Today’s post is brought to by Allison Gamble. She’s been a curious student of psychology since high school and brings her understanding of the mind to work in the weird world of internet marketing with psychologydegree.net.

Moving is an important transition in life that forces individuals to rethink their identity, give up what’s familiar, and frequently comes with a huge change in life – having children, getting married, getting a new job.

It doesn’t take a psychology degree to know that this kind of change can be a huge cause of stress.

Identifying the reasons for this stress, and addressing them promptly, is the first step in coping with your new move.

As possessions are sorted through and packed, many of these items will bring back memories. Some of those memories will be good, others painful.

It is possible to come across old letters or photos that bring memories of loss. This is also the time in which it is decided what will be kept, and what will be tossed away or otherwise left behind.

These discarded items symbolize that the familiar, comfortable life in which the individual is accustomed to, is about to be left behind as well.

When you live in the same place for a long time, you become accustomed to where things are kept. You learn the layout of the home, how to find the doorknob in the dark, where the light switch is from the other side of the wall, what windows let in the best light.

When you move, you have to figure out a whole new environment, and forget the old one. Have you ever found yourself opening a drawer in the kitchen to find a fork and knife, then realized that the drawer doesn’t exist in your new apartment?

This unfamiliarity can be a huge cause of stress during a move.

Similarly, you got used to the Smiths on your right and the Browns on your left at your old house. What if the Johnsons and the Garcias on either side of your new house don’t like you?

When you leave a house, you’re leaving a community. Moving frequently means that you’ll be forced to find new friends, to fit into a new community, to find a new pharmacy, school, doctor’s office, grocery store. Piling unfamiliar people on unfamiliar places can’t be easy for anyone.

People’s homes give them security. They serve as a shelter from the often harsh outside world, as well as from the elements. To move means to give up familiar security for the unknown.

Stress is a result of this security loss as it causes people to be on edge. For some people, it can take months before they feel secure and comfortable in a new home.

Every aspect of moving, from selling the current home, finding a new home, packing, saying goodbye to friends and familiar haunts, to settling in at the new location, is difficult.

Accepting permanent change may be the most difficult, as well as stressful, part of relocation.

Almost every part of ordinary life changes. You have to become accustomed to a new daily routine, new school or place of work, make new friends, get used to new scenery.

Add to this the burden of unpacking, finding new grocery stores, doctors, hair salons, restaurants, etc.; it soon becomes clear why moving causes so much stress.

Stress doesn’t have to be paralyzing, though. Here are some helpful tips to get you through your move:

*Provide Ample Time: If possible, plan moves at least eight weeks in advance. This is especially important if it is necessary to hire movers. Allowing plenty of time for a move greatly relieves stress.

*Organization: Create a list of all chores that need to be done in preparation for the move. Divide the chores into weeks. Allow enough days for each task to be completed.

*De-Clutter the House: Clearing out clutter from the home helps with organization. This way, when packing is started, only necessary items will be packed. Ridding clutter is also a way to let go of the past and prepare for the future.

*Seek Help: Asking for help can be difficult. However, most people have moved at least once during their life. They understand how difficult the process can be. Seeking help from family and friends can lessen the burden as well as provide an opportunity to spend time with them before moving.

*Say Goodbye Gradually: Allow plenty of time to bid farewell. A going away party can be very helpful. Take a leisurely stroll around the neighborhood each day. Spend time at a favorite hangout. Allow one last time for every special memory or experience. These small goodbye rituals help in the transformation from familiar to new.

*Eat Well and Get Ample Sleep: Good nutrition and being well-rested are vital to good health, which helps to keep stress levels down. Be certain to get plenty of rest and eat a nutritious and balanced diet.

*Visit the New Home Before Moving in: Visit and inspect the new home before moving into it. This is a good way to prepare for the new life that awaits. Look over the new space and plan how  you will decorate and arrange it.

*Take Time for Self: During the process of a move, it is common for one to feel as if there is not enough time to get everything done. Personal needs are often neglected. It is important to remember to care of yourself during a move.

Enjoy a treat – a movie when you’re done for the evening, a run around your new local park, or check out a nice restaurant in your new hometown.

*Be Flexible: Remember that it is possible for things to go awry even for the most experienced movers. Unforeseen problems are likely to occur. Be prepared to deal with the unexpected.

While it is clear that moving is difficult and the cause of much emotional stress, recognizing the reasons for that stress and preparing for it, as well as the move itself, is the best method for coping with it. Although moving can be scary, it can also be a wonderful and exciting opportunity.

A little planning and preparation can ensure meeting this opportunity with as little stress as possible.

Being Optimistic doesn’t just mean forcing yourself to have positive thoughts. It means being hopeful and open to the future. It’s a mind set that can help you cope with anxiety.

If you’ve been pounded by the ravages of anxiety then chances are that you’ve had to contend with fear, depression, and pessimism. You may have had days were you just felt like giving up. You may have also told yourself that you just can’t take it anymore. Or am I just talking for myself?

Now, I also want to point out that there is a difference between happiness and optimism. It’s hard to be happy on queue because you can’t force happy. But you can be optimistic by choice.

To some extent, being optimistic means to think positively, but it also means more than that. It means being willing to “hug your problems.” Engage with whatever is stressing you out.

When your anxious the natural tendency is to be negative, closed, and worried. But this kind of thinking only reinforces all the terrible feelings you experience. It prolongs your misery.

“One of the things I learned the hard way was that it doesn’t pay to get discouraged. Keeping busy and making optimism a way of life can restore your faith in yourself.” ~ Lucille Ball

Plus, research has shown that optimistic people have less chronic disease, live longer, and cope with stress better. This doesn’t mean that you have – or can – throw realism out the window. But you have options when it comes to dealing with your emotions.

The key is to realize that all problems are fleeting. Everything has an end. So, if your feeling nervous, depressed, and angry, then you have to know that this is temporary. Don’t soak yourself in the temporary emotional ruts that come to you because of anxiety.

Be hopeful instead. Hopeful that things will get better.

Are you Depressed?

Let’s face it, for most of us depression is part of the “anxiety package.”

This is no surprise given all the emotional ups and downs that anxiety yanks from our souls.

I guess that’s just part of living an anxious life.

But, because anxiety and depression tend to come joined at the hip, it’s not something you can – or should – ignore.  Like anxiety, depression can affect your thinking, self-esteem, and of course your health.

So today, I want to give you five easy tips to help you break out of that melancholy mood that swallows you up every now and then.

So, with that said, let’s take a look at the list.

1. Get some sunshine. Do you get enough sunlight? Not getting enough is problematic since a lack of sunlight can release excessive amounts of a hormone called melatonin, which is known to kick start episodes of depression. In addition, you could also be missing out on other important elements, like vitamin D, for example.

Darkness just brings the worst out in some of us; that’s why more people suffer bouts of depression in the winter (seasonal affective disorder), so get outside for a walk, have lunch outside, or buy a Light Box. But, whatever you do, make sure you get some ray’s.

2. Get busy. If the economy is putting a cramp in your style don’t worry about it. You don’t need tons of money to be active. Read books, exercise, volunteer, or do something you love and get really good at it.

You should also set goals in your life and strive to achieve them. You don’t have to become a brain surgeon, but we all need something to look forward to. Goals help you to be upbeat about the future and shake off the pessimism of depression.

3. Relax. You need down time. It could be a 5 minute moment of silence in the morning after you wake up, relaxing music, jumping in the tub, whatever it is; you need to give yourself some time to reflect and be still.

4. Watch the menu. Make sure you eat a healthy diet. Eating fast food, and chugging down 2 liters will do wonders for your taste buds, but they also kill your sense of well being.

You also need to stay away from sugar, caffeine and alcohol. These things are also tasty but have a huge downside. In the end, they only aggravate depression so beware.

5. Get a life. You need to get a social life if you don’t have one. Be close to your loved ones, hang out with your friends, do things with other people.

When you talk to people pay attention and get tuned in… open up some and give out smiles and hugs with reckless abandon. I’ve been caught up in no man’s land lately myself. So I’ve resolved to reconnect with friends and strangers alike.  I realize that I’ve been too concerned with things that don’t matter. No one is perfect, I think we all do this, but we can always do something about it.

Remember that human beings are incredibly social creatures; we need to be connected with others or else depression, irritability, and anger can grab a hold and not let go.

Now, give those 5 tips a try and see if they can’t ease your depression. Obviously, you want to try these tips out in conjunction with whatever else your doing – including medications – to beat depression.

Just keep in mind that anxiety and depression are fierce and you need to be ready to throw the kitchen sink at them both.

In order to get a handle on anger issues you first have to become more self-aware.  This of course doesn’t mean getting all meticulous about how you look, but rather being aware of your emotions so that you can exert more influence over them.

As anxiety sufferers we tend to let our emotions rule us and dominate our state of mind and reactions to the outside world. Putting a cap on this behavior by taking more responsibility for your own emotions will make  a world of difference and empower you to not let things boil over.  In other words, own your emotions.

Self-awareness also isn’t just about monitoring thoughts either, it’s more than that.  It also entails being mindful of anything involving speech or action.  Think about it for a moment.  Say you go around all day with jerky rapid movements, speak at a frenetic speed, exude impatience and so on – how are you going to feel? Probably pissed off and frustrated.

Therefore it would be advisable to walk and talk easy thereby diffusing much of the feelings that sometimes turn into nasty emotional fits.

Also, if you are more self-aware you’ll be less likely to act on impulse.  It is more likely that you’ll be ready and able to assess a situation more appropriately and show more self-control in approaching scenarios that normally set you off.

This all doesn’t mean that thought and action should be staged because honestly it can’t be.  So don’t be robotic either and unrealistically polite, just be open, be easy.

You can also employ meditation as a means of taming your inner tiger.  For decades Westerners have turned to Eastern modes of philosophy to tap into their spiritual side.

And whether you’re into the spirit world or not its well known that meditation will lead to less stress and create an atmosphere conducive to self exploration.  Less stress and self knowledge tend to translate into more self-control making it ideal for anger management.

The same benefits can also be had by practicing Yoga and or exercising in general.  The bottom-line is that you have to find ways to relax.  And although being anxious means that relaxation does not come easy you have to make the effort nonetheless.

Otherwise you run the risk of growing increasingly mad and irritated about the minutiae of life, which by the way we can’t control anyway.

My Anti-Anger list:

1. Indulge in healthy past times that make you happy.
2. Don’t let other people control how you feel about yourself.
3. Stay far away from all forms of negativity.
4. Don’t live in the future.
5. Own your emotions.  That is to say that you have to be accountable for how you feel. Don’t blame  objects or people for how you feel inside.

Do all that and you’ll be angry a lot less.

Today I wanted to introduce you to a great resource called The Reality of Anxiety .  The Reality of Anxiety is authored by Aimee who was kind enough to offer some tips for my readers on how to reach that ever elusive state of relaxation.

Learning How to Relax

This month I have been looking into different ways to relax. Not just take-a-hot-bath relax (although I have been doing that too), but techniques that can have a significant effect on my anxiety. It’s important to reverse the effects that panic does to our bodies, specifically lowering our heart rate, blood pressure, muscle tension, and all the other things that are usually raised when our bodies are in the fight or flight mode.

By incorporating a daily practice of some form of relaxation, you can “produce a generalization of relaxation to the rest of your life.” -Edmund J. Bourne

Or in other words, you will be more relaxed all the time.So far I have focused on a few different techniques, specifically:

Abdominal Breathing – Taking deep breaths is one of the easiest and most effective ways to get into a deep state of relaxation quickly. The reason people use a paper bag when hyperventilating is because the lack of oxygen forces you to take deeper breaths. When you are in a state of panic, usually your breathing is very short and shallow.

Calming Music – Listening to relaxing music is one of the most time-honored ways of reducing worry and improving moods. I personally like to listen to piano music to help me feel calm and at peace. It’s important to choose music that is not too emotional or stimulating.

Yoga – Studies have shown that yoga has health benefits such as improving a person’s sense of well-being, helping to lower blood pressure, increasing flexibility, strength, breathing, less stress, and more. Yoga’s postures, controlled breathing and meditation may work together to help ease brains plagued by anxiety or depression, a new study shows.”- E.J. Mundell, HealingWell.com reporter

I plan to look into more meditation techniques as the month continues and incorporate them into my daily life. What relaxation techniques have you found to help you manage your anxiety?

The Reality of Anxiety

The wonderful thing about the modern age is that all of us generally have tons of information and services at the tips of our fingers.  In the United Stated for example we have access to all types of information at blazing speed, a ginormous health care apparatus, and a zillion options to handle almost anything ailing us.  And yet given all this, you will still have an anxiety relapse.

In other words you can know all there is to know about your condition, take meds, have access to world class widgets and all the rest of it and days, weeks or even years later anxiety can hit your grey matter as fast as the rotation of a pulsar (i.e., super fast).  You could have been feeling fine for a long time and may have even forgotten about your hellish experience with anxiety but can suddenly find yourself in the midst of a panic attack and start wondering … what the hell is going on?

In my experience most people that search for anxiety related issues on the internet are having an anxiety relapse after a lull in symptoms.  Or it could have been that their symptoms lessened in intensity but now have increased exponentially without any known cause.  So why does this happen?

Why? Why you? Why now? Let me ask you a question. Why does knowing the cause matter?  In my view this is a waste of energy and produces more stress.  You could chase your tail for decades and never know why.  Anxiety disorders generally occur because of a string of complex connections between your genes, your environment, your thought processes, your biases, false beliefs, assumptions, brain chemistry, and thinking errors.  So there you go, but chewing on these facts won’t help you cope.

Honestly, and you might hate me for saying it, anxiety disorder is generally a life long ailment.  You could be the lucky winner of a totally anxious free life, but chances are that you will end up like the majority of people with an anxiety disorder that don’t get that winning ticket.  This doesn’t mean however that you can’t cope effectively.  So let’s not get too grim about this whole thing.

The truth is that words like ‘coping’ and ‘management’ are much stronger than you think.  So although anxiety disorder does tend to be chronic, that is long term, you can make drastic improvements by learning how to manage your condition.  With proper treatment and effort on your part you can cope effectively so that anxiety does not rule your life.  If you’re able to cope effectively then you have not cured yourself, but it does mean that you’re able to live your life anxiety free most of the time.

Keeping the proper perspective and the appropriate level of expectation is the key to handling this situation.  You must understand that anxiety will raise its ugly head, assuming your anxiety disorder has been confirmed, again and again.  If you not only understand this but accept it as reality then you’re more likely to respond in a healthy way.  It’s a bitter pill to swallow but its true.

Also, in terms of dealing with anxiety relapses the game plan stays the same.  And in fact it would be beneficial to incorporate the things that help you cope with anxiety into your daily life.  So don’t just exercise, eat healthy, meditate, deep breath, see a therapist and use all the other tactics you implement just when you’re consumed with feelings of intense anxiety.  Think mitigation.

You have to make coping a part of your life, and when necessary, ramp up the intensity of your efforts to counter the effects of the recurring spikes of anxiety that you will have throughout your life.  I would say hey just keep the stress down and you’ll be alright, but that’s not a realistic approach.  After all if you’re alive you are, at least to some degree, stressed out about something or other almost always, just life.

My advice is that you should maintain your anti-anxiety regiment as I outlined above but also make sure that you don’t blow things out of proportion when a relapse occurs.  This is a huge problem with anxiety sufferers.  They tend to escalate things to their extreme with expeditious haste then find themselves in a pit of misery and uncertainty.  No need for all that.

Have a frank discussion with yourself one of these days, especially if you’re having an anxiety relapse right now.  Tell yourself that anxiety does not kill, anxiety will not make you go crazy, and the spike that you’re having will subside.  Challenge yourself to not give in to false beliefs created by your scared mind.

Ultimately having anxiety is … what’s the word, Arrghhh. That’s not a word but its a feeling I’m sure you get a lot.  Just frustration, anger, worry and fear, pure blah.  Again, despite this you have to stay focused on the reality that anxiety is a chronic condition that can be managed and will not cause heart attacks in and of themselves.

You can still be happy, but don’t get stuck and lost just because you encounter setbacks, it happens.  Don’t beat yourself up because this is not your fault, you’re not weak, your not dumb or crazy, simply anxious.

Some people have herpes (sorry kind of gross), others bad knees and so on, well you got ‘bad nerves’.  Don’t get sucked into any pity parties and be patient because you will bounce back.  Just remember what good ole Confucius once said “our greatest glory is not in never falling, but rising everytime we fall”.

Sleep is perhaps one of the most loved and hated activities on earth.  On the one hand it takes up a lot of our time, makes us less productive, and can preoccupy our thoughts if something disrupts it.  On the other hand, sleep is nourishing to the entire body and it is also absolutely necessary.  Learning how to get sleep, even in the face of anxiety, depression and stress is a critical component of any strategy aimed at recharging your emotional battery and living a less anxious life.

The Dali Lama once said that “sleep is the best meditation” and as most of us know meditation can help reduce or in some cases even eliminate our emotional and spiritual difficulties.  So what is it about sleep that helps and what exactly can you do to get better, easier, healing sleep?

First, let me briefly highlight why getting enough sleep is so important.  Most people may be surprised to learn that getting less sleep does not only increase fatigue, stress, anxiety, and irritability it can also increase mortality risk more than heart disease, high blood pressure or smoking.  Losing as little as an hour of sleep can impair memory, alertness, and energy levels.

As many as 70 million Americans suffer from some kind of sleep disturbance of some kind.  And we’re not just talking insomnia here, but also things like taking a long time to fall asleep, sleeping very few hours, and waking up frequently throughout the night.  Not getting enough sleep is a big deal and unfortunately for too many people that suffer from anxiety and depression this is a problem that just won’t go away.  And so what is the main problem when it comes to sleep disturbances you might ask? In a word – stress.

Psychological stress of any kind can disturb sleep, now multiply that by ten when you suffer from anxiety and or depression.  After all, what is anxiety and depression at its most basic level?  Pure stress.  The kind that, yup you guessed it, keeps you up at night.  So let’s explore how you can improve upon or depending on your circumstance maybe even prevent sleep problems.

1. Before you lay your head down to sleep take a moment to clear your thoughts.  If, like I believe, this is all about stress then you must take a few minutes to purposefully relax, take in deep breaths, and lay down the burden of the previous day.  You must make an effort to relinquish your death grip on the worry, ‘what if’s', and rumination that you indulged in earlier.  Sounds complicated but basically you need to clear your mind.

2.  Watch what you eat prior to bedtime.  If you have issues with anxiety and stress the last thing you need before bed is sugar, caffeine, alcohol or any other substance that will evoke extreme highs or lows.  In addition, as an anxiety sufferer you may have issues with GERD or heartburn so stay away from foods that are known to upset your stomach.  Sounds simple enough but you’d be surprised how many people have that late night snack and don’t consider its possible affects on their sleep patterns.

3.  Make sure your bed isn’t a lump of rocks.  I know that beds are not the cheapest purchase in the world that you can make but this really does matter.  If you’re sleeping on a ten year old hand me down you might want to consider an upgrade.  And if money is a problem then talk to friends and family that might be able to either give you an old (but better) bed, or maybe help fund your better sleep campaign.

4. Make a schedule and stick to it.  Going to bed and waking up at the same time every night can bring you into a rhythm and help to reset your internal clock.

5. Get plenty of exercise.  You don’t have to go to the gym everyday or become a power lifter to get the benefits of exercise.  Just 30 minutes a day of light to moderate exercise (i.e., increase your heart rate) can help produce endorphins that give a sense of well being and relaxation.  The bottom line is that exercise can help you get to sleep sooner and stay there until morning.

6. Set the right conditions.  If you like it dark then turn off all the lights.  Have a partner to contend with?  Consider wearing a sleep mask and or ear plugs to tune out any unwanted distractions.  Don’t just get annoyed with that loud neighbor get smart and adapt.

7. If things get tough take a warm bath.  You don’t have to soak for hours but a quick 10-15 minute warm shower will relax your muscles, reduce tension and relax you in general.

8. Noise.  Surprisingly some folks like it noisy in their bedrooms just before falling asleep.  You can try white noise machines, soothing music, or even television with low volume set to turn off in 30-60 minutes.  The latter option is not really liked by sleep sanctuary proponents, but I say if noise and dim light is what you need then go ahead and do what works.

9. Sleep Accessories.  In this case we are not talking leg warmers, but rather comfortable sheets, suitable pillows, comfortable sleep wear.  You have to be comfortable.

10. Up keep.  Make sure that your sleep quarters make you feel good.  If you have tons of clutter all over the place this could affect your mood, even cause you some stress.  Unless you actually like things out of order having things organized and in their proper place can create order and peace.

11. Medication. You can purchase over the counter sleep aides or you can get a more powerful prescription.  But in either case if things are so hard that you feel you need medication to sleep be sure to consult your doctor first.  You want to know what works and what does not, but more importantly you want to stay safe. Beware of addiction.

12. Light Therapy. In a nutshell light therapy involves exposing you to bright artificial light that is supposed to reproduce daylight conditions and help reset your internal clock.  The theory is that light therapy can help create regular sleep patterns and get you to sleep sooner.

13. Don’t smoke.

14. Do not bring your work to bed.  Do you really need a reminder of why you’re stressed to begin with?  The bedroom is for relaxation and sleep, not work.

15. Read. I don’t know about you but if I can’t sleep picking up a copy of an old college text book equals lights out.  Anything with dense prose will do.

16. Visualization.  This is perhaps one of my all time favorite.  When you lay down take a mental picture of what you would like to be in life, the more far out the better and run with the thought.  What is the perfect you?  What is your perfect state of mind?  Pursue that thought into a waking dream.

17. No problem analyzing.  When in bed avoid the anxious thinking of your day by refocusing your attention elsewhere.  This ties into visualization but its also its own entry.  Try not to consider what went wrong that day or what might go wrong tomorrow.  Live in that moment and keep your attention there.

18. Sex. If you have a partner then consider sex.  Sex is a great way to reduce tension, stress, and release all the things weighing you down.  It is the ultimate here and now activity and its free!

19. Breathing exercises.  Doing breathing exercises like belly breathing and similar techniques can calm your body, mind and don’t require a lot of preparation or set up.

20. Lying in bed with your eyes open?  Don’t focus on the clock, don’t start pacing, be patient.  If need be get out of bed and watch t.v. for 30 minutes, meditate, then try again.

Summary

Sleep is critical to good physical and mental health.  Learning different techniques to help you sleep I think is the key.  You may have to experiment and tinker a bit with all the available methods of better sleep but just understand that you don’t have to go without sleep.  So how much sleep do you need?

There is a growing body of research that suggest that we all should get between 6.5 to 8 hours of sleep a night.  Keep in mind that both people that sleep too much and those that don’t sleep enough suffer from higher rates of all significant types of ailments like cancer and heart disease for example.  Also, don’t feel pressured to get 8 hours of sleep every night.  This seems to have become the magic number but getting a little less is actually more ideal.  Generally you want to sleep until you are rejuvenated and not more.  In this way quality is just as important as quantity.

Ultimately you have to do what works for you.  If you have been struggling for any prolonged amount of time be sure to speak with your doctor.  Above all, if you suffer with sleep disturbance don’t lose hope.  Educate yourself, be proactive and be patient.

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.

Known as the “Stop Technique,” it is simply you yelling the word stop to yourself.  Of course because this might make you look like you’re crazy in public you could also do this silently.  Also, you may have to say stop! to yourself many times.  It’s a very short mantra meant to affect change quickly.

There are variations of this technique but telling yourself to “stop it” is the root of them all.  When I heard about this I was skeptical but it does work somewhat.  I imagine that for it to work very effectively you’d have to practice it a bit, but it seems promising.

This technique is a kind of cognitive behavioral therapy used by psychologist to affect the negative thinking of their patients.  So it’s not some crack pot thing I’m introducing here.  The stop technique is not of course the only thing you can do to stop racing thoughts.

Racing thoughts can also be dropped kicked by simply and vigorously engaging your mind.  When your mind is fully engaged it’s just harder for those thoughts to come to the surface and dominate your mood.  Here is a short list of other things you can do to stop racing thoughts in their tracks.

1. Talk to someone or better yet to several people. Getting into conversation is perhaps the best distraction in the world. It takes a lot of brain power to carry on a good conversation and this could pull your attention to a single thing and away from the barrage of thoughts that have been tormenting you.

2. Read a book. This simple technique is useful because it tends to occupy your inner voice. So if your reading and following the story it’s much more difficult to slip back into other thoughts at the same time.

3. Writing. Whether it’s a journal, blog, or creative writing the act of writing will engage your mind and reduce the power of racing thoughts.

4. Physical activity. Things like running, swimming, basketball, weight lifting, etc engage your body which will eventually engage your mind.  As your body becomes fatigued your mind will become more consumed by that than anything else.

Having racing thoughts can be disturbing and frightening because it creates a sense of being out of control. But having racing thoughts does not mean you’re out of control or crazy.  It does mean that you are anxious and that your stress levels are elevated.  Anxiety and racing thoughts just go hand and hand but it is manageable.

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.

1. Identify Your Anxiety Triggers: We all have a set of things, people, places, or situations that set off our anxiety.  Find out what your triggers are then when your not anxious think about why these things set you off.  Take the time to analyze the sources of your anxiety and mull it over.  This will take away the mystery and reduce the fear of your anxiety triggers.

2. Stop Adding Anxiety To Your Life: If you smoke, do drugs, eat poorly, behave anti-socially, etc then you are part of the problem.  Don’t hurt yourself and also expect good things to happen at the same time.  Remove all the unhealthy things from your life that you do frequently and you will see a positive change.

3. Practice Stress Management: We sometimes blame all of our problems on anxiety, but the reality is that we can be very proactive in reducing our anxiety by simply making an effort to reduce stress period.  Stress management includes things like exercising, eating right, not consuming caffeine, meditating, and sleeping right.

4. Make Time For Yourself: This doesn’t mean sitting in front of the tube either.  Set aside some time for a hobby or activity that you enjoy that will engage your mind and allow you to have fun at the same time.  This can include simple things like listening to music, writing a journal, gardening, talking to friends, hiking, etc.

5. Accept: This one is perhaps the hardest to do.  One of the big things that has killed me over the years is the lack of control that I feel I have over myself from time to time.  The bottom line is that we can’t always be in control and letting go will give you a chance to rest.

6. Avoid Unnecessary Stress: If there is a particular person or activity that you know will stress you out AND you can easily avoid it then avoid it. This doesn’t mean that you should not expose yourself to things you fear – it’s just to say that if your not feeling well don’t push it.

7. Don’t Blow Things Out Of proportion: Keep things in perspective.  We may not all be hypochondriacs but most of us are probably borderline alarmist.  That is something goes even a little sideways and we get very afraid and worried.  It’s hard, but always look at things with a logical eye.  Then once you find some peace in that logical thought exploit the hell out of it.  Repeat it over and over if you have to – just stay grounded in what can actually happen and not what you imagine might happen.

8. Stay Connected To Other People: Anxiety tends to make us want to hide from the world, but this is the opposite of what you should do.  Surround yourself with those you love and trust and make a serious effort to spend time with them.  It will not only distract you but help your loved ones help you.

9. Educate Yourself: It’s so cliche, so cliche, but knowledge is power.  With it you can better understand yourself, your situation, treatment options, your mind, and your life so much better.  This will lead to more confidence, reassurance, and ultimately more peace of mind.

10. Anxiety Does Not Kill: Try to internalize this message.  Make it a mantra, an affirmation, something always in your mind.  Because when you truly accept this anxiety will still bother you to no end, but at least you won’t have to stop what your doing, or worse yet not do certain things just because it’s there.

I know that you already know this, you just have to believe it.

Anxiety disorders and depression are by their very nature serious things.  So serious in fact that they both tend to suck the fun and joy out of life for extended durations of time.  As a result I wanted to help some of you relax a little by sharing some jokes about anxiety and depression.  Yes it’s true, all this nuttiness can be funny.

It’s been known for some time that laughter can serve as a great supplemental therapy for things like stress, anxiety, and depression.  It increases feel good chemicals like dopamine and simply makes you relax.  Below is a great selection of dopamine inducing, relaxation promoting, big smile material.

The HotLine

Welcome to the Psychiatric Hotline.
If you are obsessive-compulsive, please press 1 repeatedly.
If you are co-dependent, please ask someone to press 2.
If you have multiple personalities, please press 3, 4, 5, and 6.
If you are paranoid-delusional, we know who you are and what you want. Just stay on the line so we can trace the call.
If you are schizophrenic, listen carefully and a little voice will tell you which number to press.
If you are depressed, it doesn’t matter which number you press. No one will answer.
If you are delusional and occasionally hallucinate, please be aware that the thing you are holding on the side of your head is alive and about to bite off your ear.

Q and A

Q What’s good about depression?
A You always have your funeral planned in advance,

Q What’s good about being depressed?
A Nothing. But it’s no worse than anything else since life sucks anyhow.

Q What’s good about Treatment Resistant Depression?
A You qualify for all the Clinical Trials!

Q What’s an advantage to Major Depression?
A You never have to make your bed, since you’re always in it.

A Little Stand Up

Jokes.com
Rich Vos – Anxiety and Depression
comedians.comedycentral.com
Joke of the Day Stand-Up Comedy Free Online Games

- If you can’t see the video follow this link.

Sketch Comedy

A Personal Struggle

“I hate when people ask me the time on the street ’cause something happens to me. I just panic. I can’t read my watch. When I’m alone, I’m great at reading my watch, but when someone asks me, I just have this anxiety attack, and I just can’t make it out… I always end up saying something useless, like, ‘It’s 20 of 9:40.”

See Louis C.K. Tell It »

More Louis C.K. Jokes »

How To Handle Stress: Click Here.

A Joke

Severe Stress: A woman accompanied her husband to the doctor’s office. After his checkup, the doctor called the wife into his office alone. He said, “Your husband is suffering from a very severe stress disorder. If you don’t do the following, your husband will surely die.” The doctor continued, “Each morning, fix him a healthy breakfast. Be pleasant at all times. For lunch make him a nutritious meal. For dinner prepare an especially nice meal for him. Don’t burden him with chores. Don’t discuss your problems with him, it will only make his stress worse. No nagging. And most importantly, make love with your husband several times a week. If you can do this for the next 10 months to a year, I think your husband will regain his health completely.” On the way home, the husband asked his wife. “What did the doctor say?” To which his wife responded, “He said you’re going to die.”

Hopefully you enjoyed some of these jokes.  I know what is humorus to one is not to all, however if you did get some chuckles that’s all that matters.