Tag Archives: stress

What frightens you this halloween?

Kids love to be scary, and be scared, on Halloween. Dressing up as witches, monsters and ghosts; helping to decorate the front of the house with spider webs; fashioning odd grimaces on pumpkins – all of these allow them to manage their levels of fear. When you are the one in charge of creating the spooky environment, it doesn’t seem so bad after all and when you can control it, you have a feeling of power and satisfaction. Maybe that’s why Americans spend so much money on Halloween, second only … Continue reading

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Slow Down to Reduce Anxiety

Are you in the midst of a fast paced lifestyle, struggling with racing thoughts and sleepless nights? If all consuming fear makes you feel hyper vigilant and like your mind is constantly on red alert, join the crowd. There has been more than a 1000% increase in the diagnosis of anxiety over the past 30 years. Beginning early on, we all experience periods of anxiety, and different issues can cause it to recur periodically throughout our lives.  Think about the separation anxiety when young children start kindergarten, physical and social … Continue reading

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Helping Kids Feel Secure

 The summer got away from us – one morning our grandsons were pitching sand balls into the lake, the next afternoon they were preparing their backpacks for school. Whereas Monday’s blog post focused on kids’ stress that comes from media coverage of trauma, there are lots of other situations that can make kids feel anxious – like the first day of school. Kids respond differently and the impact of any stressor depends on their personality, maturity, and coping mechanisms. Some have trouble explaining how they feel so it’s not always … Continue reading

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Reaching Out

In America, we’ve received another blow to the gut as we are reminded of how lives can change in an instant. The horrific shootings in Aurora, Colorado cast a pale over what was meant to be an entertaining evening respite. Over the weekend, information flowed in from the media, putting individual faces on the victims and outlining many heroic actions of people attempting to shield others from harm and helping those who were already injured. Ironically, one young woman who was killed, Jessica Ghawi, had earlier survived another shooting at a mall … Continue reading

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