I have posted a few articles on tips for controlling stress lately and I hope they have been helpful. I wanted to post something about what I do to help with my stress levels. I have found a few things that seem to be working very well for me.

Meditation

I find that attempting to meditate to handle stress can be frustrating to me because I can’t always focus, so this only really works if I can incorporate it into a scheduled time every day. I focus on positive thoughts for about 15 minutes in the morning and the evening in an effort to train myself to think this way and while it makes a difference in my overall mood, it doesn’t seem to help when things happen unexpectedly.

Exercise

I unfortunately do not enjoy working out so I do little things to get myself moving. I have found that if I take my dogs for a long walk instead of a quick one I feel better. I’m not a morning person so this generally happens in the evening but it helps me unwind and go to sleep. The only downfall is that my Jack Russell, Athos, comes home wound up and ready to play. He seems to react to the walk as a sort of activity appetizer. Haha. Also things like turning on the radio and dancing around while I clean make a difference. I might look like an idiot but at least I am doing something to make the chores I hate more fun and it really motivtes me to actually get moving instead of lying around getting more depressed.

Gardening

My biggest stress relievers have come from a couple very unexpected places. I received a Chia Terra Cotta Gourmet Herb Gardenfor Christmas and it has been the best thing for my stress, so much so that I bought another one and an AeroGarden Garden Kitwith flowers. There is something very calming and fulfilling about seeing these plants thriving due to my constant attention. I water, feed, trim, and monitor them religiously and it feels like my stress levels shrink every time they grow a little. I am thinking about getting some houseplants and possibly even a bonsai tree since this seems to be very therapeutic for me. I understand now why so many people garden. I have a tiny backyard that is mostly concreted and have 5 dogs so a big vegetable garden isn’t very practical but if you have the space I would recommend giving it a try. If not, try one of these inside gardens; you might be shocked at the sense of accomplishment you will have and the effect that will have on your depression and anxiety.

Animals

Another thing I take great joy in is my pets. As I said I have five dogs; Kenya (Black Lab), Merlin (Tibetan Lhasa Apso), Athos (Jack Russell/Maltese Mix), Hope (Maltese), and Zoe (Chihuahua). Last night D bought me a baby Angora Teddy Bear Hamster and I think her name is going to be Dulce Valentin (this translates to Sweet Valentine). Animals are a great stress releiver. There is nothing better than a dog that loves you unconditionally running up to you, tail wagging, just thrilled to see you after a bad day; or a good one for that matter. They have a sense of when you are sick or upset and their entire purpose in life is to make you happy. I can be so stressed I am in tears and when one of my pups crawls into my lap and cuddles up to me I instantly feel my heart lift a little. There are days that the only thing that can make me smile is watching them run and play.

Writing

This is a good outlet for anyone. Write it down, get it out of your head, and come back later and read it. I have always written. To me seeing things in black and white puts them in a completely different perspective. The good doesn’t feel real and the bad seems so much worse until I pour it all out on paper and read it. For me there is just something about the flow of words on a page, as opposed to the swirling chaos in my head, that makes me feel connected to the experiences I am writing about.

What I am trying to say is that we all react to different things in life. The articles I post are suggestions, mostly to show that there are things you can do to take control of your life. Not everything will work for everybody. Try different things and find what will work for you. It’s all about finding the joy in your life and using that to combat the negative feelings before you become overwhelmed by them. It’s your life and you can take control.

Popularity: 27% [?]

“Foolproof Ways to Battle Anxiety

Tuning out your worries and improving your state of mind is easier than it sounds.

Rebecca Ruiz- Forbes
1.20.09

If the Dow just closed after a dismal day of trading and a tightening sensation is beginning to spread through your chest, stop and try this exercise:

Instead of focusing on the money you’ve already lost or obsessing over future losses, try zeroing in on the present moment. Let go of distractions like a looming bill or the record unemployment rate and concentrate on your breath. Take in all the air you can, pause and then release.

“It’s actually totally boring concentrating on your breath,” says Dr. Michael J. Baime, director of the Penn Program for Stress Management at the University of Pennsylvania Health System. “Lifting a barbell is totally boring too, but it’s exercising a muscle.” After 10 repetitions, he says, you should start to feel some degree of calm.

Though anxiety is the body’s natural response to a threat, that alarm system sometimes sounds unnecessarily, cluttering the mind with the chatter of negative thinking. The breathing exercise helps divert the mind’s attention elsewhere.

Controlled breathing isn’t the only strategy for anxiety relief, either. Others include engaging the brain and body, cognitive and behavioral adjustments and meditative techniques.

The Origins of Anxiety
If it’s difficult to understand why you are plagued by certain anxious thoughts, don’t take it personally–it’s a phenomenon that still eludes scientists. What is known, says Dr. Sonia Bishop, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, is that anxiety involves responses in two parts of the brain: the amygdala and the pre-frontal cortex.

The amygdala is responsible for the fight-or-flight response, while the pre-frontal cortex controls executive functions like decision-making and planning. A human foraging for berries, for example, would use the pre-frontal cortex to decide which berries to collect. If a predator suddenly jumped from the bushes, the amygdala would sound the alarm.

Scientists don’t fully understand why certain individuals are more prone to anxiety, but some theories suggest varying levels of neurotransmitters–the chemicals that relay signals between neurons and cells and affect how well the amygdala and pre-frontal cortex function–may play an important role.

What interests Bishop, however, is how the anxiety-ridden can reverse course regardless of pre-disposition. That’s why she recently conducted a brain-imaging study with 17 participants, some of whom had “high trait anxiety,” which was determined using a standardized measurement.

While being monitored by an MRI that tracks changes in brain activity, each participant had to engage the pre-frontal cortex by identifying certain letters and ignoring others. When the task increased in difficulty, both groups did well on recruiting that region of the brain. But when the task was easy, those with trait anxiety did a poor job. This was particularly telling, says Bishop, because the participants were not exposed to any anxiety-triggering threats.

The results have led her to believe that the anxiety-prone may have difficulty preventing the mind from lingering on distractions when performing easy, day-to-day tasks.

Though not yet tested by other scientists, Bishop’s conclusion seems to reflect what works well in other successful techniques for battling anxiety: meaningful distraction.

Overcoming Anxiety
You could try informally testing Bishop’s theory by doing a crossword puzzle instead of watching TV. More commonly accepted remedies for curbing anxiety include socializing and exercise, the latter of which can increase levels of dopamine, the body’s naturally occurring, mood-boosting chemical. Such distractions are most effective, though, when paired with a real effort to switch your focus.

In the simplest terms, that’s what Dr. Israel Liberzon,a professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Michigan, tries to teach his patients. Using cognitive and behavioral techniques, Liberzon shows patients–many of whom suffer from anxiety disorders–how to change the way they deal with their worries.

Often he advocates for reconsidering what you associate with anxiety, trying to judge perceived threats using a more rational scale or creating an emotional distance from certain fears. In other words, putting things in perspective.

But since that reaction is hardly intuitive, Liberzon recommends seeking out professional help. In addition to the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, a nonprofit organization that provides information on anxiety treatments, Liberzon says support groups and local universities with anxiety and stress research centers can serve as useful resources.

Like Dr. Bishop, Liberzon also recommends mindfulness meditation, a well-regarded technique that has been shown as effective in clinical settings. Mindfulness meditation emphasizes focusing on the present moment instead of dwelling on regrets or worries.

Dr. Baime, of the Penn Program for Stress Management, teaches dozens of these meditation techniques and says they can be learned by reading literature on the subject. He recommends Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain and Illness by pioneer of mindfulness meditation Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, which Baime uses as a textbook in his classes.

Another alternative is to find local practitioners. While there is no certification process required to teach these methods, Baime says consumers can weed out potential snake-oil salesmen by asking to speak to previous students and inquiring about where the instructor learned the methods and how many students he or she has taught.

With the right tools, says Baime, mindfulness meditation can help the anxious reclaim their lives.

“When you learn to bring your attention into the present moment in a balanced way,” he says, “you learn to undo those negative predictions for the future.”"

9 Foolproof Ways To Deal With Anxiety (originally posted in Forbes)

“Try a Breathing Exercise

Instead of focusing on a looming bill or the record unemployment rate, take a moment to concentrate on your breath. Take in all the air you can, pause and then release. After 10 repetitions, you should start to feel some degree of calm, says Dr. Michael J. Baime, director of the Penn Program for Stress Management at the University of Pennsylvania Health System.

Mindfulness Meditation

Mindfulness meditation emphasizes focusing on the present moment instead of dwelling on regrets or worries. To learn more about it, try reading Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain and Illness by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, the pioneer of the subject. You can also find a local practitioner in your community, but be sure to speak to previous students and inquire about where the instructor learned the methods and how many students he or she has taught.

Engage Your Brain

The brain processes anxiety in two separate regions. The amygdala emits a fight-or-flight response while the pre-frontal cortex handles executive tasks like decision-making. A recent brain-imaging study showed that those prone to anxiety may have difficulty mediating their worries if not engaged in a task that requires diverting attention from the amygdala to the pre-frontal cortex. Though not yet replicated by other scientists, the findings reflect what works well in other successful techniques: high-quality distraction.

Socializing

Spending time with friends and family is not only a diversion from obsessing over the unknown, it can also improve your mood by forcing you to laugh or gain perspective on your fears and worries. During these rough times, socializing can also mean commiserating with your peers. But instead of collectively dwelling on the negative, try discussing positive developments.

Physical Activity

Exercise is another great diversion tactic. At a vigorous-enough pace, exercise can help produce increased amounts of the body’s naturally occurring, mood-boosting chemical dopamine. Getting active also gives people a sense of control and accomplishment, which can eclipse feelings of doubt and anxiety. There is one thing to remember, though: Be sure to focus on the task at hand instead of letting the mind wander.

Preventive Care

Anxiety is a powerful emotion that can overwhelm those who experience it. But instead of turning to alcohol, fatty food or television, try following the basic rules of good health and preventive care: stay physically active, eat well and get plenty of rest. Also avoid chemical substances like caffeine and nicotine, which can worsen anxiety, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Cognitive and Behavioral Techniques

Dr. Israel Iberzon,a professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Michigan, uses cognitive and behavioral techniques to help his patients overcome anxiety. These include “changing the narrative” associated with the anxiety, creating emotional distance and assessing the threat with a new perspective. Since these reactions are hardly intuitive, Iberzon recommends seeking out professional help to better understand them.

Psychotherapy

Therapy can be an effective tool for those who want to learn more about cognitive and behavioral coping techniques, but it may also be necessary for those who have a clinical disorder. Anxiety disorders, according to the nonprofit organization Anxiety Disorders Association of America, are the most common illnesses in the U.S. A psychotherapist can make an official diagnosis and provide support and treatment.

Anti-anxiety and Anti-depressant Medications

Prescription medicine can alleviate symptoms of a clinical anxiety disorder. For short-term relief, patients can take benzodiazepines, which work as sedatives. Anti-depressants like duloxetine (Cymbalta) and fluoxetine (Prozac) have also been used to treat anxiety disorders, according to the Mayo Clinic. A new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that the anti-depressant Lexapro was very effective in treating adults with Generalized Anxiety Disorder over the age of 60.”

Popularity: 26% [?]

I had written an article about a book that deals with positive thoughts as way of treating depression and anxiety. This study seems to confirm how strongly I felt about that book. Check out my post on  The Feeling Good Handbook.
Again, never change your course of treatment or discontinue medication without consulting your doctor. If you feel that your provider is not open to listening to other options you discover, seek a second opinion but do not stop meds on your own.

“Study Finds Non-drug Meditation Treatment Beats Depression

Tuesday, December 02, 2008 by: Sherry Baker, Health Sciences Editor

(NaturalNews) Clinical depression is far more than feeling blue. According to the National Institutes of Health, more than 20 million people in the U.S. have persistant depression that can interfere with everyday life, impact health and even lead to suicide. Now, for the first time, a study has shown that treatment based on meditation is an effective alternative to prescription drugs, even for people suffering from serious, long-term depression.

The research, just published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, found that the group-based psychological treatment called Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) was as good or better as treatment with anti-depressants like Prozac in preventing a relapse of serious depression — and the non-drug therapy was more effective in enhancing quality of life. What’s more, the study concluded MBCT is cost-effective in helping people with a history of depression stay well for the long term.

The research team, which included British investigators from the Mood Disorders Center at the University of Exeter and the Center for Economics of Mental Health (CEMH) at the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College in London, looked at 123 people who had suffered repeated episodes of clinical depression. In a randomized control trial , the research subjects were assigned to one of two groups. Half continued their on-going drug treatment with anti-depressants and the rest participated in an MBCT course and were also given the option of stopping their anti-depressant medications.

MBCT focuses on targeting negative thinking and helps people who are at risk for recurring depression to stop their depressed moods from spiraling out of control into a full episode of depression. During the eight-week trial, groups of between eight and fifteen people attended meetings with a therapist who taught them a range of meditation exercises that they could continue to practice on their own once the course ended. The MBCT exercises were primarily based on Buddhist meditation techniques and helped the study participants learn to focus on the present, rather than dwelling on the past or worrying about future tasks.

Although the meditation exercises worked in a different way for each person, many reported more control over their negative thoughts and depressed feelings. Over the 15 months after the trial ended , about 47% of the group following the MBCT course experienced a relapse — but those who continued normal treatment with anti-depressant drugs experienced a much higher, 60 percent relapse rate. In addition, the group practicing the mindfulness meditation techniques learned in the MBCT program reported a far better quality of life, more overall enjoyment and better physical well-being.

In a statement to the media, Professor Willem Kuyken of the University of Exeter , who headed the research, explained that people treated with anti-depressants are highly vulnerable to relapse when they stop their prescription drug therapy. “MBCT takes a different approach – it teaches people skills for life. What we have shown is that when people work at it, these skills for life help keep people well. Our results suggest MBCT may be a viable alternative for some of the 3.5 million people in the UK known to be suffering from this debilitating condition. People who suffer depression have long asked for psychological approaches to help them recover in the long-term and MBCT is a very promising approach. I think we have the basis for offering patients and GPs an alternative to long-term anti-depressant medication. We are planning to conduct a larger trial to put these results to the test and to examine how MBCT works,” Kuvken said.”

Popularity: 47% [?]