|  PREVENTING
STRESS, ANXIETY AND PANIC ATTACKS
By:
Dr. Keith Comeau, MD/Family Physician
Transformation Strategist
Stress,
anxiety, panic attacks and even mild-moderate depression
all have common roots. To best illustrate
this, I will begin with the true story of a 39 year
old women, who I will refer to as M.S. . . .
M. S. was
always a worrier. She attributed her overwhelm, mood
swings and fatigue to being depressed. Her husband
was successful. They had a beautiful home and 3 beautiful
children, yet she was always worried that something
would happen. If one of the kids got sick, she would
think the worse. If her husband came home late, she
would think the worse. This drained her of her energy
and spirit. It affected the relationship she had with
her husband and the children. She could not sleep.
She was eating and drinking the wrong things. She was
constantly thinking complex thoughts, usually negative,
intense and not necessarily true.
She also
had moments when she experienced panic and being out
of control.
M. S. had
anxiety,….only she did not know it.
Understanding
the truth about stress, gives rise to the ability to
“prevent”life stresses from taking over your life.
In order to do this, one has to understand how the human
brain works.
What happens
when you put too much data into your personal computer
(our body’s mind/brain equivalent)? There is only so
much room for file storage space. The system gets overloaded
and its ability to further function is compromised…it
“crashes”. What happens when you over work, and do
not maintain a machine (an equivalent to our body)?
Eventually it breaks down and “crashes” also. The human
mind and body system functions in many ways similar
to a computer and machine.
The mind/brain
is responsible for sending signals to the body, giving
it messages about what it needs to do next. A mind/brain
system that is overwhelmed will send “over-whelmed signals”
to the body. The body acknowledges these “stressed”
signals and begins to experience overload (stress).
This appears
in the form of increased blood pressure, heart rate
and respirations, headaches, back and neck pain, diarrhea,
stomach pains, etc. As well, the immune system will
become compromised, putting us at greater risk for infections
(colds, flu, pneumonia, etc.) or more serious illnesses
(diabetes, heart attack, cancer, etc.) The mind/brain
response to “stress” is emotional and physiological
in nature. Those symptoms include worrying, nervousness,
upset, irritability, fatigue, trouble sleeping, to name
a few.
As the
degree and amount of stress increases, people begin
to experience “anxiety”. Symptoms of anxiety are
excessive stress and worry, restlessness, feeling keyed
up, being on edge, feeling tense, tired with difficulty
sleeping, feeling irritable, angry and upset, difficulty
controlling thoughts, forgetfulness, worries about health,
not feeling in control/losing control
of life and
sometimes, panic attacks. Symptoms of a “panic attack
include” a sudden onset of fear, trouble breathing,
intense chest pain, palpitations, a sense of loosing
control of your body and often the belief that something
catastrophic (e.g. heart attack, stroke, death) will
happen.
Ongoing
unresolved stress, anxiety and panic can lead to “depression”.
Symptoms of depression are: feelings of sadness, irritability,
loss of interest or pleasure in activities once enjoyed,
changes in weight or appetite, changes in sleep pattern,
feelings of guilt, hopelessness, worthlessness, inability
to concentrate or remember things or make decisions,
fatigue, loss of energy, restlessness, decreased activity,
complaints of aches and pains, for which there is no
medical explanation, and thoughts of death or suicide.
We
often can not change or control the source of our stresses
(the boss, the demands of our job, busy family household
with complicated life routines etc.) but we can learn
to manage our thinking and mental processing
of these issues and learn new healthier ways
to live our lives that will allow us to better
deal with life’s stressful situations. This is
the key to prevention. By doing this I can guarantee
you will improve the quality of your life as well as
reduce the stress, anxiety, panic and depression in
your life, as well as significantly influence positive
changes with your family, friends, and work.
The following
are several simple changes that can be made to your
day to day life that will positively impact and help
prevent stress, anxiety, panic attacks and mild-moderate
depression. 1. Be aware of what you are feeling.
Understand the symptoms are stress, anxiety, panic and
depression related. 2. Talk to and share this
information with people you trust and who make a difference
in your life. 3. Get help, speak to your doctor
for advice and to ensure the symptoms are not medically
based. 4. Lifestyle modification: increase
exercise and decrease/eliminate substances such as caffeine,
alcohol, nicotine, non-prescription drugs and high fat
foods. 5. Speak to a counselor, take a course
or read books on stress-anxiety management.
From my personal
and professional experiences as a physician, and past
career as a clinical social worker, I developed Transform:
A Personal Evolution”. This program
was designed to enable people with high stress levels,
transend their emotional state and transform their stress,
anxiety, panic and mild to moderate depression into
strong personal power. For more information on myself
(Dr. Keith Comeau MD) and the program/seminar series,
see "Transform:
A Personal Evolution in transcending stress and anxiety”,
see the Program
Schedule or call our Burlington office during the day at 905-333-0116.
The following
is the testimonial given by M. S. upon completion of
our program:
“I’ve suffered
from stress, anxiety and depression on and off for over
20 years but knew very little about anxiety. So I was
skeptical that I was right for this course let alone
that it would be much help. The information presented
helped me to realize that I did indeed have anxiety
disorder and that my depression was a result of it.
I learned that the way I think was causing my anxiety
and that changing the way I think would in turn take
control of the anxiety rather than it control me. This
course has been life-changing. I feel better, look
better, have better relationships with family and friends
and am loving discovering my authentic self. Dr. Comeau’
course was excellent.” M.S.
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