Living Well with Anxiety: What Your Doctor Doesn't Tell You... That You Need to Know PDF
Preview Living Well with Anxiety: What Your Doctor Doesn't Tell You... That You Need to Know
LIVING WELL WITH Anxiety What Your Doctor Doesn’t Tell You . . . That You Need to Know CAROLYN CHAMBERS CLARK, ARNP, E .D. D Founder of the Wellness Institute MEDICAL DISCLAIMER Neither the publisher, nor the author, nor any of the medical, health, or wellness practitioners nor the clients quoted in this book take responsibility for any possible consequences from any treat- ment, procedure, exercise, dietary modification, action, or applica- tion of medication or preparation by any person reading or following the information in this book. The publication of this book does not constitute the practice of medicine, and this book does not attempt to replace your physician or your pharmacist. Before under- taking any course of treatment, the author and publisher advise you to consult with your physician or health practitioner regarding any prescription drugs, vitamins, minerals and food supplements, or other treatments and therapies that would be beneficial for your par- ticular health problems and the dosages that would be best for you. CONTENTS Medical Disclaimer Introduction 1 PART ONE:Anxiety and Medical Treatment 1 Anxiety: Causes and Effects 11 2 Self-Diagnosing Your Anxiety 21 3 Types of Anxiety Disorders 25 4 Anxiety, Your Brain, and Medication 37 PART TWO: Holistic Approaches to Anxiety 5 Nutrition 61 6 Herbs 74 7 Environmental Changes 86 8 Exercise 101 9 Other Anxiety-Reducing and Healing Measures 117 10 Relationships, Purpose, and Spirituality 177 PART THREE: Creating Your Anxiety Plan 11 Changes, Demands, Supports 227 12 Finding and Working with the Right Practitioner 231 13 Putting It All Together: Your Anxiety Success Plan 268 Resources 289 References 305 Index 319 Acknowledgments About the Author Other Books by Carolyn Chambers Clark Credits Cover Copyright About the Publisher Introduction Anxiety conditions are the number-one mental health problem among American women and are second only to alcohol and drug abuse among men. The frequency of anxiety is also increasing among children, and it contributes to decreased social connected- ness (divorce, living alone, decreased birthrate, marriage later in life). Increases in physical or psychological threats (violent crime, worry about nuclear war, fear of diseases such as AIDS, and the en- trance of more women into the workforce) are identified as signifi- cant factors in the upswing of anxiety. Approximately 10 percent of the population of the United States, or more than 30 million people, suffer from anxiety disorders each year, yet only a small proportion receive treatment. Many who suf- fer from high anxiety are too embarrassed or ashamed to discuss their anxieties. For many people, this book may provide the only help they will ever receive. Let’s take a look at some of the varied conditions that result from uncontrolled anxiety. 1 2 Introduction Hillary wakes up every night a couple of hours after going to sleep, her heart racing, feeling dizzy, with a tightness in her throat, and fearful something terrible is going to happen. Joe just got a promotion because of his Internet sales ability. Now he must contribute to group sales meetings and he knows he’s go- ing to be tongue-tied, stammer instead of speak coherently, and get so restless he won’t be able to sit still. Ruth, a bank teller, has been forcing herself to go to work, and once she gets there, she’s afraid she might say or do something silly, and want to leave. Adam just entered college, and he’s afraid to speak up in class, even though he knows the answer, and he freezes when he has to take a written exam. Sylvia was raped a year ago. She continues to have repetitive dis- tressing thoughts about the event, as well as nightmares, flash- backs, and emotional numbness. ❚ Why Anxiety Is Such a Problem Today Anxiety conditions appear as a result of cumulative stress over time. Individuals in Western societies experience more stress than ever be- fore. As a result, they experience more anxiety. The increased pace of modern society, the increased rate of technological change, the relative absence of traditionally prescribed values, a barrage of in- consistent worldviews presented in the media, terrorism threats— these and other factors make it more difficult to remain calm and to experience a sense of stability or consistency in their lives. The re- sult is increased stress and anxiety. As anxiety continues to mount Introduction 3 in our society, this book can provide the comfort and specific direc- tion anxious individuals need. ❚ A Traditional Medical Approach May Not Be Enough For most anxiety-related conditions, the best that medicine can do is keep some of your symptoms at bay, and even that claim is ques- tionable. The more we learn about the medications used to treat anxiety, the more we learn that these drugs often have unwanted ef- fects that are worse than the anxiety itself. The root cause of anxiety is rarely—if ever—addressed in a med- ical model. Only the symptoms are treated. That means you may never learn the source of your anxiety, and, as you may have already discovered, fear of the unknown brings on the worst kind of anxiety. You may be fearful your anxiety is untreatable, or that it means you are crazy, or on your way to a lifetime of hospitalization and treatment. You may be fearful your anxiety may build into dramati- cally worsening conditions and phobias. You may be fearful that even though you’re learning to deal with your anxiety, you suspect that new symptoms will appear and you will be unable to control them. You may be fearful that for the most part, doctors, unless they are psychiatrists, think you’re faking it, or that your problems are all in your head. You may be fearful because most doctors don’t have an answer when you ask if your anxiety is going to affect your family, work, and friends. You may be fearful that, over time, your anxiety is going to lead to other, more dangerous, conditions such as heart attacks, suicide, or even cancer. You may be afraid that you will never be able to overcome your anxiety, that you cannot stop its inexorable march as it seems to envelop and overtake every facet of your life. You may be afraid that there are no answers, no cure, no respite from the discomfort you feel and that no one really under- stands what you’re going through. 4 Introduction Rest assured, there are answers, and there are ways you can learn to reduce your anxiety. You just aren’t likely to hear them from the typical HMO or primary-care physician, who may not even recognize or diagnose your condition, much less know how to treat it, especially now that typical HMO appointments are mandated to end in fifteen minutes or less. You may not be able to obtain an answer from the average psy- chiatrist, either. These doctors must rush through dozens of patients a day, prescribing drugs and monitoring their effects. They simply don’t have the time, and sometimes don’t have the know-how, to delve into the complicated and connected conditions anxiety evokes. And even those medical doctors who consider themselves experts in treating anxiety rarely venture into the uncharted territory of dealing with the source of anxiety. Most are content to focus on treating the symptoms of anxiety, not the source. They are comfort- able prescribing anti-anxiety drugs, but ask these doctors how to help you remove the source of your anxiety and they will probably draw a blank. ❚ Why I Wrote This Book My master’s degree is in psychiatric/mental-health nursing and my minor at the doctoral level was psychology. My major in my doc- toral program was education—specifically, novel methods of teach- ing and learning. I am also board certified as an advanced holistic/wellness practitioner. Over the years I’ve experienced high degrees of anxiety due to graduate school stress, performance anxiety (when I first started to make presentations to large audiences), a fear of heights (after I was almost pushed off a second-floor balcony), as well as the many stresses and strains of our society that create anxiety. As a result,
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