Article Highlights:

• The cable network A&E has developed a new television series about anxiety disorders called “Obsessed”.
• The first show premiered on May 25, 2009.
• The show covers a range of people that have OCD, panic disorder, and other anxiety ailments.
• Each show examines two individual cases.
• Subjects undergo treatment and the show also does follow ups to see if treatment was effective.

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photo credit: NathanF

If you’re anything like me than you are anxious about something almost everyday.  This is a sometimes light but ever present feeling that something is wrong.  This is always compounded when something is, or at least perceived, to be wrong.  In both cases a good tip is to wait and see what happens before getting panicked.

Story Highlights:

• OCD sufferer Ed Zine suffered from OCD symptoms from a young age.
• Zine and Harvard psychiatry professor Michael Jenike uncovered the roots of Zine’s OCD.
• “Life In Rewind” is a book co-written by Ed Zine and Dr. Jenike.
• Zine has recovered from severe OCD.

Over the course of a decade you can learn a lot about anything.  You can become an expert at car repair, kitchen remodeling, hair styling, or in my case you can learn about all things anxiety.  Since 1999 I have been battling anxiety non-stop and as a result I’ve learned a thing or two about this topic.

Article Highlights:

• Kava is a water-soluble extract from the kava plant.
• Kava supplements were a popular anti-anxiety remedy for many people.
• The use of kava supplements has been linked to liver damage and in some cases liver failure.
• Long term effects of kava are still unknown.

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An essential component of anxiety disorder is rumination .  That is the constant and intense brooding about problems or perceived problems.  It is the extreme version of simple worry and there is a name for it – Pure Obsessional  OCD or “Pure O”.

Now, there are several levels of worry.  And I want to make clear that this is a very intense type of worry and anxiety tied to disturbing thoughts.  In other words, if you ruminate about household chores this is not the same as having Pure O.

Most  people are self centered to a certain degree.  The reasons for being self-centered also vary a great deal as well, but are anxious people inherently more self-centered than the average person?

Although generalizing is not a good thing when it comes to describing people it appears that anxious people are a little self absorbed, but not because of vanity or some other self serving reason.  Anxiety, like almost all mental ailments, dominates much of the anxious persons mental day.

In May 2008 I set out to create a blog that was different from the hundreds of websites that I’d seen on anxiety.  Most of those websites were informative, helpful, and balanced but not all that interesting.

In addition to that I had spent almost 5 years completely clueless about what was torturing me (between 1999 and 2004). After seeing a therapist I went on a mission to educate myself about my condition. And at the end of that journey I was almost certain that there were others like me.

photo credit: glitter feet

As anxiety sufferers we all understand by now what constitutes an anxiety symptom.  It could be palpitations, chest pain, dizziness, or more thought based symptoms like racing or disturbing thoughts.  In my case I have experienced both, but interestingly rarely have I experienced both at the same time.

This only came up because lately I’ve noticed that if I’m sucked in by speeding or negative thoughts I usually will not encounter physical anxiety symptoms like hot flashes for example.

photo credit: john.d.mcdonald
photo credit: lu_lu

As many of you know when someone is afflicted by an anxiety disorder usually the anxiety brings along friends like depression.  Like anxiety, depression can be a very nasty mental ailment that not only impedes your life but can also cause great harm.