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Panic Attacks: Effective Ways to Cope - By Michael G. Rayel, MDJill is a 21 y/o college student who used to do well until about a few months ago when she started to experience ?weird? attacks almost daily. She described her experience as ?horrible.? When she has the attack, she feels that she?s about to die or develop a stroke.One day while she was in a mall, she suddenly developed an ?overwhelming? sensation all over her body. She was sweaty and tremulous and felt that her heart was pumping so fast. Within a few seconds, she also suffered from chest pain and shortness of breath. This episode lasted for about 10 minutes but she felt that this was her worst ten minutes of her life. Overwhelmed by her experience, she has stayed away from malls and has avoided being in a crowd of people. Because of the frequency of the attacks, Jill can?t anymore function normally. She is afraid to leave the house and go to work. Jill?s experience is typical of someone with Panic Disorder. A person with panic disorder develops anxiety attacks associated with the thought that he or she would die or develop a stroke or heart attack. Physical changes such as fast heart beat, shortness of breath, fainting episodes, sweating and tremulousness are some of the accompanying symptoms. A typical episode usually comes ?out of the blue? and not precipitated by any triggers. It can therefore happen any time and anywhere. An attack can last for a few to several minutes. One episode can make a person feel scared of having another one. In fact, a lot of people feel distressed anticipating the occurrence of another attack. So most individuals prefer to stay at home and isolate themselves from friends, co-workers, and even relatives. Eventually they become incapacitated. If you?re like Jill, is there any treatment that can help? Yes, there is. Individuals with this condition are successfully treated with an antidepressant such as the serotonin-reuptake inhibitors. Usually, the dose should be started low, for instance 10 mg/day of citalopram. After a few weeks, the dose should be gradually increased depending upon the person?s clinical status. Cognitive behavior therapy is likewise very effective. This type of ?talk psychotherapy? helps the individual to restructure his or her thinking. Negative cognition associated with the illness should be addressed in therapy because it creates more harm than good. Relaxation techniques such as breathing exercises should also help. During treatment, patience is very important because it takes a while before any intervention helps. However, don?t despair. After a few weeks, the medication should start working and should give you a feeling of comfort. What?s the role of benzodiazepines (e.g. lorazepam or clonazepam) in the treatment of panic disorder? This type of drug can provide acute relief but should be used only on a short-term basis because of its addiction potential. For long-term treatment, antidepressants and psychotherapy are still preferable. Copyright ? 2005. Dr. Michael G. Rayel ? author (First Aid to Mental Illness?Finalist, Reader?s Preference Choice Award 2002) psychiatrist, and inventor of Oikos Game: An Emotional Intelligence or EQ Game. For more information, please visit www.oikosgame.com and www.soardime.com 6 Simple Steps To Accelerating your Learning - By Jake SimWhat is Accelerated learning?Simply put, accelerated learning is the ability to absorb and understand new information quickly, and also to be able to retain that information. It involves the process of unleashing the abilities within us. Every one of us learn differently. Accelerated learning calls upon us to learn techniques of learning that exactly match our personal learning styles. When we are learning in our preferred ways, learning becomes natural, easier and faster. That`s why it`s called accelerated learning. Basically, the brain can be thought of being made up of the "Left Brain" and "Right brain". The left brain is the expert in language, mathematical processes, logical thoughts, sequences and analysis. The right brain specializes in rhythm, music, visual impressions, color, and pictures. Although each is dominant in certain activities, both sides are involved in almost all thinking. The point is that to learn the accelerated way, you must involve your whole brain. Have you heard of the 8 intelligences? Can you name all 8 to me? There are 8 multiple intelligences : Linguistic, Logical-Mathematics, Visual-Spatial, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Musical, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, and Naturalist as put forth by Harvard professor of education Howard Gartner. In accelerated learning, we use our strongest form of these 8 intelligences and learning will then be more enjoyable. To master the art of accelerated learning overnight is impossible. It takes time and effort to increase the rate at which you learn. Still, let me give a brief overview of the entire process of accelerated learning. The 6 simple steps to accelerating your learning are: Motivating the mind - motivating yourself so that you are in a confident and resourceful state that best supports learning. There are several ways, including the use of visualization, affirmations, and goals-setting. Acquiring the information - using your personal and preferred way of absorbing the information. There are 3 distinct styles of processing information that we use. We`ll use all 3 styles, only the degree to which we use them differs and that accounts for our varying styles of learning. The 3 styles are Visual ( seeing ), Auditory ( hearing ), and Kinesthetic ( physical activities and involvement ). So, your job is to find out your preferred style of learning and use methods of learning that correspond to your style. Searching out the meaning - when what you`re learning has meaning to you, remembering it is will be an easy feat! Again, this depends on the most dominant form of intelligence in you and how you exploit it. Triggering the memory - recall whatever you`ve learned at will with proven memory techniques. Such techniques may include the link method, the number-shape methods and so on. You have to consider the workings of memory and learn only when your memory is in an optimal state. Exhibiting what you know - show that you know and fully comprehend what you`ve learned. If your learning and absorption of the information have been effective, you must be able to be fully capable of showing it anytime and anywhere. If you can really show that you know, you have absolutely comprehended the material you`ve learned! Reflecting upon what you`ve learned - learning is a continuous process; we must learn from our mistakes. Self-analysis is important as it marks the end of the accelerated learning of a skill or new knowledge. When, upon finishing your learning of something, you reflect upon the process itself. Of course, reading about the process and not taking action will not in any way serve you to master accelerated learning. If you`re still unsure of how to proceed to really go into deeper depth into accelerated learning, you may download my free accelerated learning ebook course. Remember, the essence of accelerated learning is in using methods of learning that really suits your natural learning style. Good luck with your quest towards accelerated learning! Jake Sim is the founder of Self-Improvement101, a popular website about personal development. Great personal success articles, free ebooks & downloadable courses, and more resources are available. Subscribe to his highly recommended newsletter & get a FREE $19 self-growth ebook! Click here. Project index
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