Living Well with Anxiety: What Your Doctor Doesn't Tell You... That You Need to Know

348 Pages·2006·1.96 MB·English

by  Carolyn Chambers Clark

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,