Tag: anxiety
-
Knowing When You Might Have An Anxiety Problem
What is anxiety? Anxiety can be thought of as a response to a perceived threat or potential danger. This can be specific to a person, object, or situation (e.g., anxiety about planes) or more general uncertainty about something that could happen down the line. People often distinguish worry in anxiety and depressive rumination by its…
-
The Difference Between Relaxation And Mindfulness For Anxiety
Introduction You are taking a stroll in your neighbourhood park and happen upon an older gentleman on the grass. He is sitting down; his body in an upright and dignified position, legs-crossed, and eyes closed. He is taking deep, diaphragmatic breaths and appears well-etched into the nature around him. The question is: is he engaging…
-
Six Common Anxiety Disorders: Causes and Treatments
Common features of anxiety disorder Everyone experiences anxiety to a certain extent. However, there are instances where anxiety becomes too excessive, pervasive, and/or prolonged that it disrupts everyday life. This is when regular anxiety moves into the disordered category. In this post, I will discuss six common anxiety disorders, their causes, and provide some information…
-
A Problem Solving Approach to Worry
Introduction Worries can come in all shapes and sizes. Some are more specific to our daily lives (e.g., “I need to find childcare for my son before I start work next month”) while others are more general and ambiguous (e.g., “everything seems so uncertain”). A key characteristic of worry is that it is future-focused. That…
-
Exposure Hierarchies for Scary Situations
Abby’s Ruff Problem Abby, a 21-year-old girl, has a strong phobia of dogs. She cannot get near a dog without experiencing strong symptoms of anxiety (e.g., trembling, shaking, heart-racing). This problem stemmed from an incident when Abby was 12, when a particularly nasty Dobermann chased her around the park and bit her on the arm.…
-
Worry Logs for a Good Night’s Sleep
Introduction Have you ever gone to bed ready for sleep, and then your entire night is filled with thoughts such as: “I have to get the car fixed”, “I need to find a babysitter for the kids on Friday”, “what if I get sick and can’t work”? These thoughts can cause a lot of distress…
-
Behavioural Experiments for Anxious Beliefs
When anxious predictions run amok! Anxiety is no stranger to anyone. And having anxious thoughts is a natural response to anxious situations. Sometimes, the anxiety helps us to avoid danger and other times we can push through our anxiety to do something even if we are nervous. However, the problem is when our anxious thoughts…
-
Three Relaxation Strategies for Anxiety
Introduction We are no strangers to stress and anxiety, especially with our busy days and everything that’s going on with the world. Everyone experiences anxiety at some point of their lives – this is a fact of life. However, when stress becomes too overwhelming that it becomes difficult to engage in your daily tasks or…
Simply mental health 