FitSugar

Is Your Anxiety Level In Overtime?

FitSugar — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 16:30:00 PST

Everyone can relate to feeling anxious at one time or another. Maybe you're nervous to meet your boyfriend's parents, or you're worried about an upcoming doctor's appointment. It's totally normal to feel this way, and it can actually help you cope.

Having an Anxiety Disorder is a lot different. You can feel worried, anxious, or shy for no reason. Your heart starts pounding, your stomach is in knots, you start sweating. You can't see straight or think straight. Anxiety can take over so you can't get normal day to day things done.

There's a few different kinds. Panic Disorder involves unexpected episodes of intense fear and terror that causes physical symptoms like chest tightness, difficulty breathing, dizziness or tummy problems.

People who have Social Anxiety Disorder have a persistent and intense fear of social situations, of being watched or judged, or of being around people in general. Physical symptoms include profuse sweating, trembling, nausea or difficulty talking.

If you can relate to any of these disorders, you should seek professional help if possible. If not, please remember you are not alone and look on the internet or in the phone book for low cost/no cost resources to help you.

Proposed Warning Labels on Photoshopped Celeb Photos to Prevent Eating Disorders

Jenny Sugar — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 13:14:11 PST

Alcohol can lead to liver problems and cigarettes can cause lung cancer, so it's obvious why these products have warning labels. What about Photoshopped images of celebrities and models? Should these come with warning labels, too? Research shows that images portraying "perfect bodies" can have negative effects on body image, leading to anxiety and eating disorders, especially in young women.

Last June, the American Medical Association urged advertisers to work with child and teen health experts to set limits on Photoshopping. In response, two Dartmouth computer science researchers are proposing a new software tool to measure just how much an image of a face or body has been altered, using a scale of one to five to indicate the extent of the changes. Warning labels on images would allow the viewer to know just how extensively a photo has been manipulated.

Child psychologists aren't convinced these labels are the answer, feeling the most effective solution to preventing poor body image or eating disorders lies in the hands of parents. Modeling healthy eating habits and encouraging regular exercise is key, as well as not focusing attention on appearance. What do you think about these warning labels?

Keep Quiet at Work About Mental Health Issues, Readers Say

SavvySugar — Thu, 05 May 2011 05:00:26 PDT

Mental health is such a sensitive topic and seeing as a recent health survey says that half of working professionals don't know how to deal with colleagues who have mood disorders, it's clear that the stigma is still very prevalent. I asked readers if it's wise to be open about your mental disorder at work and this is what they had to say:

"I believe that mood disorders are something that should be kept private unless it is truly affecting your work. I suffer from two severe disorders and I have chosen to keep them to myself for a long time. Recently I have found that my boss is aggravating my disorder and now I feel I should say something. I'm nervous about what will happen but when you suffer from depression and anxiety it kills when something like work or someone not understanding makes the disorder worse." - Anonymous
"I think disabilities in general, no matter what category they fall under, should be kept private if possible. If it affects your work, then it is something that should be discussed with your boss, not your coworkers if these people are not your personal friends." - testadura67
"I think it totally depends on the work environment. It's very different for me because I currently work at my church and so most of the people I work with know about what I deal with." - amber512
"I don't even think its always appropriate to share with friends - maybe your 'lifelong friends' who you have unshakable grounds with, but I'm afraid it could freak anyone out - especially with the names some of these disorders are given, they sound so much worse than they are." - Anonymous

Do Infants and Toddlers Need Psychotherapy?

Rebecca M Gruber — Tue, 17 May 2011 09:31:51 PDT

Social anxiety and major depression? They may sound like diagnoses for new moms and dads who are having a tough time adjusting to parenthood, but they're actually labels placed in tots as young as seven months old in the world of infant psychotherapy.

An in-depth article in yesterday's The Daily delves into the "strange and controversial world of infant therapy," where the diagnoses may sound familiar (think infantile anorexia, sensory stimulation-seeking disorder, and anxiety disorders), but the treatments are focused on the parents rather than pharmaceuticals. According to the article, the underlying factor in most of the "relationship-based aliments . . . revolve around how parents interact with the patient in question." So most treatments involve educating parents.

Many pediatricians and child psychotherapists are wary of the field moving into the realm of infants and toddlers. What do you think of the practice?

Is It Wise to Be Open About Your Mental Health Issues at the Office?

Emily Co — Tue, 03 May 2011 10:22:48 PDT

Having a mood disorder can make others who aren't familiar with it feel uncomfortable, and that's why there needs to be more education on it. Fifty-three percent of professionals polled say they aren't confident in their ability to support a colleague with a mental health disorder like anxiety or depression, according to a study by beyondblue and Beaton Research & Consulting.

How you act with friends is different from how you act with your colleagues, so perhaps there is no need to confide in your co-worker or boss about your struggles with your mood disorder unless it's affecting your productivity. What do you think - would you tell people at work about your mental health problems if you had any?

Victorian-Era Doctors Gave Patients a Prescription For Pleasure

TresSugar — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 14:48:51 PDT

Hysteria, the upcoming Victorian-era rom-com staring Maggie Gyllenhaal, Hugh Dancy, and Rupert Everett, takes on the creation of the first vibrator. The trailer is out today, and it look likes Hugh Dancy, who plays the inventor-doctor, doesn't hold back in his pursuit of female pleasure.

By failing to acknowledge women as sexual, our prudish Victorian-era ancestors took part in something we would find shocking today: doctors essentially having sex with their patients. The medical community considered female sexual arousal a disorder that needed treatment. Symptoms of so-called "female hysteria" included anxiety, sexual fantasies, pelvic heaviness, and vaginal lubrication. They had the same remedy for such symptoms as we do today, an orgasm, but back then physicians administered them.

Doctors would rub a "hysterical" woman's vulva until she experienced dramatic relief through "paroxysm," aka orgasm. After treating various hysterical women, a doctor's hands and wrists would get tired. So in 1870, one doctor created a steam-powered machine that would administer orgasms and become the ancestor of today's vibrators. Soon even the Princess of Wales would order "Horse-Action Saddles" (seen in this ad) proven to treat hysteria.

Watch the Hysteria trailer below.

Celebrities on Mental Health Struggles

Annie Scudder — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 04:00:05 PDT

Mental illness - including depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, and postpartum depression - impact the lives of millions of everyday Americans. This week the glamorous and talented Catherine Zeta-Jones opened up about her battle with bipolar II disorder, explaining that if her revelation "encouraged one person to seek help, then it is worth it." She said there's no reason to suffer silently. Take a look now at other famous women who have lent their voices to the cause of raising awareness about mental health struggles by opening up about their own.

DrSugar Schools Us on High Blood Pressure

DrSugar — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 12:26:30 PDT

DrSugar is in the house! This week she's schooling us on hypertension.

A recent study from the University of North Carolina found that about one in five young adults, between the ages 24 and 32, has high blood pressure, referred to as hypertension in medical terminology. The concerning part about this rise is that many of those at risk are unaware of this health issue, making this statistic extremely scary since hypertension is a medical condition that can have serious consequences. To learn more about hypertension and its medical consequences and how you can prevent hypertension, keep reading!

DrSugar Schools Us on Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

DrSugar — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 09:30:06 PST

DrSugar is in the house! This week she discusses the emotional impact of Winter.

With Winter around the corner (or perhaps rearing its ugly head already), I’m sure that a majority of FitSugar readers are experiencing cooler weather and shorter days. With this in mind, I thought a great topic to discuss this week is seasonal affective disorder.

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that is cyclical and seasonal, meaning it comes and goes at the same time every year. According to the Mayo Clinic, most people who have seasonal affective disorder have symptoms that start in the Fall and continue into the Winter months. Less often, people suffer from seasonal affective disorder that causes depression in the Spring into the Summer months. Keep reading to learn more about it.

DrSugar on Fibromyalgia

DrSugar — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 09:30:12 PDT

DrSugar is in the house! Today she's explaining the confusing condition fibromyalgia.

I am taking a break from answering your questions to discuss a medical condition that has garnered a lot of attention in recent years, both in the medical field and the public arena: fibromyalgia, a well-publicized but often misunderstood medical condition that affects two to four percent of the population. To learn more about fibromyalgia, keep reading!