In recent years, the high profile murder cases of Laci Peterson and Lori Hacking in the United States has brought to light an growing threat to pregnant women—murder. According to a March 2001 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association JAMA using death records and coroner reports, state health department researchers found 247 pregnancy-associated deaths between 1993 and 1998, suggesting that the maternal murder phenomenon is the leading cause of death among pregnant women.

Pregnancy should be a time of great joy between a couple, so why are all those women getting murdered by their partners? According to Dr. Diana Cheng, director of women’s health at the Maryland Department of Health and Medical Hygiene and her colleague Dr. Isabelle Horon, Women tend to think pregnancy is a safety zone, especially if they are already in an abusive relationship, but what we’re seeing is that no woman is safe from domestic violence or its most severe consequences.” Unfortunately, most women who are in abusive relationships are physically assaulted by their partners even during pregnancy. Sometimes, this violence can result in injury for both the mother and child, miscarriage or death. The more alarming thing is that while the male partners of these pregnant women are often the chief suspects in the murder, it can be hard for the police to prove the fact and these men can go free to go on and abuse other women.

Why then would a woman stay in an abusive relationship? Unfortunately, apart from the financial aspect, many women are compelled to stay in the relationship because of companionship and for the sake of the child. Many victims of domestic violence find convenient excuses for their partner’s behavior, some driven by the shame and disbelief that such a thing was happening to them. Women who are in comfortable financial positions and social standing may have more options but are not less vulnerable to domestic violence. Some women have asked, if he doesn’t want the responsibility of a child, then why doesn’t he just leave? Leaving the pregnant woman may be simple, but once the child is born there are other factors that will still tie him to his unwanted partner and child such as child support and alimony.

Many of the men who murdered their pregnant partners had shown signs of psychopathic behavior even before the murder, and were likely to have been arrested for domestic violence. If you are pregnant and your partner isn’t feeling as joyous about the pregnancy as you are, it could be normal. Pregnancy is a big, life-changing event for the couple, and for men the emotional and financial responsibility it places on them can seem overwhelming. This feeling of fear and anxiety may be compounded by outside stressors such as problems with work, issues with their parents and physical or psychological problems. However, if you are getting some vibes that send cold chills up your spine, look for some signs and ask yourself these questions. Has your partner asked or told you to have an abortion? Has he said, he’s not ready to be a father yet? Did he break-off the relationship because of the pregnancy? Have you had disastrous conversations about child support? Any comments about you personally being the wrong person to have his child? Is your relationship an abusive one?

If your partner has made direct threats that he would cause you harm if you plan to have the baby, protect yourself. Don’t keep the news to yourself, tell your friends or family about it, and if the harassment escalates report it to local law enforcement agencies. There are also support groups that can help you during this difficult time. It might also be a good idea to move to a different residence. It is better to be proactive than to end up dead. Don’t wait until its too late.

Fear, along with death, can probably be listed as being among the chief equalizers of humanity. Everybody dies and everybody is afraid of something, after all. Fear keeps people from doing stupid things and can often be a very good way to keep someone from stepping out of line. However, letting an irrational case of fear and anxiety evolve into a full-blown phobia is far from being sound for one’s mental health. While it can take more than simply giving into the fear to damage someone’s psychological well-being, the fact that certain phobias are more common than others has often been seen as being highly subjective.

The trouble with these common and irrational fears comes full circle with the fact that some people might fail to even acknowledge that they have a phobia, for the simple reason that they’re unaware that the phobia even exists. However, as stated, there are some common phobias out there and it would serve people well to be aware of them. While they are not truly damaging to a person’s mental health, it can still have drastic effects on a person’s lifestyle and interpersonal relationships.

The most common and arguably the most most stereotyped of phobias would be claustrophobia. This mental health condition is basically the fear of tight, enclosed spaces. This can include everything from being stuck in a tight traffic jam to elevators. In some cases, people can develop claustrophobia after serving time in prison, where the already-small cells are made smaller by the intimidating nature of the areas surrounding it. To someone with this problem, the fear and anxiety stems from the mind becoming incapable of seeing how much space is actually available and focusing on the objects that define the confining space, such as walls or bars.

Some people theorize that egrophobia is becoming increasingly common as well. Egrophobias is literally defined as the fear of work, but it comes down to more than that. Egrophobia affects the mental health such that the person develops an irrational fear of anything and everything related to the work environment. This can include not only the office structures such as desks and computers, but also more subtle reminders like being part of a team or being required to meet a specific quota. It should be noted that there is no definite proof that egrophobia is spreading, but there are probably more than a few people who would insist that they are developing it.

Phobias related to sex, sexual identity, and sexual health are also starting to become more prominent. Homophobia is, in theory, fairly common, but with varying degrees of intensity. It is believed that, to some extent, everyone that isn’t homosexual has some level of homophobia, though it is the behavior of the more extreme cases that is often shown. Androphobia and gynophobia, the fear of men and women, respectively, are also starting to become more noticeable in contemporary society. These two irrational fears produce similar effects on someone’s mental health, such as an astute case of fear and anxiety when presented with the prospect of achieving emotional or physical intimacy with someone of the appropriate gender.

In the modern world, anxiety is something that people have to constantly deal with. The stress that living in today’s anxiety-filled world can wear down even the toughest people. There are countless pressures that a person has to deal with on a daily basis. These things can range from the mundane to the highly improbable. It doesn’t help that the way things work also makes it hard for people to find ways to relieve that stress and anxiety. Some people just buckle under the strain and give up, but that is really just the tip of the iceberg. The fact is, all that anxiety can become the critical component in a dangerous mix of external and internal factors that can be severely damaging to a person’s mental health. Anxiety, when combined with things like depression or insomnia, can effectively cripple someone psychologically.

One of the many consequences of anxiety come in the form of panic disorders. The fear and anxiety gets to a point when it can no longer be controlled without the help of psychoactive medication. Panic disorders differ from an anxiety disorder in that the former does not necessarily require a specific trigger to kick in. Another difference lies in the fact that panic disorders have more severe physical side effects and symptoms than an anxiety disorder. In general, nausea, excessive sweating, and increased heart rate are all classic signs of a panic attack. More severe cases can also include muscle spasms, shallow breathing, sudden drops in body temperature, and an inability to fully coordinate physical activity. In contrast, an anxiety attack has less obvious physical symptoms, aside from the increase in heart rate and sweating.

Another potential consequence of being unable to deal with anxiety is depression. As the stress and anxiety causes a person to be unable to perform his duties professionally or socially, it can cause a lack of confidence. In a world where one’s purpose in life is defined by what he does and the people around him, this can be a massive problem. The lack of confidence only makes any attempts to perform even worse, eventually evolving into a crippling case of performance anxiety. If left untreated still, this problem can easily evolve into clinical depression, as the person loses all ability to see past his mistakes and perceived lack of ability. Obviously, this problem can be addressed by counseling early on, but the problem lies in it being detected by untrained observers during the earlier stages. Most people tend to dismiss the signs as nothing more than a phase or a temporary slump in a person’s ability.

Perhaps the most drastic consequence of stress and anxiety would be addiction. Gambling, narcotics, and alcohol are all things that a person can develop an unhealthy attachment to. All three addictions tend to start out as just stress relief for the person, until the mind begins to crave it and the body develops a tolerance for it. This process goes on until it becomes a mental health problem that could potentially destroy the person and damage his relationships with other people.

You probably know the feeling by now. Your hands are clammy and you can’t quite figure out why you’re unable to stop them from shaking. You’re not the least bit cold, but you feel like you should be wearing winter gear. You’re terrified of that shadow that seems to constantly loom over your shoulder. You feel anxiety at what you’re doing, even though you’re well aware of your qualifications and you know you can do the job better than anyone else on the production floor. You know this is something well within the scope of your skills, but you can’t help but be terrified of the prospect of your shift starting. After all, the first day is always the hardest.

The first day on a new job is always going to be a source of anxiety for an employee. There are the co-workers you have to get to know and adjust to. There are the rules and regulations of the company that you have to know, along with the unwritten conventions among the employees. In some cases, you might feel anxiety because of the intimidating nature of that supervisor who doesn’t seem to do anything but walk around the office and look over his employees’ shoulders.

Feeling anxiety during the first day of a new job is perfectly understandable. There are things that you have to adjust to and things you have to learn. The anxiety sets in because the workplace and the nature of the job are both unfamiliar territory. You’re also not entirely sure how well you’re going to mesh with your co-workers and your direct supervisors, which can ultimately have an effect on how well you do your job.

However, the trick here is not to let that anxiety sink in so much that you can’t let it go. It is perfectly understandable to spend a few days, maybe even a month for some people, to get acclimatized to how things work in your new office. Of course, the nature of the job often defines how fast a new worker can adjust. Even if you move to a job that basically the same thing as your old one, you’d still need to learn about procedures in the new company. You’d have to study the way things are done and get a feel for the various specifics of the job. To give an example, selling cars is a completely different compared to selling insurance.

Aside from the mechanics of the job, you also have to get used to how the interpersonal relationships in the office work. Every office has employees that form groups and cliques. You’ll have to learn to get along with your co-workers while you’re at the work place, as well as find a clique where you can fit in well. You also have to learn with the office politics, which can have an effect on your personal relationships with your co-workers even if you don’t participate in it. You also have to learn how to handle co-workers that you don’t get along with, without causing unwanted conflict.

The first day is always the hardest regardless of the place or type of job you have. There are so many things you have to adjust to and so many things to learn. However, despite whatever fear and anxiety you might have during that first day, you can always find ways to overcome the first day jitters.

Many couples, after all the years of trying to make it work, eventually find themselves at the end of the line. The marriage counseling and other therapies failed to make the marriage work. At some point, one or both persons in the marriage decide to cut all strings that connected them as husband and wife.

While separation or divorce may be the only way to secure freedom from an unhappy marriage, the effects of dissolving a partnership that was supposed to last for eternity go beyond the bickering parties. Surely, when a marriage fails, the hurts and pains also hit even those who are not supposed to be involved — the children.

Your children may do away with less toys to play with. They can also learn to live in a simple house and eat simple food. Even if they enviously talk about their peers’ palatial homes in the suburbs , they would rather live in a hole — as long as you are there. Sadly, the children often become part of collateral damage when a war breaks out between husband and wife. In the heat of marital fights, it is often forgotten that children are can also get hurt.

No child can easily get over the fact that the very epitome of unity as symbolized by their father and mother can actually crumble before their very eyes. The same persons who preached about forgiveness and second chances are the same people who they to be constantly picking on each other’s blunders and flaws.

Needless to say, not all children can handle the stress and anxiety brought about by constant parental quarrel. The inner lives of children also crumble when they see that their parents are already headed to Splits Ville.

According to studies on psychological problems among children, stress and anxiety brought about by traumatic domestic problems can greatly affect the normal flow of activities and behavioral patterns of young children. The more the children are exposed to these horrendous scenarios, the greater the possibility for stress and anxiety to occur. Child psychologists strongly warn parents from showing any form of violence in front of their children. Domestic violence always causes a negative impact on children, making them suffer from intense episodes of fear and anxiety. If left unattended, the repercussions of these traumatic experiences will eventually manifest as aggressive behavior and non-compliance to family authority.

Studies also pointed out that, like in the case of school bullies, children are not that capable of handling fear and anxiety brought by constant family bickering so they vent out their frustrations by intimidating other children. This is their way of coping with internal stress, understanding that they can’t easily dish out their own true feelings to their parents.

In addition, experts say that children don’t normally manifest these aggressive behavior in the early stages of their life. However, if not therapy is undertaken, these potentially harmful tendencies that appear during childhood may be carried out to their adulthood. Repressed emotions may eventually spill out as aggressive behavior if these are not addressed properly by trained counselors. Fear and anxiety brought about by constant father-mother bickering can also have adverse effects on the physical growth of children.

Indeed, children must live in a loving environment. No matter the situation or how big the problem is, they must be protected from any type violence. It’s their right. It is the parent’s responsibility. It is normal for a family to experience squabbles and occasional emotional crisis.

It is good to remember that children can do away with broken toys but having a broken family may just be too hard for them.

Millions of teenage girls and women all around the world are recorded to have eating disorders. As defined in medical terminology, an eating disorder is a disturbing drive or obsession to eat or not eat that greatly affects ones mental as well as physical health and condition.

Today, eating disorders, particularly anorexia and bulimia, are commonly associated to Hollywood female celebrities, for it has somehow became a trend among stars that a thin physique is sexier and more attractive. Famous female celebrities who are rumored to have eating disorders are Nicole Richie, Mary Kate Olsen, and Britney Spears.

There are different types of eating disorders, and anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are two of the most common cases. These two types of eating problems can result to serious and grave effects to ones health.

Anorexia and bulimia are two different cases of eating disorder. In order to identify them properly, the following are the characteristics of anorexia and bulimia

Defining anorexia

Anorexia is characterized as a psychological eating problem, wherein one possesses a very thin physique because she refuses to eat or drink anything, thus, causing the lack of nutrients absorbed in her body. A teenage girl or a woman refuses to eat anything because of an extreme fear and anxiety of becoming fat. Another cause of this type of eating disorder is a womans wrong perception of her body weight and shape, thinking that she is still fat and big even though she is not consuming any food at all.

Common symptoms of anorexia are

1. Extreme of excessive consciousness on ones body or figure.
2. Irregular menstrual cycle.
3. Selective eating habit; preferring meals that are low in calories and fat.
4. Prefers to wear baggy clothes to hide thin physique.
5. Regularly skips or avoids meals.
6. Maintains a strict and strong exercise routine.

Physical and emotional effects of anorexia

1. Exhaustion and fatigue
2. Less immunity to other diseases
3. Always irritable
4. Depressed
5. Isolates self from friends and family members

Defining bulimia

Bulimia is different from anorexia in the sense that a bulimic person eats too much food, then eventually gets rid of extra calories by means of vomiting, extreme fasting, or too much exercise. The known cause of this type of eating disorder is binge eating. Bulimia is basically attributed to the binge-and-purging cycle.

Common Symptoms of bulimia are

1. Irregular eating patterns
2. Too much or abnormal consumption of food
3. Over-conscious of body weight and physical appearance
4. Constant vomiting

Physical and emotional effects of Bulimia

1. Malnourished physical appearance
2. Brittle nails and dry skin
3. Self-esteem issues
4. Always stressed out and depressed

Although anorexia and bulimia are generally treatable, these types of eating disorders require support and help from family and friends in order for one to effectively break the habit of zero food consumption, binge eating, as well as the purging cycles. However, if the anorexic or bulimic condition is already beyond serious, treatment becomes more difficult and may even be useless.