Have you ever watched the news and found yourself terrified of some new, hidden health threat or similar that could possibly be the end of you? I know I have. It seems that almost every day there’s a new threat out there; it’s often something hidden in your food or your genes, or our neighborhood, and it it’s almost always lethal. But wait…then the commercial break comes on, and there it is; the pill or shot or company that will make it all better. 

 Shannon Brownlee, author of the book “Overtreated: Why Too Much Medicine Is Making Us Sicker and Poorer”, calls the medical and pharmaceutical companies “The anxiety industry.” She talks about how these industries in combination with the media is constantly telling us to keep a lookout for illnesses and how this is causing real anxiety and possibly a lot of unnecessary medical costs.   

Why are we so obsessed with illness and death? And why are the people that are supposed to look after our health seemingly more concerned with prescribing expensive tests and medications than they are with inexpensive prevention and taking care of our overall health? No wonder we are scared; everywhere we look we are told to be careful and to take caution.  

The primary commodity of the news media is fear; George Gerbner, one of our time’s most important media researches put it this way:  

“People think of television as programs, but television is more than that; television is a mythology - highly organically connected, repeated every day so that the themes that run through all programming and news have the effect of cultivating conceptions of reality.[…] The programming reinforces the worst fears and apprehensions and paranoia of people.” 

Is it possible that the extremely high levels of anxiety we are collectively experiencing as a society has to do with what we are watching? Lewis Lapham, correspondent for Harper’s Magazine said this about it:

“First they give you the vision of hell, which is what scares the person, the audience and the viewer. This is what sets up the good news, which is the advertising, which is the way the game is played. So the idea that the media as a whole does bad news is just not true at all. It’s part of the pitch. It’s the freak show in order to sell the snow cones.” 

The next time you are watching TV, try to pay attention to the absurdity of it all; commercials tell us to ask our doctor about asthma medicines that could help us…or lead to an increased risk of asthma related death. A morning show will tell you how important it is for your health to eat lots of fruit and vegetables, and then the evening new will tell you to tune in at seven to “See what’s in your fruit and veg that could possibly kill you…”                                                                               

Instead of focusing on all the things that could possibly kill you, put your attention to what is actually hurting your life and causing you anxiety: your television.  Tonight, try turning off the evening news and going for a walk instead; you might find that your neighborhood isn’t so bad after all. 

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

There is a book out by Bob Rosen called “Just Enough Anxiety: The Hidden Driver of Business Success.”  This is a book about business and different kinds of leadership, but reading about it made me think about the concept of “just enough anxiety” in everyday life. According to an article in the Chicago Tribune online edition, the author claims that anxiety leads to change, and that change is good. He thinks a leader should not lead by fear, or be controlling or anxious, but that “A leader who inspires through anxiety, on the other hand, sets bold targets to push employees to change, communicates honestly and is comfortable with ongoing conflict and turbulence.” 

Can we really be inspired by anxiety? Could it be that anxiety can have a positive effect on our lives? Maybe there is something to the idea that if we are too comfortable, we don’t act and make necessary changes in our lives. Obviously we are not talking about life limiting panic attacks or anxiety disorders here, but maybe some of the everyday anxiety that we feel about our lives, relationships and the future actually brings about something positive?  If I’m completely honest with myself, I have to admit that there are things I have done in life primarily because I was more scared of what would happen if I didn’t act. Think about situations like job interviews. As scary as they can be, we still go through with them because we are more afraid of staying in a job we don’t like, or not having a job at all. We ask people out, and go on first dates, even though most people will admit that they are terrified of  the idea of having to start a relationship from scratch again. Why do we do it? Maybe we are more afraid of being alone? I’m not trying to make anxiety sound like the best thing that ever happened to you, but I do believe it is important to look for the positive and to recognize that maybe there have been times where having a little bit of anxiety has helped you produce something good in your life.  Maybe it is important to not lump all anxious feelings in together and label them as a disorder. If you think about it, are there not situations where a little bit of anxiety has helped you take positive action? I know it has for me. ELR www.easycalm.com

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

I read a few interesting articles this week about the connection between vigorous exercise (or lack thereof) and anxiety attacks. I won’t post a full blown “article” on the subject; I simply wanted to gently remind anyone dealing with frequent anxiety attacks that physical exercise (even walking) is still one of the best ways to reclaim your natural calm and sense of well-being.

Did you notice that I used the word ‘natural” in that last paragraph? Think about it; is it possible for anxiety to be the “natural” state of any living thing (including me and you)? Of course not–your natural state is calm. So reducing or eliminating anxiety issues can be as simple as reverting to your “natural” state. That’s where frequent exercise and motion come into the picture.

When we exercise — even moderately– our bodies tend to return to their natural (there’s that word again) state. And as you may have heard me say before, our mental processes and our physical processes are NOT two separate things. They are interconnected to the point of being virtually indistinguishable.

Keep in mind the importance of physical motion and exercise in reducing anxiety attacks. I can assure you that I personally feel much more relaxed and calm when I  am able to work out at least 2-3 times a week, and I try to get at least some physical exercise every day (OK, I take the day off on Sunday–so sue me

When you change what you are doing with your body, you also change what you are doing with your mind. Keeping the body vibrant and in motion returns us to our “base state,” which has nothing to do with anxiety attacks, and everything to do with feeling just fine…

Jon Mercer
Stop Anxiety Attacks

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

I received an email today that referred to anxiety attacks as “a series of very unfortunate head games.” I believe that’s about as good a description of of anxiety attacks and their symptoms as I’ve ever heard, because, in the end, they are in fact “all in your head.”

But this doesn’t mean that anxiety doesn’t produce very real (an even painful) effects in your life, including physical symptoms that often mimic other health problems. This is something I’m personally acquainted with: when my anxiety attacks were at their worst, I saw many doctors and had countless tests run only to discover that I was physically healthy as a horse.

In my case, I was suffering with breathing problems, which very closely mimicked the symptoms of asthma. In fact, I was sure I had asthma, and was beginning to question the common sense of my doctors as, time and time again, the tests showed not even the slightest hint of asthma, or any other condition. But if the doctors were right, then why was I having trouble breathing?

Today I understand full well why I was having these symptoms, and how anxiety attacks brought on by chronic stress and mental fatigue can produce very real physical symptoms in the body. Anxiety may be a “state of mind,” but it doesn’t just affect the mind. It is a whole body and mind problem.

This is something I did not realize for many years, but seems fairly obvious to me today. Understanding this mind/body connection made be able to deal with my anxiety attacks symptoms in a much more effective manner, eventually reducing the problem to nothing more than an occasional nuscence, NOT an every day situation.

The techniques I used to overcome this problem are now available to anyone in the EasyCalm Anxiety Prevention Series and they’re not at all complicated. It’s funny; when I stopped “trying so hard” to defeat my anxiety symptoms, and learned the simple but effective tools to deal with them, the problem cleared up pretty quickly.

Struggling or fighting against anxiety attacks only makes them worse (and I should know–I was thick enough to continue trying this for quite a few years!). That’s why today,  I never recommend over-focusing on anxiety attacks and symptoms. You DO have to deal with them, but not by immersing yourself in the problem.

The simple, straight-forward approach produces the best results, and thankfully, is also the easiest way to deal with anxiety. No struggling against it, and no fighting the symptoms.

Take Care,
Jon

Jon Mercer, MA
Personal Development Coach
www.easycalm.com

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!