A Word about Panic Attacks and Anxiety Disorders
01/25/12
A subject that I have not yet (to my
very own surprise) discussed in this blog: anxiety
disorders. Something that frequently surprises me
personally is the fact that this psychological disorder is during a
patient’s first visit to his/her physician frequently not at all or
incorrectly diagnosed. Instead, patients are very often handed
antidepressants – or if it happens to be a homeopathically inclined
physician – treatment with St. Johns Wort or something similar is
then recommended. At first I thought this was a random phenomena in
my practice but according to what I have been reading that is
apparently not the case. In the course of a study a professor for
psychosomatics at Witten University determined that it usually
takes seven (!!) years for this disorder to be properly treated –
and – even more bewildering to me – that “even psychiatrists prefer
diagnosing a depression as anxiety disorder.” It is a fact that
anxiety disorders are the most prevalent psychological disorders of
women and that at one point or the other in their lives 15% of all
Germans are diagnosed with an anxiety disorder and I have decided
that it is high time for me to post a few blog contributions on the
subject! Continue
reading ...
Gratitude is a key to happiness
09/23/10
On the first weekend of October most
German religious communities again will celebrate Thanksgiving. (In the USA it is not celebrated until the
end of November although the basic idea is quite similar.) Here in
the rural area where we live as well as in the cities people are
doing their very best to decorate church sanctuaries with fruit,
vegetables and flowers. In my opinion it represents a wonderful
tradition because at least once a year it breaks with this matter
of course habit of our, usually thoughtless daily excursions to
super markets and stores. We are rarely aware that compared to the
rest of the world, we are magnificently provided for.
Continue reading
...
How problems can make you feel happy
09/06/10
Yes, you read correctly:
Problems will make you happy! In psychological
research something that looks like a contradiction at first glance,
turns out to be a simple but important truth. Because, whoever is
never confronted with obstacles or difficulties also never gets a
chance at a very important happiness component: The sense of having
faced and mastered a challenge. Continue reading
...
Salutogenesis: Why it is healthy to give your life meaning
08/24/10
The word salutogenesis is composed
of the Latin word salus (= inviolacy, happiness) and the Greek word
genesis (= origin). Thus it stands for the origin of health and was
coined in the 70s by the Israeli-American medical sociologist
Aaron
Antonovsky. Antonovsky was looking for an explanation
for his observation that, while many Holocaust survivors were
suffering from severe after effects (physical and emotional
illnesses), others did not show any such symptoms, at all. He
intended to find out, which factors determined whether a person
would cope with the same traumatic experiences more easily or with
more difficulty than another. Therefore he was interested in the
origin (or retention) of health – even under difficult and
stressful conditions.
Continue reading ...
How to fight procrastination
07/21/09
Whatever you can do today can surely
be put off till the day after tomorrow as well … or something like
that. Who of us is not familiar with that thought and especially
where it concerns something unpleasant, tedious or boring or, to
make matters worse, if there are a lot more titillating
alternatives begging for our attention. Not a problem if it happens
occasionally, just as long as it does not get to be the rule. On
the other hand, there are people with whom putting things off has
become chronic and in extreme cases manages to mess up their entire
life. The technical term for the tendency to continuously postpone
things is procrastination; there are folks who
actually have to be treated with psychotherapy because they just
can’t manage to begin or complete their tasks on time. In those
cases writing a dissertation can take years… Continue reading
...
Dealing with negative thoughts (Self Confidence, Part 2)
06/02/09
As already discussed in
Part 1, today we don’t deal with the potential reasons for an
underdeveloped feeling of self worth but with helpful strategies to
make some changes. Unfortunately, there is no magic formula that
would help to change low self-confidence into a stronger sense of
confidence over night. I personally don’t think much of weekend
workshops when brain washing is supposed to change negative
thinking into a positive attitude within a few hours. Our thought
processes are the result of years, decades of evolution and
programming and these patterns are deeply embedded. To change that
takes lots of discipline, effort and time (after all, it took lots
of effort and time to embed it in us that deeply, in the first
place!) Therefore, the most important appeal to you going in:
Please have patience with yourself! If you take too much on in the
beginning and then are disappointed and blame yourself you are
already in the middle of a totally counter productive process!
Because now you put yourself down to begin with instead of dealing
with yourself a little more lovingly and fairly. It is much smarter
to set yourself small and attainable goals and not to give up if
you occasionally have the feeling of not getting anywhere. It is
worth it, I guarantee it! Continue
reading ...