anxiety

When Should I Seek Help for My Mental Health?

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Unfortunately, many people in the United States think they’ll be judged if they seek out services to support them and their mental health.

Because of this, many people put off seeing a therapist or going to a mental health treatment center. Instead, they try to work through their issues on their own at home, or may ask a family member or friend to provide support.

This is less than ideal for several reasons. Firstly, when you stay at home and bottle up your issues, you’re likely isolating yourself even more from your loved ones. This isolation leads to you having even more time alone with your thoughts, anxiety, depression, or other mental illness. This can exacerbate your negative thoughts and create even more shame and self-hate.

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On the other hand, if you recruit a friend or significant other to be your pseudo-therapist, you’re now putting a lot of pressure on them. They aren’t trained therapists, and they don’t know how to properly help you process your mental health issues. Since this is the case, you are also not getting the proper therapeutic help you need. All of this could lead to more arguments, feelings of resentment, and frustration for your relationship.

Instead of trying to solve your issues on your own or with an untrained loved one, seek out mental health professionals who can help you work through your issues once and for all. Read on to learn how to look for the signs you need to pursue support, and how to go about it.

Reach out when you first notice symptoms

How many of us ignore health issues because we don’t want to go to the doctor? Sure, my ear may hurt, but it’ll probably go away on its own. Yeah, my heart skips a beat every so often – that’s just how I’m built.

We ignore these symptoms for a few reasons. We may not want to pay for the medical bill that accompanies a trip to the doctor. Or we may be worried that this is a sign of something deeper – and we don’t want to know about anything that’s wrong with us.

But let’s look at this from an objective perspective: if I told you that someone was experiencing extreme chest pain, blurred vision, and a tingling left arm – but they refused to go to a doctor, what would you say? That they’re being ridiculous?

This is often the case for people who are experiencing mental health problems. They see the symptoms – maybe they are experiencing shallow breath, sweating, rapid heartbeat, repetitive, negative thoughts, inability to focus – but they ignore them. Because no one wants to have a mental health disorder. Unfortunately, by not seeking help, they’re putting themselves in danger of developing more dangerous behavior, like self-harm or substance abuse.

This is why it’s so important to seek out help as soon as you notice that a symptom is becoming quite regular and alarming. A mental health professional can help you begin to heal so you don’t get to the point of developing these toxic habits.

You may have to wait for treatment

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After an extremely difficult year, many people’s mental health has taken a nosedive, and more and more people are seeking out help for the anxiety, grief, and depression they’re experiencing.

However, this influx is starting to overwhelm the available resources. Some therapists are listing 4-6 weeks as the wait time to see new patients. Other professionals aren’t seeing new patients at all, already at their max client load.

While it’s great to see that people are seeking out help for their mental health, the demand is now outpacing the supply, meaning there often aren’t enough therapists to see all the people wanting help.

These are hurdles you’ll have to face before even taking into consideration the insurance you have and the available funds you have to pay for a therapist.

If you have HMO (or in-network) insurance, for example, you may only be able to go to designated therapists who are in your network. You may be even more restricted if you need to see a therapist who can offer a sliding scale payment structure (meaning they offer different prices based on your income level).

For these reasons, you should reach out and book an initial consultation as soon as you believe you may need to see a therapist. You don’t want to wait until you’re at a critical point, and then have to wait a month to receive help.

What treatment should I seek out?

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All therapy is not the same. Therapists can have specialities to help people struggling with certain conditions. For example, EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy can be very effective for people struggling with trauma or PTSD.

The specialist you seek out depends on what you’re struggling with. Do you find yourself worrying excessively? Look into therapists that specialize in anxiety disorders.

Do you find yourself obsessing over certain things? Maybe you inadvertently count things or look for patterns. Research counselors who treat OCD or other compulsive disorders.

Maybe you’re looking for a therapist who you can relate to and feel comfortable discussing your own experiences of trauma or mental health issues. Think about if you’d feel more comfortable going to a female therapist, or a Black therapist. These people may have shared life experiences of their own that may help you feel safer in opening up to them.

Maybe your mental health has led you to partake in dangerous activities, like substance abuse. In this case, you may want to look into more intensive treatment options, like a holistic treatment center. An example of this is The Exclusive Hawaii, where you can explore the deeper issues that are driving your addictive behavior, and learn practical tools to change your behavior.

Make the call

Regardless of what treatment option you choose, the most important step is making that initial call. Set up an appointment. See how you feel about the therapist. If you don’t think it’s the best fit, don’t write off therapy all together. Like anything in life, sometimes it takes time to find the right person for you.

Rest assured that the right therapist for you is out there – it’s just a matter of finding them.

Can You Use Nootropics For Depression And Anxiety

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If you take a look around you, you’ll see that most of us live a fast-paced life. After all, we do commute to work every day, we have more and more tasks to perform at the office, and most of us do work longer hours than usual. Besides this, we all have immediate access to the Internet by using our smartphones, which can only increase our workload.

When you combine all of the aforementioned things together, you’ll have the perfect ground for tension accumulation, which can lead to other conditions including anxiety and depression. This is why you may be wondering – could I consume nootropics for dealing with these conditions? Fortunately, this is exactly what we’ll discuss today, so let’s first take a look at what these products are:

Nootropics: Explained

Source:mccourier.com

At the moment, you might be feeling the waves of depression coming along or you might be feeling completely stressed out and anxious. If so, you must know that you’re not alone. However, if you don’t like the idea of taking some pharmaceuticals that were synthetically manufactured, you could always turn to alternative medicine, including nootropics.

Nootropics or ‘memory supplements’ are products that could help your brain function better. Now, they won’t only help you with your retention and memory, but they can also assist you in dealing with other things, including your motivation and focus on the tasks ahead. If you want to read more about this alternative medicine option, check out https://www.ijest.org.nootropics.

It’s pretty obvious that consuming these products can help our minds function better, however, do they really help people who are dealing with anxiety, stress, and depression? To put it simply, they could help with these conditions, however, they won’t treat them, instead, they’ll simply influence other things that will help you feel alleviated and better.

So, What Do They Help With And How Can it Help My Depression?

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As we mentioned, memory supplements won’t help you with treating depression, nor anxiety, but since they’ll influence other things, they could help you with improving your mood and performance, which can result in you feeling better and less blue. The things these products could help you with include:

  1. Better Mental Performance – though you may not realize this, your brain is always producing new cells, restoring itself, and changing in response to your learning new things. When you consume them, you’ll be able to help your brain regenerate, mostly because they’ll serve as growth promoters.

 

  1. Improved Focus And Motivation – when it comes to consuming these supplements, people often choose them in order to support their performance, no matter if it’s for school or work. When you consume it, you’ll be able to focus better while completing the tasks ahead of you.

 

  1. Improved Mood – a lot of people opt for consuming these products because it can positively affect their mood, which means that it could alleviate the symptoms of anxiety, depression, tension, and stress. Hence, although it won’t treat these conditions, it’ll help you with alleviating the symptoms.

 

  1. Better Retention And Memory – if you look at the history of these products, you’ll see that they have been used for a really long time for improving retention and memory. This means that you could use them for improving your short- and long-term memory and retention. Additionally, it’ll help you with expressing your memories clearly and without any hindrances.

 

  1. Easier Learning Process – more and more individuals are looking for methods for improving their performance, and one of the things they often choose to use is nootropics. Since they’ll impact your energy and improve your attention and concentration, the learning process will be easier for you.

What Type Should I Opt For?

There are really two categories that you could opt from, however, before you can purchase the product, you must ensure that you speak to your doctor. By doing so, they’ll tell you whether or not you can take them, but more importantly, they’ll know which type you’ll be required to take. The types you could choose from include:

  1. Prescription

Your physician might prescribe you a memory supplement in order to aid with your psychological state. Some of the most commonly prescribed products include modafinil, Adderall, Ritalin, and Axura. Though these can be effective when treating specific medical conditions, you should never take them without a prescription from your doctor.

  1. Natural

On the other hand, there are natural products that you could choose to buy, all of which will help you with your brain function. For starters, there is the all-time favorite, caffeine. This means that drinking coffee or beverages that contain caffeine could help you with improving your mental state.

L-theanine is basically an amino acid that can be found in both green and black tea, but you could also take products that contain this amino acid. Omega-3 fatty acids are one of the most studied and used brain supplements and they could be found in fish oil and meat. Besides helping you with depression and anxiety, it’s one of the most essential compounds for our brain health, which is why you must ensure that you include it in your diet. Remember, there are various options on the market, which is why you must ensure that you choose one that is suitable for your needs.

Why Do I Need to Speak With My Doctor?

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Before we conclude this article, it’s important that you know why you might need to speak with your doctor before taking these supplements. No matter if you want to consume synthetic or natural products, you should definitely speak with your physician before consuming them if you’re already on some medication.

Some can easily cause the medicine you’re taking to have no effects on your body, which means that they won’t work for you – and this can be life-threatening if you’re, for example, taking medicine for high blood pressure. So, before you take any of these brain supplements, talk with your physician.

Conclusion

Source:health.harvard.edu

Although nootropics won’t help you with treating depression, anxiety, and stress, they could easily influence your overall mood, learning abilities, as well as brain performance, which means that they might help you with alleviating the daunting symptoms you might be feeling.

So, now that you’re aware of what nootropics could help and assist you with, you might not want to lose any more of your time. Instead, if you determined that you might want to try these brain supplements, open up your browser, and start searching for a product that might help you with your condition and performance.

How to Get Rid of Stress

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In light of the pandemic, several people are developing severe anxiety and stress. Aside from the recent health crisis that’s happening, several causes lead to stress and anxiety. Gladly, there are also several methods on how a person can get rid of stress. You can use these tips to manage your stress and anxiety.

Do Regular Exercise

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Experts encourage people to exercise regularly to relieve stress. Studies have proven how regular exercise is an effective method to combat stress. Even during a pandemic, health practitioners encourage people to do home workouts or exercise. Some states allow the public to go for a walk or jog at the park with physical distancing precautions.

You might think an exercise is a contradictory option, but putting your body through physical stress can help relieve mental stress. People who religiously exercise are less likely to experience stress and anxiety. Why?

Exercise lowers the stress hormones which helps improve your mood. Moreover, it helps improve your sleep quality. Thus, create an exercise routine or activity that you enjoy.

Reduce Caffeine Intake

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Unfortunately, if you are a coffee lover, you have to reduce your intake. Caffeine is found in tea, chocolate, coffee, and energy drinks. If you have a high dose of caffeine, it will increase your anxiety and stress level.

Each person has a different caffeine threshold, it is best to minimize the intake before you feel anxious or jittery. Although experts say coffee in moderation is healthy, it is not for everyone. Thus, in general, do not drink too much coffee or any beverage with high caffeine content.

Spend More Time with Friends and Family

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At stressful times, the social support you receive from your friends and family can help you go through these difficulties. If you are part of a network, you have a sense of belongingness and self-worth. Strong social ties will help you get through stressful times and lowers your risk of anxiety.

You can always talk about it with your friends, family, or someone you are comfortable with. Nothing beats the reassuring voice from your friends and family when you are under a lot of stress. Their comfort and reassurance bring positivity to your life.

Meditate, Spend Time with Yourself

Source:psychologytoday.com

Sometimes, the friend you need is yourself. You are your friend. Talk to yourself. No one knows yourself more than you.

For a start, you do not sound crazy. You only have to talk to yourself about why you are stressed out. There are several options to spend time with yourself. Meditate and write down the things you are stressed about. Moreover, do not overlook the gratitude you receive from family and friends.

However, if you feel overwhelmed by a stressful situation, you can take a break and listen to relaxing music. Listening to calm songs will give out a positive effect on your brain and body. It can lower your blood pressure and hormones that are linked to stress.

Get Enough Sleep

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Lack of sleep is one of the key factors to stress and anxiety. You can easily lose sleep if you are anxious and stressed. If you constantly put yourself in a few hours of sleep, it will cause exhaustion to your brain and body, and it might get worse over time.

Thus, always ensure to have the recommended seven to eight hours of sleep. If you are having a hard time sleeping, dim the lights, and relax before giving yourself a good night’s sleep.  Sleep and relaxation are the greatest stress reliever.

Take Deep Breaths

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Telling someone to take a deep breath when having panic attacks sound cliché. However, it holds genuine acts. The consciousness of deliberate breathing during meditation will help relieve stress.

Taking deep breaths will only cost you three to five minutes of your time. Sit on the most comfortable chair. Breathe in and out slowly and deeply. Concentrate on the expansion of your lungs and chest when you deep breathe.

Shallow breathing will cause stress, that’s why always do long deep breaths. It will help oxygenate your blood and clear your mind.

Do Household Chores

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According to Liox Laundry, some people experience stress and anxiety due to their environment. If you have a messy home or room, your mind is most likely full of clutter– for short, if your house is a mess, your mind is a mess too.

You might dislike decluttering, cleaning, or doing laundry. However, studies suggest that doing mere household chores will help you release stress. Doing household chores will facilitate organization, and you might apply it to your life.

Although some find laundry a tedious task some enjoy and find doing laundry relaxing. The smell of fresh linen and cleanliness of their clothes relieves their stress. However, the idea of laundry is certainly unappealing, there’s a lot of work to put through. You can either hire a maid service, call a laundry pickup and delivery service, or head over to the laundromat yourself.

If you wish to launder at the laundry shop yourself, you will find yourself reflecting on some decisions you have made in your life. You might not notice it but you are meditating while waiting for your clothes. Doing household chores while simultaneously meditating is satisfying.

Final Thoughts

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Stress is an unavoidable circumstance. No matter how small a thing maybe, there’s a greater chance that it will ignore you. Learn how to get rid of stress as the earliest possible. Untreated stress and anxiety may lead to serious physical and mental health problems.

Some of the suggested tips can provide immediate relief. However, with the circumstances and lifestyle changes, exercise and deep breathing approaches are likely overlooked. Do not be afraid to try out other strategies. You might find one approach that fits your style.

Even though stress is unavoidable, it is manageable. With a few relevant strategies and patience, you can reduce your stress– whether it is from your family or at the workplace. Do not try to hide your struggles. Face them and get rid of them!

Why Obesity is so common in the USA?

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It has been a long and difficult topic of why obesity is so spread throughout the United States. And this problem will not be resolved in the next couple of years so easily. The reason for this is because one of the latest studies about obesity in the US shows that in 2013, at least 40% of all adults were obese, and 20% of the youth were overweight too. If you think about it, those are huge numbers. Almost half of the population of the United States has a problem with obesity, or in other words, a hundred and fifty million people Americans are obese.

Source:thefiscaltimes.com

This information shouldn’t be too surprising because this problem with obesity has been here for more than ten years. A lot of previous researches and studies have shown almost the same percentage. This indicates that people in the US must make a change to start dealing with this issue because, in the future, the problem could get even bigger and bigger.

Obesity is determined by the rate of BMI or body-mass index, and The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, everything above 30 BMI to be obese. Another exciting thing to mention is that most obese Americans have not developed this problem because of sweets or high-calorie foods, but because of a lot of other factors such as exercise, stress, or even sleep deprivation. This means that if we want to make a change in the country, we will have to change a lot more than just our diets.

Here are the two biggest factors that influence obesity.

No physical activities whatsoever

Source:evidentlycochrane.net

One of the biggest reasons why people see symptoms of obesity is because they avoid doing any physical activities or because their lifestyle does not leave them any room for exercise. In this world of constant communication, the internet, and access to every information from our chairs, beds, or office desks, our daily physical activities have been considerably reduced.

An average American worker gets to his office, sits on his chair for more than 6 hours taking calls, writing on their computer, and working with their computers. However, the problem doesn’t end there, because the worker also needs to get home, which is usually by train, bus, or car. This results in even more seating time and then finally, when people get home tired and sleepy they spend some more time lying in bed or sitting and watching TV.

Anxiety, depression or stress

Source:infjramblings.com

Most people, whether working or studying, are under constant stress because they are afraid they will underperform in their tasks or tests. These big amounts of stress result in a lot more energy expenses than what the body is used to. By spending more energy, our bodies need something to replenish it with, so we turn to food. Because of this, our bodies get used to spending huge amounts of energy, but when we don’t (no stress days), the food we consume gets stored as fat. This is also one of the bigger factors that lead to obesity.

If you are having problems with your body weight, we recommend you to check out www.hardmenstore.com.

Does acupuncture work for stress and anxiety?

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Stress is the biggest enemy threatening the health of modern people. Long-term experience of stress is likely to cause a decline in immunity which can invite several health-related problems. If you are troubled by stress and have been plagued for a long time, you must find a way to relieve stress. Acupuncture decompression is one of many treatments. It is an unconventional medicine based on the use of natural and biological methods to strengthen the body’s immune system. It advocates different natural methods of care to stimulate the body’s self-healing capacity. When the internal circulation of energy is disturbed, health suffers – this is the eastern conception of stress that considers this state as an energy traffic jam. But to avoid these “plugs”, acupuncture proposes to treat the cause of this dysfunction and not just the symptom. Several healthcare services provide treatment through Acupuncture. Pillars of Wellness is one of such Healthcare Centre that provides such services.

Img source: healthline.com

Acupuncture is a very mysterious method for most people. Because in daily life, this technique is rare, and occasionally it can be seen, only in TV dramas or movies, seeing doctors perform needles in various parts of the patient’s body.  Most people may be curious, so many needles on the body, do not hurt? Can you cure a disease with a needle? Here’s everything you need to know about Acupuncture and how it is effective for stress.

What is Acupuncture?

Acupuncture is a branch of traditional Chinese medicine. Based on the theory of traditional Chinese medicine, the needle is inserted into the patient at a certain angle, and the specific part of the human body (usually acupuncture point) is stimulated by a special technique (or twisting or lifting). It proposes to solve many health problems with needles, in order to restore the normal circulation of energy within the body. This energy is called Qi (pronounced as Chi). In Chinese medicine, Qi, also called “Breath or Vital Energy”, is one of the five substances circulating in the body through meridians, with blood, organic liquids, the spirit, and essences. These substances serve to maintain the body in a harmonious balance around the notions of Yin and Yang. The concept of Yin and Yang is that our universe is composed of competing and complementary forces like dark and light, male and female, etc. Meridians help to nourish and harmonize Yin and Yang and maintain the balance between different parts of the human body.

How does it work to release stress and anxiety?

Img source: azulambar.com

In modern society, due to the obvious pace of life, intense work competition, various pressures, the brain is in a state of tension and excessive fatigue for a long time. An anxiety disorder is one of the most common mental illnesses. Stress and lead to insomnia, depression, and several other chronic diseases. The acupuncturist will also analyze all the feelings involved: anguish, anger, fear, sorrow. Knowing that Chinese medicine does not separate the body from the mind. The organs have both a physical function and a psychic function. For example, the liver, which defends the body and takes care of the imagination, is very sensitive to anger. The spleen is going to be vulnerable to worry, the kidney to fear, the lung to sadness, and so on. Chinese medicine believes that: stress is a seven-injury internal injury, which can lead to no suppression of evil, viscera, Qi and blood loss, blood stagnation, blood stasis, phlegm, dampness, heat and cause cancer. The principle of acupuncture relieving mental stress is to relieve liver and relieve stagnation, regulate air Qi, and regulate physical fitness to achieve the therapeutic effect of decompression. The acupuncturist inserts a fine needle into certain specific acupuncture points on the “meridian” that spread throughout the body and corresponds to certain organs. Meridians can be seen as energy highways or as “Qi” in Chinese medicine. Acupuncture is a barrier off the highway by getting rid of this energy. When the highway is crowded, energy is supported. When the meridian is unblocked (no roadblock), the gas flows freely. When the needle is inserted, acupuncture releases endorphins and activates natural painkillers. It has also been found that acupuncture stimulates the part of the brain that controls emotions. As such, it reduces stress naturally.

Does it hurt?

Img source: nitschkechiropractic.com.au

The Acupuncture needle vastly used is made of stainless steel. The needles are obviously sterile and disposable and their size and diameter depend on the location of the body that is stung, the size of the patient, and also on the preferences of the practitioner. It is often read that a medium acupuncture needle is equivalent to the diameter of three hairs. They are therefore much thinner than those used for blood sampling. The needle here is not hollow, and a much smaller diameter. The pain is therefore much less during insertion. If your acupuncturist has a good insertion technique, you will not feel any pain.

Acupuncture is based on the principle that the human body must be harmonized in its local particularities as well as in its entirety. It, therefore, proposes a global approach.

Tips On How To Keep Your Anxiety Off

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In the times we are living, and with so much external stimuli around us, it is not that simple to stay positive especially when the universe seems to be working against us. And don’t worry, we have all felt like nothing is going right at some point – but accept it and let it pass; stressing over it will not do you any good and can just worsen the situation. Depression and anxiety are the two mental conditions that have been becoming more common in the past few decades. And while depression supposedly is the harder case of anxiety, neither of these are problems that don’t have a solution.

Anxiety is usually caused by insecurity and a feeling of shame. It is either due to past trauma and bad experiences, or overall lack of confidence whether in any type of social environment or relating to some exact situation. And though anxiety can be pretty persistent, it is nothing that can’t be put under control without taking a certain type of medication. Still, there are certain medications like Ativan that could be of help in the short-term.

Without further ado, let’s go ahead and take a look at the few tips on how to keep your anxiety off and under control!

source: ocduk.org

How To Keep Your Anxiety Under Control

1. Believe it or not, certain diet habits do have a lot of influence on your anxiety. And apart from the fact that you should strive for a healthy and nutritious diet and exclude refined sugar products and trans fats, there is two more advice that you should listen to. Both caffeine and alcohol are seen as anxiety inducers which means that you shouldn’t be drinking any of the two, especially in the situations when you already feel anxious as it can only worsen your condition. On the other, water as essential to life is a great choice, and some types of tea like chamomile could have a calming effect as well.

2. Go running. As soon as your anxiety starts crawling back on your start working out and wear it out. Whether it is a cardio exercise, weightlifting, or a yoga session believe us that workout session will be of great help and you should strive to do that at least 3-4 times a week.

source: mgsfl.com

3. Do something you like, and focus on self-care. Whether it’s going shopping, to a manicure or having a beer by yourself – go for it. The feeling of self-care and self-respect are the two most important ones when it comes to putting your anxiety under control.

4. You feel anxious? Start writing a journal. Write down what is causing you to feel insecure and discuss it with yourself or positive people that surround you. And a daily journal is always a good option as you will be able to keep track of all the good things that happened as well and reflect on those wherever you start feeling down again.

5. Last but not least is taking a certain kind of pharmaceutical drugs. Ativan is one of the rare anxiety medications that do have an instant effect and being a benzodiazepine it works by stimulating your GABA receptors and boosting its production, thus calming you and reducing the feeling of stress. It is said to be beneficial to people that suffer from frequent seizures as well, and some even recommend it as an aid during the alcohol withdrawal process.

source: netdoctor.co.uk

Summary

Anxiety is something that can absolutely be controlled, and with the right and healthy habits, you will beat it in no time. Certain medications can have a short-term effect, but it is always better to strive for long-term results and change your life as a whole. Regular exercise, healthy diet, and sleep routine, and positive people around you – that is a winning combination!