When it comes to providing patients anxiety relief, CBT is one of the most respected and accepted forms of therapy the world over. Studies have shown that CBT can produce results in a short period of time when practiced correctly. CBT teaches you how to become more aware of your thoughts, so that you can identify and replace self defeating thought patterns. The world's leading experts on CBT agree it is effective even when practiced in a self-help environment.
As with any CBT program, there are three basic steps you will learn during your self-help DVD program that will help you achieve anxiety relief. Step one is made up of lessons that will teach you how to understand your moods. Step two will have lessons aimed at helping you change the way you feel, and step three will help you develop a healthy value system for living a better life. These steps may or may not be clearly identifiable in your DVD program, but in CBT program they are there.
Let's take a look at these steps for anxiety relief more closely: During step one the lessons are designed to help you understand your moods better. Cognitive Behavior Therapy operates on the theory that our thoughts help determine our mood and emotions. This can be better understood when you break an event down using the ABC model of emotional theory.
A=The activating event.
B=The belief or interpretation of the event.
C= The consequence or the emotional or behavioral response.
During step two of CBT you learn how to change the way that you feel. You are taught how to spot thought distortions and answer them back. For example, if you think someone else thinks that you are stupid, you are taught to remind yourself that you are mind reading. There is no way that you can presume to know another person's thoughts. Mind reading, is just one of the many distortions that create anxiety and worry.
The final step, step three is designed to help you develop a healthier value system for long-term success and happiness. This entails you evaluating your core beliefs about the world, people and yourself. It also involves you identifying your rules for living. This often means challenging yourself because believe it or not you already have set-up rules for living. The rules you set-up now are negative, they have you avoiding people, places and situations. Your new rules may take you out of your comfort zone a bit, but in the end they will provide you anxiety relief.
Tuesday, 17 March 2009
Thursday, 12 March 2009
Self Assessment: Do you need CBT?
If you are struggling with anxiety and you are considering getting help you may be wondering if you have a problem. The fact is, CBT can help anyone improve their way of thinking, but whether you need it or not is another story. CBT can provide anxiety relief for patients suffering from general anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder and a host of other anxiety disorders. If you think you need to worry less, consider trying self-help CBT. The following information will help you determine if you have an anxiety disorder.
It is important to understand that worry and anxiety do have an important place in our life. For instance, should our physical or emotional well-being be in danger they are meant to warn us so we can seek safety. However, anxiety and worry can be excessive and when they become excessive they can be disruptive to our everyday life. How do we know if our worry and anxiety has reached the level of a disorder? Well, to put it simply when anxiety hinders your ability to do things even though you logically know you should or can, you have a problem.
If you do not seek anxiety relief so that you can worry less, anxiety can take a physical toll on your body. In fact, many people with anxiety experience physical symptoms. Some of the physical symptoms of anxiety would include breathing difficulty, chest pain, heart palpitations, trembling, hot or cold sensation, nausea, sweating, dry mouth, tension and lightheadedness. In addition to these physical symptoms you may be unable to relax, fear death, fear losing control, be irritable, experience absentmindedness, fear going crazy and have exaggerated emotions.
If you have any of these symptoms in conjunction with anxiety you should try CBT for anxiety relief. Whether you are suffering socially or in general, self-help CBT can help you worry less. There is no reason to continue suffering from debilitating worry when anxiety relief is so readily available.
It is important to understand that worry and anxiety do have an important place in our life. For instance, should our physical or emotional well-being be in danger they are meant to warn us so we can seek safety. However, anxiety and worry can be excessive and when they become excessive they can be disruptive to our everyday life. How do we know if our worry and anxiety has reached the level of a disorder? Well, to put it simply when anxiety hinders your ability to do things even though you logically know you should or can, you have a problem.
If you do not seek anxiety relief so that you can worry less, anxiety can take a physical toll on your body. In fact, many people with anxiety experience physical symptoms. Some of the physical symptoms of anxiety would include breathing difficulty, chest pain, heart palpitations, trembling, hot or cold sensation, nausea, sweating, dry mouth, tension and lightheadedness. In addition to these physical symptoms you may be unable to relax, fear death, fear losing control, be irritable, experience absentmindedness, fear going crazy and have exaggerated emotions.
If you have any of these symptoms in conjunction with anxiety you should try CBT for anxiety relief. Whether you are suffering socially or in general, self-help CBT can help you worry less. There is no reason to continue suffering from debilitating worry when anxiety relief is so readily available.
Thursday, 5 March 2009
Overcoming Relationship Anxiety
If you are a person who tends to worry excessively or you have an anxiety problem, chance are that problem has spilled over into your relationships. People with anxiety often struggle with a fear of intimacy. Learning how to find anxiety relief in your relationship will enable you to overcome this fear of intimacy. Once the fear of intimacy is gone you will worry less about your relationships and your relationships will thrive. Below are three tips that will help provide anxiety relief in your relationships.
1. Before you can truly have a meaningful relationship you need to be authentic. This means that your actions must match your feelings. If you are angry, and you are not verbally expressing that it will show in your physical actions whether you want it to or not.
2. You need to communicate clearly and frequently. This means that you need to be open and honest with your partner and they need to do the same with you. If you are aware of your partners feelings and thoughts you will worry less, but if your partner is an open book and you are closed off it will create relationship tension.
3. Honesty is always the best policy in relationships. When you say what you really think and express how you truly feel it can provide great anxiety relief. Playing games doesn't get you anywhere in a relationship. Be up front and honest about your needs, even if you are needy. What good can come from you lying about it, your needs won't be met, you will be unhappy, and your partner will have no idea why you are miserable.
Getting close to people when you suffer from a fear of intimacy can be difficult. However, working on your fears and learning to worry less will lead to a deeper more meaningful life.
1. Before you can truly have a meaningful relationship you need to be authentic. This means that your actions must match your feelings. If you are angry, and you are not verbally expressing that it will show in your physical actions whether you want it to or not.
2. You need to communicate clearly and frequently. This means that you need to be open and honest with your partner and they need to do the same with you. If you are aware of your partners feelings and thoughts you will worry less, but if your partner is an open book and you are closed off it will create relationship tension.
3. Honesty is always the best policy in relationships. When you say what you really think and express how you truly feel it can provide great anxiety relief. Playing games doesn't get you anywhere in a relationship. Be up front and honest about your needs, even if you are needy. What good can come from you lying about it, your needs won't be met, you will be unhappy, and your partner will have no idea why you are miserable.
Getting close to people when you suffer from a fear of intimacy can be difficult. However, working on your fears and learning to worry less will lead to a deeper more meaningful life.
Tuesday, 3 March 2009
Learning to Worry Less with CBT
When most people think of Cognitive Behavior Therapy they think of anxiety, depression and phobia. However, CBT can also be used to cure people who have excessive stress and want to worry less. Worry is normal, but excessive worry can alter your life and lead to physical and emotional health issues. Before you consider taking medication to help you worry less it is best to try a more natural approach like CBT.
Why do you need to cure worry?
Despite the fact that worry is a natural response to uncertainty, worry can become toxic and disruptive. Excessive worry can over time lead to phobias and fears developing. This is because when you worry perpetually about certain events it often leads you to alter your behavior in an effort to worry less. When you alter your behavior and avoid things that cause stress or worry, phobias and exaggerated fears are more likely to develop. So, in essence you are reinforcing the worry response.
How does CBT help you worry less?
Studies have shown that Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is quite effective in helping patients with excessive stress and worry. CBT teaches you how to relax and cope more effectively with worry by approaching each situation individually and analyzing it realistically. Techniques are used to help you challenge your distorted risk assessments, so that you can evaluate the actual experience or event for what it is. These activities are paired with education about worry, relaxation and self- awareness that will help prepare you for long-term success.
The bottom line is simple, you didn't start your life worrying excessively, behaviors, habits and events made you the way you are now. CBT is designed to help you reprogram your current way of thinking by helping you create new habits and new thought patterns. These new habits and thought patterns will enable you to worry less and achieve anxiety relief.
Why do you need to cure worry?
Despite the fact that worry is a natural response to uncertainty, worry can become toxic and disruptive. Excessive worry can over time lead to phobias and fears developing. This is because when you worry perpetually about certain events it often leads you to alter your behavior in an effort to worry less. When you alter your behavior and avoid things that cause stress or worry, phobias and exaggerated fears are more likely to develop. So, in essence you are reinforcing the worry response.
How does CBT help you worry less?
Studies have shown that Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is quite effective in helping patients with excessive stress and worry. CBT teaches you how to relax and cope more effectively with worry by approaching each situation individually and analyzing it realistically. Techniques are used to help you challenge your distorted risk assessments, so that you can evaluate the actual experience or event for what it is. These activities are paired with education about worry, relaxation and self- awareness that will help prepare you for long-term success.
The bottom line is simple, you didn't start your life worrying excessively, behaviors, habits and events made you the way you are now. CBT is designed to help you reprogram your current way of thinking by helping you create new habits and new thought patterns. These new habits and thought patterns will enable you to worry less and achieve anxiety relief.
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