OCD & Anxiety Disorders: Crash Course Psychology

Being a mum means less pay and rise in anxiety levels

Not so steely: ex-PM Margaret Thatcher, dubbed the Iron Lady, wept when her son, Mark, was lost in an African desert

Here's a new phrase to conjure with: the 'motherhood penalty'. It is being advanced by the Fawcett Society, which has campaigned for women's rights since 1866.

The 'motherhood penalty' refers to the fact that a woman's income often declines when she becomes a mother. Men and women may be at level pegging in the job market when they are young and childless. They compete with a reasonable degree of equality for promotion and advancement.

But then – ping! When a baby arrives, a woman becomes less competitive, less likely to be promoted, and she is earning less than her male cohorts.

For every child she bears, it is calculated that a woman loses 13% of her earnings. That's the 'motherhood penalty'. And the Fawcett Society is resolved to eliminate it from all areas of employment, public and private, large and small.

Yet, I have news for the Fawcett campaigners: it's a lifetime condition.

There's a 'motherhood penalty' when a beloved child wrestles with painful situations, be it depression, mental illness, alcoholism or suicide. It's the mothers sitting up late at night, worrying; the mothers lighting candles and praying for succour and moving heaven and earth to help an afflicted son or daughter.

Go to any group counselling session for families with problems and you will be sitting in a circle with mothers desperate to rescue adult offspring who have gone off the rails.

That's a 'motherhood penalty', too: the lifelong sense of anxiety for a child brought into the world. I don't say that fathers don't have such feelings too. They do. But there are plenty of studies which show that men, for whatever reasons of brain-wiring, are better able to compartmentalise their thinking and concerns.

Almost every woman I know of my own vintage – most of them now grandmothers – still has sleepless nights over their adult children: the son who has gone on a motorbike ride through the Rocky Mountains; the daughter who has just had a bruising relationship break-up (and the girl is now middle-aged); the son who has come back home to live because of an impending divorce, or who has lost his job, or is drinking too much; the beloved only child who has decided to emigrate to faraway New Zealand?

Yes, the 'motherhood penalty' is an apt phrase, indeed, for a condition which will last a lot longer than questions about whether your pay packet is keeping up with the guys.

I wouldn't want to disparage the Fawcett Society's campaign to support equal pay for mothers; they are only trying to be helpful and encouraging to women with children. And that's a good thing to do. Sheryl Sandberg sought to do likewise in her book Lean In.

We hear plenty about "unwanted pregnancies", but rather less about pregnancies which would be dearly wanted if the circumstances were supportive.

But I do believe that some of the issues arising from the 'motherhood penalty' come not just from social structures around either career organisation or child-care, but from Nature itself.

It's been well established that as soon as a woman has children, she drives more prudently – I'm talking about averages, not the odd female petrol-head, addicted to speed. I remember watching a niece by marriage strap her young children into car safety seats with such attention to detail she checked every element of the apparatus before setting off behind the wheel. There's a mother's protective care, I thought. It comes directly from her instinct.

Even in my own case – reckless and feckless though I was by temperament – once I had children, I lost a certain edge for risk. As a journalist, I turned down foreign assignments that would take me away from home base for too long, or might be more dangerous. I cannot say that any employer was discriminatory towards me: the 'motherhood penalty' came from nature's own promptings, not any patriarchal system. I became less tough in some ways, and certain scenes brought me more easily to tears.

Remember Mary Robinson when she visited a famine-stricken Ethiopia – this self-assured lawyer in floods of tears at the sight of starving children? That's another side of the 'motherhood penalty': it prompts pity and compassion.

Even Margaret Thatcher, who kept her Cabinet in a state of apprehensive submission, wept openly when Mark, the son who seemed to embody the spoilt-brat syndrome, was lost in an African desert. That, too, was the 'motherhood penalty'.

It is true that many women, overall, lose income and job promotion, which is a key to income, when they become mothers. And it is evident that mothers worry about their children all their lives – "until you go down into the grave" as I was once told by an older mother.

But in the face of the responsibilities and 'penalties' of motherhood, what is miraculous is the number of women who will move any mountain, go to any length and pay any price, to become mothers. The women having four cycles of IVF, the women imploring overseas orphanages to adopt an abandoned child, the women who will agree to a dodgy deal on surrogacy.

Penalty, maybe; also immeasurable reward.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/life/features/being-a-mum-means-less-pay-and-rise-in-anxiety-levels-30553019.html

Back to School Advice: Confidence & Dealing with Anxiety

Will Social Anxiety Keep Your Child From Succeeding in School?

With the ringing of the first classroom bell to signal the start of a new school year, two images often come to mind: children excited about seeing old friends and their favorite teacher, or the endearing scene of a shy child clinging to his mother’s leg.

But what if the latter scenario is not as innocent as popular culture depicts? In the most recent Care For Your Mind (CFYM) series, experts associated with the Anxiety and Depression Association of America shed light on a debilitating but little known disorder, social anxiety disorder (SAD) that effects 12% of youth. Often first appearing in grade school, this disorder can be treated and managed with the right support and professional help.

Mark Pollack, M.D. president of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America believes lack of awareness about the disorder among medical providers and the general public prevent people from getting help for this treatable condition.

Parents can play a primary role in getting the support their children need, but only if they recognize the symptoms. In a CFYM poll 71% of respondents stated they did not think most parents would recognize SAD in their own children. Anne Marie Albano, Ph.D., Director, Columbia University Clinic for Anxiety and Related Disorders underscores the need for parental recognition when she states that, “social phobia is a gateway disorder to depression, substance abuse, and lifetime impairment.” In her post she provides warning signs and symptoms parents should be aware of.

Dr. Albano also suggests that parents unwittingly exasperate the situation when they step in and speak for their children. For example, when unable to answer a question addressed to them, parents might make excuses, such as “Johnny is shy.” While well-intentioned, by managing a stressful situation for their children, parents inadvertently enable them to avoid dealing with the emotions and anxiety these situations provoke.

As the school year begins, we must also ask whether or not there is a role for schools in helping parents recognize the symptoms of SAD in their child and provide therapeutic support. Dr. Albano points out that the very place that is causing the stress, could be the best place to learn how to deal with it.

Many schools offer screenings and teachers are taught how to identify the disorder. Once permission has been obtained from parents, schools provide in-school or after school therapy.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is considered to be one of the more successful tools to support children living with SAD. The National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) describes CBT as a “form of treatment that focuses on examining the relationships between thoughts, feelings and behaviors.” CBT is usually associated with an end date. The goal is not long protracted therapy, but rather brief intervention to provide the child with tools to help them manage stressful situations that trigger SAD symptoms.

Teaching about SAD in traditional health classes is another way to create awareness about the disorder. Unfortunately, however, the symptoms of the disorder such as fear of talking to adults or authority figures can prevent a child from seeking help.

Given these facts, positioned alongside the positive results of early intervention, seeking funding for in-school screening and treatment is an idea that is long overdue. Why not bring it up at the first parent teacher organization or school council meeting? Talk to school administrators and teachers to gain support. Make it your calling to be an advocate for children.

http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2014/09/02/will-social-anxiety-keep-your-child-from-succeeding-in-school/

YOGA FOR DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, DETOX, DIABETES & MORE (part 3)

Obsessive compulsive disorder: When does an obsession cross the line?

Many of us have obsessions. But what's the difference between a healthy obsession and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?

"It's part of every single activity I do, day in, day out. I'm never free."

Adelaide woman Sandra Pritchard is talking about her Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).

For a long time, Pritchard was in denial about her illness and hid it from people.

"It's humiliating when people see. When people notice something's a bit off," she says.

The 30-year-old told Insight she always knew she was an anxious person, but her condition worsened after the birth of her second child in 2009. She has since been diagnosed with OCD.

"I started probably when I was about six or seven, I used to sort things ... I started labelling toys and buckets of toys and that was when I was very young. I didn't have a choice; I wasn't doing it deliberately. It's been on-going and it's been chopping and changing ever since and just gathering steam."

"OCD has become a little bit fashionable in certain areas. The OCD itself, it's something that is significant and it's severe."

Everyday, Pritchard is plagued by invasive thoughts about dying, being sick, and worries about germs and contamination to her skin or food.

These fears drive her compulsive behaviour, which varies from excessive hand washing, rearranging and sorting things, pacing around the house, checking items for uncleanliness and even avoiding situations like social outings or using public transport.

"It's become so entrenched in my life that there is pretty much nothing that I do the normal way."

For the stay-at-home mum the condition is extremely debilitating and prevents her from completing simple tasks.

She is consumed by her illness - it takes a lot of effort just to get dressed in the morning and make a cup of tea.  

"I feel because of my OCD it stops me enjoying life and I am now having to relearn how to do everything."

She also struggles with eating chicken due to a fear that it may not have been cooked property and she will contract salmonella.

She doesn't buy chemicals and cleans everything with baking soda and vinegar and avoids driving which is problematic as it means she sometimes can't take her child to kindy classes.

Pritchard says she has lost a lot of friends, and prefers to be at home, so that has turned her "into a bit of a hermit".  

"I don't want my kids to have the same problem I have because it takes life from you … It has taken pretty much everything that I have. It's just consumed everything, it swallows everything to the point where you're just – you're hollow and you just exist and you say: what's the point?"

Sandra Pritchard. (Insight SBS)

Around three per cent of Australians experience OCD in their lifetime, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The BBC reported that until the 1980s, experts thought two in every 1000 people were affected by OCD. Recent studies believe it is more common, affecting 2 per cent of the population.

Despite those numbers, a psychiatrist from New Zealand's University of Otago says OCD is an illness that is being over-diagnosed.

Dr Christopher Gale said there are misconceptions about what the condition is. He is worried the term is being applied too loosely between people who have obsessions and those with obsessive personalities.

"OCD has become a little bit fashionable in certain areas. The OCD itself, it's something that is significant and it's severe."

"If you've got thoughts which make you very passionate … even if they're taking over a fair amount your life, that's not an obsession. But when it's unwanted, it's intrusive, it's often repulsive, [and] that's when it becomes an obsession."

Dr Gale said he's dealt with patients who take eight hours to get their OCD stuff done. He said it becomes a health problem when it becomes uncontrollable and "starts ruining people's lives".

"Of all the anxiety disorders, and about one in 10 people have an anxiety disorder, this is the rarest and it's the most disabling anxiety disorder. People who've got OCD are tremendously challenged in what they're doing and they have huge difficulties in getting on with life … I've seen people who had very good careers have them completely destroyed as a consequence of this", Gale says.  

Christopher Gale (left) and Jessica Grisham. (Insight SBS)

Jessica Grisham, senior lecturer from the University of New South Wales, believes Dr Gale is too rigid with his definition of OCD. She sees OCD as a "dimensional symptom spectrum", and thinks people can have "a little OCD" in them.

"Like most disorders it is dimensional. So in its severe clinical form, you really see it impact across spheres of life, but we can see that in the community there are people who experience some kind of a little bit compulsion, some sort of repetitive behaviours, or some intrusive thoughts that don't quite reach the threshold of what we would consider a fully-fledged clinical disorder," she said.  

Grisham was part of the first longitudinal study of OCD following 1000 kids since birth, and said the disorder can be developed later in life as well as being triggered by a traumatic or stressful experience.

"I think there's still more that we need to know and certainly stress can impact. There's people who have vulnerability to OCD and experience events that exacerbate or bring that OCD out."

"I think there's pretty strong evidence that there is a genetic basis for the disorder. It tends to run in families and I agree with my colleagues that relative to some other anxiety disorders, there's a reasonably strong building base of evidence about the neurobiological foundations of the disorder," Grisham said.

"It's a horrible thing to live with."

Looking past the conflict between psychologists and psychiatrists on causes and treatment options for OCD, Pritchard just wants people to know how overwhelming the disorder is.   

"I get a lot of misconceptions about what people think OCD is … it's a horrible thing to live with. You feel like there is someone shoving you towards doing these compulsions and it's such a fight and you can't give up," she said.

"One part of your head's going this is probably not sane' and another part's going oh but you've, just once more, just wipe, wipe once more, wash once more, go and check that thing one more. There's only so much you can do. It's tiring, it's distressing."

"I want people to know and I would hope that people would go out and seek help if they can, if it's not terribly far along."

She has been in and out of care services in Melbourne, Canberra and has made some progress recently working with Adelaide's Women's Health Statewide.

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2014/08/26/obsessive-compulsive-disorder-when-does-obsession-cross-line

YOGA FOR DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, DETOX, DIABETES & MORE (part 2)

Fighting Anxiety And Depression At Work

We live in a world that is very volatile, uncertain, complex and full of ambiguity. We live in an environment, particularly in the corporate world, where competition is increasing, where there is a 24/7 always-on mentality, and where people are expected to do more with less. This sort of environment is conducive to driving people to high levels of stress, which can evolve into depression and anxiety. And given that there's no indication that things are going to get any easier in the future, how can the corporate world better address depression and anxiety and break the stigma associated with those illnesses?

Here are four starting points:

1. Managers and leaders need to become better educated on the importance of a healthy mind. When we were in school, we were taught the importance of a healthy body through physical education and health classes, but we were never taught the importance of also keeping our minds healthy. There is a significant amount of work that needs to be done to educate managers and leaders on healthy minds. They should learn why a healthy mind is important; how to identify if someone might be moving from stress to distress to depression and anxiety; how stress and anxiety are illnesses, not weaknesses; and how to support someone who might be ill and reintegrate them back into the workplace.

2. We need corporate leaders to "come out of the closet" about their experiences with mental illness. When leaders rack up the courage to talk about personal experiences -- or those of a family member or close friend -- they help normalize mental illness and make it easier to talk

about these issues.

3. Put in place opportunities for employees to address their emotional and mental health. It's commonplace for companies to have gyms where people can improve their physical health. Mindfulness and meditation courses, quiet rooms and other opportunities for employees to

recover, recharge and reflect can help nurture employees' mental and emotional health. Oftentimes, the source of anxiety and depression can be factors in the workplace.

The simple act of not giving feedback to employees regarding their performance on a regular basis can be a real source of stress and distress, and can lead to depression and anxiety. When you combine already-existing stress and demands with technology and the need to cut costs, the pressures are even higher. In their New York Times article, "Why You Hate Work," Tony Schwartz and Christine Porath note that 87% of people today find their work disappointing, which leads to less productive work.

Therefore, the competitive edge in the future might be to ensure that employees are well in a holistic sense. In order to achieve this complete sense of well-being, corporations must focus more on enhancing the well-being of their people, and thus attend to not only their physical health, but also their mental well-being (i.e. ability to focus), emotional well-being (i.e. level of happiness), and spiritual well-being (i.e. sense of purpose).

4. Corporations need to become more purposeful in what they do so employees feel a sense of purpose. Giving people a sense of purpose at work is strongly linked to overall well-being. We need a more conscious form of capitalism, where organizations are driven by purpose, by addressing the social and environmental challenges the world faces and in doing so, grow and be profitable. This gives individuals in organizations a greater sense of purpose in what they

do and thus contributes to their overall well-being.

Overall, in wealthy countries, mental illness accounts for 40% of all ill health for people under 65. And as Richard Layard and David Clark write, " [I]t is terrible for those who experience it. But it is also bad for business, since it gives rise to nearly half of all days off sick. And it is bad for taxpayers, since mental illness accounts for nearly half of all the people who live on disability

benefits."

The last 50 years have seen enormous progress in advanced societies: less absolute poverty, better physical health, more education, among many other developments. Yet there is almost as much misery as there was 50 years ago. And the ever-increasing volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity is contributing to this. Businesses must now do their part to reduce this burden, and the four starting points above provide some guidance as to how to begin tackling these issues, to the benefit of their performance, their employees and society as a whole.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/geoff-mcdonald/fighting-anxiety-and-depression-at-work_b_5718735.html?utm_hp_ref=healthy-living

YOGA FOR DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, DETOX, DIABETES & MORE (part 1)

How to detox your life: beat anxiety through meditation

Mindfulness and meditation tips to improve your mental health

Beat stress with meditation Photo: NIELS VAN KAMPENHOUT/ALAMY

Take 10 mindful minutes. There’s so much going on today, so much stimulation, that it’s easy for people never to stop and be mindful. I wouldn’t say busy-ness was a toxin, but not taking time to be aware of yourself, your feelings and surroundings can make things difficult. Just 10 minutes’ meditation a day has a huge impact – it could be the time you normally zone out in front of the television.

Know the benefits. Meditation impacts all areas of life. It can help to reduce feelings of stress and anxiety, improve sleep, enhance productivity, improve physical performance in sports and even help soften the edges in relationships as we become more patient, better listeners and perhaps a little kinder too. The range of benefits is vast and varies from person to person, but I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t like a little more calm and clarity in their life.

Commit without judgment. Meditation helps teach you how to clear the head – but it takes practice, just like any other skill. If your expectations are too rigid, you might find yourself disappointed. The best thing to do is to commit to a daily practice. Make this commitment and to keep coming back if you don’t always achieve it. Our experience and evidence show that, over time, you will start to experience real benefits.

Appreciate the present moment. The present is very underrated – it sounds so ordinary, yet we spend so little time actually in it. One Harvard study said that, on average, our minds are lost in thought 47 per cent of the time – and that constant mind-wandering is a source of unhappiness. Just think about how you feel right now sometimes.

Check in regularly. I sometimes suggest putting up a coloured Post-it somewhere you’ll see it during the day – near the kettle or mirror, perhaps. That can be enough to jog you out of the thoughts you’re lost in and to feel less at the mercy of your thinking. It helps create a moment of mindfulness. You come to recognise that all your thinking is temporary, not the “be all and end all” of who you are.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/wellbeing/11046587/How-to-detox-your-life-beat-anxiety-through-meditation.html

Social Anxiety and Depression - Full Documentary

Professor Green: Men shouldn’t suffer in silence with depression and anxiety

My dad killed himself and, having struggled with feelings myself, I want to make sure I deal with them properly. You should too.

                                'Things always change, as long as you give them the chance to.' Photograph: Alamy

I was 24 when my dad, Peter Manderson, took his own life. We had a troubled relationship and hadn’t spoken to each other for about six years; for no real reason we just stopped. Then one day I got in touch to try and repair some of the damage. It was Boxing Day and we argued over the phone about where to meet. I got angry, and my dad, who was a gentle man, stammered and stuttered. The last words I said to him were: “If I ever see you again I’m going to knock you out.” It all seems so desperately trivial now.

The tragic last hours of Robin Williams’ life have been raked over in minute detail over the past week. Susan Schneider, his wife, has said he was battling depression and anxiety, as well as the early stages of Parkinson’s.

I still don’t know what was going through my dad’s mind when he killed himself in a park not far from where he lived in Brentwood, Essex, in April 2008. I’ll never know. The last time I saw him alive was my 18th birthday. He had been in and out of my life for years. I was brought up by my gran in Hackney, east London, because neither of my parents were capable of looking after me. I just wish that he could have reached out to someone, anyone.

The moment I found out my dad had killed himself is as clear today as it was when it happened. That morning I woke up with a sense of dread knowing that something was very wrong. My gran came into my room with tears in her eyes and said: “Stephen, your dad’s dead. He’s hanged himself.”

His death was a complete shock and it’s still a struggle to articulate how I felt. I went through so many emotions that day. At first I was angry with him for doing what he did. I kept thinking, how could he take himself away from me? Williams’ daughter Zelda said something similar about her dad: “I’ll never understand how he could be so loved and not find it in his heart to stay.”

I thought my dad was selfish for taking the easy way out. But then I quickly realised that I was the one who was being selfish for thinking he was selfish. For someone to be able to do that, I don’t think it is cowardice; it’s the only solution they think they have. The last thing I said to him kept replaying in my head – you have no idea how much I regret that the final words he heard from me were anger and hate. I would give anything to change that. I never got a chance to say a proper goodbye or tell him that I loved him.

Last year in Britain, almost 6,000 people killed themselves, leaving behind families struggling for answers. Men aged between 30 and 44 are most at risk. My dad was 43. I later found out that one of his brothers had killed himself two years before and that another brother, whom I am named after, is believed to have died after allowing himself to fall into a diabetic coma.

Communication is a big problem with us men. We don’t like to talk about our problems; we think it makes us look weak. There have been times when I’ve suffered from anxiety and depression. I even had cognitive behavioural therapy and although that didn’t work for me, I did find that talking about things to someone helped the problem seem smaller than it was in my head. It’s important to let things out and not bottle them up.

Society likes to tell you that you have to be happy all the time, and it’s easy to think that if you’re not happy then there’s something wrong with you. But happiness isn’t permanent, it’s not something you can feel all the time – and neither is sadness.

What happened to my dad and uncles makes me want to deal with things. As much as I love my dad, I don’t want to be the father to my child that he was to me. I wrote the song Lullaby about my experience of depression and how it has affected my life. The most important lyrics are the final two lines: “Things always change, as long as you give them the chance to.”

Know that is true. I just wish my dad did.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/20/men-suffer-depression-anxiety

How Jennifer Lawrence Overcame Social Anxiety

James Arthur reveals battle with anxiety and plans for a 'therapeutic' new album... after apologising to his fans for being a 'd**k'

His ascent to fame has been filled with controversy but after a tumultuous year, including getting dumped by his record label Syco, things are looking up for James Arthur. 

The controversial singer - whose homophobic rap led to a Twitter spat with fellow X Factor finalist Lucy Spraggan - revealed he has been working on a therapeutic new album and has gotten his anxiety issues under control. 

This followed his performance at V Festival over the weekend where he apologised to fans on stage for being a 'bit of a d**k' following his rise to fame. 

Scroll down for video

Moving on: James Arthur says he is feeling better than ever after overcoming his anxiety issues 

Speaking to ODE, he said: 'I used to have extremely bad anxiety but it's much less apparent these days. I'm more positive about life and  I think when you're in a good place you make the best music.'

James added: 'It is a rehabilitation album because I've been through a bit of a bad time but  I'm in a really great place right now. The next record will be very guitar-based… I’m going to be taking a lot more control.

'You’ll be hearing a raw side to me that you’ve never heard before.'

Apology: While on stage at V Festival over the weekend, James Arthur apologised for his past behaviour 

James Arthur was clearly emotional during his set, telling fans who watched him in Chelmsford: 'Thank you for sticking around for the whole set. I've been a bit of a d**k in the past. 

'I've made some mistakes…All that matters is love and positivity.'

Speaking to heat Radio after his performance, he said: ''I'm in a great place to make music and be an artist and public figure again. 

It's been the biggest fight of my life - I've come up against it with anxiety and depression but I'm come out of it and on the other side, and I'm good...I'm really really happy.

'I didn't know the magnitude of that disease until it really set in for me, and people who have it don't early know how to talk about it, or feel afraid to talk about it.

'And as soon as I did, it changed completely. I opened up to a few people and I'm now very happy with the person I am today.'

Therapy: The X Factor star said his latest album is therapeutic after he battled through all of his issues to get to a better place

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2728005/James-Arthur-reveals-battle-anxiety-plans-therapeutic-new-album-apologising-fans-d-k.html

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) Techniques

Online Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Effective in Treating Health Anxiety, Study

(Photo : Flickr) Online Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Effective Against Health Anxiety, Study.

Online cognitive behaviour therapy is more effective in treating health anxiety than active psychological treatments involving relaxation and stress management therapies, according to a new study by the Karolinska Institutet, Sweden.

The researchers said that health anxiety, also known as hypochondria, can be described as a strong, persistent and excessive fear of succumbing to serious illness. Patients suffering from this anxiety disorder experience chest pain or headaches that are often perceived to be some serious disease.

The medical condition causing distress often occurs among patients within primary care and due to mental illness like depression.

The cognitive behaviour therapy via Internet involves gradual exposure to situations that may activate health anxiety.

For the first time, the researchers subjected 158 participants to both internet and psychological treatment for 12 weeks. The participants had access to therapists via e-mail.

The researchers said that the participants found both the treatments to be equally reliable in reducing their anxiety. But, the exposure-based treatment lowered health anxiety to a greater extent than the treatment focused on relaxation and stress management. 

"More people can be treated since the treatment time per patient is significantly lower as compared to that of traditional treatment. Internet treatment is independent of physical distance and, in time, this means that treatment can be administered to people who live in rural areas or in places where there is no outpatient psychiatry with access to psychologists with CBT expertise," said licensed psychologist Erik Hedman, who led the study, in a statement.

The finding is published in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

http://www.universityherald.com/articles/10936/20140816/online-cognitive-behaviour-therapy-health-anxiety-sweden.htm

Robin Williams, Depression, And Getting Help

Is the crippling anxiety over exams what we want for our children?

The driving despair that has foreshadowed A-level results may well be a price too high

Ecstasy after the agony: A-level students for whom the effort paid off Photo: Christopher Pledger/The Telegraph

Today is a big day at Pearson Towers and in homes across the land. The Daughter will get her A-level results, which should be nerve-wracking, only the anxiety has been superseded by a deeper dread.

For today is also the day she goes in for an operation. “Look on the bright side, Mum, I won’t be upset if I don’t get the A in History because I’ll be unconscious,” she says, trying to joke away our fears, hers and mine. We know the surgeon is among the best in the country, we know the procedure should be relatively straightforward. We know that in 10 days she should be better, much better, than she has been for years. We know, we know, but no one wants their child put to sleep, do they?

And yet, in some bizarre way, I realise that I am almost grateful for the fact of the surgery. My child’s vulnerability has blunted the claws of the nightmare Tiger Mother I know I would have been given half a chance. It has taught me perspective, which is seriously lacking in an age obsessed with exam grades and league tables, itself a kind of national sickness for which there is only one known cure: AAA.

One 19-year-old who will not be opening her results with trepidation this morning is Amy Latham. A couple of months ago, it was reported that Amy, a pupil at the Queen Elizabeth School in Wimborne, Dorset, appeared to have killed herself while suffering dreadful anxiety over A-levels. In the weeks before her disappearance, Amy had expressed fears about her exams on social media. On June 5, she posted on Twitter: “Option 1: stay in, cry over Macbeth notes, fail English A-level Option 2: go out, cry over ignored responsibilities, fail English A-level.” On May 15, she said: “Someone kill me before I f--- up my English exam for the second time.”

Those tweets make me want to weep. For one thing, a young woman who could come up with Options 1 and 2 had no difficulties with English. Even in her dread, Amy was wittily alert to the cruel irony of her situation. She sounds fabulous. How could a bright young woman like that be so terrified of messing up her A-level that she chose to hang herself? Let me try and guess.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationopinion/11031251/Is-the-crippling-anxiety-over-exams-what-we-want-for-our-children.html

I Filmed My Anxiety Attack/Panic Attack

Robin Williams’ Depression Struggles May Go Back Decades

The storied comedian and actor Robin Williams had spent time at a rehab facility this summer to maintain his sobriety, his publicist said.

“This morning, I lost my husband and my best friend, while the world lost one of its most beloved artists and beautiful human beings,” Williams’ wife Susan Schneider said in a written statementon Monday afternoon. According to the local sheriff’s office, coroners believe Williams may have committed suicide by asphyxia, and the actor’s representative said he had been “battling severe depression of late.”

While the representative did not elaborate on the potential source of his recent depression, one-third of people with major depression also struggle with alcoholism, and Williams admitted to abusing both cocaine and alcohol during the height of his popularity in the 1970s as alien Mork on Mork & Mindy, which showcased his manic improvisational style. He quit using drugs and alcohol in 1983 and remained sober for 20 years after the birth of his first son.

But in a revealing interview in the Guardian, Williams admitted that while working in Alaska in 2003, he felt “alone and afraid” and turned to the bottle because he thought it would help. For three years, he believed it did, until his family staged an intervention and he went into rehab, he told the Guardian. “I was shameful, did stuff that caused disgust — that’s hard to recover from,” he said then.

He said he attended weekly AA meetings, and this July, TMZ reported that Williams spent several weeks at Hazelden Addiction Treatment Center in Minnesota, for what his representatives said was an “opportunity to fine-tune and focus on his continued commitment [to sobriety], of which he remains extremely proud.”

Studies suggest that alcoholism and depression may feed each other. People who are depressed are more vulnerable to abusing alcohol than those who don’t experience depressive episodes, and those who drink heavily are also more likely to experience depression. The latest evidence also hints that the same genes may be responsible for both conditions, and depression is a strong risk factor for suicide. About 90% of people who take their own lives are diagnosed with depression or other mental disorders. Suicide is also more likely among baby boomers, according to 2013 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The coroner’s office is continuing its investigation into Williams’ death.

http://time.com/3102414/robin-williams-depression-struggles-go-back-decades/

Back-to-School Anxiety: A Parent’s Guide

Back-to-School anxiety hits students of all ages. But you and your children don’t have to suffer in silence.

Victor Schwartz, associate professor of psychiatry at the NYU School of Medicine, walks us through the roots of school anxiety, and what we can do to help students handle their fears.

Preschool

Root of Anxiety: Until preschool, life has centered on home, parents or familiar caretakers. Then, bam! Young children have to negotiate interactions with strange teachers and other kids.

How to Help: First, stay calm because your anxiety is contagious. And prepare your child by arranging play dates away from home and even overnight stays with trusted friends and family. Let them know they’ll be OK, but in a matter-of-fact way that makes them think you really believe it.

Kindergarten – 3rd Grade

Root of Anxiety: Can I live up to teachers’ expectations? Learn my multiplication tables? Handle homework?

How to Help: Here’s where you begin to teach your children the good study habits that will lead to school success. Don’t do homework for them, but help them discover how to get from point A to B; how to recover from mistakes; how to be persistent. Playing board and card games are good ways to teach these lessons indirectly.

4th – 6th Grade

Root of Anxiety: Schoolwork now centers around long-term projects, and school social life forms into cliques – two scary propositions for many children.

How to Help: Before school starts, plan activities that stress persistence, organization and deferred gratification. Making model planes, ships and trains teach organization and tenacity. Studying an instrument teaches how to navigate short-term frustration for long-term gains. Even video games – yes, video games — help kids persist until they get to the next level.

Middle School

Root of Anxiety: It’s a wonder anyone makes it through these wonder years when romantic and sexual feelings begin to blossom, social competitiveness reaches fever pitch, and even thoughts about college and future success emerge.

How to Help: Be sensitive to the turmoil, and help kids find a range of pleasurable activities outside school that enable them to find success and forge friendships – sports teams, community center groups; theater clubs. Share stories about your middle school struggles, but don’t give a happy, pat ending (which probably isn’t true). Kids see through that and turn off to future fables.

High School

Root of Anxiety: High school students are battered at both ends – raging hormones that feed charged emotional and sexual situations, and real concerns about their futures – college, jobs, marriage. They’re bombarded by advertising that tells them they’re not good enough (that’s how you sell products), and by adults that pressure them to succeed. This is the age where depression, anxiety, food and obsessive disorders emerge.

How to Help: Try to find time – family dinners, vacations, driving in the car – to share your definition of success: hopefully, it’s not which designer bag you carry or elite college you attended. And recognize that your emotional state is catching, and try not to worry about the same things that are plaguing your kid.

College

Root of Anxiety: Separation anxiety emerges again as your freshman prepares for life away from home, maybe for the first time. New college students worry about fitting into a whole, new social world and failing academically. If they’re paying for their own education, financial worries may also keep them up at night.

How to Help: Make sure they leave for college knowing how to do their own laundry, handle a debit card, and whom to ask for help when they need it. Talk to them about the life/work balance, which they’ll have to navigate throughout their lives. And discuss practical things like food choices, sleep routines, and how drugs and alcohol never solve problems.

When It’s Time to Get Professional Help

Most back-to-school anxiety is normal and manageable. But sometimes fears – yours and your kids’ – take over.

Here’s when to seek professional help.

• Anxiety is more intense than usual.

• Anxiety doesn’t get better over time.

• Anxiety interferes with eating and sleeping.

• Activities that usually reduce stress, don’t work.

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/back-to-school-anxiety-a-parents-guide.html