If you suffer from depression or anxiety, life might seem overwhelming at times. Depression can cause even minor problems to seem unbearable, so you might choose to ignore normal daily tasks and withdraw from those you love. Anxiety and panic attacks can cause insomnia, and you may feel helpless at times. Panic attacks can be very scary even when your body seems to be healthy otherwise.

Taking prescription medications can help both of these conditions, but many people don’t realize that there are natural ways to find relief as well. Learn about these healthy and affordable alternatives below.

The Stress Connection

Did you know that stress is deeply connected to many health conditions including depression and anxiety? Stress comes from many directions – work, family problems, or finances. Finding ways to relieve stress is important because it helps reduce your risks of depression and anxiety. Through exercise and either medication or a natural remedy, you can tremendously reduce your amount of daily stress and start living a happier, more fulfilling life.

Prescription Medications for Depression and Anxiety

Although there are many types of prescription medications that can help with depression or anxiety such as buspirone, tricyclic antidepressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, and benzodiazepines, these are not always the best remedy. There are several disadvantages to taking these types of medications. Some medications are very costly and may cause adverse sexual effects. They may be habit-forming, may cause insomnia or extreme fatigue, or may have cardiovascular risks.

Also, you might already be taking pharmaceutical medication for another health condition that could react with the depression or anxiety medication in an undesirable way. You should consult with your doctor to be sure the medications will not counteract one another.

Natural Alternatives

With a natural supplement, you might find relief from depression or anxiety without spending a fortune on doctor bills and prescription medications. Sometimes the answer can be as simple as taking a certain herbal remedy such as Amoryn or making minor changes to your diet. Studies with Amoryn, for example, have shown positive results for 90 percent of those with depression and 88 percent of those with anxiety. Amoryn is a natural antidepressant that boosts the brain’s natural capacity for happiness.

Seredyn is another natural supplement that helps relieve anxiety and panic attacks by calming you and giving you a sense of control as you go through the day.

Benefits of Natural Supplements

With natural supplements, you can enjoy relief while avoiding many of the unwanted side effects that can occur with prescription medications. These are not usually habit-forming and often produce positive results within a short period of time. You can now research these online to find the right herbs for you. If you suffer from severe depression or anxiety, share your findings with your physician to come up with a viable solution.

Don’t let depression and anxiety control your life. Take back control with natural remedies and start living once again!

Have you ever suffered from a panic attack? A panic attack occurs when feelings of intense anxiety and fear overwhelm you and manifest themselves in a variety of symptoms, including a pounding heart, shaking, dizziness, nausea, sweating, chills, shortness of breath, or others. The attack can last for a very short period or for hours. Sometimes, you may be able to see an obvious trigger for a panic attack, such as a busy workplace or a loved one that is ill. Other times, you may not see any reason for why you are experiencing a panic attack. Sometimes, just the thought of having a panic attack can trigger one.

What is most important is to realize what your body is doing, and to try and pinpoint what is causing you to feel anxious and fearful. If you are unable to figure out why you are suffering from panic attacks, it is best to see a doctor. Dont be worried that your doctor will think you are weird many people suffer from panic attacks, and often the cure you need can be very straightforward, such as a small change in your routines or lifestyle. It is good to speak with someone else to get their opinion on what you are experiencing, and a doctor or psychologist is an excellent person to speak with because they have the knowledge that can help you overcome these symptoms.

If your symptoms are severe, and you are unable to stop them on your own, there are medications which your doctor can prescribe to help you combat the panic attacks. The body is a complicated system that works in all different ways, so what some people might find helpful may not work for other people. Dont give up if you still experience panic attack symptoms; you may help in confronting different factors in your life that cause anxiety, or you many need to try a different medication or treatment.

Often, even if you are unable to figure out what is causing your symptoms at that moment, you can take action to stop them. Get away from people, or have a friend be with you. Sit or lie down. Focus on breathing deeply and thinking positive, calming thoughts. Even if you feel like you are not in control, make every effort to stop the symptoms. Know that you are not alone in this your friends, and especially your doctor, can help you overcome panic attack symptoms.

Chronic depression blues – Why do we feel so depressed? What makes us feel depressed? Will these feelings of depression ever go away?

I’m sure that most people have suffered from “the blues” at some stage in their lives, but for some people suffering from chronic depression, it is a lot like having the blues every day of the week. Does chronic depression set in and never go away? Why do some of us have to suffer like this and how often to you think to yourself ‘just get over it and sort yourself out’? How often do you think ‘maybe if I just start exercising every day, take time out to read, try and create a more positive attitude, it will all be ok’.

The truth is by doing this it can help, but even though this easy technique sounds simple, it is not. When suffering from chronic depression it is very hard to motivate yourself even though you know that this is what you have to do. You feel so miserable that you just don’t have the motivation to exercise or the concentration to read anything. It is very difficult to think positive thoughts when you’re down and your mind is full of so many negative thoughts. At first you begin with a huge effort to do something. Maybe go for regular walks over a couple of days, or you may even go into a book store to buy a novel that you think you might enjoy. This action will sometimes improve positive thinking for a short time, but usually it seems like such an effort to keep it up.
In the end you cry out who am I fooling. You put the book aside or you stop walking. You are back to feeling depressed again. The problem is now you feel even more depressed because you tried and in your own mind you failed. This is not true. Start again.

Can these feelings of depression ever go away and stay away? Do we need a mentor, a friend or even a relative who can help and guide us day after day? Can we organise to go on regular walks together or visit interesting places? Can they help to stimulate positive feelings within us? Can they make us laugh and be happy again?
Sometimes the problem with people, who have never suffered from chronic depression, is that they don’t quite understand what it really is. They are generally feeling positive about themselves and don’t understand how we feel. The common answer that most people will come up with to remedy your chronic depression is ‘I wish they’d just get over it and move on’. Its funny though. This is how I use to think about people with depression myself before I had it. So for a person who doesn’t quite know what the feeling of chronic depression is like, would they really want to help someone on a daily basis to get over it and move on. You will never know until you ask.

Just a warning about befriending others. People with chronic depression will always feel more comfortable in the company of other sufferers. If you want to break the cycle and feel more positive about yourself, then you must only seek out positive people as close friends and mentors. When you are with positive people always try and imitate their positive feelings. Believe me. If you have chronic depression you will have to work very hard at this. Remember that people with positive feelings will try and avoid you if you are negative all the time.

Medication

For some with diagnosed chemical imbalances, medication such as antidepressants can be an alternative option. This medication generally gives a person with chronic depression a feeling of euphoria and well being. Medication works, but it only works if you use the correct amount all the time, at the right dosage. These drugs are a great tool to stimulate positive thoughts and an I can do it attitude. But unfortunately these drugs only last for a short time and the side effects can be devastating. Along with the feeling of the withdrawal symptoms by removing the drug, you can sink to an even lower level of depression than before. This will happen very quickly and can sometimes be very dangerous to your well being.

Therapy

Talking to a professional therapist could be the answer for some people. A therapist is trained to listen and they do understand how you feel with chronic depression. Prepare to spend a lot of time with your therapist, so find one that you can trust. It will always feel better to talk about your depression to someone that you can trust. But like a drug the withdrawal symptoms of stopping your therapist visits can be just as disastrous. Those negative feelings return again.

Face your fears. Why not stand up to youre demons that are causing your chronic depression. Try and delve deep into yourself for that unpleasant experience or feeling and understand why you got depressed in the first place. Unfortunately you may have a chemical imbalance and only drugs or a change in diet may help.
But what if there is a bad experience that has triggered your chronic depression. Do something about it. You may even be depressed just because you havent taken any action at all. Tell yourself you can do it. You don’t want to be depressed forever. Do something everyday that will change the way that you feel. Face your worries head on.

Say good bye to chronic depression and The Blues felling.

When you feel like your beginning to breathe very rapidly and complain that your heart is jumping around in your chest, you may be experiencing panic attack. Such rapid pulse and shortness of breath of a panic attack can feel like a heart attack, and may signal a brewing heart trouble, a study of more than 3,000 older women reveals. Episodes of panic attack are frightening and may occur at random or after a person is exposed to various events that may trigger the condition.
Based on the study, women who reported at least one full-blown panic attack during a six-month period were three times more likely to have a heart attack or stroke over the next five years than women who didn’t report a panic attack. After taking into account other risk factors such as smoking, high blood pressure, inactivity and depression, researchers have also found out that emotional and mental health issues chracterized by fear, hostility, and anxiety which have been linked to previous research on heart problems, said study co-author Dr. Jordan Smoller of Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital.
Postmenopausal women who are experiencing panic attacks may be a subgroup with elevated risk, Smoller said. She added that monitoring the health condition of postmenopausal women is critical to the reduction of the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Monday’s Archives of General Psychiatry published the study which wasn’t designed to explain the link but speculated that a panic attack may trigger heart rhythm problems or that stress hormones released during an attack may harm the heart.
Susie Rissler, 51, of Terre Haute, Indiana, wasn’t a bit surprised by the study. She’s been a panic attack sufferer since childhood who had already experienced three mini-strokes. You feel like the whole world is caving in, Rissler said of her panic attacks, which can include symptoms like racing heartbeat and chest pains. I’ve had shaking, sweating, curling up in a ball totally afraid to even look around. Panic attacks can really destroy a person in a lot of different ways, she said.
According to Smoller, some of the reported panic symptoms such as racing heart, chest pain or shortness of breath, experienced as a panic attack, may have been heart problems in disguise and may have been caused by an undiagnosed heart problem. One study doesn’t settle a question, he cautioned. Smoller said that the number of events seen in this sample was still relatively small.

From 1997-2000, the study enrolled 3,243 women and followed them for five years. Forty-one in the analysis had a heart attack or death from a heart problem. An additional 40 had strokes. According to Dr. Joann Manson of Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital who is not part of the team, though the weakness of the study may be its reliance on the women’s memories, rather than doctors’ diagnoses, it’s more likely that the findings point to a real connection between panic and heart problems.
It does tie together very well with what we know about the biology and physiology of the stress hormones, Manson said. I think it does suggest that this is something to discuss with your doctor, Manson said.

An asthma attack is usually regarded as a physical experience. Sufferers often experience chest tightness, coughing, and an increased effort to breathe. Yet asthma also has an emotional component. There is the frustration of experiencing an attack and the fear of what might happen if the attack worsens.

Asthma can be a life-threatening condition. This can increase levels of anxiety, leading to panic, which in turn can trigger or worsen an asthma attack. Anxiety, resentment and despair are common emotions felt by the asthmatic.

For centuries, many people believed asthma was caused by stress or emotional disorders. This led to a stigma being attached to the condition and there grew a stereotype of the asthmatic being a weak, anxious person, forever wheezing and coughing.

Breathing is obviously tied in with emotion. We gasp with fear when we watch a scary movie, and take short breaths if we get involved in an action flick. We catch our breath if something startles us. Laughing and crying are certainly expressions of emotion and they both involve a change in our normal breathing pattern.

Being under stress can gradually tighten the airways. Sometimes people suffer their first asthma attack at a time of heightened emotion, like the death of a close relative. In these cases the person was probably already susceptible to asthma and the traumatic event and stress triggered the attack.

The beliefs of a person can also influence their asthma. Experiments have shown that asthmatics can produce and decrease asthma attacks using the power of suggestion. Just as Pavlov’s dogs salivated to the sound of a bell, asthma patients can suffer attacks if they are convinced they have inhaled an allergen even if the allergen is not present. Similarly they can experience relief if they believe they are taking a reliever drug though the substance they have taken has no medical effects. This ‘placebo effect’ has been noted for many conditions and situations.

This power of suggestion may explain why some people suffer a worsening of their asthma if they just see something related to their asthma trigger. It may also explain why some feel they cannot be without their inhaler.

The cause of asthma is not in the mind. It is in the genes and airways. But it seems that the mind can aggravate the condition.
Research has shown that asthma attacks can be connected to panic disorder – recurrent unexplained panic attacks. This connection seems stronger in smokers than non-smokers, and in women than in men.

It has also been found that the children of mothers prone to depression or panic attacks have an increased risk of developing asthma.

More recently researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison performed tests in which asthma patients heard various different words. They found that simply mentioning asthma related words such as ‘wheeze’ stimulated responses in two regions of the brain. One region is associated with emotional responses; the other is involved in obtaining information about the body’s physiological condition, such as shortness of breath.

The results suggest a direct link between an emotion-processing area of the brain and the physical response to the disease. The brains of people with asthma may over-react to emotional and physiological signals, like inflammation, which in turn may affect the severity of symptoms. This may help explain why asthma attacks in response to allergens can worsen during stressful times.

This research may one day lead to drugs or behavioral interventions to control asthma. Meanwhile it is know that certain relaxation techniques and martial arts can help control asthma that is triggered by emotional events.

Winter has always been a difficult time for me in Michigan, with its many gray days, and not much sunlight. I awoke, feeling heavy, sluggish, and still exhausted. I wanted to pull the covers back over my head and return to my secure sleep state. I sensed something was wrong but really didn’t seem to care what it was. I knew I did not want to face another grueling day, outside the world of sleep. I felt scared, but didn’t know why. I dragged myself, out of bed, and into the bathroom. I could not decide whether I wanted to shave or shower first, then I made that extremely difficult decision to shower. Typical thoughts that would run through my head every morning, would I ever get over this feeling? Why was I feeling like this all the time? Maybe this is normal and I will eventually get over it?

Finally, I was fully awake small tasks seemed monumental, drudgery and overwhelming but I pushed on. I started my day by looking for faults in everything but myself. I was very short tempered with those closest to me and I didn’t even realize it, then out the door to work I go. The rest of the day, at work, I felt numb people were talking to me, asking questions, but nothing was getting thru. On the outside I put up a great front so no one could see, but I was trapped inside a deep dark world, a personal hell.

I was forgetting things very easily, even if I wrote them down. Organization, no matter how I organized things, didn’t seem to matter, because I was depressed and felt hazy. I couldnt decide exactly what to start on because it all seemed overwhelming. When I did start something it was like climbing a mountain and I couldn’t see the top. Sometimes I felt a sinking feeling or a sense of little hope for anything. I felt like no one knew what I was going through or could help me. I would easily get angry and irritated at everything and everyone. There were times of PanicAnxiety attacks in the middle of the night, those were not fun.

My typical day was like that movie “Ground Hog Day” with Bill Murray where he had to keep repeating the same day over and over till he got it right. What I found out later was that somewhere, I allowed myself to tumble into a state of depression and had not realized it or even truly acknowledged it. When I did finally acknowledge I was depressed and needed to do something it took me along time to find the right solutions by trial and error. The only person that can drag you out of depression is you, but I have to tell you the big secret to my success was the pharmaceutical grade St. Johns Wort that I took for about 6 months. If you need to know more about what I was taking come to my forum I go into more detail there.

Now I am doing great, I have focus, drive, energy and care what happens to myself and others. I jump out of bed, can’t wait to face all of the issues at hand They are issues now, before they were monumental problems. I don’t have the emotional tendencies that I had before. I am by no means walking around with “rose colored glasses”, but more like a clear view now without the numb hazy feeling.

Depression is an emotionally draining journey that many will go through in their lifetime, but depression does not have to rule your life there is plenty of help available. Answers and treatments will vary from person to person what works for one person may not work for another. Allowing the state of depression to control you and be the norm will negatively affect you and others. Depression drags you down to depths that you feel you dont have the energy to accomplish anything or even beat depression itself, a vicious cycle. Depression appears to cause many physical illness’s that can be over come with treatment. Its time now, for you to pull out of the emotional numbness and rollercoaster that you step on to, but cant remember where.

Being able to feel normal and handle life is your right. When people look at others that are cool and calm they appear to have everything under control that might not be the case, because many of us can put of a really good front. Putting up a good front is ok for a while, but you need to address the disorders. “Depression slowly erodes your will and breaks down any attempt at your happiness for a normal life this is not what anyone wants.

Finally, I want all of you to know that depressed people are highly intelligent, loving and sensitive people that have a lot to contribute to the world, but they need to realize that they are depressed, admit it and find a solution.

- Thomas Fullerton