Our thoughts can contribute significantly to our level of stress and anxiety. One solution is to get into the habit of writing down whatever is troubling you. This will help tremendously to ease your anxiety and prevent a full-blown anxiety or panic attack.

Many people swear by this method for several reasons:

1. It enables them to get off their chest whatever is troubling them.
2. Once the issues are on paper, it lessens the urgency surrounding them.
3. It provides an opportunity to ‘vent’ their feelings and air their concerns in an environment where they will not be judged.

By keeping a journal of daily thoughts and feelings, in a sense you are being your own therapist. It’s not unlike talking to a counsellor to get feedback. In fact, this is just how a therapist works. He or she will make you look inside and answer your own questions.

The key is to take the time afterwards to go back through your journal and read what you’ve entered. This will put a whole new light onto the issues that had caused you so much distress at the time you wrote those entries.

Often, you’ll realize the things that bothered you weren’t all that important. They might have seemed important at the time, but in retrospect, you’ll find that the issues weren’t quite as dire as you thought. You truly will see them in a new light.

Getting those thoughts down on paper gets them out of your head so you can unscramble them. This is when the resolutions can begin.

Find a safe place for your journal so you won’t have to worry about other people seeing it. Then you won’t have to be afraid to let it all out. Write about everything – from the issue you’re facing to your emotional response and how you feel about it. Think about whether it makes you anxious, depressed or stressed.

The point is, don’t just write and put it away. Come back to it at a later time and read it. Evaluate your condition at the time you wrote it and how important it really is now, compared to how important you thought it was back then.

Realize that whatever you’re feeling about a situation, whether you’re anxious or panicked, when you’ve calmed down you will understand that things are never as bad as they seem.

Learn more about Natural Anxiety Relief and treatment products that I recommend at http://www.book-titles.ca/anxietycure.htm
 

Does anyone truly know what’s normal and what isn’t? It’s a fine line that has become blurred even for scientists.

The fear a large number of us experience when we have to make a speech in front of an audience is, for the most part, just nervousness that we’d expect under such circumstances. If that same fear keeps us from many other social settings as well, it is not normal.

The majority of us experience ‘the blues’ at some point in our lives. It’s natural to feel sad when bad things happen and make us unhappy. When ‘the blues’ don’t go away and all interests are abandoned, it has become depression.

Experiencing anxiety when we feel threatened is a natural reaction to a stressful event. We can’t help ourselves. It’s our body’s way of defending itself from dangers. Feeling anxious for no apparent reason means we are suffering from more than normal fear.

But at what point do they become abnormal? When do we cross that blurred line? How do we know we’ve crossed it?

The problem scientists and researchers face is that there is no quick test to identify when that line has been crossed. Abnormal mental health doesn’t show up on X-rays and blood tests.

It’s even more difficult to recognize because what’s normal is often defined by our cultural expectations, our background and our upbringing.

There are some areas medical experts look at when making the determination.

Your Self Perceptions:

How you judge and evaluate your own perceptions, how you think, act and feel, can give them a clue to your condition. You might think they are normal, but others around you might think otherwise. You might see nothing wrong if you ignore your own hygiene for days at a time, although it could mean you are suffering from depression. You might recognize that you’re no longer able to cope but you cannot put your finger on what’s wrong.

Unfortunately, we aren’t always able to identify our own personality changes. That’s where other people can help.

The Perception by Others:

Your family members might have slowly become accustomed to your gradual shift in personality and behavior patterns and therefore the changes aren’t so obvious to them. Whereas someone outside the family can provide a fresh view of the situation and can often identify problems that are affecting you. This is where the doctor or therapist comes in.

Cultural Views:

Some cultures have views that are different from what’s normal to the rest of society, as in Asian cultures vs western cultures. While it might be normal in one culture for women to play the submissive role, in western culture it could be viewed as abnormal for a woman not to show her self-esteem and independence – to assert herself. In religious groups, it might be normal to talk to oneself, whereas in western culture this could be considered a form of schizophrenia.

There is also a statistical method that is used to determine normality based on what’s statistically average among the rest of the population.

The significance of your symptoms can be determined by asking a few questions:

1. How long have you had these symptoms? If they’ve lasted more than a few weeks to a month, then you are probably having more than a temporary condition.
2. How severe are your symptoms? If they’ve interfered with your normal routine for an extended time, you shouldn’t let it continue or your condition could worsen.
3. How upsetting are your symptoms? In the case of anxiety, if fear prevents you from leaving the house, it’s time to seek help. If your sadness has you feeling like life isn’t worth living, it’s likely you are suffering from depression.

Get help from one of the excellent products available at http://www.book-titles.ca/anxietycure.htm

Finding a natural cure for anxiety attack symptoms can be a daunting task. While you’re experiencing ongoing attacks is not the time to start looking for the solution. That’s when you will begin to take desperate action because you will want so badly for the anxiety attack to stop. 

The thing is, you’re not likely to be thinking rationally at that point.  Unfortunately, there are companies and people who are promoting products that can produce unpleasant side effects or cost you a lot of money. In many cases, these products are either a rehash of other products, or they just don’t work. Some of these people have probably never experienced an anxiety attack to the level you have. 

Many such companies prey on people like you when you are at your most vulnerable.  It’s natural for you to want a quick cure. During an attack, you’re ready to do anything to make them go away. When you see a blazing ad stating that a certain product can cure you, you’re tempted to jump at it. 

This is not the time to be searching for a solution. Wait until the attacks have subsided significantly before doing a search for help. It is best done when you are able to think rationally. 

I realize it’s difficult to find such a calmed time in your life, but it’s important to do so. And then, don’t jump at the first offer that comes along. Take your time to check them out properly. Seek advice from people you trust. People who will not steer you wrong. People who understand what you’re going through and can provide honest and knowledgeable feedback. 

With that out of the way, I am going to give you one of the techniques that I learned that is a natural cure for anxiety attacks. Now, I don’t guarantee it will work for you, but it is easy to try, and it doesn’t involve medications. 

There are herbal remedies being offered that are supposed to work, but you have to be careful because we tend to think of these natural cures for anxiety as being safe. We don’t think of them as being ‘drugs’ as we know them. But it’s important to realize that they can be dangerous. 

I discovered purely by accident what helped my anxiety. At the time, I was having hair growth problems for which my doctor prescribed stress-level doses of Vitamin B Complex, with C. I’ve since learned that the Vitamin B combinations are responsible for preventing depression as well as helping with hair growth. 

It didn’t happen quickly. It was 2-3 months of one pill a day before I noticed a difference. My depression lifted, I felt mentally uplifted and brighter, and much less stressed. 

Try it for yourself and see if it works for you as it did for me. I must add a warning, however, that you should make sure vitamin supplements are okay for you to take, especially if you are taking other medications. Even vitamin supplements can cause undesirable interactions. And never take more than the prescribed dose – as it states on the bottle’s label.

As I’ve mentioned before, forums are an excellent place to get one-on-one feedback from people who have experienced similar conditions to yours. They all face some of the challenges you do, so they understand what you’re going through.

As many of you might already know, I suffered anxiety, panic and depression for many years, along with all their related conditions including lack of confidence, low self esteem and stress. While I am now cured, I’ve been looking for information and resources to help you.

Here are a few forums that I would recommend.  I will add others as I find them.

http://www.thetalkshop.org 
This forum is still in its infancy and looking for new members, but the participants are always ready to offer their support and encouragement. Great vibes in this forum. It has a strong emphasis on bereavement issues as well as an excellent private suicide section. The focus of this forum as quoted directly from their main page:

Parents who have suffered the Loss of a Child…
Siblings who suffer with the Loss of a Brother or Sister…
Parents, Guardians & Siblings of Children with Special Needs…
Those who Suffer from & Live with Depression/Anxiety/Mental Illness….
 
As well as a chill-out zone to chat with others on general topics. Here you should find others who are going through much the same as you are… Also you will find contacts, helpful links & a Community Spirit that is dedicated to Helping Each Other with the Result being that we Help Ourselves by Helping Others.