I remember being a little kid, and learning what happiness was. Sure, most people know what happiness feels like, and I'm no exception. But I'm talking about that blissful happiness you see in the movies, too. The kind where tears of joy stream down the face of the happy person, because they're just so overwhelmingly pleased about something. I recall trying to make myself feel as happy as the people in those movies, and as happy as I assumed others were, but I could never be that joyous. I would sit up, at 3am and onwards, staring into the TV, wondering why I couldn't be as happy as other people were. Wondering why things had to be so difficult, every day, while other people got to be happy. Pondering whether the only tears I'd ever cry would be sad ones. Anxiety was my respite from sadness. Not anxiety like somebody gets before a date, or during an exam, but a fear so intense that it literally made me collapse. My oasis in a desert of depression was a crippling surge of terror that would come at unpredictable and frequent times. But then I found a way to get some of that happiness for myself. No, it wasn't religion, nor was it from a bunch of platitudes like "True happiness is inside us all." No, it was a real solution. A solution that worked, and was known to work because of the science behind it. Some of it came from maturity,…

Anxiety and Medical Marijuana: New Studies Show it May be Beneficial Controversy around Medical Marijuana Medical Marijuana refers to the use of the plant cannabis and its extracts or constituents as herbal therapy as legislated in USA. There is controversy about the medical value of marijuana or cannabis and lot of opposition to their use. But there are many documented effects that are found beneficial in treatment of nausea and improvement of hunger in case of AIDS patients and patients undergoing chemotherapy and in treatment of glaucoma. More commonly it is believed to have analgesic properties but even this is disputed. The controversy of medical marijuana is due to the fact that it is used in various forms like smoking or drinking the extracts for addictive recreational use and is legislated as illegal. Many countries have banned the use of cannabis in any form but the use in medical applications is permitted with various degrees of control and permission requirements. The medical use of cannabis is disputed all over the world. Benefits of Medical Marijuana Various studies have established the benefits of medical marijuana in treatment of many conditions like nausea, premenstrual syndrome, insomnia, weight loss and loss of appetite. It is also found effective in treatment of painful conditions and spasticity, asthma and movement disorder. It has also proven to be useful in migraines, inflammatory bowels disease etc Medical Marijuana in treatment of anxiety disorder Medical marijuana has been used in treatment in psychiatric conditions like anxiety, depression and…

Having become recently aware of my own social anxiety disorder, I've been reading with interest the "Anxiety" opinion series in the New York Times. (For those who haven't seen it, you can check it out here.) The most recent entry, by professor and author Daniel Smith, includes this passage: "Like many people who have been given a diagnosis of an anxiety disorder (and many who have not), I am always braced for the next recurrence. Anxiety, like the tide, is forever receding and returning, receding and returning. I have been experiencing this pattern for nearly 20 years now, so that my anxiety has come to seem, at times, inevitable and unassailable — a fait accompli. My anxiety, I’d concluded, is what I am. There is no escape." Being new to this, I've been thinking a lot about how social anxiety affects one's sense of identity. (Short digression: When I say I'm "new" to social anxiety, I mean that I'm new to the knowledge that there's a name for this condition, and that communities, such as this one, exist for those dealing with anxiety. I'm not new to the feelings. Those have been with me as long as I can remember.) While I always knew I was, to put it kindly, quirkier-than-most, this is the first time that I've had a label to put on it, and an explanation for why I feel and behave the way that I do. I'm finding that this newfound awareness has both benefits and drawbacks.…

When we get panic attacks, we all tend to deal with them differently. Mostly because we are all unique individuals and because of that no one persons anxiety or panic attack is exactly like anothers. This is neither good nor bad. Because of this, it wouldn't make sense for me to try and tell you know to treat your anxiety, because what works for someone does nothing for someone else. That being said, all I can do is talk about my experiences and hope that by reading them, someone can relate and find comfort in the fact that they are not alone. You are not alone. Ever since I knew my worry and symptoms had a name - anxiety disorder - I began searching for articles to read, treatments, and more importantly, people like me. I've been on many online fourms and websites looking for that reassurance that I wasn't the only one feeling the way I felt. I soon found out I was one of millions of people worldwide who suffer with an anxiety disorder. Anxiety Social Net is a great place where I feel I can really be myself. I don't really talk about my anxiety on other social media websites, so I am grateful I can come on here and feel 'normal'. Let me start out by saying I am on medication right now for my anxiety and depression. I had been medication free for many years, and i was trying to cope naturally. Certain events in…

Hello everyone, I'm a new ASN member and have only just begun being active on here. I belong to a lot of different online anxiety communities, but ASN is my favorite. I'm not sure why. It seems more dynamic than most of the other sites I use, and the focus feels more about hope than about just stewing in the problem. I'm a very solutions-oriented person, so maybe that's what I dig about it. My Anxiety Story I thought it would be a good idea to tell my story about my journey of anxiety recovery. It just occurred to me I've never written about it except in pieces. I've never made a complete account of my struggles with anxiety and I think it would help me to do so. So here goes: I was raised in a very dysfunctional family. My mother suffered from severe depression and my father left us when I was five. My mom was in bad shape and suffered repeated hospitalizations. I grew up feeling different; I was ashamed about Mom's mental illness and did my best to hide it from everyone. It was a very unstable environment to grow up in, even though the 1970s were the "age of divorce". I can't think of a single childhood friend with parents that weren't divorced, but I don't think most of them were being raised by crazy people. I was. Threats and physical violence was an everyday part of my home life. Add to that the fact…

Desensitization Therapy In Vivo Desensitization is defined as:A variation of systematic desensitization in which the anxiety-arousing situations to which the person is exposed are real, rather than imagined.This differs from Flooding, another technique for treating Anxiety, by using a more measured approach to treating Anxiety. Typically, with In Vivo Desensitization, the patient is gradually exposed to the actual feared stimulus over a period of sessions based on a hierarchical list of Anxiety evoking stimuli. The treatment is based on the theory that the fear response has been conditioned and that avoidance of the fear maintains the fear. The idea is that through exposure to the stimulus, this harmful conditioning can be “unlearned”. How does it all work? Well back in 1958 John Wolpe developed a method of a creating a hierarchical list of anxiety evoking stimuli in order of intensity which allows patients to undergo adaption.Wolpe further writes: “An Anxiety hierarchy is the thematically related list of anxiety evoking stimuli, ranked according to the amount of anxiety they evoke. There are a number of considerations in constructing desensitization hierarchies. First, suitable themes have to be identified around which anxiety-evoking stimuli can be clustered. Second, clients can be introduced to interviews in which therapists focus on other problems using other methods. A record is then kept of all scene presentations and their outcomes.The sessions range in length of exposure and typically gets longer as the patient gets more into advanced stages. Step by Step As one of my largest fears is…

I started having problematic anxiety when I was 14 years old (I am now nearly 26). The combination of puberty hormones and all the life-changes high school entailed proved a toxic combination, triggering the change from High-StrungAshley to MentallyDisorderedAshley. Intense anxiety kept me from attending my classes, depression kept me on the couch, unshowered, pajama’d, crying sporadically, and obsessed with bad television that would distract me, briefly, from my so-called life. This was my grade 9. Through talk-therapy, a very supportive and understanding family, hormone leveling (read: birth control pills) and “as needed‘ sedatives: I was able to get back into my life and keep things (mostly) under control. I had issues here and there in the years that followed, but for the most part - things were under control. It wasn’t until I was finishing second year at university that my dark cloud truly reared it’s ugly head again. One fateful day, started out as a fun day with all my friends, celebrating the end of second year; ended as the (still) reigning champ for worst day of my life. There are tons and tons of photos of that, the last day of second year. To this day, it makes me chuckle to see the smile on my face: I had no idea how my life was about to change. Two carloads of my closest friends were a half hour from home for a day of mini golf, laughs, and dinner. After dinner, one of the car’s wouldn’t start,…

Fear is a major part of my life. I’m scared to get up, scared to go to work, scared to come home from work, scared to go to sleep and also scared to do everything in between. It’s this fear that causes anger and pain. I know the thoughts I have are irrational and that my mind is playing tricks but the helplessness causes me to mentally “beat myself up” over it. what is anxiety to me: Fear, Anger, Embarrassment, Demotivation, Pain, Overwhelming Emotion, Strength, Hope. It is a pretty standard list, if you search anxiety and depression symptoms you are likely to find all of them listed; except two. Strength and Hope. The reason I have included these will become clear by the end of this blog. When I have a panic or anxiety attack I always get a pain down my left arm and a crushing feeling in my chest. After being on this site I have found that I am not alone in feeling this pain. However, I am always wary to dismiss it as just an attack as it’s always in my mind that this time it could be an actual heart attack! One of the main reasons I decided to write this was to push myself. If it embarrasses me, then so be it. There have been many times I have avoided doing things because I was scared of being judged, failing and making an utter fool of myself; but recently I made a conscious…