucky enough to tolerate the drugs well, or who feel side effects at first but wait for them to subside, often these drugs can prove very effective. That leads us to the biggest question of all: When is it time to stop taking SSRI's? Well, doctors tend to advise that you keep taking a stable, therapeutic dosage of the drug for at least six months after you feel better. It is important that you stay on the dose your doctor has prescribed you and only change the dose under supervision from them. Often, after six months to a year have passed your doctor (who should be inviting you back frequently f...
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Worst SSRI's for weight gain
2007-07-11 19:47:00
Many people who take SSRI's for depression or anxiety suffer weight gain as a result. Indeed it is a common reason for people to prematurely break-off from otherwise beneficial treatment. But in truth, appearance is so key to modern life that it is no surprise that people who are already suffering from mood disorders don't want to get fat. This could lead to more depression! I was interested last week when I got an email from revolution health that linked to an article on their site about which SSRI's are known to cause weight gain. It is one of the most common questions I am asked so I am always on the look out for new material. The table below shows what the article said, but I disagree with much of it. I personally have taken Celexa and found that it caused weight gain to the tune of 10KG! The table also shows escitalopram to be likely to cause weight gain. This is odd because citalopram (Celexa) and escitalopram (Lexapro) are almost identical. In the article and American acad...
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Folic Acid for depression
2007-07-03 18:49:00
Moves are afoot in the UK to add folic acid to bread in order to cut depression. The supplement has long been popular with pregnant women and those trying to get pregnant as it is strongly believed to safeguard foetuses against condition such as spinabifida. It has also been suggested that it can help prevent strokes. Now research by York University in the UK has suggested that folic acid can help the brain produce the feel good neurotransmitter Serotonin. Although it is not necessarily believed that low folate levels in the body cause depression, it does seem that there is some link between them. So, now various questions arise: Will the proposed additions to bread be of sufficient quantity to prevent depression in a significant number of people? Will this help depressed people recover from their illness? Should depressed people start taking a folic acid supplement? Would doing this effect any medication that a sufferer might already be taking? Might folic acid also have an ef...
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Yoga for anxiety and depression. It works!
2007-06-26 19:52:00
Have a look at this press release from Boston University and Maclean Hospital. If their research is repeatable then Yoga could be an important treatment for anxiety and depression. Yoga practitioners have long insisted that there was an important mind and body angle to yoga. But this has been lost somewhat amongst the mass of alternative and complimentary therapies on other. In reality lots of therapists that offer whacky remedies at huge cost don't want us to know that there are other, much cheaper options that may well be more effective. My personal experience of Yoga and Anxiety When I suffered from anxiety on a regular basis I used to visit a yoga centre in Totnes in Devon. I had a very good teacher and the yoga itself felt good. It was very relaxing. Let me say that first. I can really believe that on anxiety or stress alone yoga is probably very potent. I felt relaxed enough to sleep! Is Yoga the answer then? No, yoga was not the answer to my anxiety. Because Anxiety is a ver...
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Breaking the Anxiety Habit
2007-06-25 20:38:00
What if Anxiety was just a habit. What if we habitually had the same thoughts, put ourselves in the same situations, disrespected ourselves, and reacted in the same way. I have to admit that I am a little bit fat. Not obese in anyway, but overweight, heavier than I want to be. I will also freely admit that being overweight effects my self-image and self-esteem. I think diet, anxiety and digestion are intrinsically linked which is why I have started to put together a section on IBS. I digress. In my desire to lose weight I have started investigating various studies, theories and programmes. Obviously quick-fix diets don't work any better than quick-fix cures for anxiety, so they are out. Also, exercise regimes which require high motivation are also out, I know myself well enough. Recently I came across a theory which says that being overweight isn't to do with eating too much and exercising too little. They are just symptoms of a wider problem, a problem which, when correctly...
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We need better funding for mental health issues
2007-06-23 14:57:00
This week a report was released into the suicide of a teenage boy (18 years old) in Northern Ireland. As reported on the BBC the Care Trust involved has admitted failings. But again this kind of tragedy goes to show that mental health issues are still not properly funded or understood by mainstream healthcare professionals and organisations. On the day that he died, the victim in this case had tried to get himself admitted to hospital but had failed, as a specialist nurse wrongly assessed his suicide risk as "low". Hours later he hung himself. In this case there were the usual breakdowns in communication and confusion which are unfortunately the hallmark of a modern health service in these "outsourced" times. But further more I think there is still a lack of understanding and compassion from the side of the medical establishment. There is still a massive misconception that patients can be cured of depression and anxiety through medication. There is still a massive misconception...
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Relapse Signature - anxiety, panic, agoraphobia and depression
2007-06-21 00:09:00
What do you do before it all goes wrong? Most people who have anxiety, panic, agoraphobia, depression, bipolar have good days and bad days. And often people find that they have good periods, weeks or months where things are going well and they feel better, or at least not so bad. However, instead of turning into prolonged recovery, these periods often end in either gradual or sudden decline back to a bad state that you know only to well from the past. It often seems like this kind of relapse or setback happens without any reason, but in truth nothing in life happens for no reason at all. Everything is linked by cause and effect. That means that the cause of the relapse or setback can give you important clues on how to deal with or overcome your condition. They key is to understand your "Relapse Signature ". What is a "Relapse Signature"? A relapse signature is the individual events, emotions or situations that lead you to relapse. I use the plural here deliberately as you may have se...
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Links for 2007-06-17 [del.icio.us]
2007-06-18 07:00:00
BBC NEWS | Health | Cod liver oil 'treats depression' BBC NEWS | Health | 'I love my new C cup breasts'
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Depression and Drug Use
2007-06-17 13:05:00
It has long been known that so called "recreational drugs" have exacerbated the risk of mental illness in those with a predisposition. So obviously the best advice for people who suffer from anxiety and depression is to stay away from recreational drugs and over-indulgence in alcohol. There is one more area in which you should be careful, and that is the area of prescription drugs and over the counter medications. Unfortunately, it is naive to assume that the professional bodies that oversee the licensing of prescription drugs will be sufficiently meticulous to demand research into mental health side-effects is carried out. Unfortunately, many people have found that all sorts of drugs have worsened, or even brought on, symptoms of anxiety and depression. This is particularly true of drugs which in anyway effect brain chemistry, weight, libido, or sleeping habits This week the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) voted to ban weight-loss pill "Rimonabant" over concerns regar...
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Anxiety and Diet
2007-06-09 15:38:00
Many people believe that there is a link between anxiety and diet, which was one reason for me adding a section IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) to Anxiety 2calm. In terms of diet I would give two pieces of advice. Firstly, get to know your own body. Everyone is different and different foods effect people in different ways. See if what you eat effects how you feel, and see if the state of your stomach effects your anxiety or low mood. Secondly, remember that a healthy body and a healthy mind are often one and the same thing. I don't believe people who think everything bad in life is down to wheat allergy, but that said it is worth investigating what foods may have adverse reactions on your body and mind. In Gut Instinct, Pallardy advises that reducing your intake of sugary foods, acidic foods, and red meat might help reduce anxiety. He also reminds you to eat slowly and and to not take part in highly regimented diets or fasting, as this can make anxiety worse. All I would add to th...
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Your personal stress detox program
2007-06-04 16:15:00
Sorry there hasn't been a post for ages....More coming soon. I found this at lifehack and thought it was interesting! Summertime is a good time to deal with stress! I have been thinking recently about the importance of taking enough vacation to get a real break from work. Here’s how to use the upcoming vacation season to make a huge impact on the load of stress that you’re almost certainly carrying around. Make sure that you take a long-enough vacation for the program. You need at least seven days, preferably more if you can manage it. Any less won’t give you the time to make a real impact on your mind or body. Make a list of what you must leave behind: your laptop, your BlackBerry, your PDA, any paperwork from the office, any work-related reading matter. You must treat those as a recovering alcoholic should treat beer, wines, or spirits: absolutely forbidden! Give your cellphone to someone whom you can trust to prevent you using it during your vacation, except in the dire...
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depersonalization disorder
2007-05-31 20:35:00
Many people who have suffered from anxiety or other stress related issues talk about something called depersonalization disorder. Let me say from the start, I don't think depersonalization disorder exists. This is just another label given to another symptom with many possible causes. And as I have written about on this blog before I don't believe that labels help us or serve us in the long run. In fact I think they hinder our recovery. That said, the powers that be in the world of medical/psychological nomenclature have seen fit to create the phrase depersonalization disorder. And as many people who contact this site say, depersonalization is a common symptom of panic and anxiety. in DSM IV depersonalization is described as: "A lasting or recurring feeling of being detached from the patient's own body." In my experience, during a period of depersonalization one feels as if nothing is real. The things around you, even your own limbs, seem to be disconnected and distan...
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Stop your children inheriting anxiety
2007-05-27 02:49:00
It is often asked: What can I do to stop my children inheriting my anxiety, my fear if flying, my agoraphobia. People often ask this question when they have been struggling with their own symptoms for sometime and are ready to start a family bit have a nagging fear in the back of their mind. Genetic Link Due the publication of various pieces of research and somewhat reckless journalism, many people who have minor mental health problems like anxiety believe their problems to be genetic. This is not entirely the case and sufferers should make sure they fully understand the research before they jump to conclusions. False Conclusion Anxiety is genetic. I have anxiety. I will always have anxiety as it is programmed into every cell in my body. This is the thought process of an anxiety sufferer who believes their "condition" to be genetic. It gives them nothing but hopelessness. And it is false. Genetics may play a minor role. Genetics may play a minor role but there is no gene that says "...
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Anti-depressant usage too high
2007-05-22 21:01:00
It recently caught my eye that in the UK anti-depressant prescription has soared over the last few years. In 2006 prescriptions were up 6% despite the fact that most independent experts and mental health advocacy groups believe that alternatives to medication provide better long term hope for those with depression. Just to recap, anti-depressants like Prozac and Celexa do not actually cure depression, they treat the symptoms for as long as you take them (if you are one of the roughly two thirds of people that find them helpful). They are best used as an aid to therapy or other lifestyle changes which promote a healthy mind. Nice, the body which regulates drugs licensing and prescribing in the UK, recommended in 2004 that anti-depressants should not be the first option explored by doctors when patients present depression. Many studies have shown that other activities, often involving exercise like walking in the country or swimming have been very beneficial in fighting moderate depr...
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Overcoming Anxiety - working in a microcosm
2007-05-20 11:40:00
Just a quick thought for people who are trying to overcome anxiety disorders, panic disorder and agoraphobia. When tackling situations which have been known to lead to panic attacks and anxiety attacks it may be best to work in a microcosm.  For some people the situations that can lead to anxiety and panic will be physical (a shopping centre or subway underground train) or emotional (having to confront someone, make a complaint, end a relationship). One core trait of CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy) is creating a hierarchy with the most difficult at the top and starting with the easiest at the bottom. This is all well and good for some sufferers but, depending on exactly what kind of anxiety or panic you are experiencing, and what is triggering it, it may well be that the CBT approach is much too simplistic. What might be more appropriate is to find a weak example of the situation that causes fear, and treat it like an inoculation. Your body learns to fight viruses ...
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Depression - Friends and Family - What to do
2007-05-13 16:02:00
Being close to someone who suffers from depression can be a lonely and frightening experience. Being in a relationship with a depressed person can deeply frustrating and agonizing. Typical attitudes of a depressive person might include: Nobody loves me I am not worth anything I don't deserve you I deserve a loser like myself I have nothing to offer you I can never be happy So what can you do? 1-Firstly you must encourage your loved one to seek help. Depression is a solvable problem. No one has to suffer from it and the solution is out there. Often the people who struggle with depression for a long time are those who resist help, or unconsciously sabotage efforts to help them. That may sound harsh, but making a depressed person believe they are worth treating, and that they can recover, is hard task for anyone. And in today's over-stretched healthcare systems we sadly can not rely on doctors and health workers to have sufficient time or resources to look after...
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Learning to say "NO".
2007-05-10 20:46:00
For most people that suffer from anxiety and depression self-esteem is a problem. We might often be inclined to put other people's thoughts and feelings before our own. Deep down, this can  be very damaging. While we might seem to be happier once we have satisfied and gained the acceptance of those around us, in fact we tend to mourn our lost desires and crave control of our lives. In some cases this emotion may manifest as episodes of anxiety, panic or depression. Like most things in life there is a balance involved. Life does involve some compromises and as mature adults we must remember that we can't have it all our own way. But while some things in life might be out of our control (tax, the weather, work managers, public transport) many things are within our control. We don't have to control everything in life that we can. This is called control freakery and is a very unpleasant character trait. We do need, however, to control some aspects of our day to day lives, and ...
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Why some people become hoarders - OCD
2007-04-25 20:46:00
This article from the BBC is worth reading. For more info on OCD click here.   People who hoard apparently useless items may be able to blame an area of their brain, say US researchers. The University of Iowa team pinpointed a region in the frontal lobe that appeared to control this behaviour. Researchers have linked hoarding to obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), but it is not known what causes it and whether it is a unique condition. The study in the journal Brain adds to growing evidence that hoarding has its own specific underlying mechanism. Useless junk OCD is an anxiety disorder in which the person is compelled by irrational fears and thoughts to repeat seemingly needless actions over and over again. It can manifest itself in repetitive behaviours, such as excessive hand washing, cleaning or repeated checking. But some people with OCD have a compulsion to hoard things, which is well above and beyond the avid interest of an average stamp collector. Researchers fr...
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Online Therapy
2007-04-15 17:12:00
Recently there has been an upsurge in support for using the Internet as a medium for providing care. The image of a counselor or a therapist as a person who sits in a darkened room while you lie on a couch is an out-dated one. Now things are going hi-tech. The UK government recently announced a scheme whereby the National Health Service will supply care to those with anxiety and depression via computer programmes. Kasamba provides online counseling Fear Fighter will be used for people who suffer from phobias or panic attacks, and Beating the Blues will be aimed at those who have mild to moderate depression. UK mental health charity SANE has welcomed this move as a positive first step. Obviously there are various advantages to online therapy. It can be cheaper (even if the only saving to the patient is not having to buy petrol and pay for parking at the therapists office). It can also be more convenient, being enough time for a session in an average lunch break. Early f...
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Links for 2007-04-06 [del.icio.us]
2007-04-07 07:00:00
BBC NEWS | Health | Can online therapy ease depression?
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Links for 2007-03-27 [del.icio.us]
2007-03-28 07:00:00
BBC NEWS | Health | Computer therapy access 'for all'
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Using the Work of Byron Katie for Anxious and Depressing thoughts
2007-03-28 01:36:00
Here is a personal experience sent to me by a reader regarding the work of Byron Katie . For more details on Byron Katie please click the link. In this example we see how someone with anxiety can deal with matters concerning guilt and shame, as well as unecessary worry. "I had had a bad day at work. Someone I work with had made a complaint about me and it lead to a host of confusing and contradicting emotions which were causing me low level anxiety and interrupting my sleep and the enjoyment of my weekend. Basically, I felt cheated, out-raged, ashamed, guilty, and worried. In the past I have had CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy). This therapy claims to help you deal with negative thoughts through a process of rationalisation. It can be useful but personally I don't find it very powerful. That is to say that when a thought is really biting, really invading every moment, I can't seem to shift it using CBT. Byron Katie's method is actually not that different from some aspects of...
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Inositol for Anxiety
2007-03-25 00:48:00
Every once in a while a natural product or food supplement comes into the public domain which promises a lot: Anxiety Relief Cheap Drug Free Side effect free Permanent Let's face it, 5-HTP, tryptophan, amino acid complex, kava kava etc didn't really do it for the most part. That isn't to say that they don't have their place and many people have got some kind of good results from them, and from a balanced diet that includes the main sources of them. But the holy grail of anxiety sufferers they ain't. Recently there has been a lot of interest in Inositol for the treatment of OCD, anxiety and depression. Sometimes, when substances like this are sold as a cure all, it is hard to believe that they are any other than just hype as a result of poor research. I say this as I have just read that Inositol is sold as a solution to baldness and hair loss. That said, there is some evidence to suggest that Inositol is as good as SSRI anti-depressants in the treatment of mood disorders. ...
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More Mindfulness Meditation
2007-03-24 02:39:00
This is just a little addition to my last post on Mindfulness Meditation which can be read by following this link. Watching the breath, without trying to change or control it, is the backbone of mindfulness meditation. And, as I previously talked about, when the conscious mind interrupts with either fantasy, worry or recollection I gently take my attention back to my breath, after acknowledging the thought. The key being to keep in the present time, where everything is absolutely as it is meant to be. The idea that everything is as it is meant to be is sometimes a hard one to grasp. In brief, we live in a world of cause and effect, where every action eventually has an outcome. Anxiety and depression for instance have causes (emotional, physical, genetic, spiritual), and because of those causes whatever is happening right now, is exactly as it should be. The laws of cause and effect do not make mistakes. Odd outcomes have odd causes preceding them. Therefore wherever we are, and how ...
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