Anxiety and Athletes

When people struggle with anxiety it usually comes with a heavy feeling of loneliness. The fact is that know matter who you are or how much you have accomplished in your life you are still a human being. Athletes are no different. Here is a great article highlighting the struggles of athletes as well.

http://sportsmedicine.about.com

Overcoming Performance Anxiety with Sports Psychology

Sports psychology tips can help you overcome performance anxiety in sports

By Elizabeth Quinn

 

Do you perform well during training or practice but choke in competition? If feelings of nervousness, anxiety or fear interfere with your sports performance, learning to use a few tips from sports psychology may help you get your anxiety under control and reduce game day nerves.
Performance anxiety in sports, sometimes referred to as 'choking,'is described as a decrease in athletic performance due to too much perceived stress. Perceived stress often increases in athletes on game day because (1) they have an audience and (2) they have extremely high expectations of their success. This type of stress is often based upon the way the athletes interpret the situation. It is rarely the external situation that causes stress, but rather the way the athlete's self talk describes the situation that creates feelings of stress, anxiety and fear. For athletes who choke during competition it is important to understand that the thoughts you have regarding the event can be modified, adjusted or controlled with appropriate sports psychology and mental practice. An athlete should first determine if thoughts of doubt, failure or a lack of confidence are due to a perceived lack of ability. If so, the self talk will generally lead to continued feelings of anxiety, nervousness, and tension. Athlete need to realize that it's tough to do your best in a sport when your own internal voice is telling you otherwise. To overcome performance anxiety, traditional coaches and trainers may try to help the athlete understand why those thoughts and feelings develop and then try to change or modify that process with limited amounts of success. Why such thoughts arise may be of interest, but knowing the answer isn't always necessary to overcome them.

Sports Psychology Tips to Help Reduce Performance Anxiety

Here are a few tips that may help change or redirect the negative self-talk.

Reduce Performance Anxiety Before the Event

• Recognize that pre-race jitters are normal. Accept, rather than fight, the nervous energy you feel. Don't misinterpret it by thinking that it is fear. That adrenaline rush you feel is normal and it is part of your body's natural preparation for the competition. Notice it, but don't focus on it. Once the race starts, that feeling will subside, as it always does.
  
• Prepare both mentally and physically. Arrive at the event with plenty of time so you aren't rushed, which only increases your stress. Get a thorough warm-up. Do some easy stretching. Know the course. Dress for conditions.
  
• Visualize. Allow a few minutes to practice visualization. During this time you mentally rehearse, showing yourself doing everything right. Breathe easy, close your eyes and use mental imagery to visualize yourself performing well. This positive self-talk can change your attitude. While athletes need to be flexible enough to react during the event, you should enter the event with a general strategy of how you want to race. Your strategy can be simple (maintain a steady pace or maintain a steady heart rate) or complex.

Reduce Performance Anxiety During the Event

• Focus on the task at hand rather than the outcome. Stay present in the moment and avoid thinking too far into the event or thinking about the finish. If you find yourself thinking negative thoughts or negative self-talk, stop and focus only on your breathing. Focusing on your breathing rhythm will automatically pull you back into the present.
  
• Force a smile. Really. If you are struggling with negative thoughts and can't break out of the cycle, simply force yourself to smile, even if only for a few seconds. This simple action will change your attitude in a split second. Perhaps that is all the time you need to relax back into your performance.

• Race like you don't care about the outcome. If you find yourself caught up in negative thoughts and find that you suddenly expect the worst it will be impossible to perform at your peak. If you begin to race like you don't care about the outcome, you may relax and enjoy the event for what it is - another day in your life. Not the most important thing in your life.

• Reduce Performance Anxiety After the Event:

  • Review the race and recall the things you did well. Focus on actions, thoughts and behaviors that helped you perform.
    
  • Acknowledge, but quickly dismiss things that hindered your performance. This is the same principle as avoiding an obstacle while driving - look where you want to go, not where you don't. When you focus on the pothole, you invariably hit it. Focusing on the negative aspects of the event will not help you improve in the future. Rather, you want to focus on the times when you 'got it right.' This is a form of mental rehearsal where you practice skills that will be used in the next event.
    
  • Design a training program that mimics race-like conditions. Teams and clubs often do such training. If you always train alone, consider joining a group so you can do this type of simulation. Practice is most effective if you can mimic the conditions you will be faced with in competition. Coaches can also help or hinder an athlete's ability to overcome choking during competition. Coaches often inadvertently reinforce a pattern of choking when trying to encourage ("the next shot is critical"). Such talk only increases the pressure an athlete feels to perform.
   
• Remember that choking can be dealt with if you are aware of the pattern of negative thoughts that snowball before and during competition. If you find yourself in such a downward spiral, simply acknowledge those thoughts and let them go. Focus on your breathing and play as though you are enjoying it. Chances are you will realize that you are enjoying it despite the occasional less than perfect performance.

Anxiety & Drinking

Social Anxiety Disorder and Alcohol Abuse

From the Anxiety and Depression Association of America site.

 

At around the age of 10, I became aware that I was different. I felt intense social anxiety. I had no skills to use to interact socially with my peers. I was quiet and blended into the walls. I didn’t trust my perceptions and it took many years before I could admit, much less say aloud, how I felt.

These are the words of Cynthia Kipp, who has social anxiety disorder.

 

My family didn’t seem to pay too much attention to my phobia. I did what was expected as a “good” girl.

Cynthia’s tumultuous childhood – her father was abusive and suffered from schizophrenia – coupled with social anxiety led to difficult teenage years. She didn’t feel part of any group of friends, and she started drinking to alleviate her anxiety around her peers.
But her drinking soon became as big of a problem as her anxiety, if not bigger.
About 15 million U.S. adults, or 7 percent of the population, have social anxiety disorder in any given year. And it isn’t unusual for people with social anxiety disorder – or other anxiety disorders – to drink excessively to cope with symptoms or try to escape them.

Murray Stein, MD, MPH, and John Walker, PhD, write in Triumph Over Shyness: Conquering Social Anxiety Disorder that social anxiety disorder “frequently travels in the company of other emotional difficulties” such as alcohol or drug abuse, depression, and other anxiety disorders.

Symptoms

My drinking was self-destructive, and that compounded my low self-esteem.

About 20 percent of people with social anxiety disorder also suffer from alcohol abuse or dependence, and a recent study found that the two disorders have a stronger connection among women.

Although alcohol can temporarily reduce symptoms of social anxiety – which is the reason many turn to it – Stein and Walker note that alcohol can also increase anxiety, irritability, or depression a few hours later or the next day. Even moderate amounts of alcohol can affect one’s mood and anxiety level.

If you do at least one of the following, you may suffer from alcoholism:

• Drink alcohol four or more times a week
• Have five or more drinks containing alcohol in one day
• Not be able to stop drinking once you’ve started
• Need a drink in the morning to get yourself going
• Feel guilty or remorseful after drinking
• Heard a relative, friend, co-worker, or doctor express concern about your drinking or suggest you cut down

Excessive drinking can lead to addiction and delay the desire to seek treatment and interfere with the effectiveness of therapy or medication once on a treatment plan.

Treatment

On the verge of losing everything, and not really knowing myself, I started attending AA meetings. For the first year I couldn’t speak. Finally, I shared my story. Speaking at meetings slowly gave me confidence to speak in front of others.

Cynthia credits Alcoholics Anonymous meetings for not only helping her with her alcohol problem, but for putting her on the path to overcoming her social anxiety.
The meetings allowed her to gradually become comfortable speaking before other people, and once she became sober, Cynthia could focus on further reducing her social anxiety disorder symptoms through therapy. Find an AA meeting near you.

Some people with social anxiety, however, find AA meetings and other support groups to be too anxiety-provoking. Working one-on-one with a doctor or therapist with experience in treating anxiety disorders may be best and can help one prepare to successfully participate in an alcohol treatment program at a later time. Find a therapist near you.
A recent clinical study also found that a combination of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and motivational enhancement therapy (MET) may be successful in treating co-occurring social anxiety disorder and alcohol abuse. Motivational enhancement therapy is used in drug abuse counseling and encourages patients to turn their desire to change into concrete goals to do so.

Resources

Alcoholics Anonymous – for people with drinking problems
Al-Anon and Alateen – for friends and family of alcoholics
Find a Therapist – search the ADAA directory using your zip code or city and state

 

In closing and in my own experience I found that over use of alcohol acted as a trigger for me and once you begin to realize what yours are you can begin to overcome.

Know your Anxiety Symptoms and Triggers

Anxiety Symptoms, Anxiety Attack Symptoms (Panic Attack Symptoms), Symptoms of Anxiety

From a great website with plenty of resources https://www.anxietycentre

Anxiety symptoms, anxiety attack symptoms: There are over 100 symptoms of anxiety.

Because each person has a unique chemical make up, the type, number, intensity, and frequency of anxiety symptoms will vary from person to person. For example, one person may have just one mild anxiety symptom, whereas another may have all anxiety symptoms and to great severity. All combinations are common.

 

 

Free Yourself from Anxiety

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The Linden Method
An Appraisal by Dr Francis Teeney
Research Fellow Queen's University, Belfast

"Firstly, let me begin by acknowledging my gratitude to my close friend, colleague, mentor and stout staff Professor Roddy Cowie of Queen's University Belfast, in my opinion one of the greatest emotional psychologists in Europe today. I am sure he would appreciate my over simplification of the emotional processes described below given that it is written for the vulnerable and non psychological reader.

Over the years I have worked with many groups of people affected by what is commonly referred to as "their nerves" and as a consequence, I have used many tools to help to alleviate and overcome these issues; in most cases I have tried the techniques myself in an effort to ascertain whether it improved my own wellbeing. These tools ranged from relaxation methods of all descriptions, herbal remedies, self-improvement programs, hypnosis, Yoga, keep fit and many more. Some of these tools worked better than others and sadly some made matters worse, or just cost a fortune with no results at all. This will all sound familiar to many of you and you should take comfort - often the belief is that no one has experienced what you are going through or recovered - WRONG.
As a psychologist, with an interest in human emotions, I believe that I have a thorough understanding of what is actually taking place inside the brains of anxious individuals. I also wish to state that I am working to set up a research consortium to investigate the cause and treatment of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ME. A major symptom in many CFS/ME cases is anxiety.
The reader will also be glad to hear that The Linden Method and Mickel Therapy are pooling resources with regards to the anxiety symptoms of CFS/ME - progress indeed.

The psychology of fear has been very well documented for almost 100 years, especially in the writings of William James, the famous American psychologist, whose findings now form an important part of the foundations on which modern emotional psychology is built.
I will not bore you with 'science talk', but suffice it to say that James believed the emotional centers of the brain were pivotal to health, mental stability and general wellbeing. Any greater elaboration of this would require me writing pages and would eventually arrive at the same conclusion.
Within our mid brain structures lies the emotional center. Our emotions, such as anger, sadness, joy, fear and boredom, create levels of activity within the brain that ebb and flow. You can neither laugh nor cry forever - even though we sometimes feel as if we have done the latter. In times of high anxiety, in reality, your emotional stability is simply out of balance. Too much of anything will eventually leave you unsatisfied - including ice cream or your favorite past time. Imagine then what too much exposure to stressful situations will do - apart from the obvious increase in anxiety levels, they will definitely leave you unsatisfied.

Pressure at work, at home or in relationships, fast or slow lifestyles with little fulfillment, all lead to emotional instability. What we do know for certain, is that these excesses are likely to cause the over production of adrenalin; in other words, you will be on red alert for too long and places people and things that once did not bother you, all of a sudden, become things to avoid at all cost. And yet, your salvation lies not in avoiding these things but in a structured program of anxiety recovery.
You would not run a marathon without training to increase your fitness levels, so why do you expect to succeed without training for rejoining the marathon of life. Building up new memories, positive memories, emotionally enjoyable memories, bit by bit is the key to anxiety free fulfillment.
Remember there are no bears or wolves in the local shop - William James alluded to this many years ago in his findings about how anxiety builds and manifests in the human body.
It is possible, without forcing the creation of more anxiety, to replace anxious reactions and memories with none anxious ones, very quickly.

My experience of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), is that it relies on manipulating the cognitive section of the brain. This approach can work successfully in some forms of mental illness, but due to its concentration on cognition it does not address the emotions, which is where it fails.
I detest sprouts and always have, (despite my mother telling me they were good for me); all the cognitive refocusing I can muster is never going to make me emotionally satisfied when I sit down to a plate of sprouts. If CBT has worked to change your circumstances, I am indeed very happy and wish you every success and happiness in the future. The same applies to hypnosis, drug therapy, Yoga, flooding, NLP and all the other therapies. If they work for you I am happy.
Some people do need a break from their daily stress and if their GP has proscribed them sedatives to use as a crutch in the short term, then I wholeheartedly agree that temporary relief in extreme anxiety can be far better than no relief at all. However, some day you will need to withdraw the sedatives, hopefully with the help, guidance and advice of your doctor, but by then, you will need to have implemented a technique that allows you to function without sedatives and to eliminate your anxiety completely. I believe the Linden Method achieves just this.

Through my many conversations with Charles and my ongoing work with him, his Method and the research consortium, that includes Mickel Therapy, I have had the opportunity to evaluate Charles' unique program. I have no doubt that The Linden Method works and clearly see how and why the structure creates recovery; it makes perfect psychological sense.
I have come to the conclusion that The Linden Method is soundly based in solid psychological understanding. It promotes emotional balance, the development of new memories of once feared situations, empowers the sufferer to step out with courage, to attempt new challenges and the program is written in easily understandable language; it is also very easy to do.
The Linden Method has helped very many people and is an easy to understand program with clear explanations of the processes taking place within your mind and body as anxiety disorder retreats. The Linden Method program is backed up by a support network of qualified anxiety specialists, psychologists and counselors, who can simply explain and reassure you about the thoughts, feelings and emotions you are experiencing.

The idea that anxiety disorder is simply "nerves" is no explanation at all and will never satisfy or settle your doubts or anxieties. Similarly, the idea that anxiety is something you have to 'learn to live with' or that it is a condition that you can never be free from is simply not true. The Linden Method provides a correct psychological explanation of your condition, reassurance and clear, structured guidance and is definitely a program for recovery - one that will help you create new emotional memories to replace the anxious ones - and, in addition, The Linden Method provides a blueprint for leading an emotionally fulfilled life.
The Linden Method recognizes and addresses the fact that there are no bears waiting to attack you, but rather only negative memories of fear that cause and perpetuate your anxiety condition.
The Linden Method shows you how to change those negative, anxious memories into happy and emotionally fulfilling ones.

I recommend the Linden Method wholeheartedly. It has worked for countless others and it can work for you as well.

Finally, there are many out there who would exploit those suffering from anxiety. I am glad to say that the Linden Method will give you your money back if you do not improve.
I believe that Charles is going a very long way to shutting down the exploitation of sufferers in this guarantee; his experiences at the hand of anxiety disorder for over 20 years, his 12 years of practice helping sufferers to recover, his qualified staff and his and his organization's reputations are testament to the level of respect gained through constantly high results and many thousands of success stories. Lastly his willingness to join a consortium that will include academics and other therapies (such as those lead by Dr. David Mickel) displays an openness to have his Method ruthlessly tested and should be reassuring to those who doubt the efficiency of the Linden Method.
In other words you have nothing to lose by trying this psychologically supported recovery programme but you certainly have everything to gain. "
Dr. Francis Teeney
Research Fellow Queen's University, Belfast.

 

"As a Psychologist that has been treating anxiety and depression for over 25 years, I can espouse the effectiveness of the Linden Method.
For those of you that have suffered from either anxiety or depression, you know that the medication only serves to numb one's experience of the real world. You also know that "talk therapy" cannot give you the tranquility that you desperately need. You have most likely spent thousands of dollars of health insurance money and money of your own to find peace of mind.
The Linden Method gives you all the tools you need to eliminate your anxiety in a simple and fast 'step by step' format. The beauty of this Method is that you are the master of your own destiny. You monitor your own progress but receive qualified, unlimited support to insure progress. Unlike other programs, the Linden Method give you one year of ongoing support from a professional like me to help you should you need it.
Mr. Linden is so confident in it's efficacy that he is willing to give you a one year guarantee or he will refund your money. Read the testimonials and give the Linden Method a trial and you will experience fast recovery yourself.
I have been trained by the very best in the fields of Psychology and Psychiatry as you can see by my credentials, and I endorse the Linden Method with highest regard. The Linden Method will give you all that you need.
Haven't you suffered enough?
The cure is at your disposal. Why wait?"
Dr Romulo Valdez Jr., Ph.D.

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Anxiety & Professionals

http://www.psychologytoday.com

Published on January 14, 2014 by Barbara Markway, Ph.D. in Shyness Is Nice

As a psychologist, I am frequently inspired by the resiliency people display in everyday life. Through the Internet and the power of social networking, I have met amazing women whose stories need to be told. Read their success stories and be inspired. I've written full-length posts about each them before. Here I'm sharing their success strategy with a link to their full story.

1. Accept Yourself: Celia

• “You’re doing great work, but you’ve got to come out of your shell.”  
• “Have you always been this quiet?”
• "You need to ask yourself, What would Queen Latifah do?"

Celia had heard it all before (well, maybe not the Queen Latifah line). Teachers made her feel that her quiet temperament was a weakness. And she believed it. At least for awhile…

Celia learned that self-acceptance was the first step in overcoming her anxiety. “The more I convinced myself that being quiet is the same as being weird, the more quiet I became,” she said.
She also learned that shyness had its strengths.
“The real revelation for me is that being shy isn’t even necessarily a social handicap. Shy people have a great gift: their gut about whom to trust. It comes from years of observing people and a deep fear of being burned, and it pulls us away from the frigid, hateful and fake.”
"Being shy is, if not a virtue, at least a blessing: it’s a heightened social sense, an intuitive risk aversion that keeps us far from broken bones and broken hearts."
Read Celia’s story: I'm Shy and I'm OK.

For more on this story click on http://www.psychologytoday.com