ARP 338 Anxiety in Your Guts and Symptom Tracking Apps

There is a term called visceral anxiety. According to various sources, it isn't a medical term but more of a description of feeling anxiety in the lower center of your body. We are talking about the gastrointestinal track. 

For some with anxiety it is a persistent problem of pain in the stomach, being gassy or bloated. Or feeling queasy each and every day. (Pregnant people excepted).

Now life happens, you get sick and have those symptoms. Or something you've eaten truly does not agree with your body.

That isn't necessarily anxiety related.

However, if you have constant problems in your gut area AND you have been reviewed by a medical doctor to rule out other health problems then it could be anxiety. 

It could be anxiety. And no amount of Maalox or Pepto Bismol is going to fix it.

In this episode, a brief look at gut symptoms and symptom tracking to monitor what is ginning you up. 

If you need support contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-8255, the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 or text “START” to 741-741.

Resources Mentioned: 

ADAA.org page on How to Calm an Anxious Stomach: The Brain-Gut Connection

MySymptoms app that can track a wide variety of symptoms. This app was originally created for people that have Irritable Bowl Syndrome but has features that can apply to some anxiety conditions.

Bearable app to help you track your symptoms.

Disclaimer: 

Links to other sites are provided for information purposes only and do not constitute endorsements. 

Always seek the advice of a qualified health provider with questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health disorder.

This blog and podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this program is intended to be a substitute for professional psychological, psychiatric or medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

ARP 337 - When the World Is Crazy We Worry

Worry is powerful, it can dishearten you and have you see nothing but shades of gray. There are techniques that even anxious people can use to reduce the amount of worry and get on with the business of the day. 

I've been around a few spins around the sun. There have been very few times when things haven't been crazy on this planet. Especially with humans having access to weapons.

Gasses me up just to think about it. The only people and industries happy about current events are profiteers and weapon makers. 

Which is why you have to be careful about making global statements. Even in the bleakest of times, somebody on Earth is happy.

Many of us with anxiety conditions have excessive amounts of worry.  In this episode, a very basic look at some of the tools we can use to help us take it down a bit so that we can function and get on with the day.

If you need support contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-8255, the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 or text “START” to 741-741.

Resources Mentioned: 

Paradise Paradox Movie Trailer and the Home page of the movie website.

From the UK NHS,  a video from Every Mind Matters on how to process worry. Good suggestions and techniques like the worry tree example.

 

From Helpguide.org How to Stop Worrying and End Anxious Thoughts with more techniques you can use.

Mayo Health Clinic Symptoms page on 11 Tips for Coping with an Anxiety Disorder because we need to actively deal with it. 

From Adams Media, The No Worries Workbook, 124 Lists, Activities, and Prompts to Get Out of Your Head—and On with Your Life! By Molly Burford. Adams Media is a imprint of Simon and Schuster.

Possible Alternative to What Was Once Known as Twitter

Mastodon and Spoutible

Disclaimer: 

Links to other sites are provided for information purposes only and do not constitute endorsements. 

Always seek the advice of a qualified health provider with questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health disorder.

This blog and podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this program is intended to be a substitute for professional psychological, psychiatric or medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

ARP 336 Anxiety Symptoms and Nicotine

You can be a smoker that has anxiety or a person with an anxiety condition who smokes. Either way it is a bad deal that can not only make your symptoms worse but cause long term harm to your body.

In this short pebble in the road episode, some resources to help educate yourself about the problem but some viable resources you can check out to separate yourself from the cigarette or the vape.

If you need support contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-8255, the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 or text “START” to 741-741.

Resources Mentioned: 

U.S. National Institute of Drug Abuse page on Cigarettes and Other Tobacco products. 

Smokefree.gov helps folks kick the tobacco and vape habit by providing information and resources, including a page about stress and smoking.

The American Lung Association has a number of options about quitting smoking. There are groups, online version and self-directed guides.

For California residents only, there is kickitca.org, this is a state of California website that can help users transition from smoking and vaping. 

Disclaimer: 

Links to other sites are provided for information purposes only and do not constitute endorsements. 

Always seek the advice of a qualified health provider with questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health disorder.

This blog and podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this program is intended to be a substitute for professional psychological, psychiatric or medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

ARP 335 Beans or Knowledge

I try to keep episodes short and to the point. But sometimes I need to talk about conceptual things that at first, doesn’t seem to have anything to do with anxiety treatment options.  But it does.

I need to talk about beans or knowledge. Or the do before the why. Which I like better but it isn't grammatical. I take comfort that I'm pissing off an A.I. generator.

I know that many people that listen to the podcast like the give it to me straight and let me be on my way aspect of the show. 

That is not going to be this episode. I have to talk about non-anxiety things to show the anxiety examples. Might take me a while.  There are anxiety specific resources in the episode.

But I gotta talk about beans first. 

So yeah, if you want a short one, wait until next week or dive into the archive.

If you need support contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-8255, the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 or text “START” to 741-741.

Resources Mentioned: 

Supplement Resources:

U.S. National Institute of Health (NIH) consumer page about magnesium and on Vitamin D.

There is also a newsletter from NIH called Digging Into Vitamin D. 

And the Office of Dietary Supplements FAQ page explains what they are, do you need them and the pro and cons of them.

The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health has a post about magnesium and Vitamin D and why they work well together. 

Tyler Westley Tik Tok video about taking a friend's suggestion concerning magnesium.

. 

Dry Beans and Lectin Information:

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health page on Anti-Nutrients. There is also a link to the problems with Lectins.

Samarian Health Services page on Are Lectins in Plant-based Foods Your Friend or Foe?

Disclaimer: 

Links to other sites are provided for information purposes only and do not constitute endorsements. 

Always seek the advice of a qualified health provider with questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health disorder.

This blog and podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this program is intended to be a substitute for professional psychological, psychiatric or medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

ARP 324 - Explaining Depression via Games

The American Psychiatry Association defines depression as loss of interest of activities once enjoyed, and that the symptoms must last longer than two weeks before an official diagnosis.

There isn't just one kind of depression and they don't all generate from the same source. 

For people that have not experience depression, it is really hard for them to understand. Or they try to related to something that has no relationship to the actual condition. 

You can tell they don’t know about when they offer responses like, “you just have to get out of yourself. 

So this episode is a two-fer. It is for people that have an anxiety condition that may or may not have a side order of depression. You'll need info on what is is and some of the treatment options.

And, if you need a friend or loved one who doesn't connect with what you are experiencing, there are games and simulations that can help them get a glimmer of understanding.

If you need support contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 or text “START” to 741-741.

Resources Mentioned: 

There is a story from New Hampshire Public Radio about a meeting at Dartmouth University with the current and prior Surgeon Generals meeting to talk about the need for ‘stronger communities’ to address mental health crisis. 

The Verge article about Google shutting down the podcasting app. Option 1 is to move over to the YouTube Music App. Option 2 is to find another podcasting application.

The American Psychiatric Association has information about depression, the various types and some of the treatment options. There is also a short explainer video to help those that take in information visually.

Helpguide.org post on Depression Symptoms and Warning Signs.

Celeste is a game where Madeline journeys up Celeste Mountain with her anxiety. There is an 8-bit version that can be played on the website. The modern version can be found on various playing devices.

Actual Sunlight, a game/narrative about the experience of depression. You also can find it on Google Play, Nintendo, Switch and other gaming platforms

Depression Quest, old school web based HTML journey of depression and discovery. 

The Braaains podcast if you want to know more about that tasty organ known as the brain, mental health issues disability representation. The podcast also shows how the topic is reflected in tv, movies and media. 

Disclaimer: 

Links to other sites are provided for information purposes only and do not constitute endorsements. 

Always seek the advice of a qualified health provider with questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health disorder.

This blog and podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this program is intended to be a substitute for professional psychological, psychiatric or medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.