Monday, April 21, 2008

Relationship

When it comes to chronic panic attack disorder, drinking alcohol is perhaps the worst thing a person could do. Most panic attack sufferers tend to be more susceptible to the effect of such depressants as alcohol.

Medical professionals will agree that alcohol and panic attacks do not mix. Doctors suggest that panic sufferes cut down on their alcohol consumption. As panic attacks are often caused by depression, the effect of alcohol can lead to more frequent occurrences of panic. It can also lead to an increased chance of causing depression, and the cycle augments.

Excess consumption of alcohol can be one of the main causes of frequent panic attacks. The depressing effect of the alcohol can cause a person to dwell on the unwanted stressors that trigger their panics. This only increases the likelihood of more frequent and stronger attacks.

Will just one Drink Hurt?

A person who experiences panic, even frequent panic, is not completed excluded from drinking. Is is the excessive use and abuse of alcohol that is discouraged. A drink or two to relax is acceptable. When a person takes their drinking too far is when the real problems begin to arise.

Panic attacks are dangerous. Once the relationship between alcohol and panic attack experiences are truly understood, it will become apparent to the person what he must do. Everyone has different limits, and different alcoholic thresholds. The key is to know your limit and to not step over it. Most people suffering from chronic panic attacks can tell you that a panic attack is extremely unpleasant. It isnt worth having, even if it means passing up that extra drink.

NLP Variables

Learning NLP inevitably demands that you learn sub-modalities. Many practitioners question whether you need the sub-modalities model to effect change in yourself or clients. One way or another, our nervous system uses sub-modalities to encode meaning. More on this in later articles.

Today, we'll talk about sub-modalities of the auditory representational system.

In NLP, we consider sub-modalities to be the particular characteristics or qualities of a specific representational system. For instance, auditory sub-modalities include sound volume, sound distance, sound location, sound tonality and so forth and so on.

In the case of manipulating auditory sub-modalities in NLP, a great analogy to use is your stereo. Using your remote control, you can manipulate sound until you hear it just the way you intend it to. You can pan sound from the left to the right speaker, increase the volume, alter the equalization and so forth. Likewise, you can do this in your hallucinatory apparatus.

So, what are some of the auditory sub-modalities that you can adjust to change you reaction to the sounds you hallucinate?

1. Mono vs. stereo 2. Loud or quiet 3. Inflections (words marked out) 4. Pauses 5. Duration 6. Rhythm (regular, irregular) 7. Volume 8. Variations: looping, fading in and out, moving location 9. Tonality 10. Qualities of sound (raucous, soft, windy) 11. Static vs. moving 12. Location 13. Tempo 14. Soft vs. rasping 15. Frequency (high vs. low pitch) 16. Source of sound 17. Cadence 18. Timbre (characteristic sound, such as a voice like Bugs Bunny) 19. Movement of the source 20. Tempo 21. Voice: whose voice, one or many 22. Background sound vs. only sound

Now, to the most important part of the article (and of NLP practice). Print out this list and find a buddy to play with. Now, close your eyes and hear a neutral sound in your mind. It might be the sound of a train pulling into a station, of a car starting or the introductory melody of 20th century FOX movies.

Then, ask your buddy to guide you into transforming that sound. They should simply say: "now, make the sound speed up." Then: "now, bring it back to normal tempo." And then move on to the next item.

Practice and please post your comments and questions on the blog to stimulate one another. Tomorrow, we'll learn more about kinesthetic sub-modalities.

Ablutophobia

What is ablutophobia? With so many different phobias out there, it will come as little surprise that there is a phobia that refers to people who are afraid to bathe, or wash. It might seem strange, but ablutophobia is a real phobia that people do suffer from. Symptoms that can occur in people suffering this type of phobia are not too unlike those suffered from individuals who suffer from other types of phobias. Common symptoms include breathlessness, anxiety, nervousness, and dizziness. There are others that people can exhibit, but these ones are the more probable ones for this phobia.

What causes ablutophobia? While it can occasionally come about from no apparent cause at first, more often than not ablutophobia is usually caused by a traumatic experience the person had when they were younger. In some cases, the person may even have forgotten about the experience, resulting in their inability to tell the therapist or their counselor why they might be afraid to bathe or wash themselves. It is just a fear they have had for just about as long as they can remember. Sometimes, the therapist will use hypnosis, or some other method, to try and find out what it was that triggered the phobia. Once they have determined the cause, the therapist can then work with the patient to overcome the phobia.

How is ablutophobia cured? Perhaps cured isnt the right term. There are treatments available for people suffering from this psychological issue who have decided to seek out help. If someone believes they might be suffering ablutophobia, there are online therapists available to answer questions about the condition and who can maybe even give some advice that can be of use. Telephone therapy is also available, but consulting a counselor or therapist in person is probably the best thing to do if the patient wants to get a proper diagnosis and the right treatment. Like many other phobias, this condition is treatable, either through medicinal therapy or a medicine-free therapy. It depends on how serious the phobia is. For some individuals, it just might be something that can cause a light anxiety the person might occasionally experience, for others it can cause such a fear in them that they cant even consider entering the shower.

Ablutophobia is nothing to be ashamed of. In most cases, it is caused by an earlier incident that happened to the person and a therapist can help the patient deal with the issue. Usually, dealing with the issue can help the patient deal with their phobia resulting in them not being a victim to it anymore. In more serious cases, even though the issue might be addressed and dealt with, the patient may need subsequent therapy in order to get over their fear of the bathing or washing themselves. Not getting treatment for this phobia can affect a persons personal life in that it might drive friends away, or even make it more difficult to have more personal and intimate relationships. Consulting a therapist and getting the right treatment for it means working to get a better life for the person suffering ablutophobia.

Are You Conscious of the Unconscious

You might think you understand yourself better than anybody else. But, do you really understand yourself?

For example, can you tell me why people, maybe even yourself, go to the fridge, open it, look inside, then close it for no real reason. You are not hungry. You are not thirsty. You just open the fridge door and have a look. Well, you probably reckon that you do that on a regular basis to see if everything is still in the fridge.

In fact, I often have a look in the fridge myself, only I do not do a stock take. I think I do it because I want other members of my household to know I have my eye of things. Now, I could justify this claim if I only did it when other members in the household were present. The trouble is I do it when I am the only person at home.

Why do we do such a thing? The natural answer would be: habit. The reason why people look in the fridge is because it is a habit, just like smoking cigarettes or wearing a hat or looking in a mirror to see if we have not changed in the last ten minutes. That sounds like a plausible enough explanation, and I suppose it will do; but not if we want to be really in control of our lives.

It becomes worse when we are trying not to eat or drink something that is in the fridge, even though we know that we can do without it, and if we do consume any more it will give us indigestion, or put on more weight, or make us a little more giddy.

Consciously, we say to ourselves I am not going to look in the fridge because I do not want to consume any more, so I will leave it until tomorrow. But we find ourselves looking in the door, just in case it has somehow disappeared since the last bottle we drank, or the since the last piece we ate. To our surprise there is still some more left and before we manage to close the fridge door, our hand has mysteriously managed to lay hold of the bottle of drink or piece of food we were not going to have because we had decided that in the name of conservation we would keep that for tomorrow.

We can question ourselves and ask, Why do we do this? More to the point, we might be better off asking, Who runs our lives? Is it us or some other person living in us? Is it our conscious mind or is it our subconscious mind the gets the final say?

We might like to think it is our conscious mind, but really we somehow know it is the other person who lives inside our body submerged in the hidden world of our inner-self. How do we know? We know because, amazingly, some people seem to be able to push the buttons that causes that individual to take over and make us look somewhat foolish at times and leaves us feeling somewhat embarrassed afterwards. Since we know this is not another person, it can only be our subconscious.

Now that we have identified the subconscious, what about the unconscious part of us; that part of us which does not emerge during our waking hours, but, rather waits until we are asleep and then reassembles everything in our mind so we are refreshed for the next day.

Basically, we are not aware of this part of us, that is until we have a dream that lingers long enough to leave an imprint in our conscious mind, or maybe it is one of those Eureka-moments where we have a brilliant idea, or a nightmare that causes us to think hell is in the middle of the Artic circle as we wake from fear shivering all over with our hair bristling and standing on end, with goose bumps all over our body.

Learning to become conscious of our subconscious and unconscious elements can only be to our advantage. Although, you might think that running around in an unconscious state might be a better way to live, because then you can excuse yourself, since you are not conscious of what you have done if it happens to be embarrassing.

Becoming a more authentic you actually means you become a more happy you, and a more happy you will mean you will be all the richer as a person for the experience. Interestingly, a study into what sort of people are the more successful in life revealed that the happier a person is the more successful his or her life tends to be.

I would go a little further and suggest that this is because the more conscious we are of our subconscious and unconscious existence, the more in tune is our expression of harmony. For when stings on a guitar are not tuned, the sound is just not music to our ears; likewise your life will not produce happiness if you are not consciously tuned in to your subconscious and unconscious self.

Panic Attack

A panic attack can happen at anytime. You could be at home, in your car, at the grocery, or virtually anywhere and researchers have yet to pinpoint the direct cause of panic attack symptoms. Some researchers believe the cause of panic attack symptoms is hereditary, while others believe stress or fear is the main cause. Although there is no defined cause of a panic attack, the symptoms remain the same in most every victim. Research has shown that a panic attack reflects the same symptoms as a life threatening experience.

A panic attack may cause a person to feel a sudden tightening of the chest followed by an extreme increase in their heart rate. The increased heart rate will then cause the person to feel nauseated and dizzy. The individual may even faint. Some people who experience the panic attack symptoms may even feel as if they are dying. These symptoms can last for anywhere from a few minute to a couple of hours.

There was a time when doctors looked at panic attack symptoms as an effect of stress or nerves. This misdiagnosis was then treated and the patient was sent on his/her way. Now, doctors may treat the panic attack with a medication schedule to help prevent any future attacks. Counseling may also be recommended. This will help a person understand the probable cause of a panic attack and also ways to handle an oncoming attack.

Medications Available for a panic attack

There are many medications on the market that will help with prevention or the cause of panic attack symptoms. Doctors have been prescribing anti-depressants such as Zoloft, Prozac and Paxil. These medications relieve the effects and sometimes eliminate the panic attack altogether. The medication helps to relieve the anxiety levels in a patient, which is believed to be a main cause of a panic attack. This medication will cause the patient to feel more relaxed and less susceptible to experience an attack.

Along with the medication, the doctor will more than likely refer you to a cognitive behavior specialist. Two different types of therapy can be experienced during a cognitive therapy session. The first session will concentrate on behavioral therapy and the other cognitive therapy. The cognitive therapy will help you realize the believed cause of a panic attack, and what may trigger or worsen your attack. The behavioral therapy will teach you different ways to manage the cause of a panic attack. Common behavioral exercises will involve relaxation techniques and concentrated breathing techniques.

The combination of these two therapies will help to prevent future attacks. A panic attack can be a very frightening experience and sometimes dangerous. Seek help and get to the root of the cause to avoid a future attack.

Cyclothymic depression

Cyclothymic depression is a depression caused by dramatic mood changes. It is considered to be a form of bipolar II disorder where the patient will at one moment feel highly irritable and then fall into a state of depression. Some symptoms of this depression are, as mentioned above, the person drifts between a highly irritable mood and more energy, and then they will usually fall into a period of depression. The period of depression is where the person will suffer constant mood swings, sadness, have changes in sleep patterns and eating habits, worthlessness, and fatigue. The person may also appear to slow down in thinking and response. The period where the person will have more energy will exhibit signs of irritability, appear to be more hyper in speech and in their activities and appear to have more focus on their activities than before.

What causes cyclothymic depression is not yet entirely understood; however, research has shown it to be a mood disorder that could be a result of the genes a person may inherit. As is true with many types of depression, there is still a lot of research being done on depression to find out more about it. Even though some people might be suffering the same type of depression, their symptoms differ as well as their treatments. The causes of depression also tend to differ from person to person.

Despite the fact that depression is not yet fully understood, more is being found out about depression every day through the research that is being done. New treatments and therapies are being developed for patients all the time and many people are being successfully treated by these methods. Of course, no one can help a person suffering depression if the patient does not seek help. Anyone who believes they might be suffering from depression should consult a therapist or a counselor as soon as they can. Only a therapist or counselor can properly diagnose the type of depression and then properly treat the patient. There is the option of online therapy for people who dont like to go into doctors offices. There is also the option of phone therapy. While these two options are great ways for someone to ease into the idea of asking questions about their possible condition or seeking advice, going in to see a therapist in person is probably the best of all three options. The reason for this is that the therapist will be able to speak with the patient uninterrupted and will be able to read the patient as they talk. It can aid the therapist in better understanding what it is that the patient is suffering from and this will help the therapist to recommend the best options for treatment.

Depression is not something that should ever be ignored. It is a real condition that many people suffer from every day. Many people who have gone in to get help have successfully been treated and are now living better lives as a result.

Healthy Chocolate

Tradition has long held that chocolate could only be savored at the price of health compromising high levels of fat and sugar. There next came the glimmer of hope that dark chocolate contained antioxidants that the body benefitted from. There’s now a new healthy chocolate developed by a doctor that includes a very powerful combination of amino acids, vitamins, and minerals that are superb for brain health and an overall sustained mood elevation.

Dr Paul Anderson, the creator with a history of forming non-drug and nutritional remedies for people suffering from chronic pain and depression, stated that this new dietary supplement is a great product for “anyone looking for better moods, more energy, looking to focus, be able to enjoy their days, and really be happy.” The taste may also lead you to believe that it is the absolute best chocolate that you have ever experienced as it melts in your mouth.

The advantages that this innovation has over the standard store bought variety are astounding. The energy received from Dr Anderson’s invention lasts 4 to 6 hours instead of the frantic kind from store bought chocolate that is short lived and ends in a crash to a state of mental mediocrity. The remedy for this predicament usually meant eating more chocolate to keep the up feeling.

Typical chocolate is also packed with fats and sugar that leave the body susceptible to a variety of health concerns. Dr Anderson’s healthy chocolate has only 40 calories and is very low in sugar. It also feeds the brain the “feel good” nutrients that it needs which curbs the former craving for excess amounts the body previously had. There would be a need for only between 2 and 4 pieces of the healthy chocolate throughout the day. Dr Anderson can be seen and heard discussing this new product known as IsaDelight by clicking on (or cut and pasting) http://www.isadelight.com/video6.html You will then be able to learn more about a healthy chocolate delicacy that can put you in a good mood, give you more energy, help satisfy your cravings and make your world a better place to be.