Three Things You Can Do Today to Feel Better

1. Think Positive:  Make an effort to change your negative self talk into positive self talk.  For many people, this takes practice, especially if your thinking ‘style’ tends toward the negative.

2. Rest and relax:  Take a break—make a point to relax for 30 minutes each day.  If you’re not sure how to relax, try different things.  Listen to music, contemplate nature, read, meditate, nap, do whatever you enjoy that helps you feel calm.

3. Recreation and play:  Get some exercise! Find ways to be playful and develop a sense of humor Turn your exercise routine into playtime – find an activity you enjoy!

Are you a Type A?

Having a "Type A personality" is marked in popular literature and media by a person who is an overachiever and fills his or her schedule to the maximum with work and status related activities and commitments.  Popular notions of Type A personality are based on published scientific research undertaken by cardiologists, Meyer Friedman and RH Rosenman, while researching the possible causes of coronary disease. http://www.sfms.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&SECTION=Article_Archives&CONTENTID=1732&TEMPLATE=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm

In the 1950’s, Friedman and Rosenman studied over 3,000 healthy men aged 35 – 59 and observed a higher prevalence of clinical Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) in men who exhibited two specific traits: time urgency and free floating hostility.  They labeled this disorder Type A behavior pattern. Subsequent studies challenged the hostility factor; ongoing research continues to help us understand the relationship between Type A Behavior and Coronary Heart Disease in both men and women.  In 1981, The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute published a critical review that identified Type A Behavior as an independent risk factor for CHD.

Current research is helping to identify issues and difficulties in measuring Type A traits in the individual. Researchers have concluded that time urgency and hostility measures, usually completed by the patient through a self report questionnaire are not as reliable as the clinician's observation and evaluation of the person’s psychomotor traits. Recognizing these psychomotor traits in an individual takes specific training over the course of several months to years.

Some of the signs and symptoms that may indicate hostility or time urgency and a Type A Behavior pattern include: chronic facial tension, tic like elevation of the eyebrows, tense posture and abrupt, jerky movements, rapid speech, hastening the speech of others, frequent loss of temper (i.e., yells or gets upset while driving), sleeplessness because of anger or frustration, disbelief in altruism, easily provoked irritability over trivial errors, facial hostility, and a hostile laugh.

Health psychologists treat individuals who exhibit these characteristics and through lifestyle change interventions, including behavior modification, cognitive – behavioral interventions, stress management and mindfulness training, and talk therapy, help the person with Type A Behavior patterns to modify his or her unhealthy patterns of time urgency and unresolved hostility. Research has already established that the degree of lifestyle change is positively correlated with positive changes in coronary atherosclerosis and other CHD predictors.  If you want to read more detailed and clinical literature on these studies, the Preventive Medicine Research Institute is an excellent resource:  http://www.pmri.org/research.html.  If you recognize yourself or a loved one as possibly fitting the description for Type A Behavior patterns, learn more and ask for help. Become heart healthy and feel better.

Depression and what you can do about it.

Almost everyone gets the blues. Who hasn't felt sad at one time or another? But what if the blues hang on and on, affecting you day after day? What if a persistent sadness permeates all aspects of your life: your ability to perform, how you eat, how you sleep, and how you deal with friends and family? It could be that depression may have you in its grip.  Many times, with help from a psychologist- especially one who works from a cognitive behavioral perspective - you can work through your depression, get relief from your symptoms and find proactive ways to prevent re-occurrence.   Sometimes, medication plus cognitive behavioral therapy is the most helpful treatment. Here are some markers and symptoms that may be a sign of clinical depression:

•    You feel sad or cry a lot, and it doesn’t go away.
•    You feel guilty for no real reason; you feel like you’re no good; you’ve lost your confidence.
•    Life seems to have no meaning. You feel like nothing good is ever going to happen again.
      You feel  pessimistic or it seems like you have no feeling at all.
•    You don’t feel like doing a lot of the things you used to enjoy like listening to music,
      playing sports, being with friends, going out and you want to be left alone most of the time.
•    It’s hard to make up your mind. You forget lots of things, and its hard to concentrate.
•    You get upset easily. Little things make you lose your temper; you overreact.
•    Your sleep pattern changes; you start sleeping a lot more, or you have trouble falling asleep
      at night. Or you wake up really early most mornings and can’t get back to sleep.
•    Your eating pattern changes; you lose your appetite, or you eat a lot more.
•    You feel restless and tired most of the time.
•    You may be starting to feel so badly that you start to wonder if life is worth living, you think
      about death, or may even have thoughts about committing suicide.

If you experience symptoms of depression for more than two weeks, it's wise to talk to your doctor or a mental-health professional even if you think the symptoms are caused by something else. Most importantly, don't be afraid to ask for help.

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.”