Now that the July 4th Holiday weekend is behind us I'm chomping at the bit to get back into the swing of things around here. For those in the States I hope you had a wonderful holiday like I did, and if you live elsewhere in the world I hope all is well in your corner of the planet too. :)

What do you say we just dive right back into this annoying little pest we call anxiety, eh? I read an excellent article today by Jay Rifenbary from The Saratogian in the New York area. Jay believes that "we are rapidly becoming an anxiety-plagued society — a people overwhelmed with having to keep up with continuous advancements of technology and the deciphering of information associated with that technology." I couldn't agree more and in fact have written several articles in the past on this very topic.

While all of our amazing technological advances have made our lives incredibly convenient in many ways it has added new and more complex elements of stress and anxiety while we all try to keep up with a rapidly changing world. Jay suggests 5 simple things we can all do to regain control and reduce this new anxiety threat:

• Establish time to participate in something you are passionate about. A walk to relax, a hike to take, a book to be read, a painting to create or a thoughtful prayer are just some of the things that enable us to take a break from the world.

• Look for quiet time along the journey to reflect and re-focus on objectives at hand. There is solace in quiet and an opportunity to listen to the inside instead of being distracted by the outside.

• “Do not bite off more than you can chew,” as the saying goes. Realize we may think we are getting more done with more on our agenda, but the stress of the multitude of tasks will be overwhelming, and the quality of the tasks completed will suffer. Anxiety equals an overabundance of tasks plus a lack of quality.

• Make a date to pull out old photos, picture albums or home movies and smile, laugh and reflect on some of the good old times. When was the last time we sat down with the family and reminisced?

• Finally, reflect on the areas of your life that bring you the most joy and happiness, those little things that make you appreciate yourself and others. We cannot allow our ever-changing, rapidly evolving, technology-filled world to diminish the simple and treasured joys that make life a blessing.

Great advice that we should all listen to and implement into our lives. I hope you agree. Thanks again Jay. If you would like to read the entire article I have linked it here.

Update From Coping With Anxiety Blog

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I have been guest writing some articles for a colleague of mine and I also have something big in the works that I'll reveal soon.

I hope all of your are well and I'm eager to get back to it!

Bill Burniece

Don't Allow All "The Sky Is Falling" Talk To Increase Your Anxiety

The media loves to scare us to death will all of the doom and gloom news that they constantly bombard us with. It almost seems as if they get some kind of twisted, weird, sadistic pleasure out of it.

The current global recession has given the media an almost endless supply of negativity to dish out to us every day. Each day we're told how bad things are and how much worse things are going to get. Almost every news report focuses only on the worst case scenario possibility.

The problem lies in the fact that too many of us get caught up in it all. As a result many of us actually become addicted to all of this negativity. I was that way once too. I seemed almost drawn towards bad news until I realized through the Law of Attraction that all this was doing was making my own life worse. Like attracts like. And this was bad. All bad.

For people who are susceptible to anxiety & depression this is a dangerous path to follow. There is absolutely nothing good that can come from all of this negativity you're ingesting day in and day out. I've seen so many people fall back into their old habits of doubt, fear, and worry that lead to increased stress, anxiety, and depression. If you are one of these people you must stop this destructive habit.

To drive my point home try a little experiment. Ignore all news for a week straight. And I mean ALL OF IT. Don't watch the news on TV, read the newspaper, listen to talk radio, or engage in discussions on anything negative for a week. If you follow through on this you won't believe how much better you'll feel.

For the most part news is absolute poison. Most of the news will have no affect on your day to day life anyway so there's no reason you should be immersed in it. Ultimately, you decide what to focus your attention on. Focusing on negativity and despair will only bring you more of it.

When Stress Turns Into Anxiety

Most evidence indicates that the stress in our lives is cumulative. Stress can build up in our bodies until it reaches the boiling point and if left unchecked can spill out eventually as a debilitating anxiety disorder.

For so many of us, life at times can feel like a giant pressure cooker between our responsibilities at work and home. This is especially true now in a tumultuous economy where jobs are being lost at a record rate. Nearly everyone is worried about what might happen to them. All this stress can at times seem insurmountable. There is a fine line between stress and an anxiety disorder and knowing when you've crossed that line could make a big difference in your life, if you get help.

Here are the physical anxiety symptoms to look for :

Tremors
Muscle Tension
Fatigue
Insomnia
Frequent Urination Or Diarrhea
Difficulty Breathing Or Shortness Of Breath
A Choking Sensation
Having Trouble Swallowing
Chest Pains Or Racing Heart
Shaking And Unsteadiness
Breaking Out In A Sweat
Dizziness Or Lightheaded
Feeling The Need To Throw Up
Chills
Headache
Hot Flashes
Stomach Upset Or Cramps

There are also emotional symptoms of anxiety:

Feeling Out Of Control
A Strong Urge To Flee Or Escape A Place
Feelings Of Fear And Apprehension
Trouble Concentrating
A Sudden Fear Of Dying Or Going Crazy
Feeling Tense And Jumpy
Anticipating Something Bad
Irritability
Restlessness
Looking For Danger Signs
Avoiding Situations Out Of Fear

If you find yourself experiencing these symptoms seek help before the condition progresses. Go see your doctor and get it checked out and properly diagnosed. But beware since most doctors are quick to recommend antidepressant drugs for anxiety sufferers. If the prospect of taking these powerful drugs concerns you check out a good quality natural anxiety remedy.

Our bodies have a natural type of mechanism to release all of the pressure that we store inside us. It is important to use this mechanism as a type of release valve to avoid allowing the stress inside us to build to dangerous levels. That's why it is so critical for you to not only monitor and manage the amount of stress that you digest, but to release pockets of your accumulated stress regularly.

This can be done with regular exercise and/or conditioning programs such as yoga, meditation, or arobics. Sometimes just taking a break for a short walk can do wonders. Just do SOMETHING that can help you release stress, refocus, and refresh.

The Origins Of Anxiety

I'm often asked where anxiety comes from. I found a really good article on this topic posted on the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. website that explains it pretty well:


The Origins of Anxiety:

"If it's difficult to understand why you are plagued by certain anxious thoughts, don't take it personally — it's a phenomenon that still eludes scientists. What is known, says Dr. Sonia Bishop, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, is that anxiety involves responses in two parts of the brain: the amygdala and the pre-frontal cortex.

The amygdala is responsible for the fight-or-flight response, while the pre-frontal cortex controls executive functions like decision-making and planning. A human foraging for berries, for example, would use the pre-frontal cortex to decide which berries to collect. If a predator suddenly jumped from the bushes, the amygdala would sound the alarm.

Scientists don't fully understand why certain individuals are more prone to anxiety, but some theories suggest varying levels of neurotransmitters — the chemicals that relay signals between neurons and cells and affect how well the amygdala and pre-frontal cortex function — may play an important role. What interests Bishop, however, is how the anxiety-ridden can reverse course regardless of pre-disposition. That's why she recently conducted a brain-imaging study with 17 participants, some of whom had "high trait anxiety," which was determined using a standardized measurement.

While being monitored by an MRI that tracks changes in brain activity, each participant had to engage the pre-frontal cortex by identifying certain letters and ignoring others. When the task increased in difficulty, both groups did well on recruiting that region of the brain. But when the task was easy, those with trait anxiety did a poor job. This was particularly telling, says Bishop, because the participants were not exposed to any anxiety-triggering threats.

The results have led her to believe that the anxiety-prone may have difficulty preventing the mind from lingering on distractions when performing easy, day-to-day tasks.

Though not yet tested by other scientists, Bishop's conclusion seems to reflect what works well in other successful techniques for battling anxiety: meaningful distraction."

I think there's alot of truth about distractions interfering with normal daily functions and leading to increased stress and anxiety. The majority of people I talk to who suffer from anxiety and panic are multi-tasking perfectionists who struggle to focus on only one thing at a time. From the busy homemaker managing all of the daily duties while taking care of the kids to the high level executive meeting tight deadlines at work.

In my opinion a distracted mind is an anxious mind. The more thoughts we try to juggle at one time adds more layers of stress that is cumulative and eventually can spill over into anxiety & panic problems.

Happy New Year!

Hello there! As you probably noticed I took some time off from writing in my blog over the holidays. I figured most people would be busy enjoying the holiday festivities with their loved ones rather than surfing the web.

But I am back now and chomping at the bit & ready to dive into the topic of this life-disrupting ailment called anxiety once again.

I welcome you to leave a comment here on my blog if there are any topics you would like me to address this year so we can make 2009 the most stress-free year yet.

Thanks for being here - sincerely, Bill

Two Ways Children Inherit Our Anxiety

Child anxiety continues to be a rapidly growing problem. What most people don't know is that we can pass anxiety to our children in two very different ways.

The first way children can inherit our anxiety is through genetics. It is common for anxiety disorders to be hereditary. In these cases there really isn't anything you can do to avoid passing on the problem to your children. This is how I developed my own anxiety disorder.

The second way your child can inherit your anxiety is through environmental factors. In other words, through learned behavior or simple observation. If you are openly stressed out and anxious your child can actually pick up and emulate your condition. Your child will actually learn to cope with situations in the same manner that you do.

Further, if you're an overly controlling parent you can unwittingly produce anxiety in your child. If you become too watchful and controlling, your child can have difficulty learning how to act in novel or ambiguous situations.

Anxiety in children can be devastating. If you suffer from anxiety keep a close watch for any symptoms and behavior your child may exhibit. That way you can seek out safe anxiety treatment for your child early before the disorder progresses into a lifelong problem.