Social distancing is a phrase we have all become quite accustomed to during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. It may very well be the phrase of 2020. 

Health experts and government officials have asked us to maintain spacing of at least 6 feet from others, avoid any kind of gatherings, and generally isolate ourselves in order to reduce the spread of the virus. Slowing the rate of infection helps doctors, nurses, and hospitals keep up with the need for medical services and care.

Right now it looks like in most areas of the country, we will be facing at least a few more weeks of social distancing if not a few more months.

Whether you are an extrovert or more of an introvert, the truth is that we all need contact with other people. Social connections promote mental wellness, especially in times of increased anxiety.

Social distancing does not have to mean being alone. Here are a few tips for staying engaged and connected with family and friends to stay positive and healthy.

Volunteer

There is no better time to step up and give back to your community than in the middle of a catastrophic event. According to the Mayo Clinic, volunteering can reduce levels of stress. Increased stress and anxiety can have a detrimental impact on our immune systems, making managing stress and anxiety extremely important right now.

Even in the middle of this pandemic, there are opportunities for volunteering. If you are healthy and able to safely leave your home, there are local organizations that help to deliver groceries or other necessities to high-risk individuals and families. 

Many local food pantries are in need of assistance as the need for their services has increased dramatically. In fact, the Capitol Area Food Bank, the DC metro region’s largest supplier to local food pantries, is calling for more volunteers to meet the surge of demand for their services.  

If you are unable to leave home, there are still volunteer opportunities available. For example, nursing homes and senior care living centers are looking for pen pals to help boost resident morale. 

Organize a Movie Night or TV Watch Party

Gathering a group of friends and heading to see the latest blockbuster movie isn’t possible right now, but you do not have to completely give up on watching movies with loved ones. 

Netflix even has a special service for just such an occasion called Netflix Party. Netflix Party lets friends and family members watch a movie or TV show together online and syncs up the viewing experience for everyone. It even adds a group chat feature.

You do not have to limit yourself to just Netflix. There are plenty of free online conferencing options like Zoom and Google Hangouts where all of you can gather online while watching your favorite TV show. Chatting and seeing one another’s faces can really be a significant boost to your overall mental well-being.

If you really want to make it more fun, pick a movie or TV show that everyone has seen and is familiar with. It will keep the social aspect of the event flowing.

Get Creative with a Virtual Happy Hour

Again, this is a great way to make use of free telecommunication services out there. Get your co-workers or friends together on Zoom, Google Hangouts, or whatever service you choose and have a fun happy hour, with or without the booze. Seeing and hearing familiar faces, without being in work mode, is  a key part of feeling connected and important for meeting our natural need to belong. 

Unlike a business conference call, encourage everyone to keep their mics on. You want to have the kind of flowing conversations you might have at a typical happy hour. 

Encourage people to embrace being at home and not try to hide from it. This isn’t a work event. If there are roommates in the background or kids that might pop up on screen, no problem. Introduce them. Create an environment of inclusiveness.

Gaming

There are lots of popular online video games out there that allow people to play and chat together while enjoying a virtual escape from the real world. Don’t worry. You don’t have to be 14 with lightning-fast reflexes and know how to build complex structures while no-scoping an opponent in Fortnite to have a good time. 

There are a lot of popular board games with digital versions today. It can be from something simple like free chess at Chess.com to popular board games many of us grew up on like Monopoly, The Game of Life, and Backgammon. You can also find more complex popular modern games like Settlers Of Catan and Ticket To Ride. The game service Steam offers a ton of options to choose from. 

Fire up your favorite video chat and gather around the virtual table with your friends and family for a board game night. 

Make a Phone Call

With all the digital options that are at our fingertips today, making a phone call might seem a bit primitive but just hearing a familiar voice can be enough to lift one’s spirits. 

Even if that call ends up being just you leaving a voicemail, letting someone know you were thinking about them can help to make both them and you feel less isolated. 

Entertain the Kids With a Neighborhood Hangout

It might be hardest for kids to come to grips with all of this isolation and understanding why they cannot go outside and play with their friends. You can make it a little easier by organizing some activities for kids in the neighborhood to get outside and connect while still maintaining boundaries.

Some examples people have been making use of include:

• Let the kids use washable markers to draw or play tic-tac-toe with friends on each side of windows or storm doors.
• Create a neighborhood scavenger hunt where kids can search for specific items visible from the sidewalk or street.
• Have a chalk art gallery show. Let the kids create driveway art with sidewalk chalk and have a neighborhood walk through.
• Have a water balloon toss. Let kids throw water balloons from yard to yard and they have to try to catch them without them bursting.

Get creative. Social distancing doesn’t mean we have to be socially isolated.

The coronavirus pandemic has brought many changes, both in our personal and professional lives. Not the least of which is that many people have suddenly found themselves in the new position of working from home. While working from home may have seemed like a dream opportunity in the past, many are finding it more challenging to juggle than they imagined. 

Here are a few tips to help with both staying productive as well as maintaining your mental well-being:

Get dressed!

I know. Those pajamas are really comfortable, and you are at home so who would know? If you talk to people who have worked from home for extended periods of time, they will tell you that on days they gave in to the temptation of staying in their pajamas they often found that they got off to a slower start and were less productive throughout the day.

Don’t worry. You do not need to dress as formally as you would on a normal work day, but the seemingly simple act of changing your clothes serves as a signal that it is time to wake up and start the day. It helps to mentally set a divide between your work day at home and your time off at home.

Performing other tasks that relate to your appearance is also a good idea. Jump in the shower. Brush your teeth. Do your hair. Put on makeup. Do the things you would normally do before going into work. It’s not necessary to put as much effort into the tasks as you might have in the past before going to work, but taking care of your appearance can help to make you feel like you are taking care of yourself.

Of course, all of this goes without saying if you are one of the people who have found themselves suddenly on a lot of Zoom calls on your webcam.

Define your work hours

It’s important to designate hours for when you are “at work” and when you are off the clock. You need to have a time when work is done and you are shutting it down for the day. If you let yourself continue to think about and concentrate on work tasks, you will start to feel like you are working nonstop and putting in more hours than you ever did before. 

If you have roommates or a family at home, this is even more important. They need to understand when you are “at work” and when you are done. This will cut down on distractions. 

If you have children, as much as you can, try to make sure they understand the difference between something that needs mommy’s or daddy’s attention right now and something that can wait until the end of your work day.

Once your work day is over, disconnect from work and give your family the full attention it deserves and needs.

Create a designated workspace

Similar to having work hours as mentioned above, it is also important to have a work area at home. If you normally travel to work each day, the division between your work and home lives is physical. That separation can and often will become blurred when you are working from home.

You want to try to recreate that separation of work and home life as much as possible by having a designated workspace. If you have a room all to yourself that you can use, that is ideal, but that is not going to be an option for everyone.

You can turn an area that is part of another room into your workspace. Working from home means that you lose out on the time you spend outside on your commute. Picking an area with lots of natural lighting can help make up for this.

Try to avoid social hubs in your home such as a kitchen table or island where people tend to gather. Sitting down at your workspace should make you feel like you are starting the work day. Sitting at the kitchen table or on the couch in front of a TV will make it harder to get going.

Avoid home chores that can suck you in for extended periods of time

Distractions are the number one problem that people face working from home. Everything you would consider doing when you are normally at home is right there at your fingertips. 

Understand that it is going to be virtually impossible to completely eliminate distractions. In your normal work days, you probably take a few 5 to 10-minute breaks and that is fine to do at home too. If you want to get up and empty the dishwasher, do it. 

You need to avoid things that potentially could drag you into something much bigger.

You know that bathroom faucet that has had a slow leak for the past 3 months? Your at home work time is not the time to start investigating what is going on there.

Be social

You may find that suddenly working from home is cutting off a lot of the social interactions you are used to having throughout the day. Sometimes these interactions may feel mundane, but they do help us to feel less lonely and help to break up the work day. 

Just because you are now working from home does not mean you have to cut off your work social life. Whether your company is using Skype, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Slack, or some other way to communicate, you can also use these tools to interact with your co-workers the way you normally would. 

Is there a favorite show you and a co-worker routinely talk about the morning after a new episode? Reach out to them and do it. If on Monday you would usually talk about your weekend with a teammate, do not stop just because you are not in the office.

Of course, follow whatever guidelines your company has laid out for using work related devices and software.

Maybe even suggest to your manager that your team does a group call each morning to kick off the day, or if you are the manager organize it yourself. Seeing everyone’s face regularly and having a few minutes to chit-chat can really help us to not feel quite as lonely working from home.

Working from home is going to be the new normal for many of us for the foreseeable future. These tips can help you to adjust to this new way of life while staying positive and productive.

Many people are experiencing feelings of anxiousness in relation to the rise in reported cases of the coronavirus around the world and especially due to its recent spread here in the United States. For those in China at the center of the outbreak, its impact on their mental health has been undeniable. Yet, even in areas not yet heavily affected by the spread of coronavirus, people are expressing their concerns and worries.

When the media goes into hyper coverage of an event, such as a flood, hurricane, violence, or the outbreak of a virus, it is common for people who watch a lot of news media to experience a rise in feelings of anxiety. People start to wonder, “What if that happened here? Will it happen? What can I do?”

With the coronavirus, those symptoms could include obsessing about information on the virus, difficulty sleeping, and a fear of catching it even if it has not been reported in their area.

The intensity of these feelings and symptoms can range from a minor inconvenience to seriously impacting their ability to function at work and at home. If you are feeling this way, there are things you can do to help deal with it.

Turn Off the News

It is important for all of us to stay informed about what is going on around us, but if you are feeling overwhelmed by concerns about the coronavirus, limit the amount of news you are consuming. You do not need to eliminate watching the news altogether, but try no to obsess over coronavirus updates either.

If you follow news outlets on Facebook or other social media platforms, hide them for a while so they stay out of your news feed. If you normally come home from work at night and turn on the news, consider watching something else you enjoy or limiting the amount of time you watch the news.

Focus on What You Can Control

The increased feelings of anxiousness over a situation that is largely out of our control may cause us to make irrational choices. 

We cannot control how world governments or those around us are reacting to the outbreak, but it is important to remind yourself what you can control. 

Remember that you do have control over yourself. As mentioned above, take common health precautions. Wash your hands. Be on the lookout for flu-like symptoms. 

You can take reasonable steps to prepare yourself for a more widespread pandemic. Find a trusted source of information about the outbreak, and stick to that instead of sensationalized or false stories you may see on social media or even in the news. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) would be two examples.

Seek Help if Needed

It’s normal to experience feelings of worry and stress over news of a health crisis. If those feelings continue to grow and they begin interfering with your ability to work, concentrate, sleep, and take basic care of yourself, it’s important to talk to a professional that can help.

The tragic passing last week of NBA superstar Kobe Bryant stirred strong emotions for some people.

It’s helpful to notice our emotional reaction to grief, as it can connect us to one another, and to the practice of gratitude.

Almost every single one of us can name a celebrity death that affected us. Maybe it was a famous performer who we enjoyed like Prince or David Bowie. It might have been someone who had a lasting impact on the world around us like Steve Jobs or Congressman Elijah Cummings. 

Why can the death of a stranger move us to tears? 

To a large degree it is because we feel like we have a relationship with them. They may not know us, but we know them. 

Due to social media and our 24/7 news and celebrity coverage, it has only become more prevalent in today’s society. Tabloids, magazines, and even some television stations feed this sort of interaction. The result is us becoming even more emotionally attached to our movie stars, athletes, and reality stars.

This all leads us to experience deeper feelings of grief when celebrities do pass, and perhaps we grieve more today over the death of a celebrity because of the way media saturates our lives. 

Social media has given us a new platform and opportunity to grieve publicly, both with friends and family as well as with strangers. For evidence of this, compare the passing of Prince last year to that of John Lennon in 1980. 

When John Lennon died, fans could only express their grief openly and publicly by gathering together at his apartment building leaving flowers and signs. By contrast, when Prince passed away fans had Facebook and Twitter to “gather on” and express their feelings and memories of him.

When it comes to grieving a celebrity’s death, what’s normal and what’s not?

Obviously, there are no statistics on how many people grieve over celebrities, but it is safe to say that it is fairly common. Grief from the loss of a celebrity is going to depend on each individual and their perceived connection to that celebrity. Loss of musicians tends to impact fans more, as often we connected with their music on a deeply emotional level.

Generally speaking, the death of a celebrity is not going to hit a fan as hard as the death of a family member would. While it is completely natural to feel sad, cry, or even feel anger about the passing of a celebrity, tune in to how long you remain in that kind of state and seek help if you feel increased anxiety or depression.

The popular phrase, “Spring ahead. Fall back,” referring to the changing of our clocks for Daylight Savings Time has a deeper impact for some people. Have you recently been experiencing depressed moods, a noticeable loss of energy and motivation, more time spent in bed and sleeping, increased anxiety, and difficulty staying focused? 

You are not alone, and you might be experiencing seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Seasonal affective disorder, also sometimes referred to as “winter depression,” is a form of depression that presents itself at certain times of the year, typically beginning in late fall or early winter and lasting into the spring.

Reported incidences of SAD afflict around 4-10% of the population in the United States. Those are only the reported cases. Studies suggest that as much as 20% of people suffer from some form of SAD, ranging from very mild to more severe cases.

The symptoms of seasonal affective disorder include:

• Depressed moods
• Increased sleep
• Energy loss
• Increased anxiety
• Difficulty concentrating and focusing on tasks
• Irritability
• Change in appetite
• Losing interest in activities you previously enjoyed
• Feelings of hopelessness

Studies have shown that seasonal affective disorder may be caused by a biochemical change in our brains that is triggered by shorter days and reduced sunlight during the winter months. Serotonin and melatonin, in particular, have been linked to changes in mood, energy, and patterns of sleep. 

Serotonin production in our bodies is activated by sunlight. Less sunlight in the winter time could lower the level of serotonin our bodies produce. Low levels of serotonin have been associated with some forms of depression.

Melatonin production, on the other hand, works the opposite way. Our bodies produce more of it in darkness. Melatonin, of course, is a popular supplement for its ability to regulate sleep. Higher levels of melatonin can cause sleepiness and a general feeling of sluggishness.

Indeed, some studies have found that people with seasonal affective disorder do feel better after exposure to bright light. Seems simple enough, but it is a little more complicated than that.

Alfred Lewy, MD, a seasonal affective disorder researcher at Oregon Health & Science University, says it is not just about getting more light. It’s about when you get that light. 

“The most important time to get light is in the morning,” he says.

He thinks that SAD is due to a shift in our body’s circadian rhythm, which is our 24-hour sleep-wake cycle. Your alarm might say it is time to wake up, but your body’s internal clock is telling it that it should be resting.

Bright light in the morning can help to reset your circadian clock.

In addition to light therapy, other treatments for SAD include traditional psychotherapy and sometimes antidepressant medications.

It is completely normal to have days where you feel down, but if you feel down for days at a time, cannot get motivated for activities you normally enjoy, notice your sleep patterns changing, turn to alcohol for comfort or relaxation, or you have prolonged feelings of hopelessness, it is more than just the changing seasons and it is time to get help.

Although it might seem that “winter depression” is just a cycle you have to go through, any form of depression can be serious and should be treated as such.

Like most of us today, you have probably experienced playing some form of game or games on your mobile device at one time or another. If you have, you likely already understand just how easy it can be to get engulfed in solving puzzles, shooting your opponents, unlocking new collectible items, and climbing to the top of leaderboards. You also likely understand how one can completely lose track of time while doing so. That’s not by accident.

Mobile game developers are using several different methods and strategies to keep players glued to their mobile devices and feed their addiction. Everything from color schemes to the soundtracks are well thought out in these games and designed to keep you coming back.

One of the most successful games in history on any platform is Candy Crush. It has been downloaded over 2.7 billion times, has over 70 million followers on its Facebook page, and has had over 1.1 trillion rounds of the game played. At its peak, over 93 million players played daily.

Candy Crush uses a very simple formula. They release new levels every weak, force players to wait for lives to “refill”, and it provides a simple method to purchase additional lives and other boosters for the game with just a couple of clicks.

So called freemium games like Candy Crush are a leading driver behind mobile game addiction. These games are free to install and play, but give options for in-app purchases. These purchases may allow a player to play more often. They may give boosts to progression in the game. In some games they unlock additional characters or cosmetic items.

Dopamine and Mobile Game Addiction

Game developers are using strategies to increase a player’s dopamine levels in order to keep them hooked on the game. Dopamine is a chemical in the brain largely responsible for controlling your feelings of pleasure. When players earn rewards in games, especially difficult to achieve ones, they will often experience a release of dopamine.

Increased dopamine levels are a significant factor in most types of addiction, including opioids and alcohol. Individuals struggling with addiction often will drink more alcohol or use drugs to achieve higher levels of dopamine. With video games, players will invest more time in the game and/or spend more money to unlock the same sort of feelings.

Because both are often described as impulse control disorders and alter our brain’s dopamine levels in a way that keeps people coming back for more, gaming addiction is most often compared to a gambling addiction. Some who suffer from gaming addictions may also suffer from other mental health disorders that contribute to the addiction.

The Risk

Mobile game addiction increases an individual’s risk for a number of physical and emotional health problems. It can also lead to significant complications in one’s day-to-day life.

Some common issues seen in those suffering from a mobile game addiction include:

● ADD and ADHD

● Learning disabilities

● Weight gain

● Neglect of personal hygiene

● Increased anxiety

● Sleep disorders

● Poor nutrition

Overcoming a Mobile Gaming Addiction

A gaming addiction is not often overcome by simply deciding to spend less time gaming. It usually involves counseling and behavioral therapy that can help show someone how to prevent themselves from turning to video games as a way to escape from reality or avoid facing problems. By learning to identify and cope with the underlying causes of their addiction, a person can take the first step to overcoming it.

Everyone experiences feelings of anger from time to time. It can even be healthy to let that anger out. However, not everyone can keep control of those emotions. Experiencing uncontrolled anger is certainly not the most comfortable situation, but what can be even worse is having to deal with the ramifications. If you or someone you know finds yourself in that situation frequently, it might be time to evaluate whether there is a serious problem in dealing with anger.

Anger and an anger management problem are two totally different things. Releasing anger from time to time is normal. Doing so is an instinctive phsyiological reaction to some situations and is our body saying that something is wrong. Sometimes it might even push us to take action.

As an example, someone might feel anger at the site of seeing an animal being abused and that anger might push them to intervene or get help.

More unhealthy displays of anger include rage, passive agressiveness, resentment, and verbal or physical abuse.

If you are wondering if the anger levels you or someone you know is experiencing are normal, here are a few signs that there might be an anger management problem.

1. Passive Aggressiveness

When most people think of anger management problems they think of more vocal and/or physical demonstrations of anger, but passive aggressiveness can be just as much of a sign of trouble as the more traditional displays of anger.

Some people do not even relize they are dipping into this type of anger. Passive aggressive behavior is often expressed in sarcasm, acting mean, or just being apathetic.

2. Blaming Others

When you lay the blame for problems at the feet of others, it is easy to feel angry. Feeling like your situation is entirely the fault of someone else can be infuriating.

However, anger problems often times have little to do with what actually happens to you and instead are a result of how you interpret what happens to you.

If you find yourself constantly blaming others for failed relationships or poor performance at work, that can be a sign of an anger problem.

3. You Anger Frequently

Feeling angry all the time is not only a sign of an issue, but it is also physically and emotionally unhealthy. If you find yourself angry more often than not, that is a sign of a problem.

4. Aggression

This is an easy one to identify. All of us experience feelings of anger from time to time. Not all of us express it in road rage, by physically or verbally abusing those around us, or by punching walls and doors.

This sort of behavior often results in physical damage to property or other people.

If you are expressing your emotions in these ways, you likely have a problem controlling your anger.

5. The Duration of Your Anger is Too Long

One of the telltale signs of an anger management problem is when angry outburts last for a long time.

An example of this is if on your way to work, someone upsets you and you are still simmering about it at the end of the day. This inability to quickly and easily let things go is a typical problem people who are struggling with their anger face.

Not only is this emtionally unhealthy, but when your body is kept in that state throughout most of the day, it is physically draining.

6. Your Anger is Disproportionate to the Situation at Hand

There is nothing wrong with feeling angry from time to time. If you find yourself having a complete meltdown, especially over a issue that is small, that is not okay.

As a baseball fan, when I think of this I think of some of the classic meltdowns of managers like Earl Weaver and Tommy Lasorda. As fans we laugh about it and sometimes even cheer them on. Off the baseball field, behavior like that is a sign that someone needs to seek anger management therapy, and quickly.

If you find that your anger is causing problems for you personally and professionally, if outbursts at work have put your employment in jeopardy, if your relationships are becoming damaged, it is time to seek help from an anger management therapist.

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When was the last time you checked your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Snapchat account? Do you ever feel anxious when you are unable to check them? You may be surprised to know that social media anxiety disorder is a real disorder. It is a mental health condition with great similarities to social anxiety disorder.

Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent mental health disorders in the United States, and social media anxiety is becoming one of the fastest growing of those disorders.

Technology is supposed to make things easier and more convenient for us. However, there are times when technology can cause us added stress. Some studies have shown that almost 20% of people with social media accounts cannot go more than three hours without checking them.

Most people with social media accounts do not feel anxious when they are unable to check their accounts and updates for a few minutes. Those who suffer from social media anxiety disorder can feel great deals of stress and anxiety just from being separated from their accounts for a short period of time.

Social media anxiety disorder has some common symptoms to look out for:

● Lying about how much time you spend on social media.

● Checking social media accounts in the middle of conversations.

● Loss of interest in other activities.

● Withdrawal from friends and family.

● Being distracted at work by social media.

● Neglecting tasks at home or work in order to comment on a social media thread.

● An overwhelming need to share things on social media sites.

● Severe feelings of stress or anxiousness when unable to check social media statuses for a period of time.

According to a survey published by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, about 30% of students using social media spend over 15 hours per week online. This time can greatly take away from relationships, work, and education. Spending several hours per day on social media sites such as Facebook can be a sign of social media anxiety disorder, and it can greatly affect both mental and physical health.

Spending too much time online has been proven to often cause eye strain, neck pain, lower back problems, and hand and wrist cramping. In more severe cases it can also lead to obesity, poor nutrition, and even heart disease.

On the mental health side, research has shown that social media anxiety disorder and spending too much time online in general can lead to depression, paranoia, loneliness, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The problems come not just from the need to share things online but also from comparing themselves with others on Facebook. It can cause feelings of jealousy and depression.

There is also an unhealthy need to be “liked” on sites like Facebook. Social media anxiety disorder is not just about a compulsive need to check statuses and notification. Sufferers also often times feel a need to have their posts and notifications liked, shared, and commented on by others.

When the response to their activities does not meet their expectations, it can trigger feelings of sadness, loneliness, and even lead to depression.

What Can Be Done?

The most important thing is recognizing the problem and that your expectations on Facebook and Instagram may not be realistic. Those people posting are usually only posting highlights of their life and the good stuff. They have the same struggles as everyone else.

It’s easy to say that someone needs to get out and enjoy “real” life, but for a sufferer of this disorder it is often not as simple as just turning off their phone or computer and getting out of the house. Talking to a counselor about why they are having these obsessive feelings is the best way to get their social media life under control. If you or someone you know is suffering, call us today or contact us online to schedule a consultation.

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I have heard it described many times before.

It usually starts with, “I didn’t know what was happening to me.”

They then go on to describe an overwhelming feeling of fear. Feelings of dizziness and or being a little lightheaded come on. Palms sweat and sometimes shake. Their face feels flushed. Blood pressure goes through the roof.

Often the first time it happens it is shrugged off as just an odd episode. It’s not until it happens a few more times that the person realizes it is time to seek some help. They are usually thinking that they must be ill. What they learn is that they are not in fact ill, but are experiencing panic attacks.

Anyone can suffer from a panic attack. Many people who experience them do not immediately recognize the source of their discomfort.

The good news is that panic attacks are easily explainable and with the guidance of a therapist they are also treatable.

What is a Panic Attack?  

Mental health professionals describe panic attacks as sudden rushes of intense dread or distress which are often accompanied by a number of physical symptoms that can include: dizziness, sweating, a racing heart, chest pain, difficulty breathing, trembling, numbness, and even disorientation.

Inside the brain, things can be just as concerning. During a panic attack one will often experience thoughts of fear and dread as well as a fear of doing something uncontrollable or of dying.

Panic attack sufferers are not actually dying. Their blood is pumping with adrenaline. Their bodies are reacting in the same way it would if an immediate threat was present.

In simple terms, their body has triggered their “fight or flight” response in order to protect the individual.

Obviously, there is often no immediate threat when a panic attack sets in. The mind realizes this, but the body ignores this information. The body is saying run. The mind is saying stay. The confusing signals between the mind and body will cause the person to stay in one place.

What Can Cause a Panic Attack?

There is no typical profile for a person who is prone to experience a panic attack. Typically, someone who experiences panic attacks has their first panic attack as a child, but not always. Women tend to experience them more than men, and some research points to genetic dispositions.

Even though panic attacks can seemingly sneak up out of nowhere, they can be triggered by a lack of sleep, drugs, caffeine, alcohol, as well as chemical or hormonal imbalances. Many times they are also often connected to traumatic or challenging life situations, most often ones that have occurred in the past 12 months.

Individuals who experience regular panic attacks cannot often predict when they’ll strike. They find they are more susceptible when they are under extreme stress. Other times they will strike seemingly randomly.

What Can You Do if Experiencing a Panic Attack?

If someone has been diagnosed with panic attacks, they can often make simple lifestyle adjustments to reduce symptoms. Things such as getting more sleep and exercising more regularly can help.

Although they are not recommended for frequent use because they can be habit forming, anti-anxiety medications such as Xanax can be useful for specific situations that are likely to induce panic such as sailing on a boat or flying on a plane.

If panic attacks start to occur frequently, there is a possibility that the the individual has a panic disorder. In the case of a panic disorder, the individual becomes so worried about having a panic attack that their anxiety becomes a source of more anxiety.

To avoid having another attack, they will try to stay away from situations, people, or places that trigger their symptoms. If they feel panic setting in, they will try to fight the fear, which unfortunately, usually makes it worse.

Panic disorders can be managed in the short-term with antidepressants, but are best treated through cognitive behavioral therapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy is a treatment that tries to help patients tap into the thoughts and feelings that drive their actions. Through this therapy they can identify and examine the fears that trigger their anxiety.

The goal is to break the cycle of panic through anxiety counseling. By understanding what causes the feelings of panic, an individual does not have as strong of a physical or emotional response to it. With this new found understanding, they can recognize the feelings of panic for what they are and adopt coping skills.

If you experience panic attacks and are ready to get started learning why, you can contact us to schedule your first appointment.

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