There are thousands of people from all walks of life who like an occasional drink, and indeed, drinking in moderation can provide many benefits. However, the problems start when we begin to overindulge in alcoholic drinks. The body can be affected in many different ways by alcohol abuse; it’s not only alcohol and anxiety attacks that are linked. Alcohol can affect your health adversely in many ways, for example it can damage the kidneys and the liver, or it can lead to dependency. It can even affect the way your mind functions.

Drink too much alcohol and you will also find that you are unable to operate to the best of your capabilities. This happens because if you overindulge in alcohol, the feeling that we know as a hangover is actually caused by the nutrients and minerals in your body being diverted to your liver, away from where they should be, because the liver requires them to try and break down the alcohol in your blood stream faster. Along with this feeling of grogginess, drinkers also feel dehydrated from alcohol and anxiety attacks can result from this.

Alcohol and anxiety attack symptoms are basically the same as that of any regular panic attack, with sufferers experiencing the shakes, terrible fear, seating, clamminess and horrible nausea. You may notice that you only have these kinds of attacks after a heavy bout of drinking, or you may at least notice they are more common after such episodes. If so, then alcohol and anxiety are definitely partners here, and so you should cut back on the amount of alcohol you consume to stop panic attacks from happening.

There are a number of medical professionals right now who feel that alcohol and anxiety attack sufferers are usually people who started off with regular panic disorder, and then turned to alcohol as a way of trying to fight these off or otherwise lift their depressive mood. However, drinking alcohol as an anxiety cure is the biggest mistake you can make. People with panic disorders tend to be very susceptible to chemical imbalances in their body, and drinking large quantities of alcohol will cause significant amounts of these, thus exacerbating their panic problems.

Doctors have known about this link between alcohol and anxiety for years now. Over-consumption of alcohol is able to change the chemistry of the brain, enhancing the likelihood of anxious people suffering from panic attacks. And not only is it the drinking that is bad, as alcohol withdrawal can also lead to the same symptoms.

If you suffer from panic disorder and like to have a drink to make you feel relaxed, perhaps you would be better off cutting out the alcohol altogether and seeing if this can help lessen the bad experiences you are having.

alldisorder.com/anxiety-disorder/alcohol-and-anxiety-attacks

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The reason test anxiety can get so high is because usually tests count. Usually the people who go into test will little concern rarely do well on a test. Some worry has been shown to be good for us. It sharpens our alertness and makes us think, but a lot of worry will often erase what we tried so hard to learn.

This worry will pile up and interfere with your memory. Other emotions can also hurt your memory and hurt how you do on a test. Anger, depression and even a lack of confidence can affect a performance during testing.
Strategies to Prevent Test Anxiety

All of these reasons make it crucial to find some strategies that help alleviate the worry before test time arrives. One of the most important ways to help yourself during test taking time is to bolster your confidence.

Strategy 1- Building up your confidence- Psychology courses mention a self-fulfilling prophecy, that is the tendency to do as well, or as poor as you expect to do. This prophecy is especially true when it comes to exams. If you feel confident about passing, some of the anxiety that weighs on your mind will disappear. It is possible to gain points just because you have confidence in your subject matter.
Confidence is Important

So in order to bolster your confidence you should study the content so that there is no doubt in your mind that you know and understand the material. If possible, hire a tutor to help you master the subject. You don’t have to be the smartest in the class, just make sure you know the material. Confidence is important but not being cocky. There is a difference in the two.

Strategy 2- Minimize Discomfort- If possible visit the testing room before hand so that you will be familiar with the room. Find a seat you like and try to do some work there. Students really do perform better when they take a test in a room in which they have studied. In high school this is rarely and issue but in college and with entrance exams it is often a problem. Go ahead of time and pick a seat you like, if possible. It is never a good idea to run late to an exam. The tension from just being late can add to your stress.

Pay attention to the temperature of the room. Is it too cold or too hot? Make adjustments in the way you dress so that you will be comfortable and not too cold or over heated. If you notice distractions in the room, like a chart or interesting poster, study it now so that it won’t be tempting during the test.

Strategy 3- Get Happy- Many students roll through high school and college in a constant state of up and downs. A lot of the emotional rollercoaster cannot be helped but it is a good idea to get into a happy state of mind before testing. This includes banishing any anger you may be feeling towards another person or yourself. Do something relaxing before the test, go to a movie, listen to your favorite music, or just lie on the bed and think happy thoughts.
Postpone a Test if You are Ill

Strategies 4- postpone- If life is going horrible, or you are honestly not feeling well, it is a good idea to postpone a test if you can. This does not mean you should postpone the test because of test anxiety but if you are legitimately ill or under extreme duress it may be best to ask about taking the test on another day.

As stated earlier, testing is just a part of life and something that most people will experience at least once during a lifetime. The best part of testing is that even if you earn a failing grade it will not be the end of the world. Testing can be done over or if necessary the whole class can be re-taken. So if there is a test in your future use the strategies above to make that experience a more pleasant one.

www.suite101.com/content/strategies-to-prevent-test-anxiety-a347353#ixzz1EeSjyWpg

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Constant worrying takes a heavy toll. It keeps you up at night and makes you tense
and edgy during the day. You hate feeling like a nervous wreck. So why is it so difficult
to stop worrying?

For most chronic worriers, the anxious thoughts are fueled by the beliefs–both
negative and positive–they hold about worrying.

On the negative side, you may believe that your constant worrying is harmful, that
it’s going to drive you crazy or affect your physical health. Or you may worry
that you’re going to lose all control over your worrying–that it will
take over and never stop.

On the positive side, you may believe that your worrying helps you avoid bad things,
prevents problems, prepares you for the worst, or leads to solutions.

Negative beliefs, or worrying about worrying, add to your anxiety and keep worry
going. But positive beliefs about worrying can be even more damaging. It’s tough
to break the worry habit if you believe that your worrying protects you. In order to
stop worry and anxiety for good, you must give up your belief that worrying serves
a positive purpose. Once you realize that worrying is the problem, not the solution,
you can regain control of your worried mind.

Worry and anxiety self-help tip #1: Accept uncertainty

The inability to tolerate uncertainty plays a huge role in anxiety and worry. Chronic
worriers can’t stand doubt or unpredictability. They need to know with 100 percent
certainty what’s going to happen. Worrying is seen as a way to predict what the
future has in store, a way to prevent unpleasant surprises and control the outcome.
The problem is, it doesn’t work.

Thinking about all the things that could go wrong doesn’t make life any more
predictable. You may feel safer when you’re worrying, but it’s just an
illusion. Focusing on worst-case scenarios won’t keep bad things from happening.
It will only keep you from enjoying the good things you have in the present. So if
you want to stop worrying, start by tackling your need for certainty and immediate
answers.

Worry and anxiety self-help tip #2: Create a worry period

It’s tough to be productive in your daily life when anxiety and worry are dominating your thoughts. Trying to stop worrying doesn’t work – at least not for long. You can distract yourself for a moment, but you can’t banish your anxious thoughts for good. Trying to do so often makes them stronger. But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing you can do to control your worry. You just need to try a different approach. Rather than trying to totally suppress an anxious thought, develop the habit of postponing worrying.

Learning to postpone worrying:

• Create a “worry period.” Choose a set time and place for worrying. It should be the same every day (e.g. In the living room from 5:00 to 5:20 p.m.) and early enough that it won’t make you anxious right before bedtime. During your worry period, you’re allowed to worry about whatever’s on your mind. The rest of the day, however, is a worry-free zone.
• Postpone your worry. If an anxious thought or worry comes into your head during the day, make a brief note of it on paper and postpone it to your worry period. Remind yourself that you’ll have time to think about it later, so there’s no need to worry about it right now. Save it for later and continue to go about your day.
• Go over your “worry list” during the worry period. Reflect on the worries you wrote down during the day. If the thoughts are still bothering you, allow yourself to worry about them, but only for the amount of time you’ve specified for your worry period. If the worries don’t seem important any more, cut your worry period short and enjoy the rest of your day.

Postponing worrying is effective because it breaks the habit of dwelling on worries in the present moment. As you develop the ability to postpone your anxious thoughts, you’ll experience a greater sense of control.

Worry and anxiety self-help tip #3: Challenge negative thoughts

If you suffer from chronic anxiety and worries, chances are you look at the world in ways that make it seem more dangerous than it really is. For example, you may overestimate the possibility that things will turn out badly, jump immediately to worst-case scenarios, or treat every negative thought as if it were fact. You may also discredit your own ability to handle life’s problems, assuming you’ll fall apart at the first sign of trouble. These irrational, pessimistic attitudes are known as cognitive distortions.

Although cognitive distortions aren’t based on reality, they’re not easy to give up. Often, they’re part of a lifelong pattern of thinking that’s become so automatic you’re not even completely aware of it. In order to break these bad thinking habits and stop the worry and anxiety they bring – you must retrain your brain.

Start by identifying the frightening thought, being as detailed as possible about what scares or worries you. Then, instead of viewing your thoughts as facts, treat them as hypotheses you’re testing out. As you examine and challenge your worries and fears, you’ll develop a more balanced perspective.

Stop worry by questioning the worried thought:

• What’s the evidence that the thought is true? That it’s not true?
• Is there a more positive, realistic way of looking at the situation?
• What’s the probability that what I’m scared of will actually happen?
• If the probability is low, what are some more likely outcomes?
• Is the thought helpful? How will worrying about it help me and how will it hurt me?
• What would I say to a friend who had this worry?

Worry and anxiety self-help tip #4: Learn how to relax

Anxiety is more than just a feeling. It’s the body’s physical “fight or flight” reaction to a perceived threat. Your heart pounds, you breathe faster, your muscles tense up, and you feel light-headed. When you’re relaxed, the complete opposite happens. Your heart rate slows down, you breathe slower and more deeply, your muscles relax, and your blood pressure stabilizes. Since it’s impossible to be anxious and relaxed at the same time, strengthening your body’s relaxation response is a powerful anxiety-relieving tactic.

If you’re a chronic worrier, relaxation techniques such as progressive muscle relaxation, deep breathing, and meditation can teach you how to relax. The key is regular practice. Try to set aside at least 30 minutes a day. Over time, the relaxation response will come easier and easier, until it feels natural.

• Progressive muscle relaxation. When anxiety takes hold, progressive muscle relaxation can help you release muscle tension and take a “time out” from your worries. The technique involves systematically tensing and then releasing different muscle groups in your body. As your body relaxes, your mind will follow.
• Deep breathing. When you’re anxious, you breathe faster. This hyperventilation causes symptoms such as dizziness, breathlessness, lightheadedness, and tingly hands and feet. These physical symptoms are frightening, leading to further anxiety and panic. But by breathing deeply from the diaphragm, you can reverse these symptoms and calm yourself down.
• Meditation. Many types of meditation have been shown to reduce anxiety. Mindfulness meditation, in particular, shows promise for anxiety relief. Research shows that mindfulness meditation can actually change your brain. With regular practice, meditation boosts activity on the left side of the prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain responsible for feelings of serenity and joy.

Worry and anxiety self-help tip #5: Take care of yourself

A healthy, balanced lifestyle plays a big role in keeping anxiety, fears, and worry at bay. Read on for a number of ways you can stop anxiety and worry by taking care of yourself.

Reach out for support

Anxiety and worry get worse when you feel powerless and alone, but there is strength in numbers. Focus on building a strong support system. The more connected you are to other people, the less vulnerable you’ll feel. If you start to feel overwhelmed with worry, call a trusted family member or friend. Just talking out loud about your worries can make them seem less threatening.

Adopt healthy eating habits

Start the day right with breakfast, and continue with frequent small meals throughout the day. Going too long without eating leads to low blood sugar, which can make you feel anxious and irritable. Eat plenty of complex carbohydrates such as whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. Not only do complex carbs stabilize blood sugar, they also boost serotonin, a neurotransmitter with calming effects.

Limit caffeine and sugar

Stop drinking or cut back on caffeinated beverages, including soda, coffee, and tea. Caffeine can increase anxiety, interfere with sleep, and even provoke panic attacks. Reduce the amount of refined sugar you eat, too. Sugary snacks and desserts cause blood sugar to spike and then crash, leaving you feeling emotionally and physically drained.

Exercise regularly

Exercise is a natural and effective anti-anxiety treatment. For maximum anxiety relief, try to get at least 30 minutes of aerobic activity on most days. Aerobic exercise relieves tension and stress, boosts physical and mental energy, and enhances well-being through the release of endorphins, the brain’s feel-good chemicals.

Avoid alcohol and nicotine

Alcohol temporarily reduces anxiety and worry, but it actually causes anxiety symptoms as it wears off. Drinking for anxiety relief also starts you on a path that can lead to alcohol abuse and dependence. Lighting up when you’re feeling anxious is also a bad idea. While it may seem like cigarettes are calming, nicotine is actually a powerful stimulant. Smoking leads to higher, not lower, levels of anxiety.

Get enough sleep

Anxiety and worry can cause insomnia, as anyone whose racing thoughts have kept them up at night can attest. But lack of sleep can also contribute to anxiety. When you’re sleep deprived, your ability to handle stress is compromised. When you’re well rested, it’s much easier to keep your emotional balance, a key factor in coping with anxiety and stopping worry.

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Those who defend such widespread use of prescription drugs insist a significant part of the population is under-treated and under-medicated. Those opposed note that, for example, diagnosis of bipolar disorder has rocketed by 4,000 per cent and that over-medication is impossible without over-diagnosis.

To help settle this dispute, I studied why the number of recognized psychiatric disorders has ballooned in recent decades. In 1980, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders added 112 disorders to its third edition (DSM-III). Some 58 more appeared in the revised third and fourth editions. The manual is the bible of American psychiatry, and the addition of even one new disorder has serious consequences. So why add so many?

I was granted access to unpublished memos, letters, and voting data from 1973-1979 when the DSM-III task force debated each disorder. Some of the work was meticulous, but the overall approval process was more capricious than scientific.

DSM-III grew out of meetings that many participants described as chaotic. The expertise of the task force was limited to neuro-psychiatry, and the group met for four years before it occurred to members that it might be biased.

Some lists of symptoms were knocked out in minutes and the field studies used to justify their inclusion sometimes involved a single patient. Experts pressed for the inclusion of illnesses as questionable as “chronic complaint disorder”, whose traits included moaning about taxes and the weather.

Social anxiety disorder was given official recognition in 1980 and by the 1990s experts insisted as many as one in five Americans suffered from it. Yet Isaac Marks, the specialist who originally recognized social anxiety in the 1960s, resisted its inclusion as a separate disease. The list of behaviors associated with the disorder, such as avoidance of public toilets, gave him pause. By the time a revised task-force added dislike of public speaking to the symptom list in 1987, the disorder seemed sufficiently elastic to include virtually everyone on the planet.

To counter the impression it was turning common fears into medical conditions, DSM-IV added a clause stipulating social anxiety had to be “impairing” before a diagnosis was possible. But the prescriber’s understanding of impairment was looser than that of the task-force.

Over-medication would affect fewer Americans if we could rein in examples of over-diagnosis by resurrecting the distinction between chronic illness and mild suffering. . Failure to reform psychiatry will be disastrous for public health. Sanity must prevail: if everyone is mentally ill, then no-one is.

news.scotsman.com/scitech/Sometimes-anxiety-is-just-a.3950988.jp

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Anxiety disorders are ubiquitous across human cultures. The longitudinal course of these disorders is characterized by relatively early ages of onset, chronicity, relapsing or recurrent illness and periods of disability. Panic disorder and agoraphobia are particularly associated with suicidal tendencies.

PANIC ATTACKS

A panic attack is a period of intense fear or discomfort that is associated with numerous physical and psychological symptoms such as:
• Palpitations
• Sweating
• Trembling
• Shortness of breath
• Sensations of choking or smothering
• Chest pain
• Nausea or gastrointestinal distress
• Dizziness
• Tingling sensations
• Chills or blushing
• Hot flashes

The attack typically has an abrupt onset, building to maximum intensity within 10 to 15 minutes. Most people report a fear of dying or a loss of control over emotions and behavior. This generally evokes a strong urge to flee the place where the attack begins and, when associated with chest pain or shortness of breath, frequently leads to seeking urgent assistance from a hospital emergency room. Yet an attack rarely lasts for more than 30 minutes. According to current diagnostic practice, a panic attack must be characterized by at least four of the associated physical and psychological symptoms described above. The panic attack is distinguished from other forms of anxiety by its intensity and its sudden, episodic nature.

Panic attacks are not always indicative of a mental disorder, and up to 10 per cent of otherwise healthy people experience an isolated panic attack per year.

PANIC DISORDER

When a person has experienced at least two unexpected panic attacks, develops persistent concern or worries about having further attacks or changes his or her behavior to avoid such attacks, he is diagnosed with panic disorder. Whereas the number and severity of the attacks varies widely, concern and avoidance behavior are essential features. The diagnosis is inapplicable, however, when the attacks are caused by drugs or medication or by another disorder, such as hyperthyroidism.

COMPLICATIONS

Major depressive disorder, alcoholism and substance abuse frequently complicate panic disorder. Panic disorder also co-occurs with other specific anxiety disorders, including social phobia (up to 30 per cent), generalized anxiety disorder (up to 25 per cent), specific phobia (up to 20 per cent), and obsessive-compulsive disorder (up to 10 per cent.) Approximately half the people with panic disorder at some point develop such severe avoidance as to warrant a separate description.

Panic disorder is about twice as common among women as men. Age of onset is mostly between late adolescence and mid-adulthood, with the onset relatively uncommon past the age of 50. Typically, an early onset of panic disorder carries greater risks of chronicity and impairment. Panic disorder also occurs as a familial condition.

AGORAPHOBIA

The ancient term ‘agoraphobia’ is translated from Greek as ‘fear of an open marketplace’. Agoraphobia today describes severe and pervasive anxiety about being in situations from which escape might be difficult or avoidance of situations such as being alone outside one’s home, traveling in a car, bus, or airplane, or being in a crowded area.

ANXIETY DISORDERS

The likelihood of developing anxiety involves a combination of life experiences, psychological traits, and genetic factors. There are several major psychological theories explaining anxiety-psychoanalytic, psycho-dynamic, behavioral and cognitive theories. Anxiety disorders are so heterogeneous that the relative roles of these factors are likely to differ. Some anxiety disorders, like panic disorder, appear to have a stronger genetic basis than others, although actual genes have not been identified. Other anxiety disorders are more rooted in stressful life events.

It is not clear why more women than men suffer from anxiety disorders, although some theories have suggested the possible role of steroids. Research on women’s responses to stress suggests that women experience a wider range of life events that are stressful as compared to men.

TREATMENT

• Counseling and Psychotherapy
Anxiety disorders are responsive to counseling and to a wide variety of psychotherapies. During the past several decades, there has been an increasing enthusiasm for focused, time-limited therapies that address ways of coping with anxiety symptoms directly, rather than exploring unconscious conflict or other personal vulnerabilities.

• Pharmacotherapy
The medications typically used to treat patients with anxiety disorders benzodiazepines, antidepressants and newer compounds such as buspirone.

• Combination Treatment
Some patients with anxiety disorders may benefit both from psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy treatment, either combined or used in sequence. It is likely that such combinations are not uniformly necessary and are probably more cost-effective when reserved for patients with more complex, complicated or severe disorders.

Panic disorders are extremely debilitating and common, yet respond well to treatment if started early enough in the course of the disease. It is not a condition to be taken lightly in view of its effect on the quality of the sufferer’s life.

www.lifepositive.com/mind/psychology/phobia/anxiety.asp

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The Wake-Up Routine
The morning is probably no one’s favorite part of the day, particularly if you stayed up the night before to watch Leno or Jaws for the seventeenth time. Remember: Stress and anxiety wreak havoc on your immunity. Enter your day happy and relaxed, and you greatly increase your chances of a healthy, productive day.

1. Go to sleep with your blinds or curtains halfway open. That way, the natural light of the rising sun will send a signal to your brain to slow its production of melatonin and bump up its production of adrenaline, a signal that it’s time to wake up. When the alarm goes off, you’ll already be half awake. Even better: Go to bed early enough so that waking up when the sun shines through your window still gives you the recommended seven hours of shut-eye. If you maintain this routine, it’s likely that you can start relying on your biological clock rather than an alarm clock.

2. Set your alarm 15 minutes earlier. This way, you don’t have to jump out of bed and rush through your morning. You can begin your morning by lying in bed, slowly waking up. Stretching. Listening to the news headlines. Mentally clicking off what you’re going to wear, what you’re going to do, what you’re going to have for breakfast. It’s just as important to prepare yourself mentally as physically for your day. These few minutes in bed, before anyone else is up, are all yours.

3. Stretch every extremity for 15 seconds. Try this even before you open your eyes. Lift your arm and begin by stretching each finger, then your hand, then your wrist, then your arm. Then move on to the other arm. Then your toes, feet, ankles, and legs. Finally, end with a neck and back stretch that propels you out of the bed. You’ve just limbered up your muscles and joints and enhanced the flow of blood through your body, providing an extra shot of oxygen to all your
tissues.

4. Stick a chair in the shower and sit in it. Use one of those plastic chairs you can buy at any hardware store. Let it warm up under the spray for a minute, then sit in it and let the spray beat on your back. It’s simultaneously relaxing and energizing, like getting a water massage. After a couple of minutes, you can swing the chair out of the way and commence with washing.

5. Read a motivational quote every morning. This can provide a frame for the day, a sort of self-talk that keeps you motivated in the right direction as opposed to the negative thinking of the morning news. Another option: Use a motivational mantra that provides a meditation-like burst, or read or recite a poem that helps you focus. A good one to use: Rudyard Kipling’s “If.”

6. Take a vitamin. Keep a multivitamin out on the kitchen counter right by the coffeepot so you remember to take one every morning. More than 20 years of research led to a major recommendation in one of the country’s premier medical journals suggesting that every American take a multivitamin as part of a healthy lifestyle.

7. Eschew any decisions. For truly relaxing mornings, reduce the number of choices and decisions you make to zero. Go about this two ways: First, make your morning decisions the night before: what clothes to wear, what breakfast to eat, what route to take to work, and so on. Second, routinize as much of your morning as possible. Really, there’s no need to vary your breakfast, timetable, or bathroom ritual from one morning to the next.

8. Cuddle with your kids. Few things are more stressful in the morning than waking up an overtired fifth grader or a snoring high schooler. Yet this is one of the few times you can catch your child still vulnerable. Sit on his bed and gently smooth his hair as you softly waken him. Or, if you’re dealing with a very young child, lie beside him and gently hug him awake. Such a moment will send a quiet surge of joy through your entire day and will become all too rare in all too short a time.

9. Spend 5 to 10 minutes each morning listening to music or sitting on the deck or porch just thinking. This allows the creative thinking that takes place during the night to gel and form into a plan of action, grounding you for the day.

10. Wake to the smell of coffee. Really great coffee. Buy the absolute best coffee you can afford — fresh beans are preferred — and put twice the amount you’ve been using into your coffee maker, the one you bought specifically because it has an alarm that can be set to start brewing times. The strong scent of strong coffee will pull you out of bed like a fishhook in the back of your pajamas. Plus, if you’re going the caffeine route, morning is the best time for it. Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant that acts in many ways like other stimulant drugs such as amphetamines, waking you up and increasing your muscular activity. Even better: A study of 18 men found that caffeine improved clear-headedness, happiness, and calmness, as well as the men’s ability to perform on attention tests and to process information and solve problems.

11. Brush your tongue for one minute. There’s no better way to rid yourself of morning breath and begin your day minty fresh and clean. After all, more than 300 types of bacteria take up residence in your mouth every night. You think a quick brush over the teeth is going to vanquish them all?

12. Take a baby aspirin. There. You’ve just significantly reduced your risk of a heart attack. In one study of 220,000 doctors, those who took an aspirin every day for five years slashed their heart attack risk nearly in half. Of course, check with your doctor first to make sure this is okay for you.

www.rd.com/living-healthy/24-ways-to-brighten-your-morning/article15916.html

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Now if you’re like me, you may have a disorder and require an SSRI or beta-blocker type medications. I only suggest using them while talking to someone about what causes your anxiety or following the steps outlined in the natural anxiety cure products available on the internet. I reviewed the top 3 and most effective on this site. The trick is using the anxiety medication to get rid of the anxiety completely so you can focus on getting over the situations that make you unnaturally anxious. It has worked great for me in the past and if nothing else has been working for you, then that might be your next step.

The main point of this post tho is to show you some of the side effects certain medications can cause if you do decide that taking meds. is your only option but please make 100% sure that there is nothing else you can do to get rid of your anxiety. I’m not posting the side effects because I want to scare you away from taking medications, I just want you to be aware. Most of the side effects will go away after the first few days of taking your medication.

This information is from about.com and is great info. as far as listing anxiety medication side effects. Hope this helps.

panicdisorder.about.com/od/sideeffectsdiscussions/Side_Effects_of_Anxiety_Medications.htm

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There are also some ways of dealing with anxiety that do not require the need of medication. Many people prefer these ways because they feel safer not taking nay medicines that may have adverse side effects. Alternative therapy or treatment can be dome by yourself in your own space.

Ways to Take Control of the Situation

One surefire way of taking control of your anxiety attacks is to figure out what triggers them. You may have noticed that certain people or events trigger your anxiety attacks such as being called by your boss, having a family dinner or even speaking in public. You will need to find out what aspect of meeting your boss or your family triggers your fears or stress because there is no way you can avoid your boss and you will eventually have to meet your family. Finding out what triggers your dread, fears and anxiety is one step closer to dealing with your disorder.

Once you have put your finger on what causes you anxiety levels to rise, you can prime yourself to meet the rising anxiety and deal with it by some relaxation techniques. One way of relaxing is to plan. If you have an idea of why your boss may have summoned you, you can think of ways to deal with the probabilities that you have thought of. For the family dinner, you can arrange for just a short time with them and then leave as soon as it is possible. Knowing that you do not have to spend as much time there, will motivate you to get through the little time you have allotted for the family dinner.

Some individuals have no idea what may have caused their anxiety but here are other techniques to calm oneself. Try to take a relaxing bath or to have a relaxing massage, whichever works for you. Whatever technique you know that can soothe you is a good thing to do when you start to feel the anxiety rise. Sometimes, you do not even have to do anything but just rest or meditate by yourself in a dim room. Clearing one’s thoughts can be a calming experience. Listening to soothing music can reduce the anxious feeling that may have sprung up for no reason at all. Talking to someone whom you know cares for you is also one way of getting rid of the stressful and anxious feelings that you may have.

Alternative treatments for anxiety can also be a great way of positively controlling the feelings of fear and dread that one feels when anxious. Drinking calming chamomile tea can help many people while aromatherapy or aromatherapy massage can also give you the desired effects. Alternative medicine may also have desirable effects and usually have no adverse side effects like dependency.

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In the last couple decades, there has been some interest in looking at the mental health value of exercise. Until recently, however, studies investigating the effectiveness of exercise in the treatment of mental health have not been conducted with the same level of scientific rigor as the clinical trials used to bring anti-depressant medications to the market. Limitations of previous studies have included the absence of a control group, individuals not being randomly assigned to study groups, and testing the effects of exercise on individuals who were not suffering from a mood disorder.

But a recent placebo-controlled study conducted by James Blumenthal, professor of psychology at Duke University and published in the September issue of the journal Psychosomatic Medicine compared exercise to a common antidepressant medication in a group of individuals diagnosed with major depressive disorder, and found that exercise was as effective as the drug at alleviating symptoms of the disorder. In this study, 202 depressed adults were randomly assigned to one of four groups: one that received the antidepressant sertraline, one that worked out in a supervised group setting three times a week, one that worked out at home, or one that received a placebo pill. Sixteen weeks later, 47% of the group that took the antidepressant, 45% of the supervised exercise group, and 40% of those that exercised at home no longer met the criteria for major depression based on a standard measure of depression symptoms. Although the percent of improvement in the group that exercised on their own was less than that of those that exercised in a supervised group, and the percent improvement in the supervised exercise group was slightly less than that of the group that took the antidepressant, the differences between these three groups were not statistically significant. All groups improved a statistically significant amount over the placebo group, 31% of which no longer met the criteria for depression at the end of the study. This study provides powerful evidence that exercise may be a viable alternative to antidepressant medication in the treatment of major depressive disorder.

Other studies have found that the benefits of physical activity can be realized in individuals who are not depressed, but who feel, as is common in our fast-paced culture, that they are mentally worn out and need more energy. In his book, “Calm Energy: How People Regulate Mood with Food and Exercise” Dr. Robert E. Thayer describes how exercise can be used as a personal mood-regulator, and cites one of his studies in which it was found that as little as ten minutes of brisk walking raised the mood and increased the energy levels of the subjects in the experiment for up to 2 hours after the walk.

More research is needed to replicate these types of studies and further define the mental health benefits of exercise. Questions yet to be answered include what types of exercise (e.g., cardiovascular or weight training), what level of intensity and duration, and what frequency of exercising will produce the most benefits. Additionally, gender or age differences may need to be taken into account when structuring an exercise program aimed at boosting mood.

With this much potential for positive mental health benefits, and with the most likely side effect being better physical health and possible weight loss, it is easy to imagine that if exercise were a marketable drug, it would be at the top of the drug companies’ lists of products to promote. If more research emerges that clarifies and confirms the potential of exercise in the treatment of disorders such as depression, we may soon hear doctors say, “Run two miles and call me in the morning” to their patients who complain of feeling down.

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I enjoy hanging out at night and drinking with my buddies. Most of the time, if I’m feeling good, it’s hard for me not to drink because I’m not feeling crappy from drinking the night before and forget how terrible I will feel the next day. I can honestly say from my experience, having GAD and drinking alcohol is not a fun mix the day after a night of drinking. I have spent an entire day throwing up and feeling sick because I had drank too much the night before too quickly and woke up the next day with terrible anxiety and a terrible hang over.

I constantly remind myself when I go to the store to buy beer that I’m going to probably feel sick and anxious the next day and things that don’t usually bother me will give me anxiety. This is something that I’m reminding myself over and over and although I might feel relaxed and goofy during a night of drinking, all the fun is sucked up from the next day into one night. Hardly worth it if you ask me.

Now if you’re like me and enjoy drinking beer and hanging out, then learn your limit. Drink slowly throughout the evening / night. Don’t chug your beer to get drunk faster. Drink slowly. I know it can be hard to stop once you’ve hit the point of “I don’t care if I feel crappy tomorrow!” but you’ll have to quit hours before you go to bed so you can sober up. Bring water with you. After your last beer or alcoholic beverage, crack open a bottle of water and drink away. Drink as much water as you can before you go to bed and at least 3 tall glasses of water the next day. Water helps and food helps (if you can eat it). I’m still planning to cut way down on my alcohol intake to reduce my anxiety. I hate anxiety and drinking makes it worse.

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