CosNano.com

If you are seeking professional help for agoraphobia, you really need to be informed about the most effective forms of therapy before you visit a therapist for the first time. This way you will be informed enough to talk intelligently about treatment options and work with the therapist to make the best decisions for your recovery.

Although therapists are trained to help you recover from agoraphobia, you will do best to take responsibility for your own recovery. You may follow the therapist’s treatment program or suggestions, but some therapists are biased towards one or more types of therapies they are most familiar with. Always keep in mind that ultimately, the therapist is working for you so you need to be informed.

Results vary from study to study, but in general, a combination of cognitive therapy, behavior therapy, and medication has proven most effective for recovering from agoraphobia in controlled studies.

Here are brief descriptions of each of the three most effective forms of therapy:

Behavioral Therapy: Focuses primarily on changing avoidance behavior that results from anxiety. Most effective forms of behavior therapy are systematic desensitization and flooding. Systematic desensitization is a therapy that involves gradually exposing yourself to feared settings to slowly re-condition yourself to feel relaxation instead of panic and anxiety. Flooding involves forcing yourself to stay in the feared setting until the panic and anxiety eventually go away.

Cognitive Therapy: Focuses primarily on changing anxiety-producing thought patterns. Three main forms of cognitive therapy are thought replacing, thought stopping, and focusing. In thought replacing (also called cognitive restructuring), the therapist teaches you to become aware of and replace your irrational, anxiety-producing thought patterns. In thought stopping, you learn techniques to notice and cut off irrational thinking in the moment, and in focusing, the therapist teaches you to re-focus your full attention on something in your present environment, engaging all of your senses, in order to divert feelings of panic and anxiety.

Medication: Focuses on changing physical processes in the brain through chemical intervention. Most effective medications prescribed for agoraphobia are benzodiazepines and SSRIs. Benzodiazepines are tranquilizers like Xanax, Valium, and Ativan. SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors) are a newer form of antidepressant that includes Prozac, Paxil, and Zoloft. Effexor (a Selective Serotonin and Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitor), is a close cousin to the SSRIs and is also a popular medication that is prescribed for agoraphobia.

Of course, when using medication, it is best to consult your physician about possible side-effects, tolerance, and withdrawal effects. Medication alone is not a long term solution for agoraphobia and is best used to help you relax while practicing cognitive and behavioral forms of therapy.
It is strongly recommended that you try a combination of cognitive and behavioral forms of therapy (with or without medication) before experimenting with alternative treatment options.

Since the same treatments do not always work the same for everyone, other forms of treatment for agoraphobia that have been developed include:

Psychodynamic therapy (or insight therapy)

Hypnosis

Herbal treatments

Biofeedback

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)

Emotional freedom techniques (EFT)

If you have agoraphobia, you will do best to try the more proven cognitive-behavioral therapies before trying these alternative forms of treatment.

The author, Stephen Price is a recovered agoraphobic with a masters degree in psychology. For more of his articles on agoraphobia, visit: agoraphobia.net agoraphobia.net

Tags: anxiety

Related posts

• Your Eight Hormones and Weight Loss (0)
• Yoga For Stress Management: Start The New Year With A Yoga Plan (0)
• Yoga A Blend Of Spiritual And Physical Exercises (0)
• Wrinkle Cream Buying Tips (0)
• Why it is Important to Keep Active (0)

Tags: anxiety

Another school year has begun and across the country mothers and caregivers are making preparations for lunches and snacks that will hopefully be consumed and not tossed in the cafeteria wastebasket. One of the best ways to avoid the trash can blues is to include youngsters in the initial planning stages. Start by letting them pick out a lunch box they will be proud to tote around. Then let them help decide what goes in it by asking if their preference would be grapes, orange slices, or a banana. Assume that if carrots are not eaten at home they will also not be eaten elsewhere, so leave them out. Although you should encourage children to try new foods, be sure to also include stand-by favorites such as pretzels or cheese slices.

Federal surveys have shown that children get approximately one-third of their daily calories at lunch, so it’s important to try and reduce foods that are high in sugar, fat and salt, as they can put children at risk for heart disease, diabetes, and other health-related problems in adulthood. You can’t avoid these types of foods completely, but you can cut down on the number of chocolate chip cookies you pack. Replace traditional potato chips with baked chips. Use pita bread or tortillas instead of white loaf bread. Substitute pre-packaged lunches that are high in sodium and fat, with homemade versions that can include low-fat meat and cheese selections.

Whenever in doubt, the Food Guide Pyramid still remains the standard for nutritional eating for children ages 3 and older: Bread, Cereal, Rice, and Pasta (6-11 servings a day); Vegetables (3-5 servings a day); Fruits (2-4 servings a day); Milk, Yogurt, and Cheese (2-4 servings a day); Meat, Poultry, Fish, Dry Beans, Eggs, and Nuts (2-3 servings a day); Fats, Oils, and Sweets (use sparingly).

Here are some additional tips that will entice children to eat more of the “good stuff”:

- Make boring sandwiches suddenly appear interesting by cutting them out with cookie cutters. Bake small pizzas in a square shape. Add sauce, cheese, green pepper strips for X’s, and Pepperoni for O’s. This can be put in a square, plastic sandwich container and served cold. Pasta salad is another option. Use fun-shaped and colored pasta, such as small shells, wagon wheels, or ABCs.

- Healthy snacks are just as important as nutritious lunches, so avoid prepackaged treats like cookies and candy. Instead opt for pretzels, graham or whole-wheat crackers, yogurt, cheese, sesame breadsticks, trail mix, rice cakes, applesauce, or pudding.

- Remember to always include a cold pack in your child’s lunch for their cold food/drinks to avoid contamination. Or freeze water bottles or juice boxes the night before (they will thaw out by lunch time). You can always send milk in your child’s lunch if they drink it, but never include soda!

- Tuck fun treasures in their lunch box like a funky pencil or eraser; throw in some fun stickers; or write a special note or little card to just say “I’m thinking about you today!” You could even jot down a silly joke to brighten their day and they can share with their friends. Slip in a colorful napkin to celebrate a special day such as a birthday or holiday.

- Lunch doesn’t always have to come in the form of sandwiches. Pack healthy appetizers and finger foods or a cold pasta dish.

Healthy Snack Ideas:

Ants on a Log: Spread peanut butter or cream cheese on celery sticks and top with raisins.

ABC Snax: Mix together 1 cup Post Honeycomb Letter Alpha-Bits; 1/4 cup raisins or dried cranberries; and 1/4 cup peanuts for a healthy trail mix.

Fruit Burritos: Spread a tortilla with peanut butter and add sliced fruit such as strawberries, apples, and/or bananas. Fold the ends and wrap up tightly.

Granola Bars: These are a much better alternative to candy bars. But read the label to make sure the fat or sugar content is low.

Nuts and Seeds: This delicious snack choice has lots of protein, minerals, and vitamins. They are also high in fat – but in a good way.

Frozen Fruit Bars: Make and freeze juice pops with real fruit juice. You can also add small chunks of fruit for added fiber. Frozen grapes are also a great kid pleaser.

Ready to eat cereal: Many ready to eat cereals such as granola or those which contain whole grain and no added sugar, are very nutritious.

Homemade muffins and quick breads: If your child likes muffins, they will love munching
on homemade quick bread. Many of these recipes include pureed fruits and vegetables, which add to the nutritional content.

Non-dairy yogurt or jello packs and cheese: Make sure that these are purchased from the grocery shelves, not the chilled dairy compartment. These foods stay fresh and safe unless they are opened. Individual applesauce servings is another good choice.

_____________________________

Charlene Davis is an experienced and published writer specializing in business, retail, e-commerce, weddings, parenting, spirituality, and food. For more recipes and cooking articles, visit her Busy Moms Recipes blog at busymomsrecipes.blogspot.com busymomsrecipes.blogspot.com or sign up for her free newsletter at busymomsrecipes.com busymomsrecipes.com

Tags: Heart, mineral

Related posts

• Your Guide To Getting The Most From Your Multivitamin (0)
• You Don’t Have To Be Sick To Benefit From A Salt Bath (0)
• Why it is Important to Keep Active (0)
• Why Do You Need To Eat Tomatoes? (0)
• Why Alternative Medicine? My Story (0)

Tags: Heart, mineral

While it may be easy to scoff off an acne fetish with remarks like, “I don’t have that problem,” this condition is more common than properly acknowledged. A fetish is an object of unreasonably obsessive attention or regard. Thus, extreme attention given to zits and pimples characterize an acne fetish. Two clinical forms of an acne fetish include excoriated acne and imagined acne.

Excoriated acne occurs when an acne patient continues to pick at or squeeze acne formations on their face, never allowing the skin to heal. This constant picking aggravates the acne condition and often times leaves severe scarring. Imagined acne happens when a patient is convinced she has acne but in reality does not. This person may have one small pimple and blow the existence of the pimple out of proportion and view it as a severe case of acne.

Underlying both of these acne fetishes is the fear of being ugly, or dysmorphophobia. It’s an easy psychological state to acquire in a society that increasingly places more value on superficial looks than personal traits.

Steps to combating an acne fetish include:
Spending less time self-critiquing in front of the mirror; and
Embellishing your talents.

Even a hiatus from mirror visits may help an acne fetish. If you do look in the mirror, focus on elements of your face besides the zits. For instance, look at the color of your eyes or the size of your lips, without criticizing of course. You may have lovely eyelashes or the perfect eyebrows. Whenever you look in the mirror stop making negative judgments about yourself. If you do find yourself ridiculing yourself and wanting to burst a zit in a rushed desire for clear skin, just remind yourself that every zit that you prematurely pop may encourage the formation of 3 completely new zits.

Focus on your greatest assets as a person, or cultivate new skills. You may be an awesome guitar player or fabulous singer, give yourself recognition for your strengths. Do something that you’ve always wanted to do, but did not do because you felt having acne precludes you from this activity.

In the final analysis, healing an acne fetish starts with recognizing that this condition has serious medical repercussions. An acne fetish can debilitate one’s self-esteem while encouraging needless facial scarring. If you think you have an acne fetish, you can get help from a qualified dermatologist, psychologists or just talk it over with some really cool and understanding friends.

Naweko San-Joyz is creator of the Acne Messages program, the only acne program to combine the latest scientific research and ancient wisdom to deliver an acne cure as unique as the acne sufferer. As there are millions of people with acne, there are a millions cures, find your unique cure with Acne Messages. ISBN: 0974912204 available at Amazon and Noixia.com/ Noixia.com, Home of Six Billion Natural Cures for Acne

Tags: acne, dermatologist

Related posts

• Why Successfully Treating Back Acne Plagues Most People (0)
• Who Should Use Acne Medication (0)
• When You Should Use Antibiotics For Acne (0)
• What Is The Best Acne Treatment Now (0)
• What Is Acne? Why Am I Affected? How To Treat It? (0)

Tags: acne, dermatologist

As it is customary or rather expected, there was much celebration, congratulations and felicitation after the successful launch of Zipa – a new toilet soap brand to compete with the market leader – Joy. Lunch followed almost immediately and afterwards, the usual networking.

I could remember vividly how I keenly watched a young man from among the crowd. A young business executive, I suppose was also engaged in his encultured art of networking. Just before he approached his first target, a tall slim business mogul, he did the “usual”. His act was rather unusual for his caliber. He breathes into his hands first to see if he his breath stinks. What a shame! The compelling reason he did this was to test if he felt comfortable first with the smell (odor). He obviously also wanted to present a corporate entity to hiss target. I sat patiently within my circle of friends to wait till he was done.

As soon as he finished, I humbly approached him and without mincing words categorically told him he has a problem. His problem is bad breath and he needed to treat it immediately! I explained exactly how and why he has this problem and proffered possible solutions to treat it. The following vividly explains how to treat bad breath immediately! First understand the cause of bad breath.

Bad breath is caused by anaerobic sulfur producing bacteria that can be found within the surface of the tongue and the throat. This bacterium ironically is needed for some specific functions it performs in the digestive process. It helps to break down protein found in some specific food, mucus, and blood e.t.c.

The problem here is not with the bacteria – it actually is with the waste sulfur they produce. These sulfur are the one that stinks. Contrary to what you may believe, bad breath does not originate from anywhere else apart from the mouth – the tongue and part of the throat. At least 95% of diagnosed bad breath cases originate from there – not the intestine. Someone may be quick to proffer the best logical solution – “if bad breath is caused by anaerobic sulfur producing bacteria, then what else, get rid of it!” the next possible question in our quest to treat bad breath will be – Now common, I’m feeling good, I’m happy, in simple terms, how do you get rid of this bacteria? Insightful!

Dear friend, the truth is that these bacteria are supposed to be there. Like I earlier noted, these bacteria are good ones – they help in the digestion of protein. Eliminating this bacterium would mean limiting the digestive actions in your system. Do not worry; there are other known safer ways to treat the problem of bad breath. The basic idea here is to disenable this sulfur producing and odor causing bacteria to thrive in large quantities in your mouth. You can follow these tips: ·

Drink a lot of water

· Chew on sugarless gum and mints

· Drink water and use it to clean your mouth thoroughly after eating. This is more important especially after eating meals high in protein. There are two reasons for this. It moistens the mouth and removes the food particles that will feed the bacteria or in themselves, cause odor.

· Thorough brushing and flossing should be incorporated in ones daily cleaning routine. Flossing should be more emphasized. (Just in case, flossing means to clean in between your teeth with a special material.)

· If you are on Atkins diet, the odds are even greater. This is because the core of Atkins diet is for you to break down fats into ketones to produce ketosis. Ketone causes very bad smell and they get into your saliva – bad breath originates from the mouth! It is better to change the diet

· Minimize greatly your consumption of garlic, onions, chili powder, alcohol and hot peppers.

· Make sure the state of your gums and teeth are near perfect if not outright perfect. Check on your dentist for regular examination

In summary, what we have been able to analyze in your quest to treat bad breath is this:

· Reduce greatly the sum total of these bacteria that exist in your mouth

· Reduce greatly what makes them thrive; the types of food we take in, the kinds of diet we follow, the debris that remains in between the teeth after eating

· Finally, reduce greatly the type of environment, which these bacteria thrive.

· That’s it on treating bad breath. For more info on how to eliminate it fast, visit freshbreath4life.blogspot.com/” target=”_blank freshbreath4life.blogspot.com

Achi has been helping a number of people eliminate the success monster – bad breath.

Visit freshbreath4life.blogspot.com freshbreath4life.blogspot.com now! For simple incredible ways to eliminate bad breath fast!

Tags: diet

Related posts

• Zrii - Bringing Ayurvedic Wisdom Into the 21st Century (0)
• Zone Diet Weight Loss Program (0)
• Zone Diet - Criticism (0)
• Your Weight Loss Management Program (0)
• Your Target of Health is Easy (0)

Tags: diet