Jump to content



Photo

Understandingf Anxiety


  • Please log in to reply
19 replies to this topic

#1 fishinghat

fishinghat

    Site Partners

  • Active Members
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 13,869 posts
  • LocationMissouri

Posted 22 September 2014 - 03:42 PM

As many of you already know my Master's Degree was in Biology with a particular focus on physiology. What most of yoou don't know is that my Thesis research was a comparison of the stress mecanism in humans to fish. In 2009 I took part of my research (dealing with humans) and 2 professors and I updated the information. Over the last month I have updated it again. The paper is a little long and a lot 'heady' (lol) but I think it will answer many questions for everyone on how anxiety affects us. I have highlighted what I feel are pertinant parts  of the document. If you have any questions please feel free to ask.

 

[attachment=54:Anxiety II.doc]


#2 FiveNotions

FiveNotions

    God-like

  • Active Members
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 3,686 posts
  • LocationUS, East Coast
  • why_joining:
    I want my life back!

Posted 22 September 2014 - 04:00 PM

Thank you FH !!! The highlighting helps us "non-tech" types a lot ...

 

Once again, it's our "good friends" ... Miss Amygdala and Mr. Hippocampus .... ;)

 

Any chance you could find / figure out how to upload a graphic showing where this charming couple resides in our brains?


#3 fishinghat

fishinghat

    Site Partners

  • Active Members
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 13,869 posts
  • LocationMissouri

Posted 22 September 2014 - 04:08 PM

I should be able to.

 

300px-Constudoverbrain.png

 

Click on it to make it bigger.


#4 FiveNotions

FiveNotions

    God-like

  • Active Members
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 3,686 posts
  • LocationUS, East Coast
  • why_joining:
    I want my life back!

Posted 22 September 2014 - 04:11 PM

Now that is downright amazing! I just clicked on the image, and it took me to the Wiki article ... really helpful to have as I read your article.


#5 Carleeta

Carleeta

    God-like

  • Active Members
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 1,801 posts
  • LocationNew York
  • why_joining:
    Read so many painful stories on here and offering others support while trying to heal myself from cymbalta and other antidepressents.

Posted 22 September 2014 - 04:35 PM

Fishinghat, was unable to download your Anxiety doc. II...darn, darn, darn. I will say I am very impressed with you, my friend. If I can get to my laptop later I will attempt it from there. You have brought back my biology days with the parts of the brain.. lol lol...Disliked, disliked, disliked, bio...lol lol lol...the only part I remember about the brain is the thalamus and how male and female brains look and function differently.. lol lol lol....I'm looking forward to reading your thesis very much.. Thank you...

#6 fishinghat

fishinghat

    Site Partners

  • Active Members
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 13,869 posts
  • LocationMissouri

Posted 22 September 2014 - 05:04 PM

You don't need to be a biologist to know man's and women's brains are different!!  lol

 

This isn't my full thesis, just the section on human anxiety and its physiology. Unless you were having trouble sleeping you wouldn't want to read my whole thesis.  100 pgs!!    lol


#7 Carleeta

Carleeta

    God-like

  • Active Members
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 1,801 posts
  • LocationNew York
  • why_joining:
    Read so many painful stories on here and offering others support while trying to heal myself from cymbalta and other antidepressents.

Posted 22 September 2014 - 06:18 PM

You don't need to be a biologist to know man's and women's brains are different!!  lol
 
This isn't my full thesis, just the section on human anxiety and its physiology. Unless you were having trouble sleeping you wouldn't want to read my whole thesis.  100 pgs!!    lol

ha ha ha ha... and me, I live to read...lol lol

#8 brzghoff

brzghoff

    Like a Family Member

  • Active Members
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 859 posts
  • Locationjust south of sanity

Posted 22 September 2014 - 10:34 PM

...Unless you were having trouble sleeping you wouldn't want to read my whole thesis.  100 pgs!!    lol

 

and to think i've been taking clonidine to help with that!


#9 BelaLugosisDad

BelaLugosisDad

    Good Friend

  • Active Members
  • PipPipPipPip
  • 134 posts

Posted 23 September 2014 - 04:37 AM

You don't need to be a biologist to know man's and women's brains are different!!  lol

 

This isn't my full thesis, just the section on human anxiety and its physiology. Unless you were having trouble sleeping you wouldn't want to read my whole thesis.  100 pgs!!    lol

 

I for one would love to read the whole thing.


#10 fishinghat

fishinghat

    Site Partners

  • Active Members
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 13,869 posts
  • LocationMissouri

Posted 23 September 2014 - 08:11 AM

Well I guess I will have to show my age. My thesis was typed (required in those days). This was about the time that AT&T cam out with the first(?) personal computer, the TA. Way out of my league on price. It would be another 2 years before I would get a PC (AT&T AX). I have a bound copy so it would be hard to scan (if I had a scanner) and I sure am not retyping it!!!!   lol

 

Well at least I didn't have to use quill and ink like the Pharisees!!


#11 thismoment

thismoment

    God-like

  • Active Members
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 2,514 posts

Posted 23 September 2014 - 10:24 AM

fishinghat

 

I read the part you posted and thoroughly enjoyed it. Scholarly work my friend!


#12 FiveNotions

FiveNotions

    God-like

  • Active Members
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 3,686 posts
  • LocationUS, East Coast
  • why_joining:
    I want my life back!

Posted 23 September 2014 - 07:09 PM

Pertinent to us older forum members...... Study of the use of escitalopram (Lexipro)) .... Found to be effective..... one of the authors works for Abbott labs, the maker of it.

Elevated cortisol in older adults with Generalized Anxiety Disorder is reduced by treatment: a placebo-controlled evaluation of escitalopram
American J of Geriatric Psychiatry, may 2011
http://www.ncbi.nlm....les/PMC3424606/
Full text

Conclusion: Substantial research suggests that chronic overactivation of the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis incurs wear and tear to the brain and body via toxic effects of elevated cortisol levels.1 This mechanism may be particularly relevant to older adults, for several reasons. First, aging is associated with changes to HPA axis function, as indicated by reduced basal cortisol rhythmicity, suggesting that aging reduces homeostatic control in this system.2-5 Second, aging is associated with decreased corticolimbic connectivity, resulting in the functional disruption of large-scale systems involved in cognition and emotion.6, 7 This results in a decreased ability of prefrontal cortex to modulate the HPA axis response to negative emotions. 8, 9 As a result, emotional states such as anxiety might produce more substantial elevation in cortisol in older adults.10, 11 Third, aging increases vulnerability to adverse effects of elevated cortisol, because compensatory mechanisms preventing its deleterious effects are diminished.1 Finally, many of the putative deleterious health outcomes of HPA axis hyperactivity are age-related problems, including Alzheimer's disease, late-life depression, cardiovascular disease, and all-cause functional and cognitive decline and mortality 12-16.
. . .
Older adults with GAD had elevated total and peak cortisol levels – approximately 40-70% higher than an equated non-anxious sample. It remains unknown how GAD is associated with elevated cortisol in older adults. A possible explanation comes from observations that a sense of control appears to modulate the cortisol response to stress,34 given that a sense of loss of control centrally defines GAD. . .

Note: one author received research support from Forest Laboratories (current), Pfizer, Novartis and OrthoMcNeill Neurologics (until 2007). The other author is an employee of Abbott Laboratories.

#13 FiveNotions

FiveNotions

    God-like

  • Active Members
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 3,686 posts
  • LocationUS, East Coast
  • why_joining:
    I want my life back!

Posted 23 September 2014 - 07:17 PM

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Generalized Anxiety Disorder in Older Adults: A Preliminary Report (full text)
Behavioral Therapy, March 2011
http://www.ncbi.nlm....les/PMC3496779/

Abstract excerpt: Some evidence suggests that acceptance-based approaches such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) may be well-suited to geriatric generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). The primary goal of this project was to determine whether ACT was feasible for this population. Seven older primary-care patients with GAD received 12 individual sessions of ACT; another 9 were treated with cognitive-behavioral therapy. No patients dropped out of ACT, and worry and depression improved. Findings suggest that ACT may warrant a large-scale investigation with anxious older adults.

#14 fishinghat

fishinghat

    Site Partners

  • Active Members
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 13,869 posts
  • LocationMissouri

Posted 23 September 2014 - 07:57 PM

Your first paper brings out a good point. We sometimes get so caught up in the adrenaline/anxiety issue we don't stop and realize that the cortisol that the increase adrenaline causes to be released is just as damaging.


#15 FiveNotions

FiveNotions

    God-like

  • Active Members
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 3,686 posts
  • LocationUS, East Coast
  • why_joining:
    I want my life back!

Posted 23 September 2014 - 08:20 PM

Thanks for adding that comment, FH..... I meant to say that in before the citation and link..... Cortisol seems to be pretty important in the anxiety issue.... which then leads me to ask...are there any "natural" ways...supps. Etc....to control the cortisol ?

#16 fishinghat

fishinghat

    Site Partners

  • Active Members
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 13,869 posts
  • LocationMissouri

Posted 24 September 2014 - 07:32 AM

The only thing that I know of is vitamin C (up to 1000 mg a day). The rest is related to to exercise, less stress (duh) and get enough sleep.


#17 thismoment

thismoment

    God-like

  • Active Members
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 2,514 posts

Posted 24 September 2014 - 10:28 AM

NOTE-- Reposted under Stress And Re-Training the Default Mind State.

 

 

The release of the adrenal-based hormone cortisol is behaviour-related. Therefore the only relevant 'control' is behaviour-based. To manage stress and the subsequent flood of cortisol we must alter how we react to stimulus-- we need to re-train our brains. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Mindfulness are strategies to re-train the mind.

ACT and Mindfulness represent the most 'natural' management system we can infuse into our minds-- it is literally mind-altering in a physical sense: it will change your brain via the physically malleable nature of your brain that is neuro-plasticity. You will become a different person, able to react in different ways than you would have just months before. How valuable would it be for your road rage to disappear? How would your self-respect blossom if that manipulative friend or relative could no longer control your behaviour, and leave you hating yourself at the end of the day?

Much of our anxiety and depression arises from cognitive dissonance-- behaving contrary to what you believe. We do this all the time, and it's this chaotic and contradictory behaviour that's killing our joy. We fall into those self-destructive mind states automatically because that's how we were trained. You can train your body to perform many remarkable feats, and it becomes the default state to play that piece of music perfectly, sink that basket every time, and remove that brain tumour with perfect precision! Training enables these behaviours.

You can re-train your brain too, and make it react naturally in ways that don't contradict your convictions.

 

Many of us take the antidepressant for a couple of years and effectively go to sleep, emotions buried-- a well-deserved rest, however. At some point we wean off. After 6 months our anxiety and depression creeps back in, and we still can't recognize that nothing's changed-- our same old brain with its same old behaviours and default mind states is right there waiting for us-- right there waiting to sabotage our happiness once again!


#18 FiveNotions

FiveNotions

    God-like

  • Active Members
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 3,686 posts
  • LocationUS, East Coast
  • why_joining:
    I want my life back!

Posted 24 September 2014 - 12:59 PM

More about Miss Amygdala and Mr. Hippocampus, and their close friend, Señor Hippocampus. This first item is more "readable" and includes great graphics and as well as discussions of the neurotransmitter systems (serotonergic, noradrenergic, dopaminergic)
------------------------
Genetic Responses of Cortisol Levels to Daily Life Stressors
Olivier Segers, Masters Thesis
Dept. of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, Maastricht University (2007), 52 pp.
https://doclib.uhass...46/1/segers.pdf
Notes: See especially -- Section 1.3 Stressful life events and Major Depression, beginning p. 15.
Excellent graphics throughout, showing parts of the brain, etc.
-------------------------------
Cross posting these from our "Questions about Clonidine" thread ...

Noradrenergic Dysfunction and the Psychopharmacology of PTSD (full text)
Depression and Anxiety );1-12 (2007)
http://www.researchg...da04321e11e.pdf

Central noradrenergic responsiveness to a clonidine challenge in Generalized Anxiety Disorder: a Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography study.
Journal of Psychopharmacology 26(4):452-60, Sept. 2011
http://www.researchg...omography_study
To view the full article, click the "view" icon on the right side of the page.

#19 FiveNotions

FiveNotions

    God-like

  • Active Members
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 3,686 posts
  • LocationUS, East Coast
  • why_joining:
    I want my life back!

Posted 25 September 2014 - 08:09 AM

Anxiety and Endocrine Disease
Richard C W Hall, MD
Semin Clin Neuropsychiatry. 1999 Apr;4(2):72-83
[Note: the link is to a prepublication copy of the article, which is freely available.]
http://www.drrichard...com/anxiety.htm

I think the first section, "Biochemical Basis of Anxiety," is the most pertinent.


#20 FiveNotions

FiveNotions

    God-like

  • Active Members
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 3,686 posts
  • LocationUS, East Coast
  • why_joining:
    I want my life back!

Posted 25 September 2014 - 08:17 AM

Cortisol article from Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cortisol



0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users