How it works

In the early part of this century it was recognized that when people first tense up and then relax muscle groups, they end up more relaxed than when they began. In fact this is a natural process that we all use, for example when we stretch, or yawn.
But the key to this particular method lies in two factors:
· that we learn the difference in the sensations of being tense and being relaxed, and
· that it gives signals to the subconscious and "automatic" parts of our system (the autonomic nervous system) that "all is well", "there is no need to be tense any longer", and it is your autonomic nervous system which will do the real work by slowing down your heart rate, stopping the release of adrenaline into your blood stream, etc. - things which we do not normally have under our conscious control.
Hence the exercises themselves are deceptively simple. Don't be fooled - they do work; but like all relaxation methods, it takes time and practice for this to be useful in real-life stressful situations. (to be continuous)

Which approach to relaxation?

There are many approaches to learning to relax; none is "right" for everyone - it is more a matter of finding an approach that makes sense and works for you. Learning to relax muscle groups physically, learning mental relaxation, meditation, yoga, prayer, biofeedback - all are possible approaches. As our body is not disconnected from our mind and our emotions, it is possible to use any of these starting points to benefit our entire being.
Like exercising in order to get fit, doing relaxation exercises once won't make you "fit": learning to relax takes time and practice in order for you to become proficient.
A simple physical relaxation technique
Here is one simple physical method which is designed to be useful in everyday situations: it doesn't aim at deep relaxation or require you to lie down for half an hour! Rather, it aims to reduce unnecessary levels of tension, so that you can continue with your current activity more effectively. It can be used just about anywhere - sitting in a lecture or examination, walking down the street, or going to sleep in bed.

How do you know if you are tense?

How do you know if you are tense?
Strange to say, but it is the case that we can be so habitually tense, almost without realizing it, that we gradually become accustomed to the sensations of living in a tense state and just think of it as "normal".
So here are some clues that may help you to spot undue levels of tension:
· tense muscles
· heart racing or pounding
· hyperventilating; feeling light-headed or faint
· persistent tiredness or exhaustion
· aches and pains
· difficulty with sleeping or gritting your teeth at night
· waking up tired
· loss of appetite or not eating well, perhaps with our stomach "in knots"
· developing minor ailments such as headaches, migraines or stomach upsets
· mind in a whirl; can't think straight, concentrate or work effectively
· sense of rush and pressure, lack of time.
These symptoms can also be caused by other medical problems, so if you are unsure, it is worth checking this out with your GP.
Whilst some tension can help in the short-term by making us alert, or by motivating us to get on with something, in the longer-term it can begin to cause problems with our health, and in time our work and relationships are also likely to suffer. Generally, the more relaxed you are the better your mind works and the more capable and adaptable you can be.

Relaxation techniques for healthy

The ability to relax at will is an important ability that everyone should possess, in my opinion. Today’s life in the western world is very tense, stressful, both mentally and physically. This is true for high-tech and computer workers, who sit long hours in front of the screen, creating constant tension in some muscles and joints, for many hours a day. This is also true for other workers, such as those who drive a lot, especially in dense traffic, when the mental pressure is high. Stress is a very common word these days, as people blame stress for many of their problems. People have a hard time to relax. In this article I'd like to summarize the best 5 ways for a healthy (and legal) relaxation, in my opinion.

Ways to Make Treatment More Effective

Many people with anxiety disorders benefit from joining a self-help or support group and sharing their problems and achievements with others. Internet chat rooms can also be useful in this regard, but any advice received over the Internet should be used with caution, as Internet acquaintances have usually never seen each other and false identities are common. Talking with a trusted friend or member of the clergy can also provide support, but it is not a substitute for care from a mental health professional.
Stress management techniques and meditation can help people with anxiety disorders calm themselves and may enhance the effects of therapy. There is preliminary evidence that aerobic exercise may have a calming effect. Since caffeine, certain illicit drugs, and even some
over-the-counter cold medications can aggravate the symptoms of anxiety disorders, they should be avoided. Check with your physician or pharmacist before taking any additional medications.
The family is very important in the recovery of a person with an anxiety disorder. Ideally, the family should be supportive but not help perpetuate their loved one’s symptoms. Family members should not trivialize the disorder or demand improvement without treatment. If your family is doing either of these things, you may want to show them this booklet so they can become educated allies and help you succeed in therapy.
(NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEATH )

How to Get Help for Anxiety Disorders

If you think you have an anxiety disorder, the first person you should see is your family doctor. A physician can determine whether the symptoms that alarm you are due to an anxiety disorder, another medical condition, or both. If an anxiety disorder is diagnosed, the next step is usually seeing a mental health professional. The practitioners who are most helpful with anxiety disorders are those who have training in cognitive behavioral therapy and/or behavioral therapy, and who are open to using medication if it is needed. You should feel comfortable talking with the mental health professional you choose. If you do not, you should seek help elsewhere.
Once you find a mental health professional with whom you are comfortable, the two of you should work as a team and make a plan to treat your anxiety disorder together. Remember that once you start on medication, it is important not to stop taking it abruptly. Certain drugs must be tapered off under the supervision of a doctor or bad reactions can occur. Make sure you talk to the doctor who prescribed your medication before you stop taking it. If you are having trouble with side effects, it’s possible that they can be eliminated by adjusting how much medication you take and when you take it.
Most insurance plans, including health maintenance organizations (HMOs), will cover treatment for anxiety disorders. Check with your insurance company and find out. If you don’t have insurance, the Health and Human Services division of your county government may offer mental health care at a public mental health center that charges people according to how much they are able to pay. If you are on public assistance, you may be able to get care through your state Medicaid plan.

(NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEATH)

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
“I'd have terrible sleeping problems. There were times I'd wake up wired in the middle of the night. I had trouble concentrating, even reading the newspaper or a novel. Sometimes I'd feel a little lightheaded. My heart would race or pound. And that would make me worry more. I was always imagining things were worse than they really were. When I got a stomachache, I’d think it was an ulcer.” “I always thought I was just a worrier. I’d feel keyed up and unable to relax. At times it would come and go, and at times it would be constant. It could go on for days. I’d worry about what I was going to fix for a dinner party or what would be a great present for somebody. I just couldn’t let something go.”
“When my problems were at their worst, I’d miss work and feel just terrible about it. Then I worried that I'd lose my job. My life was miserable until I got treatment.”
People with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) go through the day filled with exaggerated worry and tension, even though there is little or nothing to provoke it. They anticipate disaster and are overly concerned about health issues, money, family problems, or difficulties at work. Sometimes just the thought of getting through the day produces anxiety.
GAD is diagnosed when a person worries excessively about a variety of everyday problems for at least 6 months. People with GAD can’t seem to get rid of their concerns, even though they usually realize that their anxiety is more intense than the situation warrants. They can’t relax, startle easily, and have difficulty concentrating. Often they have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. Physical symptoms that often accompany the anxiety include fatigue, headaches, muscle tension, muscle aches, difficulty swallowing, trembling, twitching, irritability, sweating, nausea, lightheadedness, having to go to the bathroom frequently, feeling out of breath, and hot flashes.
When their anxiety level is mild, people with GAD can function socially and hold down a job. Although they don’t avoid certain situations as a result of their disorder, people with GAD can have difficulty carrying out the simplest daily activities if their anxiety is severe.
GAD affects about 6.8 million American adults, including twice as many women as men. The disorder develops gradually and can begin at any point in the life cycle, although the years of highest risk are between childhood and middle age. There is evidence that genes play a modest role in the disorder. Other anxiety disorders, depression, or substance abuse often accompany GAD, which rarely occurs alone. GAD is commonly treated with medication or cognitive-behavioral therapy, but co-occurring conditions must also be treated using the appropriate therapies.
(NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEATH)

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
“I was raped when I was 25 years old. For a long time, I spoke about the rape as though it was something that happened to someone else. I was very aware that it had happened to me, but there was just no feeling.
“Then I started having flashbacks. They kind of came over me like a splash of water. I would be terrified. Suddenly I was reliving the rape. Every instant was startling. I wasn't aware of anything around me, I was in a bubble, just kind of floating. And it was scary. Having a flashback can wring you out.
“The rape happened the week before Thanksgiving, and I can’t believe the anxiety and fear I feel every year around the anniversary date. It’s as though I’ve seen a werewolf. I can’t relax, can’t sleep, don’t want to be with anyone. I wonder whether I’ll ever be free of this terrible
problem. ”
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) develops after a terrifying ordeal that involved physical harm or the threat of physical harm. The person who develops PTSD may have been the one
who was harmed, the harm may have happened to a loved one, or the person may have witnessed a harmful event that happened to loved ones or strangers.
PTSD was first brought to public attention in relation to war veterans, but it can result from a variety of traumatic incidents, such as mugging, rape, torture, being kidnapped or held captive, child abuse,
car accidents, train wrecks, plane crashes, bombings, or natural disasters such as floods or earthquakes.
People with PTSD may startle easily, become emotionally numb (especially in relation to people with whom they used to be close), lose interest in things they used to enjoy, have trouble feeling affectionate, be irritable, become more aggressive, or even become violent. They avoid situations that remind them of the original incident, and anniversaries of the incident are often very difficult.
PTSD symptoms seem to be worse if the event that triggered them was deliberately initiated by another person, as in a mugging or a kidnapping.
Most people with PTSD repeatedly relive the trauma in their thoughts during the day and in nightmares when they sleep. These are called flashbacks. Flashbacks may consist of images, sounds,
smells, or feelings, and are often triggered by ordinary occurrences, such as a door slamming or a car backfiring on the street. A person having a flashback may lose touch with reality and believe that the
traumatic incident is happening all over again. Not every traumatized person develops full-blown or even minor
PTSD. Symptoms usually begin within 3 months of the incident but occasionally emerge years afterward. They must last more than a month to be considered PTSD. The course of the illness varies. Some people recover within 6 months, while others have symptoms that last much longer. In some people, the condition becomes chronic.
PTSD affects about 7.7 million American adults, but it can occur at any age, including childhood.Women are more likely to develop PTSD than men, and there is some evidence that susceptibility to the disorder may run in families. PTSD is often accompanied by depression, substance abuse, or one or more of the other anxiety disorders. Certain kinds of medication and certain kinds of psychotherapy usually treat the symptoms of PTSD very effectively.
( NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH)

Social Phobia(Social Anxiety Disorder)

Social Phobia “In any social situation, I felt fear. I would be anxious before I even left the house, and it would escalate as I got closer to a college class, a party, or whatever. I would feel sick in my stomach—it almost felt like I had the flu. My heart would pound, my palms would get sweaty, and I would get this feeling of being removed from myself and from everybody else.”
“When I would walk into a room full of people, I’d turn red and it would feel like everybody’s eyes were on me. I was embarrassed to stand off in a corner by myself, but I couldn’t think of anything to say to anybody. It was humiliating. I felt so clumsy, I couldn’t wait to get out.”
“I couldn’t go on dates, and for a while I couldn’t even go to class. My sophomore year of college I had to come home for a semester. I felt like such a failure.”
Social phobia, also called social anxiety disorder, is diagnosed when people become overwhelmingly anxious and excessively self conscious in everyday social situations. People with social phobia have an intense, persistent, and chronic fear of being watched and judged by others and of doing things that will embarrass them. They can worry for days or weeks before a dreaded situation. This fear may become so severe that it interferes with work, school, and other ordinary
activities, and can make it hard to make and keep friends.
While many people with social phobia realize that their fears about being with people are excessive or unreasonable, they are unable to overcome them. Even if they manage to confront their fears and be around others, they are usually very anxious beforehand, are intensely uncomfortable throughout the encounter, and worry about how they were judged for hours afterward.
Social phobia can be limited to one situation (such as talking to people, eating or drinking, or writing on a blackboard in front of others) or may be so broad (such as in generalized social phobia)
that the person experiences anxiety around almost anyone other than the family.
Physical symptoms that often accompany social phobia include blushing, profuse sweating, trembling, nausea, and difficulty talking.
When these symptoms occur, people with PTSD feel as though all eyes are focused on them.
Social phobia affects about 15 million American adults. Women and men are equally likely to develop the disorder, which usually begins in childhood or early adolescence. There is some evidence that genetic factors are involved. Social phobia is often accompanied by other anxiety disorders or depression and substance abuse may develop if people try to self-medicate their anxiety.
Social phobia can be successfully treated with certain kinds of psychotherapy or medications.
( from:NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH)

Panic Disorder2

Panic disorder affects about 6 million American adults1 and is twice as common in women as men.2 Panic attacks often begin in late adolescence or early adulthood,2 but not everyone who experiences panic attacks will develop panic disorder. Many people have just one attack and never have another. The tendency to develop panic attacks appears to be inherited.3
People who have full-blown, repeated panic attacks can become very disabled by their condition and should seek treatment before they start to avoid places or situations where panic attacks have occurred.
For example, if a panic attack happened in an elevator, someone with panic disorder may develop a fear of elevators that could affect the choice of a job or an apartment, and restrict where that person can seek medical attention or enjoy entertainment.
Some people’s lives become so restricted that they avoid normal activities, such as grocery shopping or driving. About one-third become housebound or are able to confront a feared situation only when accompanied by a spouse or other trusted person. When the condition progresses this far, it is called agoraphobia, or fear of open spaces.
Early treatment can often prevent agoraphobia, but people with panic disorder may sometimes go from doctor to doctor for years and visit the emergency room repeatedly before someone correctly diagnoses their condition. This is unfortunate, because panic disorder is one of the most treatable of all the anxiety disorders, responding in most cases to certain kinds of medication or certain kinds of cognitive psychotherapy, which help change thinking patterns that lead to fear and anxiety.
Panic disorder is often accompanied by other serious problems, such as depression, drug abuse, or alcoholism. These conditions need to be treated separately. Symptoms of depression include feelings of sadness or hopelessness, changes in appetite or sleep patterns, low energy, and difficulty concentrating. Most people with depression can be effectively treated with antidepressant medications, certain types of psychotherapy, or a combination of the two. (from :NAT I O N A L I N S T I T U T E OF MENTA L H E A LTH)

Panic Disorder

Panic Disorder
“It started 10 years ago,when I had just graduated from college and started a new job. I was sitting in a business seminar in a hotel and this thing came out of the blue.
I felt like I was dying.” “For me, a panic attack is almost a violent experience. I feel
disconnected from reality. I feel like I'm losing control in a very extreme way.
My heart pounds really hard, I feel like I can’t get my breath, and there’s an
overwhelming feeling that things are crashing in on me.”
“In between attacks, there is this dread and anxiety that it’s going to happen again.
I’m afraid to go back to places where I’ve had an attack. Unless I get help, there soonwon’t be anyplace where I can go and feel safe from panic.”
Panic disorder is a real illness that can be successfully treated. It is
characterized by sudden attacks of terror, usually accompanied by a
pounding heart, sweatiness,weakness, faintness, or dizziness. During
these attacks, people with panic disorder may flush or feel chilled;
their hands may tingle or feel numb; and they may experience nausea,
chest pain, or smothering sensations. Panic attacks usually produce
a sense of unreality, a fear of impending doom, or a fear of
losing control.
A fear of one’s own unexplained physical symptoms is also a symptom
of panic disorder.People having panic attacks sometimes believe
they are having heart attacks, losing their minds, or on the verge of
death.They can’t predict when or where an attack will occur, and
between episodes many worry intensely and dread the next attack.
Panic attacks can occur at any time, even during sleep. An attack
usually peaks within 10 minutes, but some symptoms may last much
longer.

Anxiety Disorder

Anxiety Disorders
Anxiety Disorders affect about 40 million American adults age 18
years and older (about 18%) in a given year,1 causing them to be filled
with fearfulness and uncertainty. Unlike the relatively mild, brief anxiety
caused by a stressful event (such as speaking in public or a first date),
anxiety disorders last at least 6 months and can get worse if they are not
treated. Anxiety disorders commonly occur along with other mental or
physical illnesses, including alcohol or substance abuse, which may mask
anxiety symptoms or make them worse. In some cases, these other
illnesses need to be treated before a person will respond to treatment
for the anxiety disorder.
Effective therapies for anxiety disorders are available, and research is
uncovering new treat- ments that can help
most people with anxiety disorders lead productive,
fulfilling lives. If you think you have an anxiety
disorder, you should seek information and
treatment right away.
(from :National Institute of Mental Health)