Anxiety Treatment

In order to manage debilitating stress disorders, it’s important to look beyond simply treating harmful symptoms. Medications that target your muscle tension or rapid heartbeat—while potentially helpful—are rarely the best method of meaningfully addressing the roots of chronic anxiety. When anxious responses begin affecting your quality of life, it could be time to seek help….

Who is that gentleman with his head divided into compartments? He’s a 19th-century phrenology chart, and deserves a closer look. Phrenology held that all mental faculties occupied specific parts of the brain. A well-developed faculty made the skull bulge, a weak one did the opposite. Phrenologists would read people’s character by studying their heads, and…

Several of my patients commented on a recent article in the New York Times that dealt with perfectionism (“Unhappy? Self-critical? Maybe You’re Just a Perfectionist”). It touched on a disturbing trait they recognized in themselves. These people suffered from a variety of symptoms – anxiety, depression, problems in careers and relationships – that appeared to…

Life goes along in a manageable way much of the time. We’re able to handle problems when they arise, and that feels good. Inevitably, though, there are stretches of rough water where the problems are unfamiliar, the stress is great, and even a well-adjusted person can benefit from professional help. If you’re at such a…

Stress is a normal part of life in general and work in particular. Any perceived challenge puts your body into a state of physiological alert, ready for action. This is productive in moderate doses. Stress keeps you focused and solution-oriented. It’s a key factor in success. Prolonged stress, on the other hand, is unhealthy –…

It’s often thought that people who are “geniuses” in their fields are born with superior genetic material, i.e., high-IQ brains. Not so, says psychologist K. Anders Ericcson. “You can be an international chess master with an IQ of 85,” or 15 points below normal. Superior performers in all fields—surgeons, chess masters, athletes, musicians—typically have the…

Smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee can both trigger those sudden, intense bursts of anxiety known as panic attacks. One key reason: nicotine and caffeine are both stimulants that activate the sympathetic nervous system, making the body more responsive to stress or perceived danger. In addition, cigarette smoke contains carbon dioxide, which induces the shortness of…

People who do serious running and other exercise often report higher spirits and lower anxiety. This “runner’s high” is usually attributed to an increased production of endorphins — the body’s own natural opioids. Many scientists have doubted whether runner’s high exists, however; they couldn’t reproduce it reliably in the lab, or confirm the endorphin hypothesis….

Laughter has been described as a kind of “social glue” that binds groups together; it has significant benefits for the individual, too. A decade ago, Dr. Lee Berk of Loma Linda University in California found that an hour spent watching comedy reduces levels of stress hormones and strengthens the immune system. Now Dr. Berk and…

Buzzing PDAs and cell phones, pinging emails, and interactive online safaris are eating up an increasing amount of our time. Psychiatrist Edward Hallowell and his Harvard collaborator, John Ratey have seen a corresponding tenfold increase over the past decade in the number of patients with symptoms resembling attention-deficit disorder, or ADD. People complain of feeling…