The Evolution of WorryWritten by Dr. Dorothy McCoy
The Evolution of Worry Worry can spark action if you worry and realize a plan of action needs to be initiated-- and you act. Under those circumstance worry is serving you well. Worry can spark your imagination. Sometimes having a cerebral cortex is not much fun. Imagination can litter our internal environment with every manner of fearful possibility. Many fearful possibilities do not exist outside of our fertile imaginations. Nonetheless, they trigger same damaging chemical and physical changes as a genuine emergency. Physical and Chemical Changes. Your body starts pumping out an array of chemicals (such as adrenaline) that increase flow of blood and oxygen to your brain and skeletal muscles. Your blood also clots faster, ready to repair any injuries you sustain in your “fight or flight” reaction. Possible Consequences of Worry and Stress You may be all keyed up with nothing to fight or flee and no way to turn off stress chemicals. You become a ticking bomb that is not allowed to explode—so you may implode. If this happens frequently, it can have a serious, even deadly, effect on your health. Every system in your body is affected by worry. In addition to raising blood pressure and increasing blood clotting, worry can prompt your liver to produce more cholesterol, all of which can raise your risk of heart attack and stroke. Muscle tension can give rise to headaches, back pain, and other body aches. Worry can also trigger an increase in stomach acid and either slow or speed up muscle contractions in your intestines, which can lead to stomach aches, constipation, diarrhea, gas or heartburn. Worry can affect your skin (rash or itch). It can impact your respiratory system by aggravating asthma. Growing evidence even suggests that chronic worry can compromise your immune system, making you more vulnerable to bacteria, viruses, perhaps even cancer. What should you do? Talk to someone. Talking to someone about your fears or concerns can shine light of reason on products of your imagination. Take action! When nature gave us an imagination to identify potential threats, it also gave us fear to spur us to take protective action. Make a plan and follow it through. Learn to let go. Sometimes knowing difference between a situation over which you have control and one over which you have no control can help. If there is nothing you can do –acceptance—may be answer.
| | Panic Attacks and Things That Go Bump in the Night Written by Dr. Dorothy McCoy
Panic attacks are extremely frightening. Panic sufferers often believe they are having a heart attack and they dash to their physician or end up in an emergency room. Which is exactly what they should do. An accurate diagnosis is first step in relieving panic attacks. A diagnosis is vital, because panic attacks mimic a number of potentially serious medical conditions. The next step is treatment. No one should have to endure repeated episodes of distressing panic. Furthermore, early treatment may prevent condition from becoming chronic. Not all panic attacks are created equal. The symptoms are unique to individual sufferer. However, according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of American Psychiatric Association, typical symptoms are:Racing or pounding heart Sweating, flushing or feeling chilled Chest pains or tightness Difficulty getting your breath, or a sense of smothering or choking Dizziness, light-headedness, tingling or numbness Trembling or shaking Nausea or abdominal discomfort Fear of losing control Sometimes panic attacks appear to come out of blue without rhyme or reason. This is not true with a phobia, such as agoraphobia, which has a distinctive pattern. Agoraphobics may have an attack in situations from which escape is difficult or embarrassing (i.e., on a bridge, a crowded theater). Someone who is fearful of flying may have a panic attack while entering an airplane, or perhaps, while contemplating a flight. The person could then become frightened by ¡§idea¡¨ of having another panic attack. The panic attack itself becomes feared event. He or she begins to avoid situations that are associated with attacks. This can become a distressing pattern from which it is difficult to break free. Cognitive theorists believe that our thoughts create our anxiety. Consider these examples for a moment. A professional athlete consistently felt his chest constrict and his heart pound whenever he passed through a tunnel. A woman walking her dog in a park, a few blocks from her home, suddenly felt faint. If one were to ask athlete what he thought immediately before symptoms began, he might say, ¡§Tunnels can collapse. If this one collapses I will be buried alive. I won¡¦t be able to breathe. I will suffocate.¡¨ As he envisaged potential engineering blunders, a visualization of a collapsing tunnel abruptly flashed through his mind. He gasped for breath. Let¡¦s return to woman in park. She might answer, if asked about her thoughts before she felt faint, ¡§I am too far from home to cry out if someone jumped from bushes and grabbed me. No one would hear me. I could be killed.¡¨ Simultaneously, she visualized a huge Neanderthal of a man lunging for her. It is very likely that their thoughts and visualizations contributed material to which they reacted. According to Aaron T. Beck (1976), we can learn to ¡§observe that a thought links eternal stimulus with emotional response.¡¨ In other words, ¡§tunnel¡¨ does not signal danger, until thought ¡§it will collapse¡¨ links to it--stimulating emotional response--anxiety.
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