Cognitive Therapy for Children

There are several subgroups of Anxiety Disorders, with different causes and treatment.

Anxiety disorders are a serious social and financial concern to American business, since they cost the country more than $42 billion a year in healthcare costs and lost productivity, according to “The Economic Burden of Anxiety Disorders,” a study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

More than $22.84 billion is spent on healthcare services, as those with anxiety disorders seek relief for emotional distress and physical symptoms.

Sufferers are 300 to 500 percent more likely to go to the doctor and 600 percent more likely to be hospitalized for psychiatric disorders than non-sufferers.

Anxiety disorders are the most common psychiatric illness and affect both children and adults.

They develop from an interaction of numerous risk factors, including personality, genetics, brain chemistry, and life stress. Approximately 19 million adult Americans suffer from anxiety disorders. Anxiety disorders are highly treatable, yet only about one-third of those suffering from them receive treatment.

The main feature of Generalized Anxiety Disorder is excessive, unrealistic and uncontrollable worry about everyday events.

This constant worry affects daily functioning and brings physical symptoms. GAD can occur with other anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, or substance abuse.

It can be misdiagnosed because it lacks some of the dramatic symptoms, such as unprovoked attacks of panic, that are seen with other anxiety disorders. For a diagnosis to be made, uncontrollable worrying occur more days than not for at least 6 months.

The focus of GAD is fluid, shifting unpredictably from job issues, finances, health of both self and family, and smaller issues such as chores, car repairs and being late for appointments.

The intensity, duration and frequency of the worry are disproportionate to the issue and interferes with the sufferer’s daily life. Physical symptoms can include muscle tension, sweating, gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea and/or nausea, cold and clammy palms, the feeling of having a “lump in the throat” and difficulty swallowing.

Sufferers are irritable and complain about feeling on edge, tire easily tired and have trouble sleeping.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is characterized by persistent, recurring thoughts (obsessions) that reflect exaggerated anxiety or fears; typical obsessions include worry about being contaminated or fears of behaving improperly or acting violently.

The obsessions may cause the individual to perform a rituals or routines to relieve the anxiety, such as excessive handwashing, checking appliances, repeating phrases or hoarding.

People with Panic Disorder suffer severe acute attacks of panic for no apparant reason, which may mimic the symptoms of a heart attack or cause them to feel they are losing their minds.

Symptoms include heart palpitations, chest pain or discomfort, sweating, trembling, tingling sensations, feeling of choking, fear of dying, fear of losing control, and feelings of unreality.

Panic disorder is often accompanied by agoraphobia, in which people are afraid of having a panic attack in a public place, so they become afraid to leave the safety of their controlled home environment.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder can follow a traumatic event such as a sexual or physical assault, witnessing a death, the unexpected death of a loved one, or natural disaster.

There are three main symptoms associated with PTSD: “reliving” of the traumatic event (such as flashbacks and nightmares); avoidance behaviors (such as avoiding places and other reminders related to the trauma) and emotional numbing (detachment from others); and physiological arousal such difficulty sleeping, irritability or poor concentration.

Social Anxiety Disorder is characterized by severe anxiety about being judged by others or behaving in a way that might bring ridicule or embarrassment. This intense anxiety may lead to extreme shyness and avoidance of social situations.

Physical symptoms associated with this disorder include faintness, heart palpitations, blushing and profuse sweating.

Anxiety disorders also include Specific Phobias, an intense and unreasonable fear of specific objects or situations, such as spiders, dogs, or heights.

The disproportionate level of fear is recognized by the sufferer as being irrational. It can lead to the avoidance of common, everyday situations.

Patients often have more than one anxiety disorder, and sometimes other illness as well such as depression or substance abuse.
Treatment of anxiety disorders includes support groups, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), exposure therapy, anxiety management and relaxation techniques, and psychotherapy.

Drugs therapy used to treat anxiety disorders includes benzodiazepines, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), tricyclic antidepressants, monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) and beta-blockers.

Often a combination of the two therapies is more useful than one exclusively. Up to 90 percent of patients will show improvement of their symptom from medical treatment.

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:”"; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:”Calibri”,”sans-serif”; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}

For several weeks I’ve been writing about the need for the government’s financial stimulus efforts to be supplemented by efforts to instill some degree of confidence in severely depressed consumers and investors.

I was thinking in terms of President Reagan’s strategy upon inheriting the similar economic collapse of the 1970’s. He provided financial stimulus, including huge increases in defense spending, some of it wasted, such as launching the costly but never completed ‘Star Wars’ anti-missile system, etc., but created jobs. He augmented the spending with upbeat assurances about the greatness of America, and how the country would soon begin to pull out of the seemingly impossible mess. Similarly President Bush provided a large stimulus package after the terrorist attacks in 2001, and supplemented it with confidence-building speeches about how Americans should get out of their terrorist-inspired fear modes and spend, “to show these terrorists who would tear down our economic system that they won’t succeed.” Both times the ‘jaw-boning’ was as important as the financial stimulus in lifting the confidence and determination of consumers and investors.

My columns along those lines resulted in an avalanche of criticism, the mildest of which asked how I could advocate that the government attempt to brainwash the population, should attempt to hide the facts of how serious the situation is. That is not what I said. What I said was that for two years consumers have been fed a steady diet of doom and gloom, are well aware of the seriousness of the situation, and it’s time for the government’s financial stimulus efforts to be supplemented by efforts to instill some degree of confidence in the nation’s future.

If that is brainwashing, then the problems were created in the first place by someone brainwashing people into thinking they could safely buy a house they couldn’t afford because home prices would just keep rising forever.

Meanwhile, I have been saying since the real estate bubble burst and collapsed the economy, that the economy cannot recover until the housing industry recovers.

So I was disappointed that stimulus efforts had to begin with the rescue of banks and the financial system, then moved to bailout efforts for the auto industry.

I was delighted that rescue efforts have finally begun to focus on the housing industry, where home foreclosures are accelerating, sending home prices and buyer confidence even deeper into gloom and doom, and sinking the economy even faster. But I have been surprised that rescuing the housing industry, which mostly affects the folks on Main Street, apparently has even more opposition than bailing out Wall Street and the auto-industry.

Just how unpopular the plan is was revealed by CNBC reporter Rick Santelli on Thursday.

By now most of the country, if not the world, is aware that Santelli, noted for his daily rants from the Chicago Board of Trade about what he believes to be wrong with the country, took aim at the Administration’s housing rescue bill. During his rant he shouted this question to traders on the floor of the CBT, “How many of you want to pay for your neighbor’s mortgage because he can’t pay the bills? Raise your hands!” Amidst yells of agreement from the traders Santelli turned to the camera and shouted “Are you listening, Mr. President?”

A landslide of approving e-mails apparently encouraged Santelli to announce that he would organize a “Chicago Tea Party” demonstration, a revolution he called it.

He surely hit a nerve with his opinion that those who are losing their homes and jobs should not be bailed out by those who are in good shape on their homes, finances, and jobs, with calls of ‘Santelli for Senate’, and ‘Santelli for President’ spreading over the Internet.

It does have its amusing aspects, given that the economic mess was created by the financial industry, in part by its creation of high-risk derivatives, including mortgage-backed securities, and the wild leverage provided to hedge funds. Santelli became a CNBC reporter in June, 1999, almost at the top of the stock market bubble, leaving his position as a vice-president at Sanwa Futures LLC, where he handled institutional trading and hedge fund accounts. Prior to that, he served as managing director of the Derivatives Products Group of Geldermann Inc.

And now he is the hero of those who feel abused by the collapse of the house of cards created by the questionable products and greed of Wall Street firms?

But of more concern to me is the apparent majority opinion that “I don’t care if the value of my home keeps dropping due to foreclosures on my street. I didn’t make any mistakes, and I don’t want my tax money used to bail out those who are in over their heads. I don’t want the banks saved with my tax dollars. Let then go bankrupt. I don’t want the auto-makers bailed out. They deserve to go bankrupt. I don’t care if it causes the whole country to fall into the next Great Depression.”

I suppose the same argument could be made about giving blood, or contributing to food banks, unemployment insurance, cancer research, the Red Cross, education. Hey, I didn’t get sick, I didn’t lose my job. I’ve got my education.

Do they even realize how much worse a depression is than a recession?

The Bush Administration tried to get things turned around by spending a few trillion dollars of taxpayer money, and the new Administration is trying. The results of those efforts won’t be known for awhile. But both administrations ran into a lot of opposition from those who would rather let those with problems (banks, auto-makers and millions of individuals) go bankrupt and see if the system can recover on its own or not. One often repeated additional reason is that it’s unfair to saddle future generations with larger deficits.

If a few years from now the economy has worsened into a decades-long global depression, thanks in part to the unwillingness of even the folks on Main Street to unite in the common goal of trying to rescue the economy, because their money might go to someone less fortunate, who will they look back and blame that on? And how much worse off will their children be than if the national debt is stretched even further now?

In his rant Santelli asked, “Are you listening, Mr. President?”

I ask, “Are you listening America?”

Sy Harding publishes the financial website www.StreetSmartReport.com and a free daily Internet blog at www.SyHardingblog.com. In 1999 he authored Riding the Bear – How To Prosper In the Coming Bear Market. His new book is Beat the Market the Easy Way! – Proven Seasonal Strategies Double Market’s Performance!

Depression is often thought of as a female issue, which derives from the fact that women are twice as likely to experience this condition, but it’s also because women are more likely to seek help. It makes sense in a weird sort of way. I mean, if a guy won’t even ask for directions, how likely is it that he’ll ask for help? That being said, I do believe that, more and more, men are choosing mental health over machismo, a trend that has, no doubt, gained momentum in these times of economic hardship.

I, myself, have struggled with depression for as long as I can remember, going as far back as elementary school. Equal opportunity in nature, this illness can affect anyone, regardless of age, ethnicity or religion; although, it has been said that people with strong religious convictions do fare somewhat better when dealing with the negative thoughts associated with depression. It’s certainly understandable how the fear of going to hell would discourage someone from killing him/herself, but it’s more than that; there’s also the belief that things will work out, that eventually things will get better.

Depression can result from a combination of various contributing factors: genetic, biochemical, environmental and psychosocial.  It manifests differently for different people. A major depressive episode lasts at least two weeks and is characterized by five or more of the following symptoms:

If your or a family member’s depression is accompanied by the following thoughts and/or behaviors, you should contact a health care professional immediately.

Depression affects, not only the person experiencing this debilitating condition, but basically anyone the person comes into contact with. Children, spouses, pets and other family members may be neglected or physically/verbally abused. Coworkers may feel the brunt of a depressed person’s irritability. Mere strangers may become the victim of a depressed person’s aggressive and/or dangerous behavior.

Common methods used to treat depression are prescribed medications, psychotherapy, healthy living and, for severe cases, electroconvulsive (electroshock) therapy. Prescription medications used for this condition fall under the categories of SSRIs (selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors) and SNRIs (serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors). Whichever medication is prescribed, it’s important to be aware that therapeutic results can take 6-8 weeks to occur.

The two main types of psychotherapy are CBT (cognitive-behavioral therapy) which reduces depression by challenging negative beliefs and attitudes and IPT (interpersonal therapy) which helps the individual to overcome social deficiencies that may contribute to their depression.

Healthy living in the form of eating right, getting enough sleep, exercising and actively reducing stress, can go a long way in providing relief for some of the symptoms associated with depression. Unfortunately, in some cases, depression will persist despite one’s best effort. This is when one turns to ECT (electroconvulsive therapy).  ECT is a procedure that involves using electric current passed through the brain to cause a brief seizure, thereby altering the brain’s chemistry.

Whichever method you choose, it’s important to have a support system of understanding friends and family. They say it takes a village to raise a child; this, too, can apply to dealing with depression. Remember, being depressed is not a sign of weakness. There is no shame in asking for and receiving help.

Shyness and social anxiety can develop even from infancy. Everyone can remember a time when they felt shy or embarrassed at school. Perhaps you have a bad memory of being told off in front of the class? Or perhaps a time when you had to perform on stage with your parents watching you?Even babies can feel shy and embarrassed. Often babies are much more reserved around people they are not familiar with. As children grow up, they frequently face criticism and new experiences that can be daunting. Going through puberty can be a difficult period and can greatly change the behavior as well as the physiology of a child.Teenagers start feeling things physically and mentally, that are new to them. They become self-conscious around their peers and more attention to their appearance. Everyone knows what it feels like to be shy. Situations such as talking to someone important, going on a date and attending a social event can make a person feel nervous and shy.When a person has constant anticipation of doing something embarrassing in front of others they might have social anxiety disorder. Sufferers fear social situations because of possible humiliation and embarrassment, which makes everyday life hard to cope with. They may even feel anxious walking down a street.Physical symptoms include blushing, profuse sweating, shaky voice, shaking and dizziness. Symptoms of social anxiety can worsen if the sufferer is in an emotional state or in poor health. Fatigue, worry and stress can exacerbate their condition. Each social experience might also produce different levels of anxiety. For instance, visiting a family member would not create feelings of anxiety compared to going on a first date.Social phobia can often be seen as shyness but they are not the same. Sufferers of social phobia will do anything to try and avoid being in the spotlight of others. When a person experiences negative social situations frequently, shyness can become a learned response that can further develop into social anxiety disorder.Fears and anxiety only intensify when similar bad experiences arise and only reinforce a mental association. Most sufferers develop fears from one bad experience that is followed by others. Now when a similar situation arises they immediately link it to their past bad experiences and that’s when they start to panic.Facing your fears can sometimes work in overcoming certain fears but when it comes to social phobia it needs to be gradual process. In addition deep subconscious changes to a person’s behavior are needed. Therapies such as hypnosis and CBT deal with the aspect of adjusting thought patterns and behavior.One overlooked aspect of reducing social anxiety includes improving physical health. Taking care of your body through exercise and eating well can help reduce stress and anxiety. More energy and better health will only help boost self-confidence and positvity.