Panic attacks can be a frightening and overwhelming experience for those who suffer from them, and if you have a friend or loved one dealing with panic attacks, knowing how to help them can make a world of difference. Panic Attack 5 Step Emergency Guide If your loved one is in the middle of a panic attack now, stay as calm as possible and take the following five steps: Ensure their physical safety Speak calmly and say reassuring things Ask if they have prescription medication for panic disorder Try clinically proven therapeutic techniques Avoid taking specific actions that can worsen the symptoms If the person knows what panic attacks feel like and insist this is different, call 9-1-1. Panic attack symptoms can look very simi...

This content has been updated from previous article. Are you an introvert, extrovert, or ambivert? If you struggle in your interactions with most people, you likely answer “introvert,” rather quickly. After all, extroverts and ambiverts are at least somewhat comfortable in social situations, right? Not exactly. To clarify, introversion is not a mental disorder or social anxiety disorder. It is simply a personality trait where introversion is on one end of the personality spectrum and extroversion being its opposite. It is how people recharge their social battery, and it is not as black as white as many may believe. In fact, people can also exhibit both introverted and extroverted traits. These people are known colloquially as ambiverts. Ambiverts are in the middle of extroversion and introversion and can act like both in different situations. These characteristics can vary in intensity from person to person. On the other hand, social anxiety is a mental health condition that can cause anguish and undue stress. Introverts, extroverts, and ambiverts can all have social anxiety....

This content has been updated from previous article posted February 3, 2022 The Covid pandemic, which wreaked havoc in people’s daily lives, has now finally come to an end. During these stressful few years, it triggered the fight or flight response in many individuals due to the perceived threat to their health and safety. The uncertainty surrounding the virus, its rapid spread, and the potential for severe illness or death caused significant fear and anxiety. When people encountered situations related to COVID-19, it triggered their fear response, such as the risk of coming into contact with an infected person, experiencing symptoms, or hearing incessant news about the pandemic. That fear has created physical effects on many people’s bodies. This is because when people are faced with fearful situations, their body responds with a “fight or flight” reaction. The “Fight or Flight response” is defined as the automatic physical reaction to an event that is perceived as stressful or frightening. You have likely heard of this term before. To better understand these responses, let’s take a look at an example of how this could come to life. If you happen to find yourself face-to-face with a tiger, would you be more likely to...

This content has been updated from previous article on June 17, 2021 It doesn’t take an expert to know that managing family life can prove incredibly stressful. Between shuttling kids off to after school activities, organizing get togethers with friends and family, and managing finances, family stress can quickly add up. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by pressure in your family life, you are far from alone. It’s no wonder that 79 percent of American adults report feeling stressed sometimes or frequently throughout the day. The good news is that there are things you can do to systematically reduce the stress that you and other family members experience. Step 1: Make a List of Your Family’s Stressors Before you can remove unnecess...

This content has been updated from previous article on June 17, 2021. The expectations of the workplace have shifted since the onset of the pandemic. A showed that employee well-being is a top priority for employees and companies. Demand for workers and salaries are at an all-time high and employees are choosing with their feet to seek jobs that offer better work-life balance or align with their core values. Even for those who love their jobs, uncertainties around work, financial stress, demands from child or elder care, have become more complicated, creating an additional layer of stress. to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission accounted for about 30% of Americans with Disabilities Act-related charges in 2021, up from 20% reported in 2010. This stress can cause symptoms such as headaches, anxiety, trouble focusing, fatigue, and sleep problems. In some cases, this stress can lead to changes in behavior, such as erratic behavior, substance abuse, withdrawing from social activities, or changes in eating. While it may feel like this is a good time to change jobs as a way to reduce work stress, you may be jumping out of one fire only to get yourself caught up in another. There are other options to explore befo...

This content has been updated from previous article on June 17, 2021. Not all stress is the same and it can be difficult to know when to seek out help from a mental health professional. Stress can come from a variety of sources, like pandemic-related stress on work and home, to financial stress from rising gas and food prices, to mental stress stemming from unwieldy cultural expectations where every choice seems to be politicized. On the other hand, there is a growing consensus that some stress can be helpful. For example, there is an that teachers should help children embrace struggle as a way to grow academically and build emotional grit. Different Kinds of Stress There are three kinds of stress that psychologists have identi...

Ouch, that hurt!  We wouldn’t think twice about grabbing a bandage for a burned finger or getting a cast for our teen’s arm due to his epic skateboarding mishap.  So why don’t we use first aid for our mental health? Anyone who’s struggled with a painful heartbreak or the death of a loved one knows that emotional injuries can be just as crippling as physical ones. Here are some tips inspired by the psychologist Guy Winch’s book, Emotional First Aid to help practice this special kind of first aid: Recognize when you're in emotional pain Physical pain is the body’s way of telling us that something is wrong, and this goes for emotional pain as well. If you experienced a rejection, failure, or some...