Once, I would have cautioned those grappling with anxiety to steer clear of medications. In retrospect, I can admit my lack of knowledge about meds. Those little wonders, they can do some real good. That's why you might be surprised to hear that I was firmly against them for a long time. But, after a decade of working with patients in different clinical settings, I realize that some people do benefit from them. My bias against medication developed well before I became a therapist. Back in 2008, I was searching the internet, focused on
Hola
Hello. I just logged into the Anxietyguru.net dashboard for the first time in months. When I logged in there was at least 100 comments that were pending approval. Sounds like people miss me! Well, I miss you too. You know, I'll be honest. I don't know what to do with this site. Worst-case I just leave it be. Ideally I would fire it back up. I guess what I want to know is how many of you would be open to a come back? I have been playing with this idea for months but I don't know if continuing would bring any value to folks. What are your
This Is What Researchers Say About Non-Drug Anxiety Treatments
This week's guest post was written by AG contributor Kate. Kate is a writer, blogger, and psychiatry researcher living in San Francisco. She is passionate about mental health and utilizing science to develop evidenced based approaches to psychological health. “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” – Franklin D. Roosevelt We should learn to accept our fears and overcome them so they don’t hold us back. We have to accept that everything is going to be okay. I hear rhetoric about conquering fear and anxiety all the time. But how do we
Anxiety: Our Body’s Alarm System
This week's guest post is brought to you by Sheeva of Healthwanderer.com. Sheeva is a lifestyle, food and wellness coach with a deep passion for helping people on their journey toward becoming the healthiest and happiest versions of themselves. For those of us experiencing any kind of anxiety disorder, the emotion of anxiety is usually an unwelcome invasion of our body and mind. We want and would do anything to get rid of the pesky anxious thoughts and the, oftentimes, debilitating physical symptoms. But, the reality is that anxiety is an
An Inside Look at the Recovery Process
This week's guest post was written by C, a member of the AG community. She wrote this as a forum post, but I felt that it was too good to keep hidden in the forum. What this post reveals is that recovery is a process and not simply a single insight or idea. It illustrates the many facets of recovery in a clear and meaningful way. I hope it provides you with a new or different perspective. - Paul Dooley 'No one has ever analyzed or battled their way to recovery.' Well, no, probably not but neither have I known anyone glide serenely to
How I Tamed the Anxiety Beast
I don’t remember struggling with anxiety growing up. Looking back, there are few signs and moments that pointed towards what would later grow into a beast. I was social without hesitation, very outgoing, and not afraid of new places or speaking up in public. I don’t remember even knowing what the words panic attack meant. The Beast Is Born Flash forward to college. The anxiety beast found its roots in my long-term highly abusive relationship. I was eighteen years old and in love with a nightmare. The domestic violence I experienced involved
My Anxiety Guru Success Story
Hi there. My name is Katie. I am writing this about my personal journey and how I’ve been able to push past so many of my fears and overcome with the help of the anxiety Guru podcast, the blog, and having an anxiety/ life coach. To summarize, I’ve been in an 11 year struggle with crippling anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts and zero self esteem. I never thought I would be able to overcome my anxiety and how it held me back from doing everything I wanted to do in life. Slowly my anxiety seemed to take over everything. At first it was just
A Personal Challenge From Paul Dooley
I don't like New Year's resolutions because they don't work. The reality is that you can start to change on any given day. So I'm not going to ask you to set a goal with an arbitrary timeline. Instead, I want you to reflect on a few things. For starters, what are you going to do differently this year to lower your anxiety? I want you to take a step back and really think about that. After you and I stop stuffing our faces with cookies and pie (or is that just me?) this holiday season it's time to get serious about your
Mental Health: The War at Home
Today's post was written by U.S. Army veteran PM. Warning: This article contains strong language. Mental health doesn’t just affect a certain type of person. It could affect anyone from kids, adults, men, women, black or white; it really does not matter. Does being a veteran mean that I have a significant case of mental health issues? No, it doesn't. But I would like to discuss the stigma that many veterans experience with you. I spent 6 years in the Army, I spent one deployment in Afghanistan and one in Iraq. After my second