Posts Tagged ‘Help’

How can an Eating Disorder Treatment Center Help?

In contemporary times, we have witnessed a sharp rise in eating disorders.  Bulimia, anorexia and binge eating are some of the worst eating disorders that can put the health and the mental balance of a person into disarray.  Eating disorder treatment centers say that people who have these problems have a poor self image and go through various fears of gaining weight and looking undesirable. Let us look at Bulimia, a condition in which a person eats food excessively even though he/she is not hungry and then purges it due to feelings of guilt-this shows an addicted yet confused mindset that is often embroiled in stress and depression.   Anorexia where a person suffers from severe weight loss is a condition in which a person shies away from eating even an extra morsel of food for fear of gaining weight. This also shows negative self-image.

 One thing to note is that one cannot really say that a person is anorexic because a person can be thin because of many reasons. Also you cannot say that every over-weight or pale looking person is a bulimic. People who have eating disorders do not show them, for once, they prefer to eat alone and do not like to show that they are neglecting food.  However, some of the signs like eating less food consistently, talking too much about losing calories, finding excuses to avoid meals, going to the toilet during or after having a meal to purge food, creating an impression that she is eating by just tossing food around; are some of the signs you know that a person is suffering from an eating disorder apart from the obvious signs like pale, thin figure and lethargy.

 In case, you know that someone you know is suffering from an eating disorder, make sure that you talk to him or her with due amount of sensitivity. Let them know that you understand what he/she is going through and that there is a solution to the stress and eating disorder she is suffering from. Tell the person not to go by circumstances and instead take actions to stop this problem from growing bigger to such an extent that something worse could happen to her health. You can recommend her to visit eating disorder inpatient rehabs that are known to effectively treat the problem. After getting the treatment, not only is the person able to bring about a positive change in herself, she is also able to understand how important it is to live to the fullest but by eating the right things.

At the eating disorder rehab facility, due care and help is given in the form of counseling and guidance so that there is enough scope for a person to understand the value of various food products and how they can be useful to the body. There is regular health checkup and the eating habits are monitored properly so that the individual is known where she is going wrong.  There are different sets of therapy like group therapy and individual therapy, besides stress management, counseling and preparing diet charts that can be very helpful for a good and fit lifestyle.

Relaxation Techniques to Help With Phobias

There are several techniques that you can use to relax effectively. They can be used all the time whenever you feel stressed out and need to “come down”. Relaxation is especially effective when dealing with phobias and how you react to them. Here’s a few we’ve found.

JACOBSON’S PROGRESSIVE RELAXATION

Edmund Jacobson created a practice known as Progressive Relaxation back in the 1920s. Jacobson reasoned that since tension accompanies anxiety, one might be able to reduce anxiety by learning to relax the tension.

You could, in other words, reduce your psychological tension by reducing your physical tension. It was a revolutionary idea at the time. Jacobson thought that muscular tension might even cause anxiety and that contracted, tight muscles were actually at the root of many emotional problems, not merely a by-product of them.

By careful training, he helped people learn to voluntarily relax certain muscles in their body, and sure enough, it greatly reduced their anxiety symptoms, even for people who had a serious anxiety disorder. He found the procedure effective with ulcers, insomnia, and hypertension too.

Progressive Relaxation is still greatly respected and widely practiced by therapists today. References to the practice are strewn throughout the literature on anxiety. Why? Because it is simple and it works.

The procedure teaches you to relax your muscles through a two-step process. First you deliberately apply tension to certain muscle groups, and then you stop the tension and turn your attention to noticing how the muscles relax as the tension flows away.

Through repetitive practice you quickly learn to recognize-and distinguish-the associated feelings of a tensed muscle and a completely relaxed muscle. With this simple knowledge, you can then induce physical muscular relaxation at the first signs of the tension that accompanies anxiety. And with physical relaxation comes mental calmness-in any situation. In Progressive Relaxation, first you learn to relax your muscles lying down with your eyes closed, but the ultimate goal is to learn to relax throughout the day while you’re working, walking, talking, eating, etc.

If you would like to use this method, you don’t need any training to begin. Right now, locate one muscle in your body that is tensing for no good reason. Relax that muscle. It’s as simple as that. Get in the habit of doing that relatively often, and a general calmness will slowly develop in your life. You’ll feel better. A good way to get in the habit of relaxing muscles regularly is to do it at certain routine times of the day. Every time you get behind the wheel of your car, for example. Every time you sit down at your desk. Every time you step into the shower. Choose one place for now and concentrate on it until it becomes habitual. Then add another place. This way you can make it a habit to check your body for unnecessary muscular tension and relax it.

Help for Panic Attacks – the Best Ways to Get Help for Panic Attacks

People who suffer from panic attacks always live their life in fear of having another panic attack, and are generally always on the look out for help for panic attacks. But this is no way to live a beautiful life and just proves how much control Anxiety and Panic can have over a human life. Thankfully, there is help available, and ways you can cope with panic attacks and help the condition. Below are 3 common techniques for panic attack sufferers. These are techniques which have helped many people across the globe and can assist you with destroying your condition.

1. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive behavioral therapy can help you to destroy your panic attacks. It is performed by an expert psychotherapist and consists of a series of sessions for treating panic attacks. In these sessions therapists help patients to find out the causes of their condition. They also go deeper into the feelings created when having an attack and leading up to an attack. After this, the therapist would focus on the worst symptoms for the patient during an attack and build a program around those symptoms, by which patients feel calm and fear free. Expectantly, their feelings of worry, fear and nervousness are reduced to a great extent.

2. Self-Treatment

Secondly, Self- treatment can also be great help for panic attacks. It is a fact that panic attacks are extremely distressing and disturbing for the sufferer and can leave a sour feeling in ones mind. Now because of this, a panic attack sufferer will always carry around the fear of having another panic attack. So, when it comes to self help for panic attacks, it is a top priority to find out the reason behind them and the root problem. Self treatment is a timely treatment, but is far better than taking costly medications and therapy. One is required to boost up one’s confidence that such elements are easily achievable.

3. Medication

Medication is a technique and treatment which has mixed opinions. Doctors recommend medication such as Alprazolam, Lorazepam, Clonazepam and Diazepam, along with instructions that the patient should take medication at the beginning of a panic attack. Many people do not like the idea of taking medication and this technique does have many mixed reactions. This is certainly a technique which would require you to consult with your doctor before taking any action.

Apart from this, the best help for panic attacks is to positively realize that you can control them. Finding out the root problem and why you experience attacks can be the deal maker and the main obstacle to obtaining a panic attack free future.