It seems that video is killing the waiting room. In an effort to shorten wait times, child psychologist are turning to videoconferencing to expand services and reach more patients via “telemental health services.”

But is this a good idea for the rest of us? Can anxiety disorders and other mental health issues be addressed effectively by videoconferencing?

Today’s podcast is a direct result of two questions I received from Anxiety Guru readers. The questions were related to panic attacks and the acceptance of anxiety. I think both of these issues are important and understanding them can help you cope with your anxiety more effectively.

Is there something inherently wrong with the DSM? The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is the therapist’s guide for diagnosing mental ailments – it’s a useful, but bloated mental problems directory.

Some people think that mental disorders don’t exist, and that some people are just misunderstood. Well, I don’t buy that line of thought.

Heart palpitations. Don’t these two words make you shutter with anxiety? Well, maybe the words don’t, but the sensations caused by heart palpitations certainly do scare people.

In fact, it’s the main topic of emails that I get from people that contact me with questions. And given that this anxiety symptom is so common among anxiety sufferers, I thought it would be helpful to do a “how to” article on palpitations.

Today’s guest post is brought to you by Dan Stelter of Anxietysupportnetwork. Does social anxiety make you feel lost some times? Like you just don’t fit in anywhere? Dan’s article is a great starting point for you if you’ve ever felt this way in the past. Dan has a lot of useful insights about social anxiety on his site and I’m glad that he was willing to share some of those ideas with us here.

This is a 20 minute documentary video that follows the story of three people with panic disorder. The video is a little dated and somewhat cheesy, but the information it contains is up to date and useful.

It’s kind of hard to find good media about anxiety disorders, so I was glad to find this video and make it available to you. The bottom line of this short video is that panic disorder can be crippling, but it is also highly treatable.

Criticism sucks. There just isn’t any other way of saying it.

For anxiety sufferers dealing with criticism is especially hard, because it seems to arouse our worst fears about being judged or belittled.

And it’s not like being sensitive to criticism is unique to people with anxiety, it’s just that many of us – like so many other things – react to it fiercely. For example, when I graduated from University and got my first “real job” I wasn’t prepared for the rough and tumble world of corporate style criticism. My first reaction was almost always anger and resentment. But why do so many of us react this way?