More threads by Daniel E.

Daniel E.

daniel@psychlinks.ca
Administrator

Trick your mind with your body. Your mind often gets cues from your body, and you can sometimes use this to your advantage if you're feeling overstimulated. See, if you're super overwhelmed, your body is in that fight-or-flight mode, ready to take on a challenge or get the hell out of there. Your muscles are tense; your vision is focused; your blood is pumping to the places that need it most. But if you actively make an effort to breathe calmly, to unclench your fists, to relax your shoulders, your mind might get a message that there's nothing to be afraid of. This doesn't always work, of course, but it's worth trying! You can also trick your mind into believing you're more relaxed and less alert simply by shifting your body in subtle ways. Stand with confidence, even if you don't feel it. Uncross your arms and leave them loose at your sides. If you're frequently jittery, try to stand still. If there are too many lights, close your eyes for a minute. Too many sounds? Step outside or cover your ears. These small physical things can actually help you feel a bit less overwhelmed.
 

Daniel E.

daniel@psychlinks.ca
Administrator

While scientific research has yet to explore the Sunday scaries, an informal 2018 survey conducted by LinkedIn suggests this feeling is very common. Among the 1,017 adults surveyed, 80 percent said they experienced Sunday night anxiety.

Sure, this knowledge won’t fix the problem, but it might help to know that plenty of other people are feeling the same way you are as the weekend winds down...

Make Mondays a special occasion. Schedule things you look forward to, like a video call with distant friends, for Monday to take the edge off some of the dread.
 

Daniel E.

daniel@psychlinks.ca
Administrator

Accept your anxiety.​


Maybe you have to work harder than other people to find a place of calm, but that’s okay. Sometimes letting go of the need to control outcomes leads to greater acceptance of your circumstances. Reflecting on what you’ve accomplished should bring on the realization that as uncomfortable as worries make you, your track record for eventually overcoming anxiety is probably close to 100 percent.
 

Daniel E.

daniel@psychlinks.ca
Administrator

Psychotherapists using an existentialist approach believe that a patient can harness his anxiety and use it constructively. Instead of suppressing anxiety, patients are advised to use it as grounds for change. By embracing anxiety as inevitable, a person can use it to achieve his full potential in life.



Instead of regarding human experiences such as anxiety, alienation and depression as implying the presence of mental illness, existential psychotherapy sees these experiences as natural stages in a normal process of human development and maturation. In facilitating this process of development and maturation, existential psychotherapy involves a philosophical exploration of an individual's experiences stressing the individual's freedom and responsibility to facilitate a higher degree of meaning and well-being in their life.
 

Daniel E.

daniel@psychlinks.ca
Administrator

Anxiety sensitivity refers to the extent of beliefs that anxiety symptoms or arousal can have harmful consequences. There is growing evidence for anxiety sensitivity as a risk factor for anxiety disorders. Anxiety sensitivity is elevated in panic disorder as well as other anxiety disorders. It is thought to contribute to the maintenance and severity of anxiety symptoms. Studies have shown that anxiety sensitivity more specifically predicts the future occurrence of panic attacks.

The Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI), which measures the construct of anxiety sensitivity, has three subscales, namely, the ASI-Physical subscale, ASI-Social subscale and ASI-Mental Incapacitation Concerns subscale. The dimension reflecting "fear of physical sensations" of anxiety sensitivity is the most predictive one of panic attacks and panic disorder. Research on the ASI has demonstrated that persons diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and social anxiety disorder all had ASI scores higher than normal controls.

Depression was speculated to hold a positive correlation to high anxiety sensitivity scores. The relationships between anxiety sensitivity, alcohol and substance use disorders are still unknown. There is evidence that anxiety sensitivity is related with "drinking used as a way of coping".

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In terms of the 16 human needs, both anxiety sensitivity and pain sensitivity fall under the need for tranquility, which predicts reactions to stress, danger, adventure, and risk.
 
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Daniel E.

daniel@psychlinks.ca
Administrator

In The Normal Personality, Steven Reiss argues that human beings are naturally intolerant of people who express values significantly different from their own. Because of this intolerance, psychologists and psychiatrists sometimes confuse individuality with abnormality and thus overdiagnose disorders. Reiss shows how normal motives – not anxiety or traumatic childhood experiences – underlie many personality and relationship problems, such as divorce, infidelity, combativeness, workaholism, loneliness, authoritarianism, weak leadership style, perfectionism, underachievement, arrogance, extravagance, stuffed shirt, disloyalty, disorganization, and overanxiety. Calling for greater understanding and tolerance of all kinds of personalities, Reiss applies his theory of motivation to leadership, human development, relationships, and counseling.
 

Daniel E.

daniel@psychlinks.ca
Administrator
"All of us react to our anxiety by “partializing” our world, by restricting our consciousness within narrow bounds, to areas that we can more or less control which provide us a sense of self-confidence."

― David R. Loy, Lack and Transcendence
 
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Daniel E.

daniel@psychlinks.ca
Administrator
“People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.”

– Thich Nhat Hanh
 

Daniel E.

daniel@psychlinks.ca
Administrator
“The great thing, then, in all education, is to make our nervous system our ally instead of our enemy.”

— William James

"I think that what we're seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances with our own innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive.”

— Joseph Campbell
 
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Daniel E.

daniel@psychlinks.ca
Administrator
"A common feature across anxiety disorders is aberrant and excessive anticipatory responding under conditions of threat uncertainty...The incorporation of mindfulness traditions into CBT – namely, emphasizing awareness of moment-to-moment internal and external events, and non-judgmental acceptance (rather than avoidance) of negative emotional states – allow one to tolerate unavoidable uncertainties, and help those suffering from anxiety to understand that uncertainty about the future need not rule their lives."

~ Dan W. Grupe and Jack B. Nitschke, (2013)
 
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