The Benefits of Intimacy

Once two people have entered into a deep level of sharing, they usually want to stay there. If there is true equality between the two, they achieve a balance that feels right and they don’t want to lose. If, however, one of the partners feels the need to lessen the level of intimacy, the probability of conflict increases. You can avoid misunderstandings by maintaining your commitment and trust during these natural cycles that occur within any relationship. Intimacy takes work and a sense of maturity. To shirk the responsibility of keeping an intimate relationship alive invites a return to isolation.

 The intimate relationship is healthy. Intimacy allows us to end loneliness and to share the deepest and most personal parts of ourselves with a trusted partner. As social beings, we respond physically to the experience of intimacy. People who have intimate relationships live longer and healthier lives and they report more personal happiness and satisfaction with the way they live. Intimacy gives us a feeling of comfort, security, and a sense of being loved and accepted. It gives us the freedom and support to stay true to the special qualities that define each one of us as a unique person.

A number of research studies have shown persuasively that people in intimate relationships live longer and happier lives than those who are not.

 

Study Results of the Healthy Benefits of Intimacy

• For example, we know that people in marriages or other committed relationships live longer than
people who are single.

• In one classic study researchers found that 95 percent of people who described their parents as uncaring had diseases by mid-life, while only 29 percent of those who described their parents as caring had mid-life diseases. Having supportive and close relationships with parents in our child- hoods leads to healthier relationships in general when we grow up, and it is these healthier adult relationships that are linked to a lower prevalence of heart disease and cancer in mid-life. In other words, one can compensate for a deprived childhood by learning later in life how to sustain supportive relationships.

• In another series of studies, researchers found that people who are socially isolated are two to five times more likely to die prematurely than those who have a sense of connection and community.

• A study at the University of Texas looked at patients who had undergone open-heart surgery. Those who had neither ongoing group participation nor were able to derive strength from their religion were more than seven times more likely to have died six months after their surgery.

• Women with metastatic breast cancer were assigned to support groups which met once a week for a year. The women in the support groups lived twice as long as those who were not in these groups.

• One study has even found that people with fewer relationships of any kind (e.g., friendship, a partner, family, work, social groups, religious affiliations) were four times as likely to develop a common cold as those who had more relationships.

• Interestingly, research showed that people with pets are healthier than people without them and
have to make fewer visits to doctors.

Psychotherapy can allow us to explore our own deepest and most intimate feelings in a safe and accepting setting with a professional trained to understand these inner processes. The psychotherapeutic relationship allows us to learn to stay true to our uniqueness and feel comfortable in sharing our authenticity with another person. We can explore who can be trusted, and who can’t, as well as the features of our lives that may have led us to hide ourselves from others. Psychotherapy has the potential to teach us how to break out of isolation and loneliness into a world of love and acceptance. It prepares us to explore an intimate relationship outside of the therapy setting.

At Dr.Quintal and Associates we provide a variety of counseling services including relationship counseling. Please call us at 941-907-0525 for a free phone consultation. You can also visit our website at dr.quintal.com for more information on services, and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Anxiety Attack Symptoms: Understand Them & Control Them

Anxiety is a brief, persistent, and extreme feeling of uncertainties, fears over tense and intense situations and constant worries that won't go away. Fortunately for anxiety sufferers it is controllable and, in fact, curable. As a matter of fact, anxiety is reversible, and can be successfully treated naturally if found out through the anxiety attack symptoms.

An anxiety condition is not an uncontrollable illness even if it feels like it is because it has complete control of your life. Anxiety attack symptoms occur for precise reasons and there are underlying reasons why your anxiety and anxiety attack symptoms continue.

To be able to know if you have anxiety, you should know first the anxiety attack symptoms. Here are some anxiety attack symptoms associated with most anxiety disorders. Of course, since every individual has a different chemical composition, anxiety attack symptoms and their intensity may vary from person to person.

The anxiety attack symptoms commonly experienced physically are:

Persistent fatigue, a feeling of electric shock, being unable to relax, a burning skin sensation, feeling cold, feeling light headed like you are about to faint, and an increased or unfortunately decreased sex drive.

More anxiety attack symptoms are twitching of the muscles, stiffness in the back, neck and shoulders, tingling in the extremities, persistent tense muscles, being very jumpy, twitchy and nervous, sweating a lot, urinating a lot and having weak muscles. As you can see, anxiety attack symptoms can be
 extremely debilitating.

More anxiety attack symptoms include chest pain, shortness of breath, having trouble breathing, trying to catch your breath, having a racing and or irregular heart beat, having a lot of headaches, becoming easily over excited, having a sore jaw that feels a lot like you have a toothache and
 grinding and clenching your teeth a lot.

Emotionally there are some very apparent anxiety attack symptoms that you need to watch out for like very dramatic changes in mood, emotional blunting, not having the right emotions at the right
time and feeling like you want to cry a lot but not knowing why.

Psychologically there are the following anxiety attack symptoms: a fear that you're going crazy and losing your mind, losing control of everything, feeling like there is impending doom, not being able to handle what's on your plate, being unable to concentrate, having racing thoughts and feeling like the problems of the whole world are on your shoulder. Sufferers also can suffer from depression and
 feel under extreme pressure about everything in their lives every day.

You may find this surprising but other anxiety attack symptoms affect your hearing with ringing in the ears, hearing rumbling sounds and reduced hearing or even deafness in one or both ears.
Other anxiety attack symptoms affect your vision like blurred vision, watery or dry eyes, seeing things that aren't really there, your eyes being very sensitive to light and even having spots in front of
your eyes.

Anxiety attack symptoms can affect your stomach and even the inside of your mouth with a constant craving for something sweet, having difficult swallowing and even choking at times, suffering from constipation or diarrhea, having a dry mouth and feeling like you've swallowed your tongue, suffering from a lot of gas and having a bloated stomach, having little appetite, feeling nauseous and
 having a lump in your throat.

Some prevalent anxiety attack symptoms include having difficulty sleeping, strange dreams, waking up feeling sick in the middle of the night, waking up in an anxiety panic attack and waking up feeling worse in the mornings.

These are the most common anxiety attack symptoms however the anxiety attack symptoms above are not complete or limited to the anxiety attack symptoms I've listed. It is likely for normal people to suffer from a few of these anxiety attack symptoms while some anxiety sufferers will unfortunately suffer from all of these life-altering anxiety attack symptoms.

About the Author

Do you suffer from any anxiety attack symptoms? If you do you are not alone. But there is help available and it doesn't have to include anti-anxiety medication. 1000s of people who suffer from anxiety attack symptoms have been cured in the comfort of their own home without medication, psychological visits and herbal remedies. Find out more at http://www.anxiety.getwhatyouwant1.com today!

Anxiety Attack Symptoms by Bill Burniece

Almost nothing can turn your life upside down faster than an anxiety attack can.
Anxiety today is a global problem. It affects millions of people around the world and from all walks of life. It can literally happen to anyone. Anxiety does not discriminate. When anxious feelings peak within us it can trigger physical anxiety attack symptoms that can make things miserable.
How miserable?

Anxiety attack symptoms can make you believe that you're having a heart attack, stroke, or other serious medical emergency. Because of this, many first time sufferers of anxiety attacks end up being rushed to the emergency room only to find out their condition is not life-threatening.

Anxiety attacks, also known as panic attacks, begin abruptly and last 10 minutes or so for most people. However they can last an hour or more in some cases.

Anxiety attacks are sudden feelings of extreme fear, terror, and discomfort. Anxiety or panic attack episodes can occur at any time - even when you're asleep. The most common anxiety attack symptoms are:

• Feelings Of Dread Or Fear
  
• Difficulty Breathing
  
• Feeling Out Of Control
  
• A Strong Urge To Flee Or Escape The Place You Are In
  
• A Choking Sensation
  
• Swallowing Difficulty
  
• Chest Pains Or Racing Heart
  
• A Sudden Fear Of Dying Or Going Crazy
  
• Shaking And Unsteadiness
  
• Breaking Out In A Sweat
  
• Dizziness Or Lightheaded
  
• Feeling The Need To Throw Up
  
• Stomach Cramps
  
• Hot Flashes
  
• Headache
  
• Chills

So what is actually occurring when you're experiencing these anxiety attack symptoms?
An anxiety attack is like a false alarm from our brain to our body. When were in true danger our body's fight-or-flight mechanism kicks into action to get us out of harm's way. When we are experiencing anxiety attack symptoms we have that same rush of fear and terror and all the physiological sensations that can go along with it, like a racing heart, sweating, tightening of the throat, and lightheadedness. The difference in an anxiety attack is that there is no immediate threat
present.

If left untreated, anxiety attacks can reoccur forming a pattern that can lead to an anxiety disorder. One of the worst effects of anxiety disorder is the increasing dread over when and where the next anxiety attack might occur. Dwelling on this possibility often triggers more anxiety attacks. It can become a frustrating cycle of dread and fear.

So what can be done to treat anxiety attack symptoms?
The good news is that anxiety is a highly treatable disorder. There are many methods available to treat anxiety attacks. The most common are psychotherapy, medication (antidepressants or natural herbal treatments), relaxation techniques, and cognitive-behavioral therapy. A combination of at least two of these methods has proven to be the most effective.

Doctors recommend taking antidepressant drugs to treat anxiety disorders in nearly every case. However, there are dangers associated with antidepressant use including addiction and severe side effects. Additionally, new research data suggests that antidepressants are ineffective in roughly half of all anxiety cases. That is a jarring statistic. Because of these facts the decision to use antidepressant drugs should not be taken lightly. This revelation has lead to a recent surge in demand for alternative natural anxiety remedies.

So what should you do?
If you're suffering from this condition the most important fact to understand is that anxiety attacks cannot harm you. Period! It's critical to understand this. Most people, especially those new to anxiety, start thinking of all the bad things that can happen during the anxiety attack, thus making the symptoms worse.

Start your recovery by increasing your awareness of what anxiety is and how to cope with it. Study anxiety. Once you understand the reality of what this condition is you can begin to train yourself to manage any anxiety attack symptom that comes your way.
Learn a wide variety of cognitive techniques to be used before and during an anxiety attack. This includes but is not limited to relaxation exercises, breathing techniques, visualization, and mental reprogramming. Seek out support groups either in person or anonymously online in numerous anxiety forums.

Try a good quality natural anxiety remedy before turning to more risky and addictive pharmaceutical drugs. If you see a doctor you may have to fight him on this point but it is ultimately your choice. Alternative natural medicines are less disruptive, far safer, and work just as well as antidepressants in many cases.

The bottom line is to take action. Do not allow yourself to succumb to the symptoms of anxiety attacks by remaining idle. If you feel you cannot take action alone seek help from loved ones or your doctor. Stop the nightmare of anxiety attacks now before your condition gets worse. The more proactive you are in your treatment and recovery the sooner you will get your life back under control.

About the Author

For more information on natural anxiety remedies go to: Natural Anxiety Remedy
Sign Up For A FREE mini-course for natural anxiety treatment: Treating Anxiety

Should You Take Antidepressants For Chronic Back Pain?

If you've gone to the doctor for back pain, you likely left with a prescription for some type of medication. People with recurring or chronic back pain are often prescribed antidepressants.

antidepressants are thought to be effective in treating pain because they increase the amount of neurotransmitters in the brain that decrease negative feelings like pain - both physically and mentally. Also, many people with chronic pain also experience depression, either due to the shared areas of the brain that process both physical and emotional pain or to the situational reduction of quality of life experienced by many with chronic pain. While using medication to target both conditions may seem sound, arguments against the use of antidepressants to treat chronic pain have been mounting for over a decade.

antidepressants don't cure the cause of back pain; when they work, they may simply mask the sensation of pain. These drugs are generally prescribed to people with nonspecific, or undiagnosed, back pain in lieu of treatments that address the unknown cause of pain.

Do They Work?
antidepressants were designed to affect brain chemistry as they do because it is hypothesized that abnormal brain chemistry, including a deficiency of key neurotransmitters, is one of the causes of clinical depression. While these drugs have shown to improve the lives of people with severe, clinical depression, they have not shown consistent results for people with chronic back pain. A number of studies have been done in recent decades to assess the use of these drugs for the treatment of various conditions. While some studies show that they can relieve back pain, others show that they are no better than placebos. The unpredictability of the effects are enough to make prescription of antidepressants for back pain questionable, yet they continue to be prescribed en masse.

Researchers for the Cochrane Library reviewed 10 trials that compared anti-depressant effects and placebo effects on people with back pain. They found that there was no difference in pain reduction between the medication and the placebo group in many studies and, at best, conflicting evidence in others. Review the study at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD001703.pub3/abstract.

Risks
Even if an anti-depressant could relieve your back pain, there are risks of both short- and long-term use that must be considered. At first, they may cause hyper-alertness or the opposite, a sedated state. Other symptoms such as constipation, dry mouth, nausea, insomnia and headache are common. These may decrease as your brain gets used to the new situation.

Long-term use of these drugs comes with additional side effects. Weight gain and loss of libido are common, particularly in women. Abrupt cessation of SSRI drugs has been linked to nausea and dizziness. Some medical professionals warn against abrupt cessation of any anti-depressant for fear of psychological and physical withdrawal symptoms, while others maintain that there is no concern.

Aside from physical symptoms, long-term use of these medications can have a negative impact on you psychologically. One concern is tolerance; as the brain gets used to the drug's effects, the body may begin to perform processes to oppose it. This means that the drug ceases to be effective as the brain gets better at creating a ripe environment for depression. Recurrent depressive episodes and worsening of symptoms are possible.

This poses a concern particularly for people with chronic pain and depressive symptoms. For those being treated for pain exclusively, drugs are generally administered at lower doses and may or may not produce psychological side effects. However, dosages increase as physical tolerance builds up. See http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-peter-breggin/antidepressants-long-term-depression_b_1077185.html for more on tolerance and adverse effects.

The most frightening part of this discussion of risks associated with long-term anti-depressant use is that it is incomplete. antidepressants saturated the market before long-term studies were done to confirm their safety. It was only after years of use by children and teens that, in 2004, the FDA announced that anti-depressant use can increase the risk of suicidal tendencies in young people.

While these drugs can improve the lives of people with severe, chronic depression, their use by people with mild depression, chronic back pain or both is unsubstantiated; the risks may outweigh the benefits.

Alternatives
One main way to avoid anti-depressant use for chronic back pain is to find the cause of your pain and seek treatments that address it. A few commonly undiagnosed causes of pain are muscle imbalance, myofascial pain syndrome and sacroiliac joint dysfunction. Researching all possible causes of your pain and finding an open-minded doctor who will hear you out are the first steps to obtaining an accurate diagnosis.

For people with depression, there are ways to alter brain chemistry naturally. Diet, exercise and talk therapies like cognitive behavioral therapy have proven to do so. Cognitive behavioral therapy techniques can even be learned online for free.

Chronic back pain and depression don't destine you to a life of pills. Knowing the evidence, risks and alternatives associated with anti-depressant use for back pain can help you make informed decisions about your treatment.

Safe choices for pain management solutions exist. Educate yourself in alternative solutions for back pain management. Please ask questions, give comments or stories related to this article submission regarding back pain management.

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The Importance Of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy In The Treatment Of Depression And Anxiety Disorders

DEPRESSION and anxiety disorders are psychosomatic conditions, i.e., a combination of psychological and physical factors. While the physical (or somatic) component of the condition is treated with anti-depressants, the psychologcal component is treated through psychotherapy.

Psychotherapy involves talking to a mental health professional such as a psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker or a counselor who first identify the reason for an anxiety disorder and how to alleviate the impact of the reason on the patient's psyche. The particular type of psychotherapy that has been found very useful in treating anxiety disorders is: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT). As its name suggests, CBT comrpises two elements: the cognitive element, and the behavioral element.

Cognitive element: The cognitive element of CBT helps people amend the thought structure that generates the fears and anxieties that have caused the anxiety disorder.

Behavioral element: The behavioral element of CBT encourages people to change the nature of their reaction to anxiety-causing situations.

Illustrations of how CBT works: Suppose a psychiatrist is treating a patient suffering from an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in which he or she is afraid of being infected by germs, so keeps washing hands repeatedly. A psychiatrist or a trained professional in mental health will allow this patient's hands to get dirty and wait for increasing lengths of time before allowing him or her to washing them. When this exercise has been repeated several times, and the patient find that no infection has been caused despite the dirty hands that remained unwashd for so long, his or her fears of infection through germs will decrease.

Another example of how CBT works is, say, in the treatment of social phobia. The patient is encouraged to be present in social situations he or she fears and is allowed to commit social errors or inetiquettes. It will then be pointed out to him that nobody has really noticed - or might have noticed but did not give it any importance, or, better still, some others too have committed the same errors and are yet socially very comfortable - the patient will become more receptive to the social setting he or she once feared.

CBT usually lasts around three months and is administered individually or in groups. It may begin directly with the patient or may begin with videos and pictures depicting the situation the patient fears and how he overcomes the fears.

Finally, CBT can only work with the patient's cooperation. The patient must acknowledge that an anxiety disorder afflicts him/her and must therefore want to take this therapy. Backed with administration of anti-depressant drugs, CBT can enable people with anxiety disorders live a normal and full life.

[http://www.nimh.nih.gov/]

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Treating Depression and Anxiety

Do not confuse depression with anxiety because they are different from each other though they may seem the same at first glance.

If you are experiencing a general feeling of negativity that you are easily saddened, angered, hopeless, despaired and irritated for the least provocative reason or even none at all, then you might have depression. On the other hand, if you feel anxiety, panic, worry or fear in circumstances which normally you shouldn't be feeling those emotions then you might have anxiety.

Anxiety may cause depression and depression may also cause anxiety disorders such as panic attacks, social phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder and others. Depression and anxiety are not life-threatening. However, when combined together and left untreated, they have the potential to cause an extremely unhealthy mental state primarily consisting of rapid mood swings.

In fact, according to clinical studies, compared to when they individually occur, the combination of depression and anxiety are deadlier as they create more severe symptoms, which take longer to resolve and they lead to more cases of suicide.

Fortunately, depression and anxiety may still be treated. Treating depression and anxiety is a long process, which length depends on the response of the patient. Once you suspect you have depression and anxiety, the best course of action is to seek the help of a doctor. The worst thing you can do is deciding to self-medicate because it may lead to addiction of substances. Always remember that depression and anxiety are mental illnesses that can be best alleviated with the expertise of a doctor.

Depression and anxiety generally have the same treatments. Here are the most common ways and

methods of treating your depression and anxiety.

1-Psychotherapy:
This is one of the front line methods in treating depression and anxiety. One of the most common forms of therapy is cognitive therapy such as engaging in positive self-talk and shooing away negative thoughts. If the root cause of your depression and anxiety is known, which is mostly not the case, you may also be exposed to such a situation and be allowed to confront and overcome your anxiousness through behavioral therapy. Cognitive and behavioral therapies may also be combined for a more effective therapy called cognitive-behavioral therapy.

2-Medications:
The use of medication is often combined with therapy. Among the most common medications for treating depression and anxiety benzodiazepines which include Xanax, Prozac, Klonopin and Ativan. If your doctor prescribed you with medication, strictly follow the dosage and repetition requirements because in cases of over dosage, they may lead to tolerance, dependence and substance abuse.

3-Self-help:
Treating depression and anxiety is best if you help yourself. Other than reliance to clinical therapies and medications, another way of increasing the chances of successfully treating depression and anxiety is through self-help such as exercise, relaxation and diet. Exercise is a good depression and anxiety reliever for you because it reduces muscle tension and metabolize excess body chemicals such adrenalin. Relaxing can also help you in coping with depression and anxiety because it is a form of mental exercise.

Relaxation techniques can help ease your tense body, breath better and erase you negative feelings. Proper diet is also crucial in treating depression and anxiety. Avoid coffee, cigarettes and sugar as they contain ingredients that make you more prone to feel depression and anxiety. Eat foods that are rich in vitamin B. You may also take supplements such as kava, chamomile, GABA and valerian teas. Ask your doctor what and what not to avoid and better plan with your nutritionist your meals for a healthier diet.

Here you'll find the best natural treatments for depression and anxiety, including the top 7 tactics on how to deal with depression The tactics offers a pretty straight forward approach to ending depression and anxiety using applicable tips and techniques that you can start using right away. Not only will you learn what to do when anxiety hits, but also how to cure it altogether from your life. Check it out now and learn how dealing with depression is easier than you think.

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Treatment For Anxiety Disorders and Depression

People suffering anxiety and panic disorders suffer various emotional and mental trauma and depression. Life can be a constant battle worrying about certain situations. It is almost like everything that you think of would finally lead you to panic about some imagined condition. It is also common
 for people going through depression to experience sleeplessness or insomnia.

People experiencing anxiety disorders suffer poor self image and tend to avoid all social gatherings. They live in their own inward world that they consider to be safe and keep worrying endlessly about things that would at normal times appear very trivial. The worst part about going through a depression is that most of the times, people are depressed about the fact that they are going through a depressed phase in life. This stops them from enjoying the joys of the present moment.

A lot of people seek medical help to treat depression. Unfortunately, anti-depressants and drugs cause severe side effects and they tend to be very addictive. Further, anxiety disorders are a problem with the mind and by trying to treat the physical symptoms like nervousness, sleeplessness; we are always trying to play to catch up rather than getting head on with the root cause of the problem and treating it.

As long as you live in the comfort zone, it is going to continue to be painful for the rest of your life. To get rid of depression and anxiety disorders and to start enjoying your life like you used to while you were a child, you need to make a commitment to walk out of the comfort zone and have an attitude to conquer your anxiety problems to enjoy a life of free self expression.

Even if you have tried a lot of methods and failed, One Move Method by Dr. Joe Barry will help you get rid of all your anxiety and depression related disorders forever in quick time like how it has helped several thousands of people get rid of panic attacks and anxiety related disorders. You will be amazed that some of the most profound solutions are actually simple and straight forward.

Even if you have tried all methods to cure panic attacks and failed, there is Hope. I cured my Panic Attacks and Anxiety Disorder Using Joe Barry's One Move Method.

Visit Anxiety Depression Disorder Now to read my Story and Discover how you can Get rid of your Panic Attacks forever by Treating the Root cause of panic attacks.

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