The Anxiety/Panic Attack Journal

Have you ever watched a really depressing, violent or anxious movie?  These kinds of films definitely affect our emotional state.  In fact, if the director is good, he’ll get you to empathize with the characters, and actually feel the same fear and anxiety that they do.

But what happens when you’ve finished watching a movie like this?  Do you return to your “normal” emotional state as soon as it’s over?  Of course not.  Strong emotional states tend to linger, and sometimes a lot longer than we would like.

After watching a depressing or stressful movie, it’s not uncommon for people to feel somewhat depressed themselves for hours, days, even weeks afterward.  Anything that tugs at our emotions (movies, music, television, books, art, etc.) can have this lingering effect.

Consider this hypothetical situation: what if you watched three horribly depressing movies every week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. How would you feel on the days in between?  The emotional state conjured up by the depressing films might linger long enough to keep you in a perpetual state of anxiety or depression.

But what if you watched only happy, inspiring, motivational films (or books, television, web sites, etc.)? Influences that promote positive states tend to linger too, just like the negative ones.

Have you ever been to a fantastic concert and then felt like you were on a high for the rest of the week?  That’s the amazing lingering power of positive emotional states.

It’s important for all of us to get as many of these kinds of influences in our lives as we can.  Whether it’s an awe-inspiring movie, motivational speaker (not Matt Foley!), a concert, inspirational book or whatever.  But you must take the initiative and seek out positive influences. They’re not going to come looking for you.

So your assignment today (and EVERY day) is to seek out positive, inspirational, motivational, happiness-inducing influences of all different types.  And remember, the stronger the positive emotions produced, the longer the effect will linger.

If you regularly seek out happy, positive influences, over time you become much more calm, resilient and optimistic. And besides reducing anxiety and increasing happiness, it can also have positive effects on your physical health, such as calming digestive problems or strengthening the immune system.  And because of the aforementioned lingering effect, it’s possible to stay in this “calm and happy” state of mind long after the movie/book/concert/event is over. It can effectively become your “new normal.”

Begin by taking control of the kind of influences and information that you allow “on your radar.”  Proactively seek out the best, brightest, most optimistic and inspiring influences you can. This simple behavioral change can reduce many emotional problems like anxiety and panic attacks; and help you live an all around happier, healthier life.

~Jon

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A study by the U. S. Department of Health found that nearly 20% of Americans will experience severe anxiety some time in their life. Think about that: nearly one out of five dealing with a serious anxiety problem. That’s practically an epidemic. The statistics for depression are almost as bad; and unfortunately, anxiety and depression often go together, hitting the sufferer with an emotional “double whammy.”

Generalized anxiety sometimes leads to a state of mind known as “learned helplessness,” which is highly correlated with depression. This isn’t really surprising, of course. Living with anxiety problems can be enough to make anyone depressed. But because many people deal with both generalized anxiety and depression, the two issues can become confused, making it difficult to understand the real problem. Sometimes it is anxiety that leads to depression. But in other cases it is depression that leads to anxiety and panic attacks. No matter which came first, the combination of depression and anxiety can be tough to overcome on your own.

Learn About the EasyCalm Anxiety Video Series

Both generalized anxiety and depression are normally treated with medications, but as many sufferers have learned, these medications can come with side effects that are often more severe than the original problem they were designed to alleviate.  For example, studies have shown increases in suicidal tendencies among users of several SSRI medications. Worryingly, the increase seems to be even more pronounced in younger adults and teens.

The EasyCalm Series takes an all-natural approach to  anxiety and depression. Anxiety sufferers from all over the world have found that our natural approach produces results WITHOUT the potentially harmful side effects (or even risk of addiction) that is common with many anti-anxiety and ant-depressive medications.

This approach can drastically reduce or eliminate anxiety and depression, by dealing with the root causes, not just treating symptoms. Check out the series and watch the first video session free here.

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Anxiety and panic attacks can really take a toll on your life.  I know as well as anyone how emotionally draining day can be.  They can also damage your self-confidence, and leave you feeling “stuck” in life.  And unfortunately, even after people recover from anxiety problems, the confusion and self-esteem issues can sometimes linger for years.  That’s just how devastating anxiety problems are!

A lot of my personal coaching clients have recovered from anxiety problems — even some really serious ones, but afterward they may continue to need encouragement and motivation for some time in order to start “feeling their own power” again.  The draining effects of dealing with anxiety has a way of knocking the wind out of our sails, and can sometimes even lead to depression and ongoing self-esteem issues.

Because so many of my present and past clients have dealt with this problem, I decided to create a coaching program specifically to help people move forward with their life, and get over the issues from their past once and for all.  The result of this is my new “Getting Unstuck” video coaching series:

Getting Unstuck is about a lot more than recovering from anxiety issues, but I have found it to be especially helpful for people who have suffered with anxiety and panic attacks.  Especially those who have dealt with these problems for many years.  The program lays out a serious of not only concepts, but also practical points and techniques to let go the past and move forward with optimism and confidence.  I used what I’ve learned over the years of personal coaching to trim out all the fat, and only include the most useful and productive techniques and concepts.

Of course, people get “stuck” from many different reasons — not just from dealing with ongoing anxiety problems. One of the most common triggers in my experience is divorce or the break up a long-term relationship.  These dramatic life events often leave us feeling confused about our president and our future, and unable to imagine a way to put our lives back together.

But the coaching series is designed to show you how to put things back together, bigger and better than ever.  And to do it not with intimidation or fear, but with real optimism and excitement about new challenges and new possibilities that lie ahead.  The user comments about getting unstuck That have been fantastic so far, so I think I’ve achieved my goal of creating a series that is both practical and motivational for people who are not where they want to be in life right now, and not quite sure how to get there.

Getting Unstuck is now available on JonMercer.net Check it out here: http://www.youniversellc.com/getting-unstuck.html

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It’s not unusual for anxiety sufferers to also experienced periodic bouts of depression.  Anxiety and depression are different psychological problems, but they sometimes overlap.  For example, dealing with an ongoing or chronic anxiety situation can easily lead someone to feel depressed. 

But technically, anxiety and depression affect the mind and body in very different ways.  Anxiety is normally associated with the fight or flight response and a heightened sense of awareness.  It’s as if the sufferer is on high alert all the time — unnecessarily.

Depression, on the other hand, is more commonly associated with an extreme feeling of hopelessness and lack of motivation. And rather than feeling that they are on high alert all the time, depressed people can often feel a numbness of the senses, resulting in the inability to experience normal emotions like joy or anger, or even everyday contentment.

But sometimes an individual can experience both the depths of depression and the fight or flight response of anxiety within a single day, or even within the span of an hour. These types of extreme mood swings can sometimes be caused by a physical condition such as a thyroid disorder or diabetes, to name two common examples.

But just as often, extreme mood swings resulting in anxiety and depression can be the result of unproductive” thinking habits.”  In the same way that we all have our daily routine and behavioral habits, over the years we also develop specific “thinking habits.”  And it is clear that certain thinking habits tend to be strongly correlated with anxiety and/or depression, while other habits discourage these problems.

This is why the EasyCalm series focuses on recognizing unproductive thinking habits, and then initiating a new set of habits to counteract them.  What the series DOESN’T do is ask you to change your old habits.

Trying to change or eliminate a well-established habit can be difficult. Anyone who has ever tried to quit smoking, quit over-eating, or quit anything can attest to this. But developing a NEW habit is much, much easier.  In fact most experts agree it only takes about three weeks of daily repetition to firmly establish a new habit.

That’s why the EasyCalm series deals with establishing new thinking habits, not trying to quit the ones you already have that cause anxiety or depression. The goal is to create new habits that are not conducive to anxiety, panic attacks, depression, obsessive thinking or other emotional issues. Once these habits are in place, they effectively block the old unproductive habits, and the result is a significant increase in quality-of-life.

While the series has proven very effective at this, is important to remember that anyone experiencing severe or ongoing depression (not just the occasional case of the blues) should see their doctor right away. While self-help techniques can be beneficial to people dealing with depression, it is always critically important to see a doctor first — especially if the depression is severe or in any way life-threatening.

Learn More about the EasyCalm Anxiety Series

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