Sunday, October 31, 2010

Anxiety Ends With Us

The positive behavior will occur if you practice relaxation techniques. The stress and anxiety free lifestyle you adapt will be a normal part of your life if you eat correctly and hold tight to the conviction that less is most times more. Other wise anxiety can affect us in an unhealthful manner quite rapidly.

Anxiety is not a hidden agenda in our lives. It is powerful, available and gratefully controllable. As a wise man once said we should not ask why we are anxious we should ask why not?  With every aspect of modern life being fast paced and overloaded we have to make a concerted effort to slow down. We also have to be careful not to cause anxious behavior to overflow and spill into the lives of the people with which we are in contact.

Coworkers, spouses, and our children can all be affected by the power our anxiety has on us. Sometimes others can see it long before we even notice it is crowding in on us. Sometimes we can inadvertently create anxiety in others merely by our choice of words or actions. If the cycle of anxiety is going to end it has to be recognized, addressed, and extracted from every aspect of our lives.

Coworkers or employees can experience inadequate work performances simply by working in a stress filled workplace. Slowing the pace and considering how people work better in a stress-free environment is a major step in the right direction. It is not a difficult step and has so many great benefits for everyone involved.

Spouses may only realize there is something wrong yet not fully recognized that stress and anxiety are occurring and causing ripples in the marriage. It is very likely that if one marriage partner is anxious due to money problems, working too much, or parenting issues the other partner is also anxious. This vicious cycle can wreak havoc on a typically loving home and the people who dwell within.

Children live what they learn. They may truly believe they are creating the anxious behavior in mom or dad because of something they did. Young children will internalize and reflect their concerns in guilt. Older children will more likely rebel and act out in school to attempt dealing with the emotional overload of dealing with parents who are not relaxed.

The good news is anxiety is effectively treated in various ways. You can choose to treat anxiety medically, holistically, or personally and gain immediate results. The key to successful treatment of anxiety is to recognize it for what it truly is. There are numerous self-help books, web pages, and meetings available to all ages.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Anxiety Treatment - The Natural Remedy for Anxiety Relief

L-Theanine, naturally occurring in green tea, proves effective in dealing with anxiety symptoms and providing anxiety relief

Anxiety is a state of intense fear, uncertainty, uneasiness, or apprehension due to anticipation of an imagined or real threatening future event. Anxiety can be both physically and psychologically devastating to the Anxiety sufferer's life. Anxiety is often sub-categorized according to the focus of the perceived threat. There is social anxiety, separation anxiety, dating anxiety, performance anxiety, math anxiety, etc. Stress and anxiety often go hand in hand and can result in anxiety depression as the individual feels powerless to receive any anxiety help.

There are a variety of anti-anxiety treatments to consider in overcoming anxiety. For some, anxiety medications prove to be a source of anxiety relief. Other's prefer not to use any of the anti-anxiety drugs and opt for more natural cures for anxiety management. These may include herbs for anxiety, acupuncture anxiety treatments, anxiety vitamins, aromatherapy for anxiety relief, even hypnosis has has proved beneficial overcoming anxiety.

This article discusses the perhaps little known amino acid L-Theanine as a natural remedy for anxiety relief.

L-Theanine is a unique free form amino acid found only in the tea plant and in the mushrooms Xerocomus badius and certain species of genus Camellia, C. japonica and C. sasanqua. Often drinkers of green tea report a feeling of calmness they feel after ingesting a cup or two even though green tea has roughly half the caffeine of coffee. This is due to the high L-Theanine content.

In addition to reducing anxiety symptoms, studies have shown L-Theanine may be effective in promoting concentration, supporting the immune system, improving learning performance, lowering blood pressure, increasing formation of the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA, and increasing brain dopamine levels among other positive benefits with no known downside.

Studies in cooperation with Taiyo Kagaku Co., The University of Shizuoka, and The Family Planning Institute of Japan have shown that women taking 200 mg L-Theanine daily have lower incidence of PMS symptoms. These symptoms include physical, mental, and social symptoms. Overall, a significant alleviation of PMS symptoms by L-Theanine was observed.

While still under investigation, L-Theanine appears to have a role in the formation of the inhibitory neurotransmitter Gamma Amino Butyric Acid (GABA). GABA blocks release of the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin, playing a key role in the relaxation effect.

Everyone knows the effects stress and anxiety can have on an individual's physical state of well-being. Fascinating neurochemistry research has revealed that given a shot of GABA essentially turned back the clocks in the brains of older monkeys, whose brain function briefly operated at levels normally seen in monkeys less than half their age.

GABA, or gamma-amino butyric acid, is a neurotransmitter chemical that is essential for optimizing how brain cells transmit messages to each other and acts to put a damper on unwanted brain signaling activity. Although GABA's age-related decline has not been documented in humans, a host of studies in mammals, including other primates, suggests that a similar process is at work in people.

Monkeys ages 26 and 32 -- considered old age for monkeys -- that got GABA directly delivered to their neurons responded to visual patterns, such as flashing vertical and horizontal lines, in much the same way as monkeys aged 7 to 9 years old did.

Without GABA delivery, the monkeys' aged brains had more difficulty firing neurons that specifically gauge various aspects of depth perception, motion and color. Instead, older monkeys have more random firings that make it difficult to observe visual nuances. In younger monkeys, GABA had no effect since their brains already had optimal GABA functioning.

L-Theanine is considered to be safe based on its historical use as a component of tea and on favorable toxicology studies. Tea is the most consumed beverage worldwide after water, and has been consumed for thousands of years by billions of people. It is estimated that a heavy tea drinker (6-8 cups daily) will consume between 200 to 400 mg of L-Theanine daily.

While dosage for depression and anxiety disorder remain individual, it is recommended to take 100 to 200 mg 1 to 3 times daily for anxiety relief. Based on the results of clinical studies, it has been established that L-Theanine is effective in single dosages in the range of 50-200 mg. It is suggested that subjects with higher levels of anxiety take a dose at the higher end of the effective range (100 - 200 mg) for overcoming anxiety.

Anxiety and Pregnancy

Women and babies have been interrelated since the very beginning. It is a natural phenomenon and there is nothing unusual about it. All young women want to bear a child or in other words become a mother. These days even for a career woman the desire to give birth to a child and become a mother is bound to catch up and no other joy can ever replace the joy of becoming a mother in the hustle bustle of everyday life. There are several expectant mothers who suffer from severe stress and emotional turmoil and now the question arises that can pregnancy and the anxiety related to becoming a mother can bring her joy and contentment, equally?

The answer to this question varies from woman to woman. A part of the past life of the expecting mother is always to be brought to light especially when she is going to give birth to a new life.

What things might make it more stressful?

During pregnancy, a woman spends most of her time thinking and being drowned in her thoughts most of the times. The common thoughts during this time are will her new born be normal? will she fail as a mother? Will her baby have to go through the same problems as she had to go in her adolescence? etc etc.This is quite expected as this is a preparatory stage for the mother to love the baby who is growing inside her womb and also her body is preparing to adapt to the changes to meet the demand of the new life which is growing inside of her.

It is seen in most cases that the anxiety during pregnancy triggers stress in the woman. The other factors that might lead to rigorous stress during pregnancy are:
·A current miscarriage: This shakes the woman’s confidence and the woman tends to wonder whether she will ever experience the joy of becoming a mother and see her baby cry for the first time.
·A uncertain income during the pregnancy
·An inconsistent relationship with the baby’s father
·No emotional and moral support
·Unexpected and unwanted pregnancy that might mess up other plans of life.

It is very essential to be mentally stable during pregnancy and settle all the worries and doubts with her close friends, family members and doctors. It is not impossible to deal with anxiety and pregnancy. Like other crisis of life, pregnancy and anxiety can be very easily dealt with. The pregnant woman is the right person to determine what is best for her baby. No matter what all expecting mothers want to emerge as the best mother and would always want to do the best for the welfare of her child.

However, note that anxiety and pregnancy do not bear good results for the child. Several studies reveal the fact that if the mother is stressful and over anxious during her pregnancy then her baby is bound to develop stressful behavior later in life. Between the 12th and 23rd weeks the baby in the mother’s womb is mostly likely to be affected by its mother’s stress and anxiety.

What good can come out of it?

Other than harboring some negative thoughts the expecting mother makes preparations to deal with anxiety and pregnancy. Several bodily changes take place during pregnancy.

One of the major concerns during this time is that whether their anxiety disorders will affect the unborn and worsen the pregnancy conditions and also after the baby is born whether they will be able to take care of the baby properly or not. Obviously, a great concern is whether or not the symptoms of their anxiety disorder will worsen during the pregnancy, and if they will be able to care for the baby after it is born.  Whether intake of different medicines will affect the baby or not is also a cause of concern. All these thoughts however can elevate the levels of stress in the expecting mother.

The following facts can offer some hope for anxiety and pregnancy:

·During the pregnancy period and breast feeding period the medicines for anxiety disorders are quite safe for the baby.
· About 40% of women experience a precise decrease of the anxiety pattern during pregnancy. However during postpartum the set of anxiety symptoms may return.
·The intake of medicines for anxiety disorders by the expecting mother can actually help in preventing the development of anxiety disorders in the baby later in life. If the mother’s symptoms are not treated properly then however it may result in lower birth weight of the baby.

What can be done during pregnancy to deal with anxiety?

About 10% of women develop anxiety symptoms during pregnancy. Following the steps below will definitely help them to deal with the situation in a better way.

·Seek advice from your doctor about your plans to either become pregnant, or that you already are. The doctor’s instructions and medications will help you to deal with your anxiety and pregnancy strategically.
·Bond with your partner in a more strong and intimate way. This would ensure support and love which would help in dealing with the situations in a better way.
·Relax. Pursue hobbies according to your liking. Talk to your friends, go for walks, practice gardening. All these activities will divert you mind and keep your stress under control.
·Open up to your husband or partner and close friends and discuss your causes of stress. This will definitely help.

<a href="http://www.anxietycure.org/anxiety-and-pregnancy.html">Get more information on anxiety and pregnancy here</a>.

Anxiety

Anxiety can be defined as emotions which are typically negative in nature. It will often consist of fear and worry, and some organisms may even experience physical signs such as nausea or chest pains. Anxiety is a complex emotion, and is composed of a number of different elments. Some of these elements are somatic or cognitive, and the body will prepare itself to deal with an external threat. The heart rate speeds up, and the blood pressure is increased. The various muscles in the body will also receive elevated levels of blood. At the same time, the functions of the digestive system will slow down.

People who have anxiety will generally have a sense of dread. A number of voluntary and involuntary processes will take place in the body, and the goal of these processes is to get the organism away from the source that is causing it to have anxiety. Anxiety is an important emotion, and is designed to increase the survival rate of organisms. In humans it appears that anxiety comes from the hippocampus and amygdala, two regions of the brain. When a person senses bad odors or tastes, there will be a large amount of blood flow which will be present in the amygdala. The evidence also shows that medium levels of anxiety will be present in this situation as well.

Based on these studies, it appears that anxiety is designed to keep humans and other organisms from eating food or objects that may be harmful to their well being. While anxiety is normal, a person that has excessive amounts of it may have what is called an anxiety disorder. In extreme cases, people with anxiety disorders may have strong cases where they are terrorized. Anxiety disorders are broken down into phobias, panic disorders, generalized anxiety disorders, and obsessive compulsive disorders. Someone who is suffering from a phobia will have an abnormal amount of fear of a specific object or situation. People who have phobias tend to have extensive imaginations, and realize that their fear is often irrational.

When a person suffers from a panic disorder, they will have extreme panic attacks, and may have dizziness or breathing problems. These attacks will typically reach their height in about 10 minutes. Generalized anxiety disorders are common, and effect a much larger portion of the population. It is prevalent in both men and woman, and is characterized by long periods of anxiety that are not related to any specific object or situation. With the obsessive compulsive disorder, the individual with have an obsession or compulsion when it comes to specific types of behavior. People who suffer from this disorder will see the need to do something obsessively in order to reduce their anxiety.

Many people who have this disorder need to be extremely clean, and are afraid of germs. To reduce their anxiety, they will wash their hands numerous times in a single day. There are two primary methods that are used to help those who are suffering from anxiety, and this is either therapy or prescription medicaitons.