DEPRESSION

profoundfeelings@gmail.com (Michele) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 04:28:00 -0700

How to overcome fear and prevent DEPRESSION!

Profound feelings of...” I understands and has compassion for people who suffer from fear, stress, panic and anxiety disorders that could transform into depression. Profound feelings of “fear”, like many other emotions, are very powerful emotions. It is a distressing negative sensation, based on past events or brought on by perceived threats of something relating to future events. Fear is related to the specific behaviours of escape and avoidance of certain situations. Fear affects people mentally and physically, personal and interpersonal consequences can arise from fear. Fear could also be an instant reaction, a shock reaction, to something presently happening. Fear can be widely classified into two types: external fear is caused by something outside of you which you are strongly motivated to avoid and internal fear is something inside of you that you associate with a negative emotion and experience. Fear is based on taught behaviourism. Due to lack of knowledge, most people have accepted fear as part of their lives. Fear is not your friend, and fear is not to be embraced. Fear is destructive force, designed to incapacitate people. Fear holds you back and prevents you from fulfilling your destiny. Fear is your enemy and must be eliminated and not tolerated. Unfortunately, the not so good news is, you cannot overcome fear completely on your own strength and your own abilities. It is not possible to rely on yourself to overcome fear, you do need help. Some people are of the opinion that a little bit of fear is a good thing, for example; before you give a presentation to your co-workers, or before you write an exam , but the reality is that ALL fear are harmful and dangerous. Profound feelings to succeed which are based on fear are a very destructive form of lifestyle. On the short run it feels harmless, but at the end, it destroys families. It is important to know “what fear is, where fear originate from and the purpose of fear, what treatment works and what does not work”.

Anxiety and panic attacks can have a medical cause; allergies to food or drinks, blood sugar levels, diabetes or other medical conditions. Therefore it is wise to first have a proper medical examination done by your physician.

Imagine being: FEARLESS

Tried and Tested

Methods that are proven to free people from FEAR, ANXIETY and PANIC DISORDERS should be implemented to prevent depression. Currently there are many books, self-help programs and plenty of information available online to help heal all forms of fear. Analyse your fears; what is it you are afraid off? Is it a phobia or are you struggling with anxiety? What is causing the anxiety or underlying panic? Identify your fears and get help! Are you afraid of losing your job? Online there are many ways of making money, find the solution. If you are afraid of flying I suggest you invest in an online course to help you overcome your fear of flying! It really works! I strongly recommend you investing in various encouraging reading materials that are available online of people testifying how they have eliminated fear in their lives. The basics are: a scenario occurs, create some form of fear, you unable to deal with it and resort to..... (This in the long run aggravates the scenario and over a period of time results into depression!) There is actually a lot more to it but the basic formula is that simple. "Prevention is better than cure."

I have listed a couple of really excellent programs below. Take the time to see if they will be able to help you with your specific dilemma. If not, do not lose hope, send me an email and I will personally assist you in finding the right treatment for your scenario.

"There is life after fear!”

1. FIRSTLY, YOU NEED TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF FEAR that could cause DEPRESSION:

Fear consist of; an Anxiety disorder and / or panic attacks;

Phobias are believed to be developed by inheritance; genetics and brain-chemistry combine with life-experiences.

A phobia is a strong, persistent fear of situations, objects, activities, or persons. The main symptom of this disorder is the excessive, unreasonable desire to avoid the feared subject.

Specific phobia (fear for a specific object that triggers panic).Specific phobias usually contain specific panic triggers, snakes (Herpetophobia), mice (Suriphobia)), water (aquaphobia), flying (aerophobia, aviatophobia, aviophobia), catching a specific illness (Nosemaphobia), spiders (arachnophobia). These fears sometimes develop during childhood and tend to go away, for example, the fear of the dark. If the fear continues through to adulthood, treatment would be recommended. These fears can keep people from having a normal life, depending on how often they must encounter/avoid the fear.

"Agoraphobia" (generalized fear) is a fear of experiencing a panic attack in a place or situation from which escape may be difficult or embarrassing or they cannot obtain help. People with this phobia may fear being alone in general or inside their home or outside of their home, being in a crowd, flying, bridges, being in an elevator. Agoraphobia is the only phobia regularly treated as a medical condition. Agoraphobia includes obsessive compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.

"Social phobia" (involving other people)

1. General social phobia is fears that involve other people or social situations such as performance anxiety, fears of embarrassment or humiliation by scrutiny of others. Examples of these phobias would be eating in public, giving a speech, and even sexual activities. People with these phobias tend to avoid the situations they fear (social anxiety).

2. Specific social phobia, are typically fears of certain objects or situations.

2. SECONDLY, THE SYMPTOMS:

“Anxiety” on the other hand is caused by boredom, negative thinking and engaging in wrong thoughts. Anxiety is in a way “learned behaviour” through repetition causing habitual behaviourisms. Anxiety may be brought on by thoughts about suspected dangers. Fear that the chest pains are a deadly heart attack or shooting pains or headaches are the result of a tumour or aneurysm. The feelings are intense and the thoughts are more often than normal and at times uncontrollable or unavoidable. “Post-traumatic stress disorder” is an anxiety disorder. Traumatic experiences can result into flash backs (thoughts) which creates anxiety. The most common anxiety symptoms are; feelings of bewilderment, going mad, indecision, loss of confidence, difficulty concentrating, a feeling of falling apart, afraid of making a fool of oneself amongst others, feelings of guilt, short term memory loss, feeling alone, perfectionist, little or no motivation, fear of the unknown, feelings of unreality, detached from surroundings, in a maze, dark tunnel, deep hole, in a different world, mentally detached, obsessive thoughts, compulsive actions, afraid of harming someone, weird strange thoughts, thoughts of suicide, thoughts or that will not stop, overwhelmed by sadness, overreacting and becoming short tempered.

Sufferers experience some symptoms but not all the symptoms listed above. Anxiety symptoms can increase with the intake of alcoholic beverages, smoking and drugs.

A “PANIC ATTACK" is the most frightening, upsetting and uncomfortable experiences a person can have and it may take several days to recuperate from. Most people, who experience their first panic attack; FEAR they can’t breathe, are having a heart attack or a nervous breakdown. The most common panic attacks symptoms are; chest pain, headaches, neck aches, lower back pain, muscle pain, aching jaw, clenching fists, chronic temporary pain, racing or rapid heartbeat, heart palpitations, 'missed' heart beats, pounding heart, breathing difficulties, hyperventilation, choking sensation, feel as if can't take another breath, tightening of the throat, nausea, loss of appetite, churning stomach, burning stomach, indigestion, abdominal pain, digestive problems, hot and cold flashes, flushing face, shaking/ trembling, perspiration, sweating hands, dizziness, feeling lightheaded or faint, pins and needles, diarrhoea, loss of bladder control, grinding teeth, sleeping difficulties, night sweats, lack of concentration, extreme exhaustion, loss of feelings, loss of libido, appetite swings, numbness of hands or feet and or unexplainable rashes

Panic disorder is when a panic attack happens again and the person now develops an intense FEAR of having another panic attack. People who suffer from panic disorder usually change their lives styles, by increasingly limiting themselves to avoid situations which could possibly trigger another panic attack. It is tragic, but true!

"DEPRESSION" is usually the end result of untreated anxiety, stress and panic. There are various kinds of depression but the general symptoms are:
Agitation, restlessness and irritability, change in one’s appetite, withdrawing from the world, apathy, lack of energy or drive, trouble sleeping and eventually, if untreated, thoughts of suicide that may very well become an impulse to act on that thought.

3. THIRDLY, WHERE IS FEAR SITUATED IN THE BRAIN:

“THE AMYGDALA”

The amygdala is an almond shaped mass of nuclei located deep within the temporal lobe of the brain. It is a limbic system structure that is involved in many of our emotions and motivations, particularly those that are related to survival. The amygdala is involved in the processing of emotions such as fear, anger and pleasure. The amygdala is also responsible for determining what memories are stored and where the memories are stored in the brain. It is thought that this determination is based on how huge an emotional response an event invokes. Shown in research to perform a primary role in the processing and memory of emotional reactions, the amygdala are considered part of the limbic system. In the article, the scientists described a female adult patient who had an extremely uncommon condition in which her amygdala was destroyed. They found the patient was not able to experience fear, even after being placed in a haunted house, having snakes and spiders placed near her, watching horror films, and talking about life-threatening situations. The reason for her lack of fear was that her amygdala did not function. Located deep within your brain’s temporal lobes, this almond shaped mood bender, helps to shape and store reactions to unexpected shockers in your day. Will you shout or smile? Will you freeze in fear or risk with courage? The little neuron group pretty much decides for you. Sit through an upsetting meeting, and this tiny arousal centre may well incite negative emotions in response. Have you seen it happen?

There’s more too. This agitated control centre engages brain stem circuits that impact facial expressions and body language. It also triggers release of chemicals such as serotonin or cortisol into the blood, to trigger often unwanted emotional response. It’s even activated by nasty odours on occasion. So why does the human brain come with such a troublesome part? It tends to toss you into turmoil without much notice. That is why people develop skills to tame dysfunctional thinking and modify behaviours that follow their amygdala triggers? You’ve likely experienced how reactions impact and shape the human brain, in almost in knee-jerk responses. Unwanted panic reactions pop up when you encounter sudden or startling situations. It doesn’t need to be that way. Your amygdala can be adjusted to transform panic reactions into calm feelings in the face of fear, anxiety, stress, or frustration encounters. How does it happen?

“SOLUTION”

Simply act deliberately, intentionally and purposefully in the opposite direction of any explosive, unpredictable, unstable, volatile, negative, or moody feelings.

“BUT HOW?”

If feeling fearful or if you are embarrassed, for instance, try disagreeing, more with the brain in mind. In this way, the very act of using a skill to disagree well begins to rewire your brain for healthier responses in similar situations. Simply put, you can learn to bypass your amygdala‘s automatic default operations, in much the same way you choose to tap different buttons on a computer, to enter a different screen.

React in the default mode and your amygdala can heat up a situation by placing you in far too sensitive a mood, flooding your brain with cortisol chemicals, and causing you to overreact. Caught under attack you’ll respond accordingly, whether the attack is real or perceived, unless you intervene to help out your brain. Because of your amygdala, you can develop and use different strategies to add calm under pressure, and as you build emotional patterns for dealing with stressors, you begin to see their practical usefulness. Brain tactics help you to deal more calmly with life’s difficult situations, simply by doing what you’d like others to see in you.

Speaking of others –friends and colleagues too can help tame an amygdala more than most people realize. In fearful situations, others can support the opposite of fearful reactions for instance. With another person’s encouragement, your stored amygdala’s typical fear response can suddenly fade or disappear – simply by support from a likeminded individual.

Here are some tips on how to relieve fear temporarily:

1. Exercise regularly

– walking, swimming, and jogging – become physically active.

2. Eat healthy
– beware of sugar and preservatives in food

3. become more active
– avoid laying around doing nothing

4. Control your thoughts with words

5. Start a new hobby

6. Goal setting
- very important, plan your future by writing down your goals. What you would like to achieve in one year’s time and where you want to see yourself in 5 or 10 years’ time. Start visualizing these goals daily. This teqnique helps you to take control of your life and your future and gives you a tremendous amount of confidence. It overrides all negative thoughts you had for your future. Very, very powerful and I highly recommend it.

There are a couple of ways to temporarily overcome fear for a period of time but on the long run does not work:

1. Having the use of something that is stronger and more powerful that the thing that you fear, for example; if a boy is bullied at school he develops a fear for being bullied but once he has a much older and stronger brother coming to the rescue, his fear disappear. He is safe and protected. When his big brother is not there to protect him anymore, the fear would return.

2. Introducing something that causes more fear than the fear presently experienced, for example; “fear of spiders” (Arachnophobia) the reality is that should a lion be chasing you, you will run through a lot of spider webs without giving it a thought. Once the lion is gone, your fear of spiders will return.

3. Alcohol and other drugs (prescribed) will also temporally help you to overcome fear, but once the effects wear off, the symptoms of fear remain.

4. Knowledge overcomes fear, for example; if your mother explained to you that the shadow on the wall is caused by a pot plant, that knowledge eliminates fear.

"I AM AN OLD MAN AND HAVE KNOWN A GREAT MANY TROUBLES, BUT MOST OF THEM NEVER HAPPENED"

John Lubbock: "A DAY OF WORRY IS MORE EXHAUSTING THAN A DAY OF WORK"

Glen Turner: "WORRYING IS LIKE A ROCKING CHAIR, IT GIVES YOU SOMETHING TO DO, BUT GETS YOU NOWHERE"

“AS A RULE, WHAT IS OUT OF SIGHT DISTURBS MEN'S MINDS MORE SERIOUSLY THAN WHAT THEY SEE"

www.mayoclinic.com/health/panic-attacks/DS00338

Panic attacks — Comprehensive overview covers symptoms, causes, treatment and self-care for panic disorder.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Causes - Symptoms - Tests - Treatment - Prognosis - Complications - Prevention

www.medicalnewstoday.com/info/anxiety/

A guide to anxiety; includes the causes, symptoms and treatments for anxiety

www.webmd.com/depression/default.htm

An estimated 19 million American adults are living with major depression. Here you'll find in-depth depression information including symptoms, medications, and ...

helpguide.org/.../depression_signs_types_diagnosis_treatment.htm
Learn about the signs, symptoms, causes, and treatment of panic attacks and panic disorder. Includes self-help tips for coping with panic.

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Living with anxiety and depression.

DEPRESSION