January 2007
Anxiety Alliance Newsletter
Here we are at the beginning of a New Year, and hoping that it will be better than the last one in many ways, especially as some days can be so dark we need the light on, it's dark when we get up and stays like it all day.
People react to the changing seasons with changes in mood, metabolism and behaviour. Most people find they eat and sleep more in the winter and dislike dark mornings and shorter days. However for some the symptoms are often severe enough to disrupt their lives and to cause considerable distress. These people are suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD
It can affect people in many ways; there could well be oversleeping, difficulty in getting up in the morning and the feeling of having to have a nap in the afternoon.
Weight gain is also possible as there is a craving for ‘comfort' food. Sufferers can feel more depressed, guilty because of how they feel, and more anxious.
They can also suffer from social problems in as much as they avoid company, are irritable, there is a loss of libido as well. Everything takes too much of an effort, and there can also be joint pain and a lower resistance to infection.
The problem arises generally from the lack of bright light in winter. It has been proved that bright light makes a great deal of difference to chemicals in the brain, and that SAD is not an imaginary illness, but something that is genuine and depressing.
If you, or someone you know, suffers from this disability then information and help can be obtained from - SAD Association, PO Box 989, Steyning, BN44 3HG or from their web site at http://www.sada.org.uk/.
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Stress in the workplace.
The following article was taken from NetDoctor.co.uk
Stressed out employees is the biggest problem in most workplaces in the UK, according to new research from the Trades Union Congress (TUC).
Swiftly changing environments, being overworked and job cuts are the three largest factors that cause stress, the TUC research discovered.
The research was done in anticipation of International Stress Awareness Day tomorrow.
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "Stress is a preventable problem and UK employers simply aren't doing enough to minimise its impact.
"People who suffer from stress aren't wimps and their symptoms can make them really ill."
Weight loss, high blood pressure, depression and even heart attacks can result from high stress, Mr Barber added.
Sick days taken off work because of stress cost UK businesses 3.7 billion pounds per year, according to the TUC.
A full 76 per cent of respondents said that overwork was the biggest factor in causing stress.
Work-related stress accounts for over a third of all new incidents of ill-health, according to the Health and Safety Executive.
© Adfero Ltd
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Am I the only one who suffers like this?
One of the most common questions asked both on the helpline and through e-mail is - ‘Am I the only one feeling like this?'
The answer to that question is that there are many people who suffer from similar problems. They may not have exactly the same thoughts and feelings as you, but the problem is the same.
Now, thanks to the Office of National Statistics, this can be proved:-
Mixed anxiety and depressive disorder 69% male
115% female
Generalised anxiety disorder 42% male
44% female
Depressive episodes 21% male
28% female
Phobias 18% male
18% female
Obsessive compulsive disorder 10% male
13% female
Panic Disorder 8% male
8% female
Weekly prevalence of neurotic disorders: by sex, 2000, GB
In 2000 one in six adults in Great Britain had a neurotic disorder (such as anxiety and depression), while one in seven had considered suicide at some point in their lives. One in 200 had a psychotic disorder such as psychosis and schizophrenia.
The most common mental disorders were: mixed anxiety and depression (7 per cent for men, 11 per cent for women), anxiety (4 per cent for men, 5 per cent for women) and depression (2 per cent for men, 3 per cent for women). All neurotic disorders were more common in women than men, except for panic disorder which was equally common in both sexes.
Psychiatric disorders and suicidal attempts were more likely to occur in people facing socio-economic disadvantage: that is people with unskilled occupations or who were unemployed, who lacked formal qualifications, who were renting accommodation from a local authority or housing association, who were living alone, or were separated or divorced.
The rates of psychiatric disorders in 1993 and 2000 were similar, but the proportion of people receiving treatment increased considerably over the period. In 2000, overall 24 per cent of people received treatment compared with 14 per cent in 1993. The rise was a result of a doubling in the proportion receiving medication, from 9 per cent in 1993 to 19 per cent in 2000. The proportion receiving psychological treatment, however, remained level, at 9 per cent in 2000 - 1 percentage point higher than in 1993. The proportion of people receiving both medication and psychological treatment also remained level at 3 per cent in 1003 and 4 per cent in 2000.
Psychotic disorders, although less frequent than neurotic disorders, were more likely to be with psychosis were receiving some kind of treatment; 83 per cent medication and 40 per cent treated because of the nature and severity of the condition. In 2000, 85 per cent of people with psychosis were receiving some kind of treatment: 83 per cent medication and 40 per cent psychological treatment.
People with a psychotic disorder were also more likely to use mental health services on offer in the community and in hospitals than people with a neurotic disorder. In 2000 two in five people with a psychotic disorder had used at least one community care service (consulting a psychiatrist/psychiatric nurse, seeing social worker) in the past three months, compared with less than one in ten of people with a neurotic disorder. Likewise, more than one in five of people with a psychotic disorder had visited a psychiatric outpatient clinic compared with only one in twenty people with a neurotic disorder.
A follow up survey in 2001 showed that half of people with neurotic disorders had not recovered 18 months later. Many of the socio-economic factors associated with the prevalence of neurotic disorders were also associated with a reduced chance of clinical recovery. The survey showed that people who had received treatment over the 18 months were twice as likely to recover as the people not receiving treatment. In contrast, psychotic disorders have a more prolonged course, with relapses followed by periods of remission over many years
Our thanks to the ONS for permission to print this information.
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Volunteers
We have now received funding to train six more volunteers so once the training is complete we may well have the helpline open for a little longer.
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Enhance Self-Worth and Self-Respect
Many books have been written on the subject of self-esteem. Briefly, self-esteem is about how you relate to yourself. Do you like, respect, trust and believe in yourself? When you like yourself you can live comfortably with both your personal strengths and weaknesses without undue self-criticism. You also acknowledge and take care of your own personal needs. When you respect yourself, you recognise your own dignity and value as a unique human being. You stand up for your basic rights. You ask for what you want and you say ‘no' to what you don't want. Self-trust means you trust your body, feelings and behaviors. You feel consistent within yourself no matter what changes and challenges may occur in your life. You have goals toward which you're working and a personal sense of accomplishment about what you have done with your life.
Among the most important ways to develop self-esteem would include the following:-
Make time to take care of your own basic needs. These include the needs for security, attention, support, respect, nurturing, touch, intimacy, a sense of accomplishment, fun and play, self-expression and creativity. You are willing to put your own needs on equal footing with the needs of others. You spend at least as much time taking care of yourself as you do on taking care of your house and car.
Make room in your life to develop a good support system. Beyond your immediate family, you can develop a sense of community through building a circle of friends. There are many options for doing this, including support groups for women, men, persons dealing with anxiety disorders, survivors of various types of abuse or loss, and persons addressing addiction or codependency issues. If your town is too small to offer these kinds of groups, you can still build support and community through your local church, service organizations, or special interest groups. Feeling part of a community helps you to establish a stronger sense of your own self.
Find and express your own unique purpose in life. An important means to building self-work is to discover and express your unique purpose(s) in life. To know this purpose means to identify your own particular gifts and talents and then express them in a vocation or avocation. Your unique gift may be to inspire others, create music, provide leadership, counsel or teach. Or it may simply be to offer hospitality in your home or to beautify your garden. The scale of what you do is not so important; rather it is your awareness of what you're here to do and your willingness to do it. In fact, as you get to know yourself, you'll find you need to do it. In many cases you may have to go back to school or obtain specific training to develop your particular skills and talents. Or you may need to find a job where your special capacity to work with or assist others can be fully realized. You know that you're expressing your life purpose when you feel inspiration and enthusiasm in the process of doing it. You are not doing it or some external goal; the process itself is intrinsically rewarding.
The above has been taken from ‘Beyond Anxiety and Phobia' written by Edmund J Bourne Ph.D.
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If you want to join our groups for support or even to offer support, then see the forums on our web site at http://www.anxietyalliance.org.uk/.
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Our next Newsletter is due in April, and we hope you will be willing to put forward any questions you may have on your particular problem, comments, ways in which you have coped with your anxiety, poems - in fact anything you would like to see printed. We will ensure that your name is not included unless you give full permission. You can either send things by post to the registered address, or e-mail me at anxietyalliance@btinternet.com. We look forward to hearing from you.
