Blog posts, news articles, and other resources from The Center • A Place of HOPE
A person suffering from anxiety spends most of his or her time either remembering some frightening event that’s long gone, or imagining ones yet to come. In other words, their minds habitually gravitate to the past and the future, but rarely give any thought to what is happening right here,...
The truth is that anxiety has many sources, can accompany many disorders (such as PTSD), and can wear many faces. Let’s look at the different ways anxiety can present itself in your life. The descriptions below are offered in the spirit of “knowledge is power.” The more you know about...
When asked “What is post traumatic stress disorder?” many people naturally think of problems suffered by some soldiers who have been exposed to combat and the other horrors of war. While PTSD disorder among military veterans understandably receives much of the public’s attention, any person of any age who has...
We each tend to harbor one or more secret activities or behaviors that we just can’t seem to get enough of. This “never enough” activity becomes our absolute necessity, our reward, our coping mechanism. We need (or so we think) this activity to insulate ourselves from the world. Because this...
A number of our clients come to The Center with chronic pain that has persisted for years. This is often referred to as Fibromyalgia. The client has tried pain medications, diets, stretching, physical therapy, massages, and more. Nothing has seemed to work. But after we begin treatment using the whole...
It’s springtime. The weather has turned and the sense of renewal is in the air. Beautiful flowers, tree buds, mowed lawns all signal the rejuvenation of flora and fawna. You may be experiencing the sensation of renewal as well. Longer days mean more outdoor activities, more engagement with others, and...
Did you ever play with wind-up toys as a kid? Remember how if you wound the toy too far, it broke? Well, you are the wind-up toy. You are the wind-up toy, and anxiety keeps winding and winding you up. At some point, anxiety could over-wind you, so you’ll break....
When people are burdened by fear, worry, and anxiety, they struggle to live productive, happy lives. These same feelings propel them headlong into excesses. Often, they are focused on the negativity associated with their excesses, such as obesity or alcoholism or addiction to pornography. They want help to "just stop"...
To help you identify your patterns of worry and what activities or thoughts they are most associated with, you need to answer the following questions. Take your time to answer these questions and rally think about your answers.
Anxieties are progressive, so it seems logical that one of the answers to anxiety would be a progression of a different kind. When a fear starts out small and keeps expanding, the way to combat anxiety is to cut that anxiety down to size. Instead of trying to take on the whole fear, you start small, working your way up your fear, like climbing a ladder.
Imagine being involved in a terrifying incident where you were physically harmed or threatened. Then imagine reliving that awful memory over and over again, each time as fresh and horrific as when it happened. This is the essence of PTSD.
It’s difficult for your body to rest and sleep if your mind is stuck on fast-forward. I’m sure most of you have experienced the sleep disturbances that come prior to the start of a family trip, an important business meeting, or even an anticipated confrontation with a friend or associate....
Jill suffered a devastating anxiety attack. She had been depressed for months over her upcoming fiftieth birthday. Instead of being a celebration of a half-century of life, Jill dreaded the date. She forbade her family from making "a fuss." She refused to go out with friends as the date approached. ...
Posttraumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) can result from any traumatic event in which a person comes to harm or believes harm will happen. The harm can be to that person or to someone they know. Witnessing a traumatic event involving a stranger can also cause PTSD. The shock of the event...
Traumatic events happen every day, and can hit unfortunately close to home. Each day people are faced with sudden deaths of loved ones, natural disasters, life-threatening illness, car crashes, abuse, rape, and other unforeseen traumas. These life events can cause an upheaval of emotions and destroy a person’s equilibrium, causing...
There are so many things in life to be truly fearful of. So often we neglect those things in order to concentrate on the monsters of our own making or past. However, when we succumb to our own monsters, we can sometimes lose sight of the real risks at hand....
Have you ever had someone play a practical joke on you by hiding around a corner, then jumping out with a loud shout? What is your first reaction? A jolt of fear. You’re startled and caught off guard. This usually is followed up by the person laughing over your unguarded...
Most people associate PTSD with serving in combat. Unfortunately, this deters people from seeking the PTSD treatment they may need after a traumatic event. In fact, post-traumatic stress disorder can be caused by any kind of trauma in which your well-being is physically or emotionally threatened: Combat exposure Physical...
The whole person approach to treatment integrates all aspects of a person’s life: