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Productive Ways to Manage and Reduce Anxiety Symptoms

Posted on by Peter Howell

In this article published in the Smarter Living Section of the New York Times on December 21, 2017,  Jen Doll discusses the prevalence of anxiety disorders, the difference between situational anxiety and anxiety disorders, and effective ways to manage and reduce ongoing anxiety symptoms.

How to Combat Your Anxiety, One Step at a Time

By Jen Doll

Earlier this year, I suffered my first major panic attack. For days afterward, my heart would race and my mind would fill with doomsday visions as I worried about everything around me, including whether I’d have more panic attacks and if I’d ever be able to stop them.

Knowing that it wasn’t just me, however, was strangely reassuring.

“Anxiety disorders are the most common condition in psychiatry,” said Dr. Naomi Simon, professor of psychiatry at N.Y.U. School of Medicine and director of the Anxiety and Complicated Grief Program at N.Y.U. Langone Health. Some 40 million people aged 18 or older in the United States, or 18 percent of the population, will suffer from an anxiety disorder each year, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. In the course of a lifetime, that rate goes up to 28.8 percent of the American public.

Dr. David Rosmarin, the founder and (more…)

Body Awareness Increases Resilience in Coping With Anxiety and Stress

Posted on by Peter Howell

In this article published in the Well Section of the New York Times on January 13, 2016 Gretchen Reynolds emphasizes the importance of listening to your body, and becoming more attuned to our physiology to increase emotional and physical resilience when experiencing stressful conditions. The article cites a “focused breathing exercise” much like mindfulness meditation “to help improve your reaction in a stressful situation.”

To Better Cope With Stress, Listen to Your Body

By Gretchen Reynolds

To handle stress and adversity more effectively, we should probably pay closer attention to what is happening inside our bodies, according to a fascinating new brain study of resilience and why some people seem to have more of it than others.

We live in difficult times, as readers of this newspaper know well. Worries about the state of our world, our safety, our finances, health and more can lead to a variety of physiological and psychological responses.

“When faced with stress, whether it’s giving a talk in front of a hundred people or feeling pressured to get a second gold medal at the Olympics, we experience changes in our body,” said Lori Haase, a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego, and lead author of the new (more…)

Digital Dependency Obstructing Real-Life Experience and Connection in Relationships

Posted on by Peter Howell

In this article published in the New York Times on January 9,  Jane Brody explores the importance of “moderation in our digital world.” She examines the implications of smartphone and social media proliferation relative to our physical and mental health, neurological development and personal relationships.  Digital addiction is also discussed, and three steps to help curb digital dependence are provided.

Hooked on Our Smartphones

By Jane Brody

The many men, women and children who spend their days glued to their smartphones and social media accounts might learn something from Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of the groundbreaking megahit “Hamilton.” Asked in an interview with Delta Sky magazine when and where he finds time to be creative, Mr. Miranda, an avid reader of books and enthusiast for unfettered downtime, replied: “The good idea comes in the moment of rest. It comes in the shower. It comes when you’re doodling or playing trains with your son. ‘Hamilton’ forced me to double down on being awake to the inspirations of just living my life.”

Mr. Miranda’s observation bodes ill for the future, not just of creativity but also of healthy bodies, minds and relationships. No doubt you’ve seen the following scenarios, probably many times:

• Young couples out to dinner pull out (more…)

Attachment Style and Communication in Intimate Relationships

Posted on by Peter Howell

In this article published in the Opinion Section of the New York Times on January 7, Kate Murphy explores the importance of attachment theory relative to the quality of our relationships.  By providing a primer on attachment styles formed when we are babies and how these styles play out in our adult lives, the writer presents the idea that understanding our attachment style can help us improve how we function and communicate in our intimate relationships.

Yes, It’s Your Parents’ Fault

By Kate Murphy

We live in a culture that celebrates individualism and self-reliance, and yet we humans are an exquisitely social species, thriving in good company and suffering in isolation. More than anything else, our intimate relationships, or lack thereof, shape and define our lives.

While there have been many schools of thought to help us understand what strains and maintains human bonds, from Freudian to Gestalt, one of the most rigorously studied may be the least known to the public.

It’s called attachment theory, and there’s growing consensus about its capacity to explain and improve how we function in relationships.

Conceived more than 50 years ago by the British psychoanalyst John Bowlby and scientifically validated by an American developmental psychologist, Mary S. Ainsworth, attachment theory is now (more…)