TOOLS TO OVERCOME ANXIETY

    Almost everyone will occasionally experience anxiety.  Dealing with a difficult person, speaking in front of a group or even making a challenging phone call can be the kind of situations that may make us have a moment of anxiety.  But one in ten adults overage 60 suffers with the worry, obsessive thoughts, fear and perhaps the nameless dread of anxiety that has become chronic.

   If you are suffering from anxiety,  seeing your physician is the first step to overcoming this challenge.  Most doctors will prescribe medication which many patients will find very helpful.  But I often see clients who feel that the medicines are not the answer for them.  Some feel the medications are just not working while others are fearful of side effects or dependency.  

    If you suffer from anxiety and do not wish to take medications, what else can you do?  If you would like to tame anxiety without drugs, there are other tools to overcome anxiety and help prevent future occurrences.  Making healthy diet and lifestyle changes can strengthen your body and conquer anxiety.

    What you consume in eat and drink has a tremendous effect on how your body reacts to the stresses in your life.  Eating to tame anxiety includes eating complex carbohydrates while avoiding simple carbohydrates. Complex carbohydrates include brightly colored vegetables and fruits.  A good goal is at least two servings with each meal.  The protective phytonutrients in these foods help prevent the destructiveness of high stress hormones . Avoid simple carbs like white bread, crackers, white potatoes and white pasta elevate blood sugars.  They causes a quick uplift where you feel better before crashing into even greater anxiety. Be sure to get 60 g to 70 g of protein daily.  Proteins are important in moving the amino acid tryptophan to the brain.  This increases the calming neurotramsmitter, serotonin. Protein foods include, beef, chicken and fish,  Nonanimal proteins include soy, beans, seeds and nuts.  Don't forget alcohol is a concentrated sugar so limiting alcoholic drinks is recommended to overcome anxiety. And avoid caffeine which elevates the stress hormone norepinephrine.  Limit or at least avoid caffeinated drinks such as coffee, tea and caffeinated soft-drinks.

    Many experts in the field of anxiety believe that certain vitamins, minerals  and other supplements will help control chronic anxiety. I highly recommend that you consult your medical doctor before beginning a supplement regimen especially if you are taking any prescription medications.  Among the vitamins recommended by experts are the B-complex which include folic acid, B-6 and B-12, Vitamin D and Omega-3 fatty acids available in a fish oil supplement.  Minerals such as calcium and magnesium can help as a mild muscle relaxant.  Herbal supplements are also recommended including Saint-John's wort, Passionflower and L-theanine.  Before you use these be sure and discuss dosages with your doctor.

     Exercise can be a great way to deal with anxiety.  Get up and move.  If you are anxious about being outside, climb the stairs inside your home.  If you haven't been exercising at all, start slowly - walk outside to the mailbox or down to the corner.  Challenge yourself to do a little more each day until you are moving regularly for about half an hour.

     Learning breathing techniques can be a great way to deal with the stresses that can foster anxiety.  If you have ever watched a baby asleep on its back, its little belly will go up and down.  We're born knowing how to breathe.  As we age, we get more uptight and tend to inhale much more shallowly.  To release the tension which can cause anxiety, put your hands on your belly, breathe down through your lungs and into your abdominal cavity. You should be holding air  so your tummy will go out rather than such in.  I suggest you breathe in to a count of four.  Hold your breath for two counts and exhale for seven counts.  Do this for about a minute at least three times a day.  Some people do it as often as every 90 minutes to two hours.  By doing this, you are training your body to release stress and tension automatically.

    Hypnotherapy is an excellent tool for relieving anxiety.  It will help you relax.  I always suggest to my clients that they may want to record the session on their smart phone for a time when they would like that level of relaxation again.  In addition, hypnotherapy can be a great way to motivate yourself to eat better, avoid caffeine or alcohol, and exercise more.  Hope you can use these tips to overcome anxiety and BE WELL.

Hypnotherapy for Cell-phone Addiction

    Look around you when you are sitting at a traffic light, walking down the street or sitting in a restaurant  It is likely you will see almost as many cell-phones in use as you do people.  A recent study found that one in every three teen-agers and almost one in every five baby boomers checks his or her cell phone at least once every fifteen minutes.

    Larry Rosen, PhD and past chair of psychology at California State University, Dominguez Hills, has written a book on this problem called iDISORDER: UNDERSTANDING OUR OBSESSION WITH TECHNOLOGY AND OVERCOMING ITS HOLD ON US.  He identifies this obsession as being a compulsion rather than an addiction.  The difference is in why the user feels the need to check the phone so often.  Addicts are triggered physiologically because the behavior releases the pleasure chemical, dopamine, into the brain.  Compulsive use is triggered because the use relieves anxiety.  The cell-phone users become anxious that they might be missing something like breaking news or someone trying to reach them or using the phone reassures them they haven't lost the phone.

    The compulsion to constantly check the phone can cause serious problems both personally and professionally. People who are around cell-phone compulsives can feel diminished.  A person who is constantly looking at his phone is sending the message that the person he is with is not as important. This harm relationships and it can harm job performance.  A person who keeps her phone on her bedside table may not rest as well if she is constantly checking for incoming messages.

    Get a feel for how often you are checking your phone.  Then begin to stretch out the time between checks.  If you were checking every fifteen minutes, push the time to twenty,  Put the phone completely away while driving or with other people.  Place the ringer on silent or turn the phone upside down so you can't see messages coming in.  If you feel that cell-phone compulsion has become a problem in your life, hypnotherapy can be a valuable tool to find new ways to relieve anxiety, control phone use and BE WELL.

CONTROLLING ANGER

      Almost every evening on the news there is a report about uncontrolled anger ruining lives.  Road rage incidents, school bullying, workplace' school shootings and other violent crimes are common place.  Though some of these are organized by criminal organizations, many of them are caused because of people who cannot control their anger.

     Very few people can completely eliminate anger in their life.  Sometimes it can be helpful in signaling to others that important needs are not being met.  So in small amounts, anger can actually be a helpful emotion to express those needs and to solve problems.

     But this emotion can be very destructive when it is not controlled.  It can cause a great deal of misery not only for the recipient of a person's anger but for the angry person as well.  It can damage relationships both personally and in a working environment. It also can cause or contribute to many illnesses.

    If a person cannot control anger, the fight-or-flight response kicks in with a release of adrenalin and an increase in muscle tension.  Muscles tighten when you are angry to help you fight or run.  In other words, you get "up tight". When the muscles in your neck, jaw, shoulders and back tighten up, it can cause soreness or pain in the muscles and skeletal system.

     When the fight-or-flight response activates, your heart beats faster and your blood pressure elevates.  This increases the risk for developing coronary heart disease.  In addition, your liver releases more fat into your blood and your blood cells become "sticky".  These are normal reactions to protect you - the stickiness in the blood cells is to protect you from bleeding out in case of an injury.  The fat is released to give more energy for the muscles to burn.  But all of these reactions increase the risk of your having a stroke or heart attack.

     Digestive and breathing problems can also occur. Stomach and gastrointestinal problems such as IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), acid reflux,and nausea can occur when long held anger turns inward.  Throat constriction, shallow breathing and the feeling of having heaviness in the chest can happen as respiration speeds up in order to send blood to the muscles and brain.

      Besides these negative health issues, anger can cause you to just not feel good.  You may feel edgy and have very little energy.  Many of my clients complain that they just "can't relax" or "don't know how to relax".  So what can you do to manage your anger?  If you  feel like you are angry more often or all the time, it's time to seek professional help.  Ask your medical doctor or find an anger-management expert through the American Psychological Association.  

    If you do not think you are at that level of need but would like some tools to control your anger, there are some simple techniques you might try.  Step outside yourself and try to view a situation that makes you angry from a distance.   Evaluate how high your anger is by picturing a yardstick and imagining an arrow pointing at the number you are at then consciously begin to drop the number.  Deep breathing down into the abdominal cavity and exhaling slowly can help you to feel more calm and safe.  As you breathe in think "I am", and as you exhale, think "relaxed".    Imagine blowing the anger out as you exhale.  Muscle relaxation will help you relax.  Practicing deep breathing and muscle relaxation strengthens your control.

   Clinical hypnotherapy can be a great tool to control anger by working to deal with the underlying issues and helping to work with the techniques described above.  Control your anger and BE WELL.

BUILD SELF-ESTEEM WITH POSITIVE SELF-TALK

     Self-talk is the conversation we have with ourselves all day long.  Unfortunately, too often, these messages are quite negative.  The messages may include irrational beliefs and distorted thinking about ourselves.  They may also include a running commentary about our personal failures or inadequacies.

     Sometimes these negative messages are subtle.  But other times, the negative self-talk is quite blatant.  If you catch yourself often thinking negative messages like "I'm so fat",  "How could I be that stupid."  "I'll never be able to pass that test", you are suffering from negative self-talk which can lead to low self-esteem, anxiety and depression.

     The good thing to remember is that our moods and how we feel about ourselves are not determined by actual situations but by how we think.  We get upset and depressed not because of the bad situation but because of how we think about it.  If you are upset about gaining five pounds and you begin to beat yourself up about your weight with negative self-talk, it is not the number on the scale but your own thoughts which are making you feel anxious or depressed.

    But the good news is that negative self-talk is a bad habit.  And, like other bad habits, it can be changed.  It takes a desire to make the change and a consciousness about your self-talk, but you can learn to recognize the old patterns and choose to change the way you think.  I compare the process to changing the channel of your mind.

     When you become aware through living more consciously about your negative self-talk, you will learn to recognize the old pattern.  Then take a moment to stop and identify the negative pattern and then change the channel of your mind.  I compare this to changing the channel on a television.  Begin to give yourself positive, self-affirming messages.  "I'm making better choices in my eating.", "I am studying with great focus for my class."  "I am capable."  Whatever the negative messages were, change then to positive, confidence-building positive messages.

   Like any other skill, changing negative self-talk into positive self-talk takes practice. Hypnotherapy can help you in recognizing and shifting old patterns to new  and change your entire way of thinking.  With positive self-talk, you will feel better, have a more positive outlook and build positive self esteem.  Try positive self-talk and BE WELL.

USING HYPNOTHERAPY TO TREAT LONELINESS

      If you are feeling lonely, know you are not alone.  Everyone feels lonely occasionally even in the middle of the crowd.  And loneliness can happen at any age.  Young adults are at risk when they leave school and their parents' home and move into their own home for the first time.  Retirees may feel particularly lonely when they no longer have a daily routine and lose workplace relationships.  Married people may feel lonely during rough patches in a relationship.

    Unfortunately, loneliness can spiral downward into the three D's of defensiveness, desperation and depression.  These, in turn, can push people away and cause even more loneliness.

     Defensiveness actually separates lonely people from others.  If you are feeling lonely, take the time to look at your own behavior.  Look at what could be limiting your ability to establish relationships.  Sometimes some tweaking of your social skills is all that is needed to feel less lonely.  Do you go places to meet people?  When was the last time you accepted an invitation or attended a social function?  Do you join in conversations already taking place?  Release the defensiveness and see how you can reach out to others. Taking a class or joining a volunteer group can be a great way to meet new people and do something positive for yourself and others.

    Desperation occurs when people feel that lack of social connections.  But often the best cure for loneliness is not meeting new people, it is deepening the relationships you already have.  Reach out to the people you already know.  Reconnect.  Go through your address book or emails and reconnect. Find old high school, college friends or co-workers. Then make a real effort to stay reconnected.

    Depression can happen when loneliness becomes overwhelming and the person simply gives up.  They begin to believe that it's impossible to be anything but lonely and become very pessimistic.  They step into the "why bother" mode - why bother to try to make a new friend, why bother to reach out to someone,  why bother to attend a social event.  Of course, you will likely not meet your soul mate or your future best friend at every event.  But, if you are lonely, step out of the loneliness box of your home and into the world of possibility.

    If you need help to release the defensiveness, desperation and depression that can be triggered by loneliness, a clinical hypnotherapist using brief therapy can help you to step out into a better and happier future.  Hypnotherapy can help you BE WELL.

RISK OF MEMORY LOSS FROM OVEREATING

    In 2012, researchers at Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, Arizona, presented the results of a study on overeating at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in New Orleans.  The study was of 1,233 people between the ages of 70 and 89.  The major finding of the study was that overeating increases memory loss in that age group.  A comparison was made between those who ate more than 2,000 calories per day and those who ate less than 1,500 daily calories.  The researchers found that the risk for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) was significantly higher in the higher consumption group. Those who ate more than 2,000 calories daily were almost twice as likely to have mild cognitive impairment as those who ate less than 1,500 calories per day.  MCI increases the risk for dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

    If you are 70 or more, know you are risking future memory loss by high consumption of calories and want to make a change, hypnotherapy can be a valuable tool to create and maintain that change.  Eat less, lessen your risk of memory loss and BE WELL.

DEPRESSION IN OLDER ADULTS

      In a study at Rush University Medical Center in Oak Park, Illinois, researchers found the prevalence of depression in older adults to be as high as 49%. The causes of depression in older individuals are complex.  Some older people have a biological predisposition or history of depression that makes them particularly vulnerable.  Others have lost a partner, other loved ones or social support.  Medications including common drugs like those taken for high blood pressure can also trigger depression.  Disappointment with unfulfilled life expectations and health problems may all contribute.

     Symptoms of  depression in older adults can be hard to identify since such typical signs as fatigue, weight loss, insomnia and appetite changes may be attributed to health problems, medical interactions or old age.  Usual treatment consists of medication, psychotherapy, hypnotherapy and counseling.

   Using tools to prevent depression from occuring to start with can be valuable. Among these tools is the use of vitamins.  The Rush University Medical Center study was of 3,500 adults age 65 and older and found that those who had a higher intake of vitamins B6 and B12 were at lower risk of depression.  They found that the B vitamins could be consumed in either food or supplements.

     Kimberly A. Skarupski, Ph.D., M.P.H. at the medical center reported that for each additional 10 mg. of B6 and 10 mcg. of B12, the olds of developing symptoms dropped by two percent per year.  Foods particularly high in both B vitamins include milk seafood, liver and lean meats.  If you are concerned about depression affecting yourself or an older person in your life know that it can be warded off by consumption of B vitamins.