Sometimes, of course, it’s obvious. If you are in unbearable pain or experiencing heavy bleeding or injury, you go to the doctor. Sometimes, though, it’s not so obvious. Is that lump a tumor, or just a localized infection? Is this vague, migratory pain something to worry about? Should I see a doctor about this chronic cough?

Let’s take a look at some of the symptoms that can be vague enough to cause conflict over seeing a doctor.

1. Chronic Coughing
If you have a cold and a nagging cough that lasts for a week or so, it’s probably not a big deal. But prolonged, chronic coughing could be a very serious symptom. In fact, whooping cough can present in adults as simply a chronic cough that lasts for weeks or even months. So if your cough is very painful, lasts more than a week, or brings up blood, you should see a doctor.

2. Nagging or Migratory Pain
Pain is sometimes a serious symptom, but at other times it’s just something like an old injury acting up. Generally speaking, however, living with chronic pain, even if it’s bearable, is just not the best way to live life. If your pain is at an injury site or seems like muscle stiffness or cramps, you might consider seeing a chiropractor. He or she will be able to recognize the source and nature of the pain, and will let you know if it’s serious.

Severe, sudden pain should be examined by a doctor, no matter what part of the body is affected.

3. Lumps Under the Skin
If the lump is in your breast, you do not necessarily need to seek medical attention. Monitor the lump and see if it goes away or decreases during your menstrual cycle. This kind of cystic breast activity is normal. But if the lump is persistent and does not change or grows in size, visit your doctor.

Other lumps may or may not be an issue. The key is to monitor it – does the lump stay the same, get bigger, or change color, shape and/or size? If it does any of these things, or develops an infection, see your doctor.

4. Weight Gain
Unexpected weight gain can be more than just a disappointment. If you have not changed your dietary or exercise habits, weight gain could indicate something more serious. Water in the tissues, or edema, is characterized by weight gain as are insulin disorders. Unexplained weight gain could indicate a poorly functioning thyroid. Therefore, see your doctor if you gain weight for no apparent reason and your attempts at losing it fail.

5. Weight Loss
Unfortunately, many people welcome weight loss as a good thing and neglect to recognize that it could be a serious symptom. Cancer, hyperthyroidism, and liver disease are all characterized by weight loss. If you have not made any significant dietary or exercise changes, or if you are actually eating more and exercising less and still losing weight, see your doctor.

Symptoms and Manifestations

-Abdominal Problems
Anxiety can cause pain in your abdomen. Anxiety can also cause nausea, vomiting, and/or diarrhea. Have you ever had “butterflies in your stomach”? This refers to the fluttery feeling you get in your middle when you’re nervous. This is caused by the “flight or fight” response, during which the body decreases circulation to non-vital body processes such as digestion. This allows your body to go into full alert, able to run or fight as the case may be. When this is prolonged, however, the digestive organs become worn out and, without the return of normal circulation, begin to malfunction.

-Muscle Tension
This can cause pain throughout the body, the most frightening being the chest tightness in a “panic attack.” (Panic attacks are also symptoms of anxiety.) The muscle spasms can feel like you’re choking or like a heart attack, increasing feelings of fear and anxiety.

-Phobias
Phobias are irrational fears of harmless or specific things. Fear of heights, spiders, or flying in airplanes are some of the more common phobias.

-Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
People with OCD feel the need to enact some sort of ritual to alleviate anxious feelings. Probably the most well-known example is obsessive hand-washing, but OCD can also involve other ritualistic behavior, such as checking all the doors and windows multiple times to see that they are locked, even when you just locked them.

-Headaches
Probably a result of muscle tension or chemical imbalance in the brain, headaches often are part of anxiety.

-Heart Palpitations
This is when the heart seems to flutter or beat rapidly and irregularly. Like the butterflies in the stomach, heart palpitations are part of the fight or flight response, only in the case of anxiety it’s chronic.

-Restlessness/Insomnia
People with anxiety often have trouble relaxing in general and sleeping in particular.

Causes of Anxiety

-Genetics
There is evidence to suggest that the tendency to develop anxiety can be inherited. This genetic tendency may need an environmental trigger of some sort to develop actual anxiety symptoms.

-Traumatic Event(s)
Veterans of wars, survivors of rape and/or sexual abuse, and other victims of traumatic experience can suffer from anxiety. It’s as though the brain can not “move on” from the event, creating patterns of anxious thoughts and physical symptoms.

-Brain Chemicals
Those who suffer from anxiety tend to have abnormal levels of neurotransmitters, which means their brains have trouble transmitting information on a cellular level.

Medication
While most therapists and doctors do not look at medication as a long-term solution, it is often employed in order to help the patient get a handle on the situation and seek help. It may be that a patient needs medication in order to seek out and benefit from non-medicated treatments. Some of the medications used to treat panic attacks are:

-Xanax
-Klonopin
-Ativan

These medications are helpful if you are in the middle of a panic attack, often bringing relief from the symptoms quickly.

-Prozac
-Zoloft
-Paxil

These are anti-depressants, and are meant to treat the overall frequency of panic attacks. These medications can also reduce the severity of the attacks. They are not used to alleviate symptoms right away.

Various Therapies
Panic attacks do respond to various forms of non-medicated therapies. Here are some of the more effective, common ones.

Cognitive/Behavioral Therapy
Behavioral therapy can have different facets depending on the nature of the panic attacks. Basically, this kind of therapy helps the patient “unlearn” certain destructive behaviour patterns while learning constructive ones. Behavioral therapists help the patient directly address his or her fears. Otherwise, the patient tends to spend all of his or her time avoiding possible panic attack triggers.

Desensitization
This is an aspect of behavioral therapy that involves the systematic exposure to whatever the patient fears until the patient can face that fear. For example, if you have a paralyzing fear of flying in an airplane, the therapist may begin with having you simply walk up to a parked airplane. You may even be asked to touch the airplane. That will be all for the first session, or even the first few sessions.

Then, as you build confidence, the therapist may ask you to take a step or two up the steps to the door of the airplane. Then you can work up to being inside the airplane without it moving. Slowly, in incremental steps, you will be able to “unlearn” the fear response and re-learn a calm response to flying in airplanes.

Meditation and Relaxation Techniques
Yoga, Tai Chi, Pilates, and other stretching types of exercises can help the body relax. The calm, deliberate, disciplined movements are the opposite of the chaotic muscle contractions of a panic attack, and help your body lean how to have calm, peaceful, physical responses. The exercise itself in these techniques also helps panic attack sufferers.

Meditation can be practiced independently of the above techniques or in conjunction with them. Once again, the measured, calm, focused thought processes emphasized in meditation can help you learn how to cope with everyday stressors.

1. Good Nutrition
This is listed as number 1 for a reason. It is one of the most important and effective means by which you can cope with stress and anxiety and prevent them from taking over your life. Some nutrients and foods that are good for proper brain and body fuction are:

-Essential Fatty Acids, such as those found in olive oil, salmon, flax seeds, and other unrefined vegetable oils should be sought out and deliberately included in the diet.

-Vitamin D
This vitamin plays a signifcant role in mood regulation. In fact, has been used to treat people who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).

2. Regular Exercise
This is also very important for avoiding the negative effects of stress and anxiety. Don’t wait until you feel stressed or anxious; like good nutrition, make exercise a part of your regular routine. Exercise increases circulation, and also induces the body to produce endorphins. These brain chemicals profoundly affect your mood and response to stress.

Exercising with realistic goals is also important. You don’t want to bring on anxious feelings by “failing” at an enormous exercise goal like running a marathon right away when you’ve never run before. Keeping your goals realistic – say running a around a quarter-mile track once and walking another 3 laps – can boost your confidence and give you a sense of accomplishment. These are great weapons against stress and anxiety.

3. Positive Self-Talk
You may need help in learning how to break negative self-talk patterns. Many of us have developed patterns of thought that automatically involve self-abasement. For example, if you make a mistake on a piece of paperwork, your mind may automatically begin “beating you up,” and you’ll have thoughts that you can’t do anything right, you are terrible at paperwork, and so forth. Learning to recognize this pattern and redirect your thoughts to more positive ones can help prevent further stress and anxiety.

4. Deep Breathing
It may seem silly to focus on breathing as part of preventing stress and anxiety. Everyone knows how to breathe, right? Yes, everyone knows how to breathe, but few people know how to breathe properly. Deep breathing is the deliberate taking in of breath that helps focus your thoughts and energy. It also promotes the circulation of oxygen throughout the body. Exhaling deeply and fully is also important, as this more thoroughly eliminates toxins from the body.

5. Rest
Getting adequate sleep is essential for helping your body cope with stress. Everything seems bigger, scarier, and more worrisome when you are exhausted.

6. Know the Symptoms
Learn to recognize your body’s cues that it’s experiencing too much stress and its resulting anxiety. Pay attention to things like feelings of restlessness, fatigue, anxious thoughts, and muscle tension. Once you learn to recognize the stressful trend, you can stop it before it takes hold.

What Is a Panic Attack?

When you experience sudden, terrifying feelings of fear over which you have no control, it may be a panic attack. Such feelings are often accompanied by physical sensations, such as pain in the chest or abdomen or a feeling of suffocation and choking. Panic attacks are often a symptom of an anxiety disorder.

Causes
As noted above, panic attacks are often a manifestation of an underlying disorder. Thus, to find the cause(s) of the attack, doctors and therapists must look at causal factors of the disorder.

Sometimes, panic attacks don’t have any apparent cause, or may have specific triggers. For example, you may experience a panic attack every time you try to get into an elevator or drive under a bridge. The elevator and the bridge are not causing the attacks, but something about your perception of them is. Thus, there is an underlying anxiety or fear that needs to be addressed.

Symptoms
One of the most difficult and frightening aspects of panic attacks is that they can strike without warning. There are both symptoms of a panic attack itself, and symptoms of a panic disorder that may give rise to an attack. First, let’s look at the symptoms of a panic attack itself.

Symptoms of a panic attack are numerous. They include feelings of detachment from reality or from your surroundings; pain in the chest; heart palpitations; rapid pulse; dizziness; sweating; gasping for breath (or hyperventilating); and nausea or stomach pain. Sometimes you may feel like you’re dying. The symptoms feed on themselves, so to speak, so that the longer you experience the attack the more the fear grips you. Panic attacks do pass, however – usually after about 10 minutes or under 1/2 hour.

Symptoms of a panic disorder actually include panic attacks themselves. In addition, signs of panic disorders may also include fear of panic attacks; an inability to socialize; desperate attempts to avoid another panic attack (such as avoiding all possible triggers and obsessing over what those triggers are/were); and, in the case of panic disorder with agoraphobia, you are so afraid of having a panic attack in public that you avoid crowded places or even any public place.

If you suffer from any of these problems or symptoms, there are effective treatments available. Discuss the problem with your doctor, and he or she can refer you to a therapist who can help.

-Soft Drinks and Colas
Even if you choose caffeine-free, sugar-free soft drinks, you are still drinking a beverage that can worsen your anxiety. The high-acid content of dark colas produces an acidic environment in the body. In order to alleviate this acidity, calcium and magnesium are leached from your bones. Both of these minerals are crucial to proper brain and muscle function. In fact, muscles can not relax properly without calcium and magnesium. The tense muscles associated with anxiety are therefore exacerbated.

So if you choose a clear, caffeine-free, sugar-free soft drink, it won’t worsen your anxiety, right? Wrong! The artificial sweetener in these drinks, aspartame, may have significant cognitive effects. It may indeed worsen the psychological aspect of anxiety.

-Alcohol
At first, this seems like the opposite of caffeine, and therefore a good idea for anxiety sufferers. But actually, alcohol consumption (beyond a small glass of wine a few times a week) can worsen depression and inhibit absorption of key nutrients.

Foods
-Chocolate
While chocolate is often considered the “feel-good” food, it contains significant caffeine and large amounts of sugar. As discussed above, caffeine has the opposite effect that an anxious person wants and needs. The sugar is another problem, and is discussed below.

-Excessive Sugar
By “excessive,” some nutritionists mean anything over 5 tablespoons of refined sugar daily. While you may think that would be easy, it’s not. Sugar is in everything, and 5 tablespoons is just 1 tablespoon more than 1/4 cup. If you drink several large glasses of sweet iced tea, you have probably drunk close to 1/4 cup of sugar. And that does not take into account the sugar in your foods, either hidden (such as in frozen foods) or obvious (such as “frosted” cereals).

So why is sugar a problem? For one thing, the body uses Vitamin B6, which is crucial to mood and proper hormone function, to metabolize sugar. In other words, sugar depletes your body of this and other important nutrients. It can also create highs and lows in mood, and bring on a post-sugar “crash,” or low blood sugar.

-Refined Flour
Refined flour acts much like sugar in the body. And it has none of the essential fatty acids, fiber, and other nutrients that whole grains do.

-Highly Processed Foods
Many processed foods are full of preservatives, dough “conditioners” (in the case of store-bought bread products), artificial flavors, and artificial colors. Some of these can pass through the blood-brain barrier, affecting cognitive function. Tartarazine (FD&C yellow #5), commonly found in candy, gum, margarine, and many other processed foods can disrupt the hormone balance in the body.

-Behavioral Therapy
Behavioral therapy is about just that – behavior. It is not designed to delve into the patient’s past, or explore underlying causes of the patient’s anxiety. It does, however, help the patient identify patterns of thinking and behaving, and how those thoughts and behaviors are connected. The goal is to help the patient manage the problem.

-Cognitive Therapy
This kind of therapy teaches the patient to have rational responses to stressful situations rather than negative, self-abasing responses. Cognitive therapy helps the patient face – and therefore overcome – the irrational thoughts and beliefs that bring on an anxious response.

-Medication
While there are several anxiety medications on the market, most experts agree that medication should be used in conjunction with some other sort of therapy. Medication is generally considered a short-term help, and, depending on the type of anxiety exhibited, is not a long-term solution.

-Regular Exercise
This is basic, but effective. Exercise causes the brain to release endorphins, the “feel good” brain chemicals that help you relax and feel happy and content. Exercise also uses your muscles and promotes good circulation. Daily exercise is best, but even regular exercise several times a week has proven helpful.

-Meditation or Relaxation Techniques
Like regular exercise, these treatments need to be practiced regularly. They can help release muscle tension. Meditation and relaxation also promote centered, calm patterns of thought.

-Hypnosis
While most of us think of a patient lying on a couch with a psychiatrist swinging a pocket watch in front of the patient’s face, modern, legitimate hypnosis is practiced differently. Performed by a hypnotherapist, hypnosis puts the patient into a deeply relaxed state. While the patient is in this state, the hypnotherapist suggests techniques and methods for managing the patient’s anxiety.

-Biofeedback
This treatment basically teaches you how to recogize your body’s anxiety symptoms. It “tunes you in” to your body’s cues so that you can recognize an oncoming episode of anxiety. If you can recognize its onset, you can learn to stop it from getting full-blown.

-Psychotherapy
This usually involves talking to someone, and is sometimes called “talk therapy.” Therapists help the anxiety sufferer understand and identify what is going on, which then enables the sufferer to manage his or her anxiety.

When you breathe deeply and fully, your body stays calm. You may still be a bit tense, but your relaxed breathing can protect you from an anxiety attack. In an anxiety attack, you may have a tendency to hyperventilate, which increases the level of panic you experience. However, deep breathing keeps you in control.

When you hyperventilate, you take short, quick breaths in the top part of your lungs. Your chest expands, but you aren’t getting the full amount of air that you need to remain calm. The quick overload of oxygen you receive from shallow breathing makes your apprehension and panic even worse. It becomes a cycle that can be hard to break without practice.

The Most Beneficial Way To Breathe

Any time you can concentrate on breathing fully – all the way down to your abdomen – you’ll improve your relaxation response to stressful situations. If your chest is rising with each breath, you’re not expanding your lungs to full capacity. Your body lacks the oxygen it needs to thrive under the pressure of the moment.

Place a hand just above your belly button and breathe. If you’re breathing deeply, your hand will rise and fall with each breath.

Practice breathing slowly by taking full, deep breaths. You might feel a bit strange at first because you’re not used to it. You may even feel a bit giddy, but that’s normal. It’ll pass with practice.

You’re getting plenty of air, even if you don’t feel like you are. Your lungs can expand without your upper chest rising. Only your upper belly needs to rise and fall. At first, you probably won’t breathe this way unless you’re thinking about it because you’re so conditioned to breathe from your chest. Keep practicing often, and you’ll soon be breathing properly all the time.

How Breathing Affects Anxiety

Anxiety may be caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. It may simply be the product of over-active nerves that react too strongly to stimuli. However, regardless of what causes you to feel anxious, the most important thing is to alleviate it and reduce the degree to which it affects your life. Anxiety doesn’t have to stop you from living the life you deserve.

By lowering your anxiety, you may be able to:

• Change careers or get promoted
• Speak in front of others without fear
• Travel to places you’ve always wanted to see
• Embark on a new relationship or business venture
• Reduce your dependency on medication or therapy

If you’re contemplating reducing any medication or therapy you’re currently using, consult your physician before making any changes to your established regimen. But you can still start deep breathing right away. There are no side effects, as this type of breathing is natural and healthy. And it’s something that everyone can learn and benefit from.

If you struggle with worry, you can feel more relaxed and in control by simply controlling your breathing. Begin practicing deep breathing strategies today and experience peace in the midst of the storms of your life!

More and more people are looking for ways to find anxiety cures. There is no treatment that will cure all symptoms and make them go away forever, but there are several treatments available that may help. The three most common methods of anxiety cures are medication therapy, psychotherapy and holistic therapy.

Medication therapy is one of the most effective non-traditional methods for treating anxiety. To get the right medication to cure your anxiety, you have to first consult a doctor. Your doctor will perform some tests on you to determine the seriousness of your anxiety problems. Then medication will be prescribed to help you control your anxiety. However, medication only works for a short time and you have to use it from time to time to prevent anxiety attacks. It is not advisable to stop taking your medication, or your symptoms will appear over and over again. Two common medicines that are prescribed for anxiety disorder are anti-anxiety or antidepressants.

The second method is psychotherapy. This method involves counseling which will help you understand your anxiety problems better. Through psychotherapy, you will learn to identify the triggers that cause your anxiety, including situational factors as well as psychological and emotional ones. Unlike medication, psychotherapy works towards long-term cure, and it gets to the root of your anxiety problems to treat all your fears and negative feelings.

The final method is the holistic anxiety therapy. Acupuncture is a form of alternative treatment that employs the use of needles to cure the body of ailments and the mind of psychological problems. These needles are placed at strategic points on the body to achieve a balance of energy that will bring about a healthy body and a peaceful mind. This practice is widely used to heal a variety of psychological and behavioral problems including anxiety disorder. Other holistic anxiety cures include yoga, deep breathing exercises and relaxation techniques that will help you remain calm during an anxiety attack.

These anxiety cures have helped many people overcome their anxiety problems. You may have to try a few anxiety cures to know which one is most effective for you.

Children and adults alike can suffer from these social anxiety symptoms and they may have a hard time leading the kind of life that is normal. When these social anxiety symptoms show up in a person, they often create a certain reaction that often cause the person to shun attention. The people who suffer from this ailment often go to great lengths to make themselves seem invisible or to keep people from noticing them. They are often underachievers or average performers in school or at work. There is even a possibility that they may end up sinking into a state of depression or even resort to substance abuse just to escape from these things that cause their social anxiety symptoms to emerge.

Many people tend to wonder how these social anxiety symptoms come about. While there are people who may say that these social anxiety symptoms are the results of some traumatic experiences in the past, some even hint at genetics having something to do with the problems. However, there is actually no proven reason for the occurrence of social anxiety disorder.

If a person suspects that he or she may be suffering from social anxiety disorder, getting a diagnosis done by a physician is logical. To admit to such a problem is the first most important step. Then, going for a check-up will be much easier. Doctors may then take physical exams like blood tests to help determine that what the patient is experiencing is not an ailment that has similar symptoms like social anxiety disorder. Once it is determined that the person is indeed suffering from social anxiety disorder through these physical and psychological evaluations, treatments can then be exacted to try and help the person get over this affliction.

Treatments for this problem usually include a combination of psychological treatments and medication. Medication may come in the form of anti-depressants while psychological help will be offered in the form of therapy. Support from close friends and family is also encouraged when people are facing this problem. Support therapy, or the help that family and friend provide, can greatly help patients since social anxiety symptoms seem to be less prevalent when there are caring people around.