By Christopher Luke, UK This prayer was written by Christopher Luke in recognition of World Mental Health Day, October 10, 2014. Eternal Heavenly Father and Creator & Sustainer of all life We give you thanks that, on 10th October, individuals and organisations across the globe sought to increase knowledge and understanding of mental illness and personal well-being, in order to commemorate World Mental Health Day. Today, we pray that our own knowledge and understanding will be further enhanced, and that our eyes and ears may be opened to the needs of others, particularly those who suffer from mental illness in any way.Read More →

Silver & Grace guest post author, Jill Green, expands on this with an entire list of advice for loved ones of anxiety sufferers. If you love someone who suffers from severe anxiety or panic attacks, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed and frustrated. You know they are in a lot of pain and struggle with aspects of life that you don’t quite understand. You want to help, but maybe you don’t know how to approach the situation. Here are 10 tips to help a loved one with anxiety.Read More →

I’ve got generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and I’ve also got some serious issues with concentration. As in, my ability to concentrate on almost anything for more than five minutes at a time stinks. There are some days when I can barely string two coherent thoughts together, and I swear my brain is turning into mush.Read More →

Antidepressants are commonly used to treat social phobia, but a new report argues that “talk therapy” is the better first option. In a review of 101 clinical trials, researchers found that “cognitive behavioral therapy” often helped people with social phobia — a type of anxiety disorder where people have a deep fear of being judged by others or embarrassed in public. The more common approach to tackling social anxiety — antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) — also helped, the review found.Read More →

By Marisa Lancione Published by Healthy Minds Canada Living with a chronic mental illness can sometimes feel like waiting for the other shoe to drop (hopefully it’s at least something stylish). Up until this point, I have distanced my writing from my present by focusing on my past. Well, I’m going to take a huge leap of faith and discuss the state of my current mental health. And the fact is, I’m struggling. I’ve been battling semi-regular panic attacks for the past 6 months. My first panic attack in years happened in March. As with most panic attacks, they happen at the most inopportune moments.Read More →

To some, anxiety is a taboo term. To one student, it was seven letters that defined her life. At the age of 12, second-year Ryerson journalism student Emily Aubé was diagnosed with panic and generalized anxiety disorder. Both conditions put her through great stress and pressure growing up. “In high school, there were no resources that helped me and I felt very much ashamed of my disorder in fear of being labeled as ‘mental’ or ‘crazy,’” Aubé said.Read More →

I am telling my story, because if it means that it brings hope to just one person who lives with Social Anxiety Disorder, that recovery is possible, then it is worth it. I will start by sharing with you some of my experiences of living with Social Anxiety Disorder. I will then go on to explain to you how I believe I developed this illness, its symptoms, the effect it had on all facets of my life, the coping mechanisms I used, as well as explaining how the disorder was never recognised or treated for twenty years, and resulted in the development of more complexRead More →

Hi ! I am Roz and thought I would share some of my own experiences of living with agoraphobia with you. I am in my 40’s and have suffered from anxiety since I was age 13, when I started suffering a school phobia and the cause was emitaphobia. With struggling for a couple of years I managed to get back to schooling and although continued to suffer from anxiety and panic attacks got through school and college ok. I started work and it wasn’t until I started work that they became a problem. I got through till I was about 30 with managing to doRead More →

“What If” thinking is how I would refer to anticipatory anxiety. An anxiety which is experienced with an initial thought of doing something. Example: Assume that you have an important meeting arranged for next week, and you also know that you have no option, but to attend this meeting. During the lead up to this important meeting, you will no doubt experience anxiety. You will often find yourself asking yourself the “What If” questions. What if I have a panic attack? What if I have to leave the room? What if I pass out?Read More →

Around my freshman year in high school, I received a diagnosis I frequently refer to as “the trifecta” — depression, anxiety and OCD. Depression was without a doubt the main diagnosis, but I found out over time that these three individual illnesses play off each other. Sometimes it was hard to tell where the symptoms of one illness ended and another one began.Read More →