How to overcome anxiety

Help with Anxiety!

Are you struggling with anxiety or panic attacks? Do you worry excessively about your work, your family, your relationships or your health?  Do you think that when you feel bad and experience symptoms of anxiety, then your feelings “make” you think negative and sad or angry thoughts? 

Actually, what psychologists know is that often, people who are experiencing depression or anxiety have the negative thoughts FIRST and that these fearful thoughts are not really based in reality. These distorted, negative, pessimistic thoughts then begin to produce the ‘bad’ feelings; the feelings in turn produce more distorted thinking, making the symptoms even more difficult to overcome.  

The important thing to note here is that the distorted thoughts are usually ‘automatic’ in nature. This means that the person is probably not even aware of his or her automatic, distorted thoughts, but that these thoughts automatically enter the thinking patterns in a continual manner and across different situations in life.

Put more simply, your automatic thoughts and interpretations of a situation or circumstance can have a very big - and negative impact on how you feel.

Cognitive-behavioral psychologists have identified several negative thinking patterns - distorted thoughts - that are common to people who struggle with feelings of anxiety and depression.

How to begin to understand your own distorted thinking?  Review these 3 common types of distorted thinking that frequently lead to anxiety or depression.  Now list at least three examples of your own thoughts that lead you to feeling depressed and anxious. First, describe the event that prompted you to feel anxious or depressed - and then de­scribe the thoughts that promoted the bad feelings. Once you identify your negative thoughts - your automatic thoughts - you have made the first step to overcoming your anxiety or depression. 

Type	Definition	Example
Mind reading	You make negative assumptions about other people’s thoughts and motives.	Sheila asked her friend Mary to join her for lunch.  When her invitation was refused, she thought “Mary never wants to go to lunch with me. I know she doesn’t really like me.”
Forecasting	You predict that an event will not turn out well.	Gina finished her audition for the play. She immediately pre­dicted that she would not get the part. “I’ll never get a good part. My audition was really bad news.”
Feelings are facts	Whenever you feel a certain way, you decide that the feeling is your reality.	Jim was not invited to join any of is friends after work on Friday. He felt left out, inferior and lonely. . He thought, “No one likes me. I am such a loser.”

 

Weight loss strategies that work!

Review these helpful strategies and ask for help when you need it!

Find Good Role Models:  Did you know that a person will more likely follow suggestions and adhere to necessary weight loss lifestyle changes if the health care provider they work with is knowledgeable and also follows a healthy lifestyle?  Healthcare providers who are physically active, eat healthy and can discuss their own emotional eating triggers, develop better rapport with their patients as well as provide inspiration and support.

Teamwork: If you have been unable to achieve an ideal body weight after 5 or more years of effort, you might have more success working with a team trained to help you.  The team most likely will include your mental health professional (psychologist, therapist), a nutritionist, a physical trainer and your physician.  You most likely will gain added benefit from the variety of support you get from each of these professionals.

Psychology:  Did you know that many patients' severe weight problems arise from emotional problems, attitudes, or beliefs that truly need to be addressed in psychotherapy? You may continue to struggle with both losing the weight and keeping it off, if the psychological and emotional problems and issues are not resolved.

Readiness: Understanding your readiness to lose weight is the first step!  Are you contemplating losing the weight or have you begun to take action? Have you had success, but are now having trouble maintaining the weight loss?  Once you get professional help in identifying your own readiness level, you must also address the behavioral and emotional readiness factors.  These may include the costs and benefits of keeping the weight versus the costs and benefits of losing those pounds.

How to BEGIN to Think SMART and Feel BETTER

Many people think that when we feel bad and experience symptoms of depression or anxiety, then our feelings “make” us think negative and sad or angry thoughts. Actually, what we now know is that often, people who are experiencing depression or anxiety have the negative thoughts FIRST. These distorted, negative, pessimistic thoughts then begin to produce the ‘bad’ feelings; the feelings in turn produce more distorted thinking, making the symptoms even more difficult to overcome. The important thing to note here is that the distorted thoughts are usually ‘automatic’ in nature. This means that the person is probably not even aware of his or her automatic, distorted thoughts, but that these thoughts automatically enter the thinking patterns in a continual manner and across different situations in life.

Put more simply, your automatic thoughts and interpretations of a situation or circumstance can have a very big impact on how you feel. Psychologists have identified several negative thinking patterns that are common to people who struggle with feelings of anxiety and depression.

Three common types of negative thinking patterns are identified and described below. Review these and begin to identify which ones may be impacting how you feel.

1. Catastrophizing: When something happens, you blow it completely out of proportion and think of the worst possible outcome.

The boss told Jenny that the budget is tight and there would no longer be funds for hiring an intern. Mary thought, “This is awful. She probably wants to fire me and this is her way of prepping me for the bad news.”

2. Black or White Thinking: You view people or situations, or even yourself as entirely bad or entirely good—nothing in -between.

When Mark presented his proposal to his dissertation committee, they interrupted so many times with questions, he went over his allotted hour for the presentation. Mark immediately thought, “They didn’t like my ideas; I barely got to finish the presentation.”

3. Judging:  You are overly critical of your self or others; your use of should have, ought to, must, have to, and should not have is very frequent.

Jan made a sales presentation to a client. The client was very attentive and made comments about being impressed with the product. Jan thought, “I spent too much time trying to explain myself. I should have been more prepared.”

Remember to review these and begin to identify which ones may be impacting how you feel. Knowing how and why you feel bad is a first step to feeling better!

Top Ten Better Ways to Communicate

Here are ten ways for you to develop healthier communication patterns with your friends and family. Try them out!

1. You state how you feel without BLAMING others.

2. You can disagree without turning it into an ARGUMENT.

3. You handle your anger without getting aggressive.

4. You handle OTHERS getting angry without your getting aggressive.

5. You act respectful at all times.

6. You expect others to be respectful of YOU at all times.

7. You can say you dislike someone's behavior WITHOUT saying you
dislike the PERSON.

8. Mistakes are viewed as OPPORTUNITIES to LEARN.

9. When there are disagreements, the atmosphere focuses on remaining RELAXED.

10.You take RESPONSIBILITY for your OWN behavior (no blame).