| Women Living Well Seminar
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FORUM ARCHIVE
Anxiety
Name: Amy Campbell
Username: acampbel@brynmawr.edu
Subject: Forum question - Anxiety Talk
Date: 2002-03-27 15:13:04
Message Id: 1620
Comments:
How significant a role does anxiety play in your life and what strategies have you found useful to reduce anxiety?
You're free to write about other relevant thoughts/questions that
might have occured to you.
Next week, The Mind Body Connection continues with a talk and discussion about the important relationship between exercise and good mental health. Cookies, fruit and coffee/tea will be available before the class. Come early- enjoy a cookie and fruit.
Name: Margot
Username: mcalandr@brynmawr.edu
Subject: Serotonin
Date: 2002-03-27 13:19:48
Message Id: 1618
Comments:
After the talk on Anxiety today, I find myself very interested in Serotonin. I remember hearing about it in HS as the "happy" chemical in the brain, which makes (some) sense when thinking about depression. But I am still unsure as to how it functions in relation to anxiety...and how the drugs function in relation to serotonin. I know this is a big subject, but any underlying principles about serotonin and what it does in relation to depression and anxiety would be helpful. I will also look into in on the Web, so any thoughts on good sites would be nice too. Thanks!
Name: emiko saito
Username: esaito@mindspring.com
Subject: anxiety
Date: 2002-03-27 13:59:09
Message Id: 1619
Comments:
Re: Anxiety
We discussed the issue of anxiety disorders this afternoon, but we were unable to touch upon the topic of anxiety as a symptom of other pathologies or disorders. I am curious about how anxiety relates to other disorders and how that effects the physiological side of those disorders.
Also, We briefly discussed cognitive/behavioral interventions used in the treatment of OCD and PTSD but did not touch upon the numerous types of treatments available and thier efficacy. For instance, there is still alot of controversy about how exposure treatments of PTSD should progress. A person in the audience brought up the weekend retreat intervention for OCD, would such severe and quick exposure to the object of fear be more detrimental to the sufferer than it would be helpful?
Name: Hedya
Username: haryani@brynmawr.edu
Subject: Anxiety
Date: 2002-03-27 15:41:25
Message Id: 1621
Comments:
I've actually paid a lot of attention to my patterns of anxiety this year. Although the anxiety I experience is not at the level of a disorder, I have noticed that I tend to worry about things a little more than I really need to, and there were a few characteristics that were pointed out in the talk today that I have noticed in myself, such as irritability/restlessness/needing things to be very neat and symmetrical/etc., during high-stress times. To deal with that, I began doing exactly what was mentioned with making priority lists, as well as trying to identify what would make me start worrying incessantly about certain situations, and I feel as if I've now been able to approach stressful tasks with greater ease.
Name: Anne Dalke
Username: adalke@brynmawr.edu
Subject: Social Causes for Anxiety
Date: 2002-03-27 15:46:20
Message Id: 1622
Comments:
I'm a faculty member who attended today's presentation on Anxiety by Earl Thomas and Elna Yadin. I was interested in Amy Campbell's follow-up query about how we might manage our own mental health, and Paul Grobstein's observation that, in doing so, we might think of a continuum stretching from pharmacological and psychiatric methods down through self-intiatives such as taking a walk or listening to music. I'd like to recommend extending that continuum considerably, @ the other end, to suggest that there are often social causes for anxiety or anxiety disorders, which might best be addressed not by personal "healing," by trying to make yourself somehow feel "better" or less "anxious," but rather by working to change the causes, the triggers--hey: the world! This is really just an extension of my comment, during the discussion period, about the sort of "rational" fears which can be addressed by social action. If, for example, the events of September 11th have made you anxious, perhaps educating yourself into the range of possible causes for those events, and acting to intervene to change them...might help your anxiety. And help to "heal" some much larger issues along the way.
Anne Dalke
Name: Lelani
Username: lsanchez@brynmawr.edu
Subject: week 1&2
Date: 2002-03-27 16:13:59
Message Id: 1623
Comments:
These seminars are interesting to me because I learn things I didn't know before. Most of the science escapes me, but the general FYI stuff is extremely useful.
At the seminar about headaches, I realized that I shouldn't really be popping a pill when I merely *sense* an oncoming headache. But I'm such a pill person, to be honest. I really appreciate the quick fix.
And once again, the issue of turning too quickly to some pharmaceutical solution came up. And I think that it was very reassuring to hear that people are turning more to therapy or cog. psych. to learn how to deal with their problems rather than immediately asking for a perscription. But at the same time I feel kind of hypocritical for saying that because I swear that I have a pill for every ailment in my room.
Name: Shanze
Username: smunir@brynmawr.edu
Subject: anxiety
Date: 2002-03-27 19:57:00
Message Id: 1624
Comments:
Anxiety doesn't really play a major role in my life. I usually get anxious during exams and when I have too much work but other than that, I don't get so anxious. When I get anxious I try to balance out the things that I need to do so that I don't have a lot to do for one day but when that doesn't help I do things that will make me less anxious such as going out to watch a movie or listening to music or sleeping.
Name: Nicole
Username: npietras@brynmawr.edu
Subject: Anxiety Seminar
Date: 2002-03-27 21:32:56
Message Id: 1626
Comments:
This year I have been noticing my own anxiety levels more. I think that is because I have been putting more stress on myself then I need to. In order to manage this, I normally take a min. to relax and then make a list of everything I have to do, so I can actually see how much work I have. By doing this I have been successful in reducing my anxiety.
Name: ashley
Username: lgarriga@brynmawr.edu
Subject:
Date: 2002-03-27 21:44:39
Message Id: 1627
Comments:
I don't really experience anxiety so much as I would say stress (I think those are different, aren't they?). This comes when I have too much work to do or overwhelming issues in my private life. Usually I try to take a break or go to sleep. Unfortunately, the stress is brought on because I don't have time to take a break or go to sleep.
Name: aeronwy
Username: hhuang
Subject:
Date: 2002-03-27 23:56:12
Message Id: 1629
Comments:
anxiety is always a factor in my life. i don't think there is really a time when it is never not there; there are only relative degrees of its presence. there are so many things that i worry about or feel guilty over or get frustrated with, and that all results in anxiety. anxiety has kind of normalized for me so that i've come to feel like it's a part of me. it's strange because people don't think of me as a "worrywart" (what a weird expression, by the way). i think that's because the things i worry about aren't necessarily topical, like the aids crisis in africa, or when we're going to get peace in the middle east. i stress over money, and my grades, my parents, my prospects post-graduation, my parents, my love life, my jobs, my parents... basically, my worries manifest themselves in a more personal context, so people usually treat me as though i need encouragement or a confidence boost more than anything else.
since i've grown up feeling what is now a normalized level of anxiety, i don't necessarily want to separate myself from that. my worries do serve to motivate me sometimes and my habit of analyzing all the aspects of my life gives me a sense of clarity about where things stand, which i appreciate, even if it does cause some concern at times. i guess that means i'm "managing" my anxiety just fine.
Name: Diana La Femina
Username: dlafemin@brynmawr.edu
Subject: anxiety
Date: 2002-03-28 01:07:42
Message Id: 1630
Comments:
Yes, I have way to much anxiety. But I also know that this anxiety pushes me to do things I need to do, such as the 5 page paper I just finished...I know somewhere in the back of my mind that I am worrying about something that is not going to kill me, although I do try to convince myself it will sometimes. I find that I need this motivation, much as I hate feeling anxious. I am a pretty laid back person, I don't let much get to me. I worry about the future, about what others think about me, but who doesn't? And I've learned that the best way to get over this is to try to convince others through your actions that you do not feel this way. Sometimes I'm even able to convince myself for a time
Name: emiko saito
Username: esaito@mindspring.com
Subject: Anxiety
Date: 2002-03-28 10:19:59
Message Id: 1631
Comments:
How significant a role does anxiety play in your life and what strategies have you found useful to reduce anxiety?
I feel that anxiety has a very useful role. It helps to motivate me to accomplish the things that need to get done. When my anxieties cross the boundary between useful and distressful, I often prioritize the things I need to accomplish and try to be more forgiving of myself in letting a few things slide.
Name: Jennings
Username: amayne@brynmawr.edu
Subject:
Date: 2002-03-28 22:09:23
Message Id: 1634
Comments:
I have never really suffered extreme stress or anxiety before, but after listening to Wed lecture I am defenatly more sympathetic to my friends that have. The lecture was most exciting with the husband/wife tag team. It was so great to get the expertise of both rolled into one lecture.
Name: Jennifer Vaughan
Username: jvaughan@brynmawr.edu
Subject: Anxiety
Date: 2002-03-29 12:20:01
Message Id: 1636
Comments:
I wouldn't say that anxiety plays a large role in my life, but it does play a useful one. I am usually anxious about whether I've forgotten something, or whether I'm going to be late for something; to deal with that sort of anxiety, I make an effort to be conscientious about my responsibilities, so I can trust that no, I haven't forgotten anything, or yes, I did leave enough time. I also make frequent use of priority lists, again to reassure myself that I have been keeping track of everything. By staying organized, I can plan time to just relax and do something fun, which also helps reduce anxiety.
Name: Ana
Username: asalzber@brynmawr.edu
Subject: Anxiety
Date: 2002-03-30 09:21:39
Message Id: 1638
Comments:
I have been very fortunate in that anxiety has never been a major concern for me. When I feel myself getting too stressed out, I step back from whatever situation I'm dealing with and evaluate it - I find that looking at a situation objectively can be very helpful.
Name: Nana Ama Adom-Boakye
Username: nadomboa@brynmawr.edu
Subject: Anxiety
Date: 2002-03-30 09:55:31
Message Id: 1639
Comments:
Anxiety is part of my life and am learning to live with it. I would like to know the correlation between anxiety and depression.
Name: Paul Grobstein
Username: pgrobste@brynmawr.edu
Subject: Anxiety/depression ... and stress
Date: 2002-03-31 10:58:18
Message Id: 1642
Comments:
We'll have a chance to talk a little more about anxiety/stress in relation to depression a week from Wednesday. In the meanwhile, a few thoughts picking up from Anne Dalke's. Anxiety DOES frequently have "usefulness", as Earl Thomas and Elna Yadin and several of you have said ... its the way that one part of the nervous system prepares itself for challenges and alerts the rest of the nervous system to their existence so one is "conscious" of them. External stress can do the same thing, often through the intermediary of anxiety.
In that context, the issues are should one attempt to lessen anxiety?, and if so, how? Sometimes, for a variety of reasons, anxiety levels get out of control, bear no useful relationship to actual "challenges", and indeed make it harder to respond to challenges. Those are the situations where it is particularly important to get professional help, which may involve psychotherapy and/or psychopharmacology (frequently both). That help of these kinds is available is an important advance in 20th century health care. Its important to be aware of it as a possibility, for oneself and others, and to know that debilitating anxiety is not necessarily a person's "fault" or a moral failing.
What about the more ordinary, less extreme cases of anxiety, where, for example, there may be clear and relevant external stresses? A good trick in this case is to "get them under control". This may mean making a list, so one knows consciously what is causing anxiety and can work systematically at meeting the challenges. It may also mean consciously and deliberately "taking a break" (a walk, a nap, listening to music, exercising), The important thing here (in my experience at least) is to REALLY take a break ... to be able to tell onself, and have oneself believe, that one has, for a time, worked hard enough at meeting the challenges and one NEEDS/is entitled to some time away from them.
Anne Dalke's important point though was that challenges aren't always to be taken at face value as something one has to live up to. Sometimes challenges represent serious problems in the world in which one is living. As Anne pointed out, these sorts of anxieties are probably best dealt with not by trying to make them go away but rather by using them as a source of energy to try and bring about changes in the world. In this case, it is probably even MORE important to know how to take a break from "meeting the challenges", since changing the world isn't usually easy.
In a csem class last semester we talked a bit about a relevant local case, a tendency of people at the College (and elsewhere in American culture) to take pride in their ability to handle stress. Several students pointed out that this itself increases stress and hence anxiety. Maybe, without fully recognizing what we are doing, we create for ourselves and each other a cultural context which includes anxiety-provoking components? If so, maybe we could all work together on some changes which would reduce anxiety for each of us as individuals as well as for all of us as a community?
Name: Barbara Cathcart
Username: bcathcar@brynmawr.edu
Subject: Anxiety
Date: 2002-03-31 15:40:13
Message Id: 1644
Comments:
Although I try to remain as stress free as possible, I have to admit that anxiety plays a huge role in my life. When I don't plan ahead and do my work in stages for a big assignment, I am constantly nervous until I finally sit down and do it. Procrastination, I think, is a sure-fire way to live in a constant state of anxiety. I think the trick is just to sit down for a few minutes every day and get a little bit of it done.
Working out and singing are also good ways for me to calm myself down. By adding exercise hours and choir to my schedule (as firmly as classes), I have some regular, guilt-free time to enjoy myself, while also doing something good for my body and soul. It is always much easier to begin work again after taking a break like this.
Name: Marie Brown
Username: mgbrown@brynmawr.edu
Subject: anxiety
Date: 2002-03-31 17:43:56
Message Id: 1646
Comments:
I'm a little confused about this experience of anxiety that everyone seems to share. I don't think I've ever experienced it. I get very stressed out but I've never had any of the physical symptons described. I do make a large amount of lists, complete with boxes to check off. Checking off the boxes gives me a sense of calm. I think the idea about a graduated spectrum of anxiety is very accurate. Perhaps part of the reason I don't experience what I would define as anciety is because I make concentrated efforts to spend a bit of quiet time with myself each day.
Name: Irum Shehreen Ali
Username: iali@brynmwar.edu
Subject: Anxiety
Date: 2002-03-31 20:14:44
Message Id: 1647
Comments:
Anxiety is a large part of everyday existence. It is that feeling you get when you havent finished the paper that is due tomorrow - or studied enough for an upcoming test. It is also when one is feelies worried about life in general and over things that we have no control over. I tend to worry - but not to the point where it beings to affect me physically. My philosophy is that worrying about something never gets it done - so if its something i can fix - i fix it - and if its something i cant - i try and think it through, and then push it out of my time. by spending time with friends and having time to myself every day - i find that i can reduce the amount of axiety i experience.
Name: Monica Locsin
Username: mlocsin@brynmawr.edu
Subject: Anxiety
Date: 2002-03-31 20:16:03
Message Id: 1648
Comments:
Anxiety does not really play a role in my life. I try to balance things out in my life in such a way that I don't get too stressed. I mean there are times when I am anxious and overly stressed because of work and other things but I really try to not let it get the best of me. I enjoy going out with friends, talking to someone on the phone or just getting a nice relaxing massage or facial to not feel stressed.
How significant a role does anxiety play in your life and what strategies have you found useful to reduce anxiety?
You're free to write about other relevant thoughts/questions that
might have occured to you.
Name: Monica Locsin
Username: mlocsin@brynmawr.edu
Subject: Anxiety
Date: 2002-03-31 20:16:19
Message Id: 1649
Comments:
Anxiety does not really play a role in my life. I try to balance things out in my life in such a way that I don't get too stressed. I mean there are times when I am anxious and overly stressed because of work and other things but I really try to not let it get the best of me. I enjoy going out with friends, talking to someone on the phone or just getting a nice relaxing massage or facial to not feel stressed.
Name: Sarah G. Kim
Username: sgkim@brynmawr.edu
Subject: anxiety
Date: 2002-03-31 22:49:44
Message Id: 1650
Comments:
Prior to the seminar, I always thought that I had some type of anxiety problem/issue. It is interesting that people have areas of their life in which anxiety is a major issue, but it isn't enough to restrict them from doing other things or disrupting the basic pattern of their life; that is the definition of a 'disorder'. So now I know that I'm allowed to say that I have anxiety problems, but it's definitely not a disorder.
Name: Sherolyn Oh
Username: soh@brynmawr.edu
Subject: Anxiety
Date: 2002-03-31 23:36:35
Message Id: 1651
Comments:
Anxiety has been playing a greater role in my life these days. My anxiety level has significantly increased during the course of my senior year. I didn't even realize how stressed I was until my left jaw starting hurting a couple months ago. I visited the dentist, and he told me that some people exhibit their stress through clenching their jaw and grinding their teeth at night. Since I grind my teeth at night, my jaw muscles have been overexercised and hurt during the day. To solve this problem, I'm getting a mouthguard which will protect my worn out teeth. Anxiety has also affected my sleep throughout this year. There are so many things on my mind that I can't seem to fall asleep right away. I always run through a mental checklist of what I have to do the next day. To reduce my worries, I've been writing out a checklist right before I go to sleep. By having everything on paper, it lessens my feelings of anxiety and helps me fall asleep quickly.
Name: Liz Bonovitz
Username: ebonovit@brynmawr.edu
Subject: Anxiety
Date: 2002-04-01 00:19:24
Message Id: 1652
Comments:
For me, anxiety is a great motivator. Although I don't experience most of the symptoms we discussed in class, it definitely helps me to start my work on time and remember important things. To reduce anxiety, I try to make lists to keep track of what I have to do. Also, I like to exercise or relax with friends for a few hours. I find that worrying about work is definitely not helpful because that just takes time away from completing my work or having fun.
Name: Nana Ama Adom-Boakye
Username: nadomboa@brynmawr.edu
Subject: Anxitey
Date: 2002-04-01 10:18:41
Message Id: 1654
Comments:
Anxiety plays am moajor part in my life. I not too sure i can "cure" it so am learning how to live with and deal with anxtiety. My anxiety problem can be attributed to my school work... i spend more time worrying about my school work than i spend doign it. i spend a huge chunk of my time worrying about getting a of after graduation, getting into grad school and all. Family and relationship problems also get me very anxious.
Basically am learning to spend my time doing things to solve my problems or the things am anxious about than think about them.
Name: Alia Preston
Username: apreston@brynmawr.edu
Subject: Anxiety
Date: 2002-04-01 12:09:23
Message Id: 1657
Comments:
I think that for me anxiety, but more specifically stress, plays a role in my life, but I don't think that my life has been overtaken by anxiety. I, as with most people, have moments of extreme anxiety and there are certain triggers that make me start to feel anxious--public speaking or important exams. I reduce my anxiety by sepereating myself from what is making me feel anxious, if even for a short time, in order to regroup and I also find that if I maintain a regular sleep cycle and meals then I am better equipt to deal with my anxiety. Still, I think that this is something manageable and my feelings of anxiety reduce everytime I come up against such a situation. At the same time, I can understand anxiety disorders and the type of feelings that could make someone retreat into their house, never to come out again.
Name: Rabia
Username: rqureshi@brynmawr.edu
Subject: Anxiety
Date: 2002-04-02 09:44:32
Message Id: 1674
Comments:
The anxiety talk was really interesting. I think the one thing I took away from it all was that we must prioritize our time in order to prevent feeling too anxious. As students, anxiety is most likely a common occurrence, but in a way it is a motivating factor as well. Sometimes, I do get sharp pains in my heart and feel dizzy, but this is when I am most anxious. To calm myself down, I just take a breath and have a seat. It does wonders sometimes to just sit and relax. The body really responds well to it I believe.
Name: C.D.
Username:
Subject: Anxiety
Date: 2002-04-02 09:57:48
Message Id: 1675
Comments:
Anxiety has played a huge role in my life, unfortunately. I am the type of person to be easily stressed out. My second semester of my freshman year I had my first ever panic attack during Calculus attack. I thought I was dying. Since that time, I've realized that I become too stressed about little things. Now, in order to overcome anxiety, I have a glass of juice, take a break, and try to momentarily forget what it is I'm stressing about. After taking a nice relaxing break for whatever it is, I try and tackle the problem and come up with my own solution to fixing whatever it is that stresses me out. Just the idea of having a plan to tackle to problem tends to create a lot more worry-free days in my life here at college.
Name: Shanti Mikkilineni
Username: smikkili@brynmawr.edu
Subject: Anxiety
Date: 2002-04-02 10:50:19
Message Id: 1676
Comments:
Anxiety doesn't play a large part in my life. I used to feel myself getting anxious for a test or paper but I've tried to not worry about it. Excessively worrying about an assignment adds more to anxiety than actually having the paper. The less I thought about all the work I had to do and the more I just did it, the less anxious I became. Exercise has been a big help in reducing anxiety. First it releases endorphins and second its way for you to take out stress and anxiety. The physical exertion can just be a good release for all your stress. But my biggest strategy has been to just face all my tasks calmly and to look ahead. Its always much easier to get stressed out if you spend too much time worrying about things.
Name: Meghan
Username: meggums@hotmail.com
Subject: Anxiety
Date: 2002-04-02 11:32:03
Message Id: 1677
Comments:
I am surprised at how well most of the participants in this forum deal with anxiety, which is definitely a big part of my life. My senior year has been a MOST anxious time for me, because there is so much to do, and because there are so many expectations coming from so many directions. I do try to prioritize, but I also found that making lists increased my anxiety, because it allowed me to write down every tiny thing I needed to (or thought I "should") do, thereby reducing the effectiveness of lists. It was interesting to see that, like headaches, anxiety can manifest itself in many different forms, and that, again, eating well and taking time to relax or exercize can sometimes and often help. I think in many ways that getting out of college will greatly alleviate my levels of anxiety, and allow me to enjoy my life a lot more.
Name: Greta Tessnab
Username: gtessman@brynmawr.edu
Subject: Anxiety
Date: 2002-04-02 11:48:56
Message Id: 1678
Comments:
Anxiety plays a small role in my life. I get anxious before exams, when doing knew things, etc., but I have learned how to manage my anxiety so it does not have drastic effects. I've found that rationalizing through problems or potential problems helps to settle me down both physically and psychologically. Luckily, anxiety has never been such a large part of my life that I have required outside assistance or the use of anxiolytics.
Name: Lois McAffrey-Lopez
Username: lmcaffre@brynmawr.edu
Subject: anxiety
Date: 2002-04-02 16:00:24
Message Id: 1681
Comments:
Anxiety is a part of life. It's recognizing it and coping with it that requires awareness and thought. I cope with anxiety by trying to distance myself from the feeling a little - what am I really anxious about? What, if anything needs to be done to relieve it? If taking care of what I need to do, such as writing that paper I'm procrasting about doesn't relieve it..then maybe something else is going on. I'll listen to music, walk, exercize, relax, talk to friends, bathe, and a multitude of other ways to relax naturally and center myself. That's it. Accept what we can't change, try to find courage to change what we can...and live this wonderful and beautiful adventure we call life.
Name: Elizabeth Marcus
Username: emarcus@brynmawr.edu
Subject:
Date: 2002-04-02 17:14:00
Message Id: 1682
Comments:
Anxiety is one aspect of my life that has always been fairly manageble. In order to reduce and eliminate anxiety I run. This helps a lot! The anxiety that I do have in my life plays the role of motivating me. For example, if I'm concerned about getting a paper done, then I'll be more likely to do to early in order to eliminate the anxiety. The only time that I find anxiety becomes an issue is when everything piles up and they are thins I can't control. Then relaxing with friends is a good solution.
Name: Natalie
Username: nmerrill@brynmawr.edu
Subject: Anxiety
Date: 2002-04-02 18:24:34
Message Id: 1683
Comments:
Anxiety has played a large role in my life in the past few years. Anxiety related disorders run in my family and I have been on and off medication for panic attacks as well as a general anxiety disorder. While most of the time I can keep stress to a managable level, I will often find myself sick with worry and doing things to avoid any extra causes of stress- however silly they may seem. Avoiding social situations and carefully distracting myself have seemed to work in the past few years. Not all anxiety is bad however, as some previous posts have discussed. Without that knot in my stomach when it gets time for work to be done, I think I could go on procrastinating forever.
Name: Alice Goff
Username: agoff@brynmawr.edu
Subject: hooked on anxiety
Date: 2002-04-02 18:48:14
Message Id: 1684
Comments:
Call me crazy, but I am addicted to anxiety. I love the rush, the feeling of imminent doom and destruction that comes from excessive procrastination, appearing in public places, and other panic inducing situations. Especially as regards to performance, I have learned to cope with anxiety by embracing it, and accepting its inevitable presence in my life. Sometimes I think that without it I would not be able to get things done, as Natalie Merrill pointed out in her last posting. Anxiety can be destructive in excess quantities, but it can also be an important drive to perform to the best of our abilities. Viva adrenaline!
Name: molly finnegan
Username: mfinnega@brynmawr.edu
Subject: anxiety
Date: 2002-04-02 20:41:23
Message Id: 1687
Comments:
my boyfriend and i get into fights about anxiety. I say anxiety is important, not even just the kind of adrenaline anxiety you get when you need ot save your life or something, but normal anxieties. It kind of makes me feel creative and makes me highly aware of my surroundings and and all the sensual details. my boyfiend says anxiety is horrible (of course, when i get a panic attack he is the one to have to deal with it). Listening to the talk made me realize that I probably do have a real problem with anxiety, and as much as it can make me feel sensitive and interested and manic, it can also really be bad for me.
I used to drive around when I was anxious, but now at school i don't have a car, soooo, I'm a lot more anxious. Cooking, too, helps, but I don't do that here either. I need to find new things to do that i can actually do here.
Name: Sara Press
Username: spress
Subject: Anxiety
Date: 2002-04-02 20:57:30
Message Id: 1688
Comments:
The discussion on Anxiety last week was very interesting. It is a common problem, especially at a place such as Bryn Mawr and should be discussed more frequently. Almost everybody here is at some point anxious, i would assume, you can especially feel it in the air as finals get closer or during weeks of a lot of midterms. We joke that the atmosphere changes, but you can tell just by looking around campus. Anxiety plays a big part in people's lives, and to be aware of your anxiety level is important.
Name: Jennifer Prince
Username: jprince@brynmawr.edu
Subject:
Date: 2002-04-02 21:30:08
Message Id: 1689
Comments:
I thought the discussion on anxiety was very thorough. Professor Thomas and his wife complemented eachother exceptionally well. My only worry with this type of topic is people's immediate misconceptions. I felt as if many people would make a rush for a self-diagnosis. I do feel that the explanations made the differences between healthy and unhealthy anxiety obvious.
Name: Rachel Wright
Username: rwright@brynmawr.edu
Subject: anxiety
Date: 2002-04-03 07:58:21
Message Id: 1696
Comments:
I am a person who feels anxious on a regular basis but I think that the level of anxiety is either low or I have learned to manage it. That is, I have learned that this is what my own body feels like most of the time. I am almost always anxious about school, about what to do with my life (when I get a chance to think about it), about pleasing/not disappointing my parents and friends and then other things, some of them rational fears, also cause me anxiety from time to time. I try to manage this by spending time with friends, writing in a journal, taking a walk, or even napping as a way to sort of turn off my brain and restart it like a computer. While all of these help, I have to admit (and I think many other people are dealing with this problem) that some of the ways I deal with anxiety are no more healthy than the anxiety itself: eating candy while I am working, feeling guilty, etc. My job in the near future is not, I dont think to elimate anxiety from my life--it is practically a part of my personality!-- but to learn how to manage it in the most healthy way possible.
Name: Mariah Schumacher
Username: mschumac@brynmawr.edu
Subject: Anxiety
Date: 2002-04-03 08:49:23
Message Id: 1697
Comments:
Hello! Anxiety played a dominant role for my second two years at Bryn Mawr. I would often have trouble sleeping and have an uneasy stomach because of stress over work. This year I learned to stop worrying about everything at once and especially to only worry about one task at a time. When I was very anxious I found that I accomplished alot because of fear but it was not worth the price of frayed nerves and an unhealthy life. Now I only get very anxious when it really counts like for finals.
Name: Adrienne Leonard
Username: a2leonar@brynmawr.edu
Subject: Anxiety
Date: 2002-04-03 11:32:38
Message Id: 1699
Comments:
Anxiety and stress have definitely been a big part of my life, especially in the last year. There are so many different ways that it can manifest itself that sometimes it is possible not to notice quite how stressed out and anxious you really are. I think the important thing for me has been learning to recognize when I am feeling anxious or stressed, and learning to deal with it. I don't think there is a "cure" for stress - we are always going to undergo stress in one form or the other - it's just a matter of dealing with it in a healthy manner.
Name: Krisitna E. Davis
Username: kdavis@bmc
Subject: anxiety = thesis
Date: 2002-04-03 12:05:56
Message Id: 1700
Comments:
I been sufferig from a larger amount of anxiety this semester, but the reason is simple: thesis and outstanding gym credits do not add up to a calm state of mind.
In the outside world, I wonder how the World Trade Center survivors are dealing with their anxiety disorders? I am curious to see if they are being prescribed medications or if they are going to behavior modification psychotheraphy. Until this lecture series, I had not been aware that there even was the possiblility to learn to live with an anxiety disorder without a medicine.