Learning to take little steps is a huge step towards recovery from social anxiety disorder. Yep, it's true! Weird as that may sound. It is logical though, although it may seem as though you are simply enabling the anxiety for a long time. But think about it, if you constantly put yourself in the most anxiety provoking situation you can, and then panic, you are only building up a great evidence base that that situation Will ALWAYS make you panic. It took me ages to learn this, and I used to always beat myself up because I hadn't managed a situation as well as I 'should' have. I hated the fact that I couldn't eat out. Couldn't go to parties. Couldn't sing in public. Because as far as I was concerned, I SHOULD be doing all those things, without ANY anxiety whatsoever! This is simply not the case. It works like this. The more you force yourself into situations which you aren't ready to manage, the more evidence you have that you CAN'T manage them. The littler steps you take, the less likely you are to panic. The more little steps you succeed in taking without panicking, the bigger backlog of evidence you have to prove that you CAN manage your anxiety. Once you have this evidence that you can manage your anxiety in little steps, then you can slowly move on to a bigger little step. Keep doing this, until you finally reach a point where you are happy.…

Is medication the only way to deal with anxiety? What we all need is to understand that medication is an aid to recovery.  It’s a shame that long term sufferers are not given better help to overcome their illness. While every case is different and some more traumatic in how the illness has developed or evolved, there is always a way to help. The human mind is a powerful tool and is underestimated in its ability to heal and recover as so much of it is used needlessly in sustaining thought patterns and functions that are detrimental. This has long been documented that the human brain operates in this way to adapt to survive. When we are a child and learning it is a regular occurrence- don’t touch that it’s hot, yet a child will out of curiosity and the need to learn ignore warning, but, the pain felt registers in the brain- don’t touch that it’s hot and will hurt. As an adult we form self education we develop the ability to create opinion and apply it. However, this means we stop wishing to learn as we believe we have made all the right risk assessments and no longer need to learn. We know now not to touch a hot stove; we understand to look both ways when crossing the road. We don’t however always apply this when it comes to our health. We like to be told by people who did carry on learning what is best. Every…

Coming to the realisation that getting better from Social Anxiety Disorder was going to involve more than a quick fix, was the first real step I came to in finally starting to recover. I was 22 or 23 when I made that decision, and I'd had severe S.A.D since I was 11. For years, although I knew something was wrong, and that I was far more 'nervous' of doing things than other people, I refused to listen to people telling me that I had to work hard to fix the problem. I honestly thought it would just eventually go away. That I'd 'get over it'. That one day I simply wouldn't have to deal with it any more. For my entire time at high school I played the avoidance game. I became very good at giving excuses, making up little 'white lies', being 'sick' at invonvenient times or just not doing things. My friends and family came to simply 'accept' that that's what I did. It stopped seeming weird. In fact, if I had done something different, they probably would have made a big deal out of it - which maybe made me even less likely to try and change. It wasn't until I'd dished out big money for a university degree only to find myself unable to sit in a lecture theatre without nearly fainting or vomiting that I finally started to accept I might need help.  Sure - I'd seen counsellors galore up until then, but leaving home…

 Junk food, comfort food, high calorie foods - they could be contributing not only to your waistline but also to your depression. Many mental health conditions occur or are made worse through the foods we eat. Yet, most people do not make this connection. Not doing so could mean the risk of missing the health improvements that foods can bring. In fact, the right diet could easily help encourage improvement of some of your symptoms.   What's the Link?   According to some reports, a poor diet can make you more susceptible to depression. In a study conducted in the UK, more than 3000 middle-aged workers were monitored for a period of five years. They looked at both depression and diet during the study. The study indicated that those who ate junk food were more likely to have depression symptoms.     Is that good or bad news?   What is junk food? In short, this particular study looked at foods that were highly processed, including meats, sweets, fried foods, foods with refined sugars such as cereals, high fat dairy and chocolate. How many of those are in your must-have list in any given day? If you are struggling with depression, there could be a link here.   That's Good News   For those who suffer from depression, the understanding of this link could be incredibly helpful. The study also found that those who had a diet that was rich in fruits and vegetables, as well as fish, had fewer…

"Too many of us are not living our dreams, because we are too busy living our fears." Les Brown Recently, I started blogging about my social anxiety disorder. I also started posting some original songs online.  My original thought - YIKES! As someone who has suffered from severe social anxiety disorder since the age of 10, the idea of blogging about it seemed like an interesting dillemma. Yes - I would love to get my story out there, if only because I myself would have gained a lot from reading it when I was younger. But No - I can't put myself out there, everyone will judge me, and who am I to think that anyone will care, people will just think I'm full of it and be annoyed. At the end of the day, probably very few people will even know that it's out there. Yes, a lot of my friends have been suddenly enlightened to the fact that this disorder even exists, but on the upside, they now understand why I usually have an excuse not to go to their parties, and maybe, just maybe one or two of them have recognised the same traits in themselves and may look at others in a new light. I am a singer, and I love to sing and write music, but until this past month, I have NEVER let anyone hear what I write, let alone put it online for all to access. I guess though, that I've come to…

Agoraphobia can be devilitating but there are many treatments available!   We define agoraphobia as a form ofAnxiety disorder. There is some controversy regarding the word “Agoraphobia”. In the literal sense of the word, agoraphobia means a fear of “open spaces” This does not provide a complete and appropriate understanding of the term. Agoraphobia refers to a relentless anxiety condition arising out of illogical and disabling fears. Open spaces don’t necessarily cause fear in people affected with agoraphobia. But such people are somewhat haunted by fear getting panic attacks and the affected persons may suffer panic attacks either in public places like temples, crowded market areas or at home. So to be more precise, Agoraphobia is marked by extreme fear arising out of circumstances wherein an escape seems impossible or where there is no availability of any help in case of a panic attack.   A group of certain feared activities may result in Agoraphobia. An individual affected with agoraphobia may find it extremely difficult to drive a vehicle, or to travel in a vehicle; to stand on a bridge, in a queue, in a crowd and to be away from home. These persons are always troubled by an unknown fear of an impending danger and often get panic attacks. Causes of agoraphobia   Medical professionals ascribe many factors that cause agoraphobia. If a people are exposed to anxiety aggravating events that recur again, they may develop agoraphobia. Such events cause an intense fear often leaving an indelible impression on that individual’s mind.…

My Journey is still going, but in truth I had my darkest days and moments where I thought it would never get better, never seem better. Faith is something that everyone says you should have and in reality even if not in a religious sense it is all about self belief- I know I can, be what I want to be- If I work hard at it Ill be where I want to be. I have kept pushing and often have the dark days of being fed up, fed up of medication, fed up of being ill, tired, run down, physically and emotionally exhausted and then i think about how selfish it makes me to feel so concerned about trivial things- then I scold myself for telling myself off. If you are reading this then you like me, have suffered and had a bad time of it, life dealt you a shoddy hand but you kept taking a new card from the pack, you havent folded yet- neither have I. We have a right to feel upset when something bad happens to us or even because of how we are- but we must never let that feeling prolong and we must try to encourage a more positive thought volcabulary 'I can, I will, I want to...' not I cant I ll fail or its because Im rubbish.  Self beration is a waste of energy and thouhts and its a waste of time, you need to think of the worst case…

Acceptance as an Orientation towards Anxiety Sweat trickling down, chest discomfort and heart pounding – anxiety is a very real thing. Of the many things I have learned through anxiety, it is this that strikes me as the most curious: To accept is to change.   That has real-life implication for me. And little did I know that will also change the way I view the world.   But back to social anxiety. I refused anxiety. I guess, like most of the people, I am trying to escape what is painful. I will not deny it – anxiety is a very painful experience for me. I have tried – psyching myself that I am not anxious, telling myself that I can deal with this. It worked – in the short term. But it soon crumbled. It was an uphill battle. For most days, I would sit down and try to collect myself, inspiring myself with that Japanese, “Ganbatte!” only to have it wilting as soon as I feel that nervous twitch that I was so familiar with.   What I did not realized was that underlying all these, was a set of beliefs that I held. And through reading, discussions and much self-reflection, I, like many others, have come to the following insights.   First, I realized that anxiety need not restrict us in what we do. We may feel anxious at certain things – but that should not stop us from doing what is necessary. I was told that…