The Ultimate Survivor Guides

There are many different types of anxiety disorders with Social Anxiety Disorder being one of them or sometimes known as social phobia. Unlike other anxiety disorders where you can worry and panic about almost anything in life, social anxiety is focused solely on one thing – fear of social situations.

Nonetheless Social Anxiety can be split into two categories. It can be specific, meaning that only a particular social situation is feared or it can be generalized, meaning that it can be a chronic fear of all social situations where you feel that you will be judged or scrutinized by others.

The intensity of social phobia can also vary from being mild to chronic. Even those that suffer with it know that their fear is excessive or unreasonable, even irrational but overcoming it can be difficult.

If social anxiety disorder isn’t treated then the long term effects can lead to alcoholism, substance abuse, eating disorders and depression. This happens because people try to self-medicate, they have a drink to calm the nerves or to feel more confident.

Psychiatrists diagnose people suffering with social anxiety disorder by getting them to answer 17 statements, questionnaire called “Social Phobia Inventory” (SPIN). You have to indicated how much a statement applies to you, for example some of the questions on there are:

* Parties and events scare me
* I avoid doing things like speaking to people for fear of embarrassment
* I avoid going to parties
* Talking to strangers scare me
* I would do anything to avoid being criticized

Those are just five of the seventeen questions but you have to answer them by ticking either:

* Not at all
* A little bit
* Somewhat
* Very much
* Extremely

Each answer is worth a certain amount of points, if you total 19 or more points you are said to be suffering with social phobia. The assessor can then determine the severity of your anxiety.

Symptoms of Social Anxiety Disorder

Most social phobics suffer from feelings of dread and self-consciousness when faced with other people that may scrutinize them. They “over think” about how they will be perceived and constantly go over in their heads what could go wrong.

After each social encounter, whatever that may be, they examine their performance and pick out anything that they may have done wrong to cause them embarrassment such as a stuttered word for example. This will then play over on their mind when it comes to being in that situation again leading them to extreme distress.

People suffering with social phobia also have physical symptoms such as difficulty breathing, sweating, shaking, nausea, stomach ache, blushing or in some cases a rash appears on their skin.

There are many causes of social anxiety; some say that it runs in families so it can be genetic. It kind of makes sense, if as a child you see your parents are scared of something then they tend to past that fear or phobia on.

A negative social experience can also trigger social phobia. This is truer for those that suffer from “specific social phobia” for example public speaking either at work or at school. Some of the more recent studies have looked at childhood bullying as a cause of social phobia.

Whatever the cause of social anxiety disorder it can be treated and treated well. Sufferers usually respond better and faster to treatment if it is diagnosed and treated early. So if you think that you maybe suffering with social phobia you need to seek help and get it under control.

If you would like more information regarding anxiety disorders and what you can do to cope with them then click here.

Most people have “off days” and periods in their lives when you feel “down” or “low”. To be honest if you didn’t have these days then you wouldn’t be human but are these days simply one offs or signs of depression?

There are many different types of depression and the symptoms of depression can vary dependent on the type, however there are some common depression symptoms that run throughout all types.

1. A persistent low mood.

When I mean persistent I mean lasting consistently for two or more weeks at a time. A low mood can be feelings of hopelessness, sadness and feelings of emptiness.

You feel like it’s so hard to get yourself out of bed and face the world because why bother right? Everything feels like one hard slog, nothing seems to make you feel happy and you could cry over things that wouldn’t normally affect you.

2. Your appetite is either heightened or suppressed.

One of the signs of depression is a lack of appetite and as a consequence results in weight loss. In some people appetite increases and subsequently ends in weight gain.

The weight loss or gain has to be significant from anything between 3lbs to 10lbs over the course of a few weeks.

3. Loss of energy, feeling fatigued or tiredness

This happens to everyone at some point however it’s also a symptom of depression. You feel drained and tired all of the time. You have no energy for anything anymore. Just going to the shops is like climbing Mount Everest.

It’s constant and just doing simple things like housework, going to work and just getting out of bed is like one hard chore.

4. Have difficulty sleeping or sleeping too much

You feel tired all day and you feel like you could fall asleep anywhere but then when you go to bed you can’t sleep. Your thoughts go on and on and your mind just never stops. I suffer with that some of the time usually if I’m going through some sort of change in my life such as starting a new project at work or I have a lot to do and little time to do them in and my mind goes into over time and I can’t sleep no matter how tired I am.

However if this continues into weeks rather than a couple of days then you may be suffering with depression. On the other hand may want to lie in bed all day long and never get out of it. You’ve had at least the normal amount of sleep (this varies for most people but usually this is eight hours) and yet you feel like you need more.

Again sometimes this is normal especially if you have had a very tiring week or are feeling unwell, but what I’m talking about here is when one or two days turn into all of the time.

5. Lack of interest in anything pleasurable

This could be anything that you find pleasurable such as a hobby or an interest that you have previously enjoyed doing up until this point. It could also be that you don’t want to take your children to the park or read them a book at bedtime. You may also go off having sex.

You no longer have any real desire to go out with your friends anymore or you may stop contacting them altogether. You would rather be on your own than have to talk to your friends or family.

6. Inability to think or concentrate

Another sign of depression is being unable to think properly or concentrate an anything; this could be at work or at home. Your mind wonders easily and you can’t seem to focus on the task at hand.

Even watching TV, you’re all relaxed on the sofa watching your favorite program or reading a book or magazine yet you are unable to watch or read it properly because your mind wonders off.

There are many more signs of depression and some are unique to certain types of depression however these are the most common ones. It’s important to note that you don’t have to be suffering with all of the above to be depressed.

For you to be said to be depressed, you only need two or more of these symptoms for a period of two or more weeks

If you are just suffering with the one symptom then it may not be depression – for now at least. However it could be the onset, so keep a close eye on any changes. If you want to find out more about whether you have depression, the signs and symptoms and how you can beat depression then click here.

When you’re depressed it can feel like dealing with depression is the hardest thing in the world to do. Heck, just doing the simple things in life can feel like drudgery when you’re feeling this way.

But I want to tell you this; you’re worth more than having to feel this way. There is help out there and there are things that you can do to help you to deal with depression to live a normal, happy life again.

Only one in three women will actually go and do something about their depression, which is a shame since it’s one of the easiest mental illnesses to treat. Yet people will continue to let depression rule their lives until there’s nothing left to ruin.

They continue to hurt themselves and those around them that love and care deeply for them. Why so few women seek help and learn how to deal with their depression is uncertain, however feelings such as; shame, embarrassment and the stigma attached to mental illness certainly stops most people.

Money could also be a factor. I know that seeing psychiatrists can last for a while and most health insurance companies will only foot some of the bill. However, there are certain things that you can do when it comes to dealing with depression inexpensively.

Here are a few of the many things that you can do to help you to deal with your depression:

Firstly, go down to your local community center or health center and see if they offer any group sessions for dealing with depression. These are usually free to attend or some may require you to pay a small fee.

In these groups there are people that are going through the exact same things that you are. Feelings of being alone and no one really understanding can help to make your depression worse. Talking to people can be a great way to help you understand the feeling and thoughts that you are having and going through.

Secondly, it can be easy to let yourself go when you are feeling depressed, eating comfort foods and drinking alcohol to try to make yourself feel better can be easy to do. However these things contribute to your depression more times than they help with it.

Drinking alcohol makes you “forget” your troubles and your worries but only for a while. When you wake after your drinking binge, only makes you feel worse about yourself and your life, so then you grab a bottle again and the vicious cycle continues until you have more than depression to deal with. Alcoholism can grip you when you are feeling at your lowest. The sad fact is that alcoholism is harder to treat and deal with than depression!

Same again with comfort eating, carbs make you feel good but again it’s a short term feeling as carbs burn away fast and what’s not used is stored as fat. This in turn makes you feel sluggish and since your suffering with depression this is only going to exasperate the situation more.

When it comes to dealing with depression you need to eat feel good foods. When I say that I don’t mean bingeing on chocolate and ice cream I mean foods that release feel good hormones.

These can be:

Blueberries
Tuna
Sweet potato
Oranges
Spinach
Bananas

All of the above are packed full of vitamins and minerals that help you feel relaxed and are great for your health too.

Thirdly, this runs hand in hand with eating healthy and that’s exercise. Even small moderate exercise can improve the way that you feel and make you look great too.

When you exercise, your body feels more relaxed and calm and that’s due to your brain releasing chemicals and hormones such as: endorphins, adrenaline, dopamine and serotonin. All of these are linked to emotions and the way that you feel about things.

Yoga is a great form of exercise to help you reduce tension and stress. Because Yoga focuses on stretching and breathing it can be a great way to help you relax.

I fully understand that dealing with depression can be hard but it’s important that you understand what depression is, how it makes you feel and act, and how you can deal with depression better. From a person that has suffered with depression in my life you might find this beneficial to getting yourself back to the way you are supposed to be and that’s happy!