Anxiety | Maverick Mom

Stress Awareness Month | How to Fix Adrenal Fatigue

April 12, 2012 Leave a Comment

Do you feel tired, yet wired? Do have trouble falling asleep at night or have trouble sleeping through the night? Are you putting on pounds around that dreaded abdominal area? Are you a mom who runs around feeling overwhelmed on most days? If you answered yes to any of these, join the crowd and by the way, welcome to the Adrenal Fatigue Club.

Most of us understand the connection between chronic stress and cortisol. Long term, emotional stress increases cortisol levels and generally wreaks havoc on our neuroendocrine and immune systems, making weight loss virtually impossible. In fact, elevated cortisol triggers inflammation at the cellular level, and guess what? Inflammation at the cellular level is where all of the nine degenerative disease processes begin. Strike 1.

Over time, elevated cortisol compromises our thyroid functioning and hormonal balance. This can make any perimenopausal woman feel like she is losing her mind while sitting in a heated oven. Chronically elevated cortisol triggers thyroid dysfunction, which is also an underlying cause of panic disorder, anxiety, and depression (for which people are often misdiagnosed and inappropriately treated with psychiatric meds). Strikes 2, 3, and 4. [Read more...]

Filed Under anxiety, Exercise, Health, Mood, Motherhood, Sex Tagged With cortisol and aging, cortisol and alcohol, cortisol and health, cortisol and weight loss, Emwave, EmWave and stress, how to lower cortisol, how to treat adrenal fatigue, Life Time Fitness, Life Time Fitness Boca Raton, Stress and Adrenal Testing, stress and cortisol, symptoms of adrenal fatigue

Demi Moore Smoked “Something”

January 28, 2012 Leave a Comment

Demi Moore was reportedly hospitalized this week after friends placed a frantic 911 reporting that she had “smoked something.” Moore allegedly went into convulsions after “acting really hyper” all night, and her publicist later stated that Moore “looks forward to getting healthy.”

I think we can all agree that Demi Moore has been under an unusual amount of stress in past months. Dealing with an extramarital affair is probably one of the worst forms of rejection that exists, and I have no doubt that the “something” she smoked was an effort to cope with that. There are better, healthier ways to cope with stress, but the truth is this: at some point in our lives, we have all chosen to smoke, drink, swallow, say, or do “something” that inevitably made us feel a little bit better. [Read more...]

Filed Under anxiety, Health, Mood Tagged With demi moore 911, demi moore 911 call, demi moore hospitalized

How to Quit Smoking Forever

July 14, 2011 Leave a Comment

Yesterday, my father in law saw his physician and got some exciting news. His lung capacity increased from 38 to 68 over the past couple of months! Why was this such a big deal? He quit smoking. Finally. After years of chain smoking, he is now smoke free and living to tell the story.

Smoking can be one of the most difficult addictions for some people to kick, particularly those who have ADHD or who tend to be chronically anxious or uptight (or both). There are two reasons for this: nicotine is kind of a weird substance in that it both relaxes and stimulates the user at once. Picture of Smoking Cigarette - Free Pictures - FreeFoto.com

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Filed Under anxiety, Exercise, Mood, Weight Tagged With best smoking cessation programs, best ways to quit smoking, How To Quit Smoking, smoking

How to Reverse the Brain Changes Caused By Chronic Stress

July 5, 2011 Leave a Comment

What causes you stress? Your health? Bills? Work? Family? Chronic stress puts serious wear and tear on our bodies over time, but did you know that chronic stress can change your brain? Thanks to research in this area, we’re learning more and more about the ways in which this happens. The good news is this: we can reverse all of these negative brain changes with exercise.

Below are a list of conclusions drawn from research on this topic. In bold italics, I have added the counterpart conclusion from research on exercise and the brain. Just a few more reasons to exercise this morning. [Read more...]

Filed Under anxiety, Exercise, Health, Mood, Sleep Tagged With anxiety and the brain, brain changes and stress, depression and the brain, exercise prescription, how to alleviate chronic stress, stress and forgetfulness, stress and sleep, stress and the brain

13 Reasons to Avoid Artificial Sweeteners

June 26, 2011 3 Comments

Whenever we go out to dinner, I can’t help but notice that the sweetener packets still consist of all three colors: pink, blue, yellow. Here are my top 13 reasons you should avoid all of them.

1. Aspartame (Nutrasweet) can deplete your serotonin levels via phenylalanine, an amino acid. Serotonin helps you stay happy and satiated and when depleted, we feel anxious, irritable, sad, and sleepless. We also tend to crave carbohydrates. Unless you want to feel pissed off and fat at the same time, avoid aspartame. [Read more...]

Filed Under anxiety, Mood, PMS, Pregnancy, Sleep, Stuff, Weight Tagged With artificial sweeteners, best health blogs for women, best mom blogs, is splenda safe, miscarriage and aspartame, sucralose side effects, symptoms of depression in women, weight loss and dieting

How to Be Happy

June 22, 2011 Leave a Comment

I am reposting this article from Thanksgiving because this topic is so important. So many people use antidepressant medications before learning about the power of our behaviors to create healthy, happy moods. If you haven’t read this yet, enjoy-if you have, it’s worth the read again. Ciao!

I was talking with one of my girlfriends yesterday, and she told me that most of her friends use antidepressant or anxiety medications. I was amazed to hear that one of her friends uses both Cymbalta and Adderall, and is trying to discontinue using her Cymbalta. Yikes. We all know someone who uses this type of medication, but how many people really understand how these work and what we can do on our own to create similar changes in mood related neurotransmitters?

Meditation and Fried Lizards

June 13, 2011 Leave a Comment

Do you ever feel run down? Burnt out? How do you break the cycle of chronic stress and burnout? Most people choose unhealthy ways to relax when feeling fried-think overeating, drinking too much alcohol, smoking, and just about any bad habit or addiction out there. These are all the result of normal people trying to feel better. What can you do that will help you feel more restored, rested, and less run down?

Meditation is becoming widely recognized as one of the top ways to relax, restore central nervous system balance, and even live a longer. Meditating is one of several primary ways to elicit the relaxation response, a function of the parasympathetic branch of the nervous system. What is that? Why does it matter? [Read more...]

Filed Under anxiety, Energy, Mood Tagged With best medications for stress and anxiety., meditation, meditation and anxiety, meditation and chronic stress, meditation and stress, natural solutions for chronic stress

Mood, Neurotransmitters, and How to Change Your Chemistry

November 16, 2010 6 Comments

We hear about neurotransmitters and SSRIs on a daily basis, but what are they, exactly?

Here is a great metaphor for understanding neurotransmitters and mood. Think of a light switch and a dimmer. You turn the dimmer up to turn up the light intensity, and vice versa to decrease it. The light represents neurotransmission (the messaging route) while the dimmer feature is the neurotransmitter (a chemical messenger like serotonin). Neurotransmission is to the light what neurotransmitters are to the dimmer.
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Filed Under anxiety, Energy, Exercise, Mood, Sleep Tagged With alternative treatments for ADHD, alternative treatments for depression, antidepressants, maverick motherood, motherhood and depression, motherhood and mood, serotonin and dopamine

The Secret Power of Your Heart

November 9, 2010 1 Comment

“A dream can be a powerful thing, especially when it comes from the heart.”

-Jiminy Cricket

Jiminy Cricket really knew what he was talking about in his day. In fact, your heart is the most powerful generator of electromagnetic energy in your body, producing the largest electromagnetic field of any of your organs. The interaction between your emotions, heart, and physical health is far more profound than you may know. Thanks to research in quantum physics, energy psychology, and the Institute of Heart Math, we are beginning to understand the interaction between emotions, heart, physical health, and energy fields.

How to Sleep Better

November 5, 2010 Leave a Comment

Yesterday, I posted about the main reasons that many people have sleep problems: chronic stress and the resulting vitamin deficiencies. Apparently, you’re not alone in your sleep problems-here is a great tweet from yesterday:

“When I can’t sleep, nothing is better than some chamomile tea with a teaspoon of honey and a lemon wedge and one or two lumps of Rohypnol.” @BarrettChase

My thoughts exactly, Chase. Let’s get into some more healthy approaches to sleeping well.

Here is an excellent post by Charles Poliquin on the best ways to get a good night’s sleep. Before I leave you to Charles, I’d like to offer the following not so generic sleep tips: [Read more...]

Filed Under anxiety, Health, Mood, Sleep Tagged With alternative treatment for anxiety, ambien, anxiety, Chronic Stress, chronic stress and sleep, chronic stress management, Insomnia, natural alternatives to Ambien, natural alternatives to sleep medication, natural alternatives to sleeping pills, postpartum depression and sleep, Sleep, stress