You ever sit up in bed from a restful sleep and then immediately start scanning your brain for anxiety and sources of worry?  I have and I’ve done so plenty of times.  I seriously doubt that this is intentional on our part, it’s more of a habit you see.  A habit which can unfortunately throw a wrench into our entire day.

photo credit: Roadside Guitars

Article Highlights:

• Medtronic recently received approval for an implantable brain device to treat OCD in Europe.
• The device is designed to stimulate certain parts of the brain to help with OCD symptoms.
• The device uses technology similar to other devices used to treat Parkinson’s Disease.
• Research indicates that up to 2/3 of patients using the implants see improvement in their OCD symptoms.

After 10 years of not being able to rid myself of anxiety I’ve learned a lot.  And perhaps one of the most significant lessons I’ve learned about anxiety is that much of my own anxiety is self inflicted and habitual.  It sucks to say but it seems to me that at times I’m my own worst enemy.

photo credit: Bari D

Article Highlights:

• Several players in major league baseball are currently struggling with anxiety disorders.
• Most players don’t want to seek help because they’re afraid of being perceived as vulnerable.
• More players missing playing time because of anxiety issues.
• Players are bombarded with many stressful situations on a regular basis.
• Many players with anxiety issues are staging comebacks.

Click the image or click here to read the full article.

Recently I ranted on the Anxietyguru.net forum about my current anxiety episode.  For the past 10 days I’ve been in the midst of a terrible anxiety ordeal. In the past I’ve spoken about the two types of anxiety, the physical and mentally based kind.  Well my current state of anxiety is fully mental and sadly rather debilitating.

Article Highlights:

• Recent media coverage of airline disasters has scared many anxious fliers.
• 1 in 6 people are afraid to fly.
• It is possible to overcome your fear of flying.
• Flying is still the safest form of travel.
• For more information about how to overcome your fear of flying visit fearofflying.com.

Click the image or click here to read the full article.

Last night just by chance I happen to catch an episode of A&E’s new show called “Obsessed”.  This episode was about a young woman with OCD and claustrophobia and another woman with anxiety issues related to being obsessed with clutter.  I have to say that I found the show to be rather compelling.

photo credit: Matthias Töpfer

What should you do when your thoughts won’t stop racing?  How should one react when our minds are filled with speeding negative thoughts that make us anxious and fearful?  There are a couple of things you can do, but perhaps the most effective thing is to tell your mind to just stop it.

If you’re like me in anyway you sometimes get desperate for a solution to your nervous problem.  After all anxiety and stress can pile on the mental and phyiscal pain until all we want is to make it all stop, like now.  This of course is tricky business but after a decade of struggling with this I’ve learned that in order to achieve more peace in your life you have to do things, and repeat them often.  Here are ten ways to do just that.