This kind of professional assistance is meant to cover some gaps that the traditional counseling might have. First of all, as any online service, it can go with you anywhere you go. Many times, people postpone their asking for help due to lack of time. Either because they have to drive far to see their therapist or that they work too hard so when getting back home, they just want to relax on the couch, counseling is generally postponed. Now, those excuses might not longer work given that you can ask for counseling from your house without driving anywhere but comfortably placed on your sofa or from your desk in your office. Counseling can be a peaceful moment you give to yourself.

Also, some people might feel discouraged to start with therapy because they have to travel as part of their job. That is another case when online counseling appears as the best option. In fact, when traveling, people might feel specially awkward or lonely in the new environment; and being able to count on a close professional who is ready to listen and pay complete attention to you in those “far from home moments” can be a bless.

We know many cases of very shy people who might feel quite uncomfortable if they had to talk face to face with a professional about their concerns. That is exactly what the online counseling wants to prevent. You control you space, intimacy and dialogue.

On top of all these strong points, what we think is essential in the results we get when working online is the strength of the writing process. When one has the time to think about what is going on inside him/her, it gives a different perspective of us. Talking is a fast action and we might lose a lot of important things we thought about and talked in a face to face session. But when things remained written, it provides you with a constant record you can retrieve any time you want. You can check what you said and what you received as a response in a past session and then compare it you’re your present to evaluate your progresses.

Writing to a person who is willing to help you is therapeutic by itself. It can give you a new insight of your concern that you might have never reached if just talking about it. Of course, there are things that the face to face counseling covers that the e-therapy lacks. We are talking of the non-verbal communication that is missing when the screen separates people. Also, it may happen that a person needs to be physically comforted when being in a counseling session and we cannot do that online. Being aware of those disadvantages, we, as professionals, face our role with all our heart and seriousness so as to make the best out of all the strengths of the online counseling.

Why do women, especially in America, put up with the outrage of physical, sexual, and verbal abuse? One main reason is absolute obedience to the messages of childhood, when they were first maltreated. They blame themselves for the abuse and therefore truly believe they deserve no better, a new author asserts.

According to Dr. Heyward Ewart, the greater the abuse, the greater is the loyalty to the punisher. His new book, now in the publishing process, details how child abuse leads to a life of victimization.

The “Stockholm Syndrome,“ observed at the end of World War II, is mysterious but very real. When the allied troops came to free the prisoners of war, when the fences were down and the captors in custody, some prisoners refused to leave the camp.

They would huddle and resist being moved. It was found that the captors who had been most cruel, most sadistic, and most forceful had won the greatest loyalty of their captives.

Thus, there is this dependable equation: the greater the abuse, the greater the obedience.

It is Ewart’s premise that the normal way for both children and adults to react to abuse is to obey the message it conveys. Herein lies the reason that victims are so resistant to change, even when competent therapy is provided. To disobey the message of the tormentor is akin to being a traitor.

Another factor is that terrifying abusers live as phantoms in the minds of their victims. Many an adult woman, or man, feels that the original abuser, and often the present abuser, is “living in their head.” This almost magical presence in the mind of a victim is sometimes so acutely felt that it has a voice of its own that can be confused as a hallucination.

The communication is always negative and condemning and is continuously repeating the original message that “you are no good; you are not a real person; you dare not try to do better.”

The difference between this kind of “voice” and hallucinations is that the former is more in line with a constant flashback, or memory, so vivid that the abuser can almost be heard; however, the victim knows that the voice is a reliving experience. Hallucinations, as they occur in schizophrenia, are believed by the patient to be as real as any other truth, Ewart explains.

The child, or “true self,” as he names it, can be thought of as having a semi-permeable layer of protection around it. Such might also be thought of as a boundary, or a wall, enclosing the self. The abuser, by attacking the personhood of his victim, continuously assaults this barrier until at last he breaks all the way through, “sets up residence” inside, and feeds a “false self,” he says.

Prisoners of war experience the same sensation through brainwashing. The barrier of the self is weakened by the infliction of excruciating pain that continues beyond endurance. Combined with sleep and food deprivation, the pain is applied with dehumanizing insults, in some way implanting the same message, no matter what words are used: “You are nobody.”

The brainwashing is complete when the tormentor has broken through and has begun to live inside the mind of the victim. This is the nature and the power of child abuse. It is brainwashing of the first magnitude, accomplished with greater ease because the subject is a child, without power. When done effectively, brainwashing conditions the victim to accept the role of captive permanently.

Hence, in domestic violence, we do not have a new occurrence of a destructive relationship resulting from a poor choice or a mistake that anyone could make. We have a continuation of the same earlier brainwashing with one abuser continuing where the other left off.

Other reasons that battered, insulted, overly controlled, or humiliated women do not leave include the following, according to Ewart: >Hope that the partner will change. >Partially believing that trying harder will make a difference. >Fear of what the partner may do in retaliation (a well-

grounded fear, for which the victim needs protection). >Not knowing what to do about the children. >Lack of money. >Having no place to go. >Not knowing whom to call. >Thinking nothing can be done. >Fear of living alone, without support. >Thinking the problem isn’t that bad, after all. >Feeling the police and the courts won’t help enough or fast

enough (true in many cities). >Religious and moral convictions. >Fear of the unknown.

A critical item to be added to the above list is that many women are not conscious of the fact that they are in an abusive relationship. Their life experience, with the internalized messages that define their self image, prevents them from recognizing how preposterous their situation is.

There are now lots of researchers who are looking into the sleep disorder commonly know as sleep apnea. Sleep apnea can be described as the pausing of ones breathing at night while you are asleep.

This is now a problem that quite a lot of people are faced with and also need help to treat it. There are up and coming new discoveries that could help to find new ways to get treatment for these sleep breathing disorders such as sleep apnea.

In the main there are two different types of sleep apnea. Obstructive sleep apnea which is caused by the obstructions of the airway passages. This obstruction could be anything from the enlargement of ones tonsils, to fat that is found in and around the neck area. Just about anything can be the cause for this type of sleep apnea. There can be lots of different reasons for this problem and for this purpose one should check with their doctor.

A few of the sleep apnea basics that one could learn, can help a person have a better understanding of the problem, as well as help them find a way to treat it. One particular sign of sleep apnea is loud snoring. This is an good indication of breathing problems or blocked air passages. The cessation of breathing or even some mild choking spells in the middle of the night is also a warning sign of sleep apnea.

Lots of people who suffer, have no idea that they even have this type of problem. They may not realize what they are doing while sleeping. The choking and gasping may possibly not affect everyone, and if does, the person may not remember it when they wake up.

The second type of sleep apnea disorder is called central sleep apnea. This can cause the person to stop breathing while they are asleep. With central sleep apnea, the body will simply forget to breathe. It is a neurological dysfunction that is caused by failure of the brain to issue an actual command to keep on breathing while sleeping. This is a fairly new discovery that has determined the area of where this problem has originated.

There have been lots of studying to research this problem. Scientists have now found that there are a tiny group of neurons control this function. These neurons may hold clues for causes laying underneath for other breathing disorders and offer an excellent target for medications.

With Sleep apnea the amount of oxygen in the bloodstream can drop way below the normal rate. When this happens, the amount of carbon dioxide will also rise. This condition can cause a shock to the system and it is believed to be the main reason for the on bringing of a heart attack or stroke in people that are suffering from this condition.

If you suspect that you are suffering from sleep apnea, you should check with your doctor as soon as possible. They can perform tests to determine which type of sleep apnea is affecting you. With the results from these tests, your doctor will be able to determine how best to treat it so that you can get the sleep that you so readily deserve and need, so that you may function properly throughout your day.

A diagnosis of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) carries with it a whole new set of challenges. Suddenly, behavior that was hard to explain now fits within a standard definition of a widespread disorder. More and more children and adults are being diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder, and consequently, Attention Deficit Disorder research has become the focus of an entire generation.

For those looking to educate themselves on the signs, symptoms, and treatments for Attention Deficit Disorder, they now – more than ever – have access to readily available Attention Deficit Disorder research. Attention Deficit Disorder research provides an inside look into the signs and symptoms that medical professionals consider when making a diagnosis.

Additionally, with the help of Attention Deficit Disorder research, health care professionals who treat the condition have learned of new and better ways to manage the symptoms for their patients of all ages. Continued Attention Deficit Disorder research has shed an ever-increasing light on the disorder, and consequently has generated new funding and amplified enthusiasm for finding new treatments.

Luckily, the growth of the Internet has allowed Attention Deficit Disorder patients – as well as the parents of children who suffer from it – to easily find all they need to know with one click of the mouse. In addition to ample Attention Deficit Disorder research, those online can find a comprehensive list of those professionals who test for and treat Attention Deficit Disorder in their immediate area.

Additionally, your primary health care provider can provide you with access to the most up-to-date Attention Deficit Disorder research available. If you are interested in learning what current statistics that research has yielded, visit a medical professional well-versed in treating Attention Deficit Disorder.

Because of the widespread focus on Attention Deficit Disorder, you’re likely to find an enormous amount of literature and periodical pieces available on the subject of Attention Deficit Disorder research as well. Gather as much information as you can find to help you on your journey.

And, as is often the case, the most well-informed will often be the patients themselves. Seek out other Attention Deficit Disorder patients or parents who are helping their children. You’re likely to learn an enormous amount about current Attention Deficit Disorder research.

For the millions who suffer from Attention Deficit Disorder, strides made by Attention Deficit Disorder research means much more than medications and more accurate testing; for them, Attention Deficit Disorder research means renewed hope for the future.

What Is Hypnosis

Hypnosis is an altered state, where the body and conscious mind are relaxed to allow direct communication with the subconscious mind. The reason for this is that the subconscious is an incredibly powerful tool that can have dramatic effects on us without our knowing. For example, phobias start in the subconscious; they then influence our behaviour in our daily lives. By talking directly to the subconscious we can bypass the conscious mind that will analyze and filter what is said to it, the subconscious will take what we say at a more literal sense. I must stress hypnosis is not a child’s plaything it is incredibly powerful tool that should be treated with respect

What Hypnosis Is Not

It is not mind control! The classic stereotypical depiction was of a gentlemen in a cape with a goatee beard (that looks somewhat like the devil in human form) with piercing eyes that could turn you into a zombie like slave with a single glare. This is of course total fiction when under hypnosis you will not do anything that you would not normally do . There is an example of this; in the early 1900’s a group of medical student’s were being taught about hypnosis by a professor. He had placed a female subject in a trance and was demonstrating how he could get her to lift her arm and keep it rigid among other things . The professor was hurriedly called away and left one of his students to look after the woman. Medical students being what they are they decided to see what they could get her to do. Lifting one arm, lifting one leg, then the student that had been left in charge decided to tell the female subject to remove her top; at this the subject immediately snapped out of the deep trance she was under and promptly slapped the student’s face and left the auditorium. Therefore, under hypnosis you will not make a fool of your self, strip off and do star jumps or any other of the silly stuff you see on TV, unless of course you would do that sort of thing in your normal waking state.

Many individuals and couples who attend weekly counseling sessions wonder what they should expect for the time, money, and energy they are expending. It’s certainly a reasonable question, considering the effort and expense involved in participating in counseling.

Repeatedly through my years as a counselor, I’ve had people tell me that they are seeing a counselor who only repeats back to them what they have just said and doesn’t offer recommendations or give feedback. The person relaying this to me is usually understandably frustrated and confused and wonders “Shouldn’t I be getting more help from the counselor?”

My answer to this question is, “Yes, you should be getting more help than that.” It is important for therapists to summarize and reflect back feelings to be sure they are understanding correctly and so that the client feels heard—and this process can be therapeutic in and of itself. But in my opinion, a therapist who doesn’t offer more than this in response to the pressing questions clients present is shortchanging the clients.

Experienced counselors have a wealth of information and knowledge collected through the years from their educational background, on-going reading and workshops attended, research findings, observation, and personal experience.

They know what has worked for other clients and what hasn’t worked. They know what strategies some of their professional colleagues have used successfully with clients. They know what are considered to be the “best practices” in their field. This is the type of information that I believe therapists have a responsibility to provide to their clients.

It’s not the role of the therapist to tell you what to do, but it is the role of the therapist to provide pertinent information for you to consider, to help you look at all sides of an issue, and to help you explore your various options. The final decision about what to do is always yours.

When looking at the question of what you should expect from counseling, whether it’s individual counseling or marriage counseling, here are some points to consider:

1. You should feel “heard.” You should feel that the therapist is really, deeply listening to you and hears you on an emotional level. You need to feel that the therapist is accurately assessing what you’re feeling—anger, confusion, frustration, abandonment, or grief, etc. It’s important that the therapist gives you full attention and creates a safe environment for you to express yourself and to be fully heard.

2. You should obtain more clarity, self-awareness, and self-understanding during the course of therapy. Over time, you should grow in understanding about how you have contributed to whatever has happened and how to have a different outcome next time. You should also have more clarity and awareness of your real feelings, strengths, and patterns of behavior you want to change.

3. You should feel supported and receive encouragement from the therapist. It’s important for the therapist to acknowledge your efforts and the fact that you’re still trying, even if the results aren’t what you want yet. You should feel that your therapist is “in your corner” and wants you to succeed. The warmth and genuineness of the therapist are important factors, along with the feeling of rapport that is present.

4. You should receive help in setting definite goals and developing a plan of action. The therapist should help you clarify your goals and decide how you’re going to reach those goals. During therapy, as you explore options for possible solutions to your questions and issues, you can then develop a primary plan of action, with back-up plans as needed.

5. If you get “stuck” and lose momentum, the therapist should be able to offer suggestions on how to get the energy moving forward again. Obviously, you have to do the work and no one else can do this for you, but a skilled therapist can help you to get unstuck faster if you’re truly ready to tackle the issues facing you.

6. As counseling progresses, you should be able to see a broader perspective and overview of your situation. The therapist should be able to help you see the bigger picture and to understand what’s at stake in terms of your personal development, relationship skills, and quality of life. For example, if you’re exiting a marriage without addressing key issues, you need to know that you’re likely to encounter the same or similar problems in your next relationship. That’s the bigger picture.

7. You should receive help in identifying what you need to take responsibility for and what issues/problems belong to someone else, such as a spouse, parent, or child. Situations can be extremely messy and involved. The therapist should be able to help you sort out what you need to “own” and work on and what “belongs” to someone else that you can’t control. The therapist should also encourage you to minimize blaming others and instead to stay focused on what you have the power to change.

8. You should receive the benefit of the therapist’s professional experience and knowledge. The therapist should be willing to share with you what methods and strategies have worked for other individuals or couples, what research studies indicate, and what approaches aren’t usually as effective. If appropriate, the therapist may tell you about other helpful resources, such as books, videos, or support groups that you could explore.

9. You should receive help in generating creative options and possibilities for how to handle your questions, problems, and concerns. Your therapist should model how to brainstorm together for creative solutions and encourage creative expression of ideas. There’s never just one prescribed path to follow—there are usually many more options to consider than you’ve probably ever thought of on your own.

10. You should receive assistance in learning how to regroup when something you’ve tried falls through so that you don’t become overly discouraged or stuck. Learning new ways of behaving and thinking is a process, and that process includes regressing, failing, picking yourself up again, and learning from your mistakes. What you’re really learning is an approach to coping with life in general—an approach that builds the groundwork for success.

If you want to change the level of your health, here's what you have to understand.

Most illness comes from emotional or stressful conditions that we activate from within ourselves. This includes, of course, fear and anxiety. The job we have and the people we know or live with only serve to trigger specific feeling that you are sensitive to and this activates your fear, anxiety or stress. Anxiety and stress are a force that works on your body, organs or cells causing malfunction and deterioration. Stress creates acid that resides in your cells and in your lymph liquid that surrounds your cells.

An acid body breeds sickness such as cancer. Cancer thrives in an acid body Pathogens live and multiply in an acid body. Acid breaks down cell structures and tissue.

The food you eat can contribute to an acid body or an alkaline body. Processed food creates acid in your body. Raw food reduces acid in your body and brings the state of your body to an alkaline condition.

So here is a start for you if you are interested in changing the level of your health.

learn how to relieve stress and relax more frequently. You can do this by exercising, by working with a psychotherapist, and by using various brain relaxation tape. You can do it by bring in more love into your life.

Learn what type of food you need to eat that will not create a lot of acid in your body. It is ok to eat acid foods but they have to be balance with alkaline foods.

Use natural remedies to relieve various conditions that you have so that you can get back to into balance. Then work on relaxation and eating naturally.

If you are on drugs start investigating how you can back off from these drugs and what alternative remedy there is that can partly take the place of your drug. Drugs create an acid body and destroy tissue.

Fear and anxiety come from suppressed traumatic memories or cellular memories, which are the cause of most diseases. What are suppressed traumatic memories and what do they do.

Well let first let me explain a little about how the body works. Under natural conditions, a cell moves in nutrients and releases toxic waste. In the cell it burns these nutrients to provide with you with energy, for repairing itself, splitting and creating new cells and performing all other functions that keep it and you healthy.

How a cell function is determined by the autonomic system. In this system, we have the para-sympathetic system and the sympathetic system. When your body is under the para-sympathetic mode, your cells and body are functioning normal and has a strong immune system to heal itself.

Under the sympathetic mode, your body is acting as if it is under attack and blood is pull from your organs and other areas that don't need much blood and is moved to the muscles so that you can deal with the attack. This attack is typical a dangerous or life threatening situation.

Body cells under the sympathetic mode are not functioning normal. Less blood is flowing in this area means less nutrients going into the cell and less toxic matter coming out of the cell. This is the condition that produces disease.

Now here is important information that brings all this together. Many people feel that they are under a condition of constant attack - feeling fear and anxiety - even though they really are not. In this feeling of attack they express it as fear, stress, anxiety, anger, jealousy, and all types of negative behaviors.

People are typically under the sympathetic mode in which they are in automatic fight or flight mode. They are not even conscious of this because this is normal for them. Well, this is the condition where disease is created. When disease sets in, the cells cannot heal this disease since its immune system is weak and its cellular strengthen is gone from lack of nutrients and a build up of toxic wastes in the cells.

Stress and anxiety creates disease and all though history, people have been told to have some sort of stress management program such as exercise, yoga, psychotherapy, drugs, laughing, or any movement program.

Most people don't bother having a so called stress management program because they have no way of monitoring it to see if their stress is decreasing and doing these programs takes time.

The most typical way it's used to diagnose clinical depression is based on the symptoms. Unlike physical ailments, mental disorders are much more difficult to accurately diagnose as many of the symptoms are based on perceptions.

At issue is what determines the baseline measurement? Take for example to very common symptoms.
1. Feelings of overwhelming sadness or fear.
2. Fatigue or a loss of mental or physical energy.

If you consider society at large as the baseline measurement for the degree of sadness and fear, we have a problem. It's no secret that least in today's society there is very little true satisfaction in employment in many cases family life. This is very evident by the fact that we have such high rates of divorce, job hopping and an unwillingness to make or follow through on commitments. Using society at large can be dangerous. Remember that at one time most of society thought the world was flat.

Is it possible that those of us diagnosed with depression may simply have a different or even deeper understanding of the world and life in it? While many psychologists work to understand the symptoms and provide an accurate diagnosis of depression, getting to the root cause is much more difficult.

Is it possible that people with depression may have hypersensitivity to the world around them? Do they recognize the world is in serious shape and they are unable to adjust their internal integrity and need for justice. In a world where abuse of your fellow man can bring not only riches but recognition by society as "successful" it's no surprise that sensitive and thinking people may exhibit the symptoms of depression.

Is it possible that some of us are depressed because we see the definition of success in society is more stuff that ends up having little or no value? Do depressed people recognize the inherent inequity of the larger rules in play and have no answer or solution? Mental health professionals may recognize these types of outlooks and their answer is often times to encourage a depressed person to recognize that they can't fix everything.

Although there are treatments, they assume the person diagnosed with depression is the one that is actually ill. If the root causes of depression are a recognition of our need for fairness, equity and justice, treatments may only change our mental perception at our own expense. This might explain why depression is a chronic condition that many fight their whole lives to control.

If at least somewhat accurate, people with depression are in mental combat with their own possibly deeper understanding of life and what they see throughout society. Wouldn't it be interesting if between the depressed and nondepressed groups, we've unwisely identified the wrong ones as having a disorder.

This article offers a different perspective on identification of depression as a disorder or illness. Many of us apparently can manage the severity of the depressive symptoms because the great majority of us don't seek help. If you're suffering from depression and the symptoms are starting to be overwhelming, please get some help as quickly as possible. If you're having thoughts of suicide or have simply given up, you need to get some help.

Panic attacks can certainly be frightening; however, it is important to learn how to control panic attacks in order to regain control of your life.

One of the first tips that can be used to control panic attacks is to be aware that while the panic attack itself is frightening it won’t hurt you and although you may feel like it at the time you are not going to die. It is also important to understand that you are not going crazy. The symptoms you experience during a panic attack are simply a biological response to a threat that is being perceived as an emergency. Your body is reacting as though it is in danger and releasing energy to prepare you to either flee or stay and fight the perceived danger. Even though all of these reactions are not needed, your body does not know that and you may feel as though you are going to faint, have a heart attack, lose control, etc. Try to focus on the fact that none of this is going to occur.

In learning how to control panic attacks, tell yourself to slow down. This means making an effort to slow down your rate of breathing by practicing breathing exercises, slowing down your racing thoughts by thinking claming thoughts and making an effort to physically slow down your body. Take slow, deep breaths. Inhale and exhale slowly, counting as you go. As you practice these exercises, focus on slowly relaxing your muscles. Not only will this help to control your breathing but also other symptoms associated with the attack as well such as confusion, dizziness, tingling, trembling and possible muscle aches.

It can also be helpful to contact someone you trust from a support system when you are experiencing a panic attack in order to take control of the situation. Even if the person is not available to see in person, try calling them to talk about what you are experiencing. This person can help to support you while the panic is controlled.

You may also find it helpful to go for a walk in order to burn off the excess adrenaline your body has released when you began to feel anxious.

Another method you can use in learning how to control panic attacks includes considering occupying your mind with something else in order to control the attack. Excellent ideas include listening to music and making an effort to notice details of what is going on around you, particularly concrete objects. This can help to take your mind off the thoughts you might experience during a panic attack and focus those thoughts on something more positive and constructive.

Your breath begins to move faster and faster. Your palms are getting sweaty. You try to get your heart rate to slow down, even just a little bit, but your nervousness is taking over you. This is another big moment, one that you have been stressed about for weeks. This, like many other events, is causing you to be anxious and is not allowing you to enjoy the moment of your triumph. How does one stop anxiety from occurring? It is a common event, linked to stressful occurrences, traumatic circumstances or other types of activities that are imagined as danger or linked to fear. Despite what you think, there are ways to treat anxiety so that it doesn’t get in the way of what you have to do.

Self – Help

The first method for treatment is self help. With this, you can use simple techniques in order to begin relieving your problems with situations that cause anxiety. If you don’t want to take any dramatic measures with treating your anxiety, then it begins with you recognizing the problem, and beginning to find solutions for it.

Self-help doesn’t mean sitting down and reading the most popular books about getting rid of anxiety once and for all. It is much simpler than this. Once you recognize that you are stressed, nervous, anxious or have heightened fear: stop. Beginning to breathe at a normal pace and deeply will begin to slow down the bodily reaction to the anxiety. From here, you can begin to think about the situation differently. Thinking in positive affirmations is an easy way to stop the anxiety.

Alternative Medicine

If breathing alone doesn’t work, than you can always turn to things used holistically by others. There are a variety of natural supplements that are used with treating anxiety, as well as helping one to learn to relax in any type of situation. No matter what the circumstance, you can try to apply any of these in order to help.

One of the well known alternative treatments for anxiety is aromatherapy. Lavender, for instance, can be used in order to calm you down. You can find this available in anything from bubble bath to candles to oil. No matter what your preference, it is effective in helping your system to wake up to a relaxed state. Patchouli oil is also known to be as effective as lavender in helping to calm you down, specifically with anxiety. These are the two that are known to be most effective; however, several others can be found to help.

If you don’t want to use these in aromatherapy, then you can consider herbs as a supplement. Putting these in tea or in your food can help to calm your anxiety. Chamomile is one that is common for helping to sooth anxiety. Another is Kava Kava, which is a native Hawaiian plant that is commonly used in rituals for soothing the mind. Lavender, Motherwort, Passion Flower, St. Johns Wort, and Valerian are other herbs, all which have been used since ancient practices in order to help sooth the mind.

If you don’t want to use your senses, you can always consider other forms of alternative medicine for your anxiety. Everything from acupuncture to hypnosis has been used in order to help treat the problem of anxiety, especially if it is more severe. There are also new techniques that are being used, such as meditation techniques that have been developed specifically for anxiety.

What the Doctor Ordered

Self help and alternative medicines are often not what one desires for treating anxiety. If you have more severe anxiety and have moved into an anxiety disorder, you may want to consider getting professional help for the problem. Scientists and researchers have examined the possibilities that are available in order to treat anxiety effectively.

One possibility for treating anxiety is through therapy. Sometimes, the anxiety arises as a fear or suppressed problem that has been part of your life for years. Trying to solve this problem by focusing on healing your mind first can help you to stop your anxiety, or learn how to treat it so that it doesn’t get in the way of your every day life.

If your anxiety is more severe, and you want to stop the process of anxiety, you can also look at medications to help treat the problem. There are now anti-anxiety drugs that are available in order to stop anxiety. This occurs because of a neurotransmitter that is in the drugs that links to the place where the anxiety is occurring, causing the reaction to shut off.

There are a lot of first day stressors but the one I can still remember was way back in grade school.

I was in grade 4 at a little school that only had 4 grades in it. I guess you could say I was a senior. It later was turned into a small apartment building.

We had just finished summer vacation and it was September 2nd.

My mother was convinced that this was the first day of school and got me ready to go in the morning.

I was in doubt that this was the day but I believed my mother when she said it was time to go back to school.

After all, you would think an adult would be able to send you to school on the right day.

I remember thinking that it was very quiet and not a lot of other kids were out on the sidewalks coming to school that day.

Then I thought maybe I was late and the clock at home somehow was not telling the correct time. So I ran as fast as I could just in case I could still make it before the bell rang.

I did not realize at the time but even after all these years I still feel those feelings of anxiety.

Anxiety is such a powerful feeling that it can stay with you for years and be triggered by innocent events in your future.

Every time I go on that street I think of what happened that day and how lonely and embarrassed I felt .

I was embarrassed for my mom too.

How could I go home and tell her she made a mistake?

It was either do that or wander around until it was time to go home for the day.

There were teachers at the school who wanted to know what I was doing there.

This was another anxious moment. Do I tell them my mother sent me or I was just coming by the school for a look?

Everyone thinks children do not have anxious moments but I can assure you this is not the case.

I am 52 now and as I said, I am still able to recall the details.

Yes it was the wrong day to go to school but along with being anxious I learned that even grownups make mistakes.

It was not the end of the world but to a child this sort of thing could be confusing for sure.

I came to feel less embarrassed about this later in life and now tell the story as it helps to put it all into perspective for me.

I hope to help others when I tell stories such as this one.

I know people who are actually scarred by these supposed simple mistakes.

It helps to know that everyone has had an embarrassing story or event in their lives.

I have not met one person who says they got through childhood without one to put in the memory vault.

If we can forgive the event and move on with our life it makes us more able to deal with any possible future embarrassments.

It is all part of our life story and I know my mother did not send me to school on the wrong day on purpose or to embarrass me.

It was an honest mistake and from then on I always made sure I got the date and wrote it down for the coming September.

I think of this time in my life as the beginning of my journaling habit.

We all share one common goal in life and that is to be happy and to experience inner peace and joy. However, you can’t look outside yourself to find that happiness. Money, appearances, and social recognition do not truly make you happy, since the pursuit of money and fame can cause a great deal of anxiety and heartache. So you really need to look inside for the key to that inner peace. To do this, ask yourself the following five questions?

• What are my lifetime accomplishments? Your answer may be: I graduated college and started my own successful business. I married, raised 2 wonderful children, and provided for my family and spouse. I live in a beautiful home that I decorated myself with things that give me pleasure. I have many friends and family, who care about me and enjoy my company. Review all that you have done, no matter how small, so you can feel good. You can then say with certainty, “I did accomplish many wonderful things in my life.”

• What are my many talents? Your answer may be: I play piano, flute, and guitar and have written my own music. I enjoy ballroom dancing and do it well. I crochet sweaters for all my grandkids. I love to tell stories and enjoy writing vignettes about my life. In whatever way you express your creative talents, identify what they are so you can say, “I truly am a talented person.”

• How have I helped others? Your answer may be: I volunteer at a local senior center and teach reading in a literacy program. I take my aging mother shopping 3x week and I’m the support and encouragement for my overly dramatic teenage children. You have unselfishly given and offered services to others and that should make you feel good. Therefore, you can say, “I have helped many people.”

• Have I made a significant difference in anybody’s life? Your answer may be: I received a note from an old client, thanking me for valuable training. I made someone feel special by giving a surprise party. I’ve been a trusted confident and good companion to my newly divorced friend. You have been there when needed and left a lasting impression, which is priceless. Therefore, you can say with confidence, “I did make a difference in someone’s life.”

• How many people have I forgiven? Your answer may be: The long time grudge between me and my sibling is over because I took the first step to make amends. I dropped the resentment and painful old feelings with my ex because I’m ready to move on. I forgive myself for past mistakes, knowing that I did my best with the resources I had. Because you’re now free to live your life with gratitude, it feels appropriate for you to say, “I have forgiven many people, including myself.”

Does your face go as red as a cherry when attention is on you, or maybe even for no reason at all...
Is it a skin problem or is it a social anxiety psychological problem? If it is what can you do about it?
Red face problems can be "simply" skin/medical related. In which case it’s likely to be red all the time and you should see a qualified doctor or skin specialist.
But if the red face demon gets triggered by social situations then it may well be a “social anxiety” problem where the natural blushing reaction gets fired by a trigger(s) of some sort.
For example, a comment here from an online forum I came across “
…can't stand being stared at, being talked about even if its nice, being introduced to people because my heard beats faster and faster and my face begins to turn beat red”
As you can imagine such social red face problems can have serious knock on effects in our social lives and work - and therefore to money and career prospects.
The red face sufferer will look to avoid trigger situations. This can mean they:
May find it hard to make friends and start relationships.
Have problems at work interacting and selling themselves and their ideas (career lethal).
Skip lessons or skip school totally.
Red Face Social Anxiety – How does it start?
There are no end of reasons, some examples include:
A very embarrassing event in front of many people who you associate with a lot. They don’t let you forget it…so it spirals…
A result of a change in environment – Going from the socially familiar to unfamiliar
Naturally pale and easily flushed anyway. This gets spotted. The person gets teased. The spiral starts.
It can be especially bad for kids and teenagers. Kids being unintentionally cruel as they often are tend to tease the person about it and so it gets worse.
Such a social anxiety problem can start in many ways and may seem to have no root but it almost certainly does.
If unchecked it can lead to depression and other anxiety and panic attack and disorder problems.
My own Red Face example
As a 14-16 teenager I had it pretty bad. I can now see that it was a social anxiety problem. At the time it was just “I get embarrassed really easily”
It started after changing schools when I was 14. Going from an environment where I was an “alpha kid” to one where I was on the bottom of the ocean floor socially.
One guy noticed that when attention was on me I’d get go very red in the face and started to tease me about it. This put me into a downward self confidence spiral where I dreaded the situations where it happened and started to invent new ones!
This extended into more areas of my life, so speaking in front of groups became a dreaded activity and I had no confidence with girls and so wondered if I’d ever get a girlfriend.
I did "self help" myself out of it in the end though the experience has certainly had knock on effects that will last all my life. My self help article goes into how to get out.
“Red face – Social Anxiety” You are not alone
Excessive blushing and “going red in the face” as if very embarrassed even when you’re not is not an unusual problem at all and million of people of all ages suffer from it.
The good new is that you can do something about it! It is NOT a problem for life and it is almost entirely psychological.
What to do next?
Firstly determine if this red face problem is a social anxiety one or medical.
Frank self analysis can help. If not maybe see your doctor or a therapist.
Once you have a diagnosis then the right treatment options can be considered which could be in the form of:
An anxiety drug of some sort
Psychological therapy
A self help program

You might have heard that somebody has obtained very good IQ score. Some may even show you their certificates to prove that they have got more than 120 IQ score. Higher the score, higher the intelligence level is presumed. However, such claims and assumptions are baseless, false and misleading. The highest IQ test score in one IQ test may not be equivalent to an average score of another test.
A good IQ score is a relative term. The initial score obtained by answering the items correctly is called a raw score. It is useless unless interpreted in meaningful terms by following the established norms. Even when two scores are processed through the psychometric principles, you can’t ignore the following important issues before determining a good IQ score:
Name of the IQ Test
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Unfortunately, the psychologists have not succeeded yet to develop a perfect system of comparing two IQ scores got from different IQ test. Naïve comparison of two digits, however higher they may be, can’t help you to determine a good IQ score. First of all you need to know on what IQ test on which the highest score was obtained.
Difficulty Level of the Items
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The second problem to determine a good IQ scoring is the difficulty level of the test on which the claimed good IQ score was obtained. Your score will decline with the increasing difficulty level of the items being offered. It is possible that you get two different IQ score with two tests having same label. One reason for this variance would be the difficulty level of the items. The test developers vary the difficulty level of the test with the change of age, education and some other important factors.
Content Variance
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You can find a number of tests with the same name but with different content. Even when you obtain 120 IQ score on an IQ test of verbal capabilities, you mayn’t claim the same level on another test of the same label containing mathematical items. General IQ tests try to develop items from all categories of intelligence but modern day testing industry is getting more specialized with every passing day. You need to consider content variation while determining any score a good IQ score.
Time and Age Differences
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You may have got 120 IQ score in your fifth grade, 115 in sixth and 110 in seventh grade. Apparently, your intelligence level is decreasing with each passing year. However, the actual position may be entirely different for a number of reasons including the label of the test, the difficulty level or even difference in the content. You can’t be sure that your highest IQ score is your good IQ score.
Difference of Standard Deviation Units
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Originally, the mental age (MA) was considered sufficient to measure your intelligence. It soon proved useless and the term of intelligence quotient (IQ) was introduced. It was nothing more than a simple ratio of the mental age to the chronological age, multiplied by 100 to eliminate decimals. A score of 100 was considered an average IQ score and any deviation could place you in the range of above or the below average population. The system worked well unless it was proved that standard deviation doesn’t remain constant throughout your life.
Now different IQ tests use different levels of standard deviation. It is possible that one test use a standard deviation of 15 and another of 20. In such situation two apparent equal IQ score can’t be interpreted into equal level of the intelligence. Thus determining a good IQ score becomes further difficult.

It is getting close to Christmas and I just wanted to let everyone know that I plan on an anxiety free Holiday Season.

Yes everyone, that is right .

How I am I going to do it?

Let me tell you a secret.

I have already seen the great season I will have.

Alright, I am not crazy and I do not see the future as you may think .

I am using my visualization techniques.

What is that you say?

Here it is in simple terms.

I sit in my favorite chair and turn the lights down low .

I picture in my mind how everything looks and feels .

Then I put myself in the situation as if I was on a screen. I can see all the details and I am so good at it after 2 months of practice every day that I can smell the cookies and pumpkin pie.

I have to tell you I started using the visualization technique after a heart attack and I was looking for something to help with the stress and panic I was going through.

A family friend got me on a program to bring a new thought process into my life.

Hey, I can use this way of dealing with anxiety any where and anytime and now that I have purchased the program it is all free from here on out.

The secret is that it is all done in the mind. No one even knows I am using it ,if I do not tell them.

Anxiety and panic attacks are far more common than you might think. They may range from mild nervousness at the thought of going to work or facing an issue in your life to full blown panic attacks which are debilitating and prevent you from doing anything.

The good news is that anxiety and panic attacks are something that you can get overcome and get over with the right mindset and tools. If you have the will to do it then it can be much easier than you may have first thought.

The following five tips will help you to overcome and manage your anxiety and panic attacks.

Step 1 : Recognise There Is A Problem

Firstly, before you can take any steps to overcoming your anxiety and panic attacks you need to recognise that they are a problem. Many people get so used to having anxiety and panic in their lives that they stop recognising that it is not the best way to be.

Until you are able to see that anxiety and panic are not something you want in your life any more then you will struggle to get rid of them.

So firstly, is your anxiety and panic something you want to keep or is it time for you to now get rid of it?

Tip 2 : Understand That You Can Solve It

We would all love a fairy godmother to come and wave a wand to make our problems go away, but it’s not going to happen. Now you have recognised that your anxiety and panic attacks are something you want to change you need to realise that there is only one person who can get rid of these panic attacks, and that is you.

Step 3 : Decide Your Desired Outcome

Now you know you want to get rid of your anxiety and panic attacks and know that you can make these changes, it’s time to decide what these changes will be.

How do you want your life to be when you have made these changes? What will be different in your life? Don’t try to plan how you will get to this desired outcome, that’s the next step, just decide how you want to be when you are free of your anxiety and panic attacks.

Step 4 : Make A Plan

Next it is time to make a plan. How are you going to get from where you are now to where you want to be? How long is it going to take? Make sure you are realistic about both the plan and the timescales, erring on the side of caution if you are in any doubt.

Avoid attempting to do too much in too short a time, which is a temptation many of us face. It’s all too easy to try and do everything at once and then not succeed. The next step is one of the biggest keys to succeeding not only with anxiety and panic attacks, but with anything you want to do.

Step 5 : One Step A Day

With your plan now made, it’s time to take action. Even if you just do one thing every day to help you move towards your desired outcome, then you will get there. If you can do this, then you are virtually guaranteed success. Remember, avoid trying to do everything in a single day and take one step at a time.

The inkblot tests and other projective instruments are the most defective psychological instruments. The stimuli, the philosophy, the instructions and even scoring systems are ambiguous. However, they still claim to build a crystal clear profile of your personality.
On the other hand they are getting popular by every passing day even when there is solid evidence that findings of the inkblot tests are often wrong. Most of the psychologists don’t trust them as tests but still use them for one reason or the other. The most prominent reason is the use of projective techniques to support diagnosing different mental retardations.
The rise of popularity graph has also raised the criticism of the inkblot tests. Some important defects in these instruments are listed here:
Philosophical Error
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It is a fundamentally assumed that when you are offered ambiguous stimuli such as inkblots, you ‘project’ what lies in your unconscious mind. This way you disclose hidden streams of your personality.
This assumption has been criticized by many prominent psychologists. They have even offered alternative but much better justifications for your responses to the inkblot tests. Interestingly, solid variations have been observed in the response of subjected with the change of testing situations, simple instructions, hunger, sleeplessness, drugs, anxiety, frustration etc. The most important factor is personality, knowledge and theoretical bent of the examiner who has to interpret your responses.
No Standardized Meanings
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The inkblot tests don’t specify specific meanings for the inkblots. In fact they are not only ambiguous for the subjects but also for the examinees. The fans of the inkblot tests claim it a quality of the projective techniques but in fact they not only ‘project’ the subjects but also the examiners to respond whatever they like for the given set of the inkblots. Furthermore, it makes difficult for the third parties to validate results of the inkblot tests.
Impact of Colors in Inkblot Tests
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Traditionally, colors are considered very important for the inkblot tests. However, many research findings, especially of Baughman (1958), have proved this view wrong. Now it is widely accepted postulate that color itself has no effect on most of the response characteristics.
Verbal Aptitude and Inkblot Tests
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Some researchers including Sachman and Lotsof have proved that verbal aptitudes and skills influence the scores of Rorschach inkblot tests considerably. It has been repeatedly observed that complexity of responses correlate with scores of the subjects on verbal aptitude tests, age and educational levels. In such a study, the verbal complexity of responses given by 100 persons revealed that ‘movement responses’ are longer and linguistically more complex than ‘form responses’.
Response Productivity and Inkblot Tests
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The response productivity (R) means your total number of responses to the inkblots offered. The huge individual differences in R in various categories often lead to miscalculation and misleading results.
Suppose you differ with David in the response productivity factor, you both are likely to differ in the same direction in the number of responses falling in the specific categories. Thus the differences found in certain categories may be only an artifact resulting from the variation in the total number of responses.
It has also been observed that R varies with the intellectual level, education and age. Even more disturbing is the findings that R varies from one subject to another for reasons unknown.
Since R plays a major role in interpretation of the most of the inkblot tests so differences not only create doubts but also demolish the whole structure of inkblot tests.
Personality of the Examiner and Inkblot Tests
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Unlike most of the pyschological assessment tools, the personality of the examiner is very important for the inkblot tests. There are claims for objective scoring systems but the final steps are still to be defined by the examiner, his personality, theoretical orientations etc. Unfortunately, there are not too many qualified scorers that’s why interpretations of the same responses may vary from one psychologist to another.
From these considerations, it is understandable why status of the inkblot tests has not improved after many decades. Ambiguous set of stimuli, ambiguous structure, ambiguous instruction, ambiguous mode of interpretation...
...too many ambiguities can’t result an acceptable personality profile. Perhaps human romanticism needs much more logic to accept the reality.

Why exercise lifts mild depression so reliably ….
It has both physical & psychological effects:
The physical effects:
1. Exercise boosts blood flow & oxygen to your brain.
In some ways your brain is just like a car engine that burns fossil fuels. It takes in oxygen & fuel and outputs energy & carbon dioxide.
So, if your brain’s intake of oxygen & fuel & its ability to get rid of carbon dioxide & other waste products is below optimum, you have less energy; don’t feel as good; & don’t think as well.
By getting enough of the right kinds of regular exercise, your blood carries more oxygen to your brain & you get enough more & better blood flow that your brain works better.
If you don’t exercise, it’s a bit like having a car that has a weak fuel pump. If you find you’d like to feel better, adding regular exercise that you keep doing is much like replacing your weak fuel pump with one of the best new ones available.
Then your brain will work better. And, it’s no surprise that you’ll feel better also.
And, there’s more.:
2. Exercise optimizes your neurotransmitters which directly improves your mood.
How you feel physically is tied directly to the neurotransmitters in your brain & the related chemicals in your blood.
Dopamine fires up or empowers your pleasure centers so it’s easier to enjoy things & take pleasure in them. If it’s low it’s very difficult even if things are actually going well.
Norepinepherin causes adrenalin to be released. If it or your level of testosterone is too low, you will have & feel less energy.
And, not having enough energy makes it difficult to feel good.
Exercise increases norepinepherin if it’s low. And vigorous or strength training exercises tend to increase testosterone levels in both men & women. (Women have less; but they do have testosterone also.)
Other similar chemicals help to over-ride minor pains so you don’t notice them at all or very much. Exercise increases these chemicals & has this effect. So people who exercise regularly quite literally feel less pain than those who do not.
Serotonin helps you to feel calm. Oxytocin helps you to feel affectionate & to feel pleasure. I’ve seen no reports of research yet as yet that show that exercise optimizes them. But I suspect very strongly that it does.
Cortisol appears when you are under stress. Again, I’ve not seen reports of research showing that high levels of it in your blood make you feel worse. But I suspect very strongly that it does. And, cortisol at excessively high levels does make your belly fat & damages your brain.
Since exercise does lower your perceived stress level & physically relieves or turns off stress reactions, it very likely reduces cortisol. So you feel better.
3. Exercise tends to slow your resting heart rate & breathing & reduce your blood pressure if it’s higher than it should be.
This is one of the ways exercise protects your heart. But it’s also one of the ways that exercise reduces your perceived stress level.
The psychological effects:
1. Exercise boosts your ability to be proactive.
Getting regular exercise is very much a real world problem solving activity & trainer. This is even more true of getting the best results from exercise.
The bad news is that you have to schedule it regularly. And, you have to be resilient & resourceful to keep doing it & get enough of it when sickness or injury or family or personal emergencies show up.
And, to get the best results, you have to track what you do; continuously learn from people who have gotten good results; increase or slightly reduce the exercises you do; & try new things to see how they work for you.
The good news is that if you persist & continue to make an effort each week & keep exercising, you gradually get better at these skills.
And, the wonderful news is that these real world effectiveness abilities make you more likely to take action to achieve worthwhile things & solve the problems that beset you -- & for your actions to be successful.
It should hardly be surprising that makes people feel better.
2. Exercise tends to improve your self image.
Exercise, particularly if you do it regularly & well, tends to make you stronger, have more stamina, be sexier, & to look better due to having more muscle & less fat.
There’s also a reverse psychology to it. If you succeed in getting yourself to do it, at some level your brain says if you are doing it for yourself, you must think you are worthwhile – to explain to itself why you are doing it.
(This is a proven effect psychologists have studied.)
Here again it should be no surprise this makes you feel better when you exercise regularly.
3. By making you more proactive & improving your self image, exercise increases your feeling of control.
Since your actual effectiveness tends to go up & you see yourself as more attractive & more able, your feeling that you control some of your life increases & the amount of your life you feel you have some control over increases.
Again, you feel better than you would have if you didn’t exercise.
Exercise reduces stress for all these reasons.:
If it takes a lot to make you feel stressed; you handle it well when you do feel stressed & tend to recover from it quickly; & if you can physically turn off any excessive stress reactions you get anyway, you’ll certainly feel a lot less stressed.
When you feel less stress, you have more energy & feel better.
Each of these effects of regular exercise contributes to this.
And, even if you are under very high stress levels, exercise has some ability to physically relieve your stuck-on-high stress reactions.
When you are exercising, your attention is moved from thinking about what’s stressing you to doing the exercises you are doing.
And, even better, when you finish exercising & rest, the physical recovery process from your exercise tends to bring down your physical stress reactions with it.
And, even if these two things are temporary in severe stress situations, you still get more a break & rest from the stress than people in comparable situations who don’t exercise.