He knows it’s all in his head.

Everyday is a battle with paranoid schizophrenia. things are going well for Sebring now. For three years, he has held down a full time job and paid for his own apartment. It took him more than 30 years struggling with drug abuse and homelessness, though, to get the upper hand on his mental illness.

Mental illness ranks third after substance abuse and lack of affordable housing on the list of the most commonly cited causes of homelessness. between 20 and 25 percent of the homeless population in the United States suffer from some form of severe mental illness, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The percentage nearly doubles if lesser illnesses like clinical depression and anxiety disorders are taken into account.

When it comes to beating homelessness, it’s these people who often struggle most, said Neil Donovan, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless. many turn to illegal drugs as a means to self medicate.

“Pulling out of homelessness is hard,” Donovan said. “Mental illness makes it exponentially harder.”

But there is hope. Sebring is proof of that.

Sebring, a short, stout man who keeps his cinnamon-colored facial hair trimmed in a neat goatee, smoked his first marijuana joint in the fourth grade.

His grandmother, who raised him, was a chain smoker. one summer evening, he snuck a cigarette from her stash and took it behind the chicken coop. he lit. he inhaled. And he gagged. The smoke burned his lungs. It tasted terrible. That might have been the end of it, but, just then, his uncle came lumbering through the bushes. Watching Sebring hacking and hacking, the uncle shook his head.

“Don’t smoke cigarettes,” he said. “I’ve got something better.”

The following decades were a drug-induced blur. Sebring became a drug dealer. he got kicked out of one school and failed most of his classes in the next. he isn’t sure when he started experiencing symptoms of schizophrenia. It was hard to tell the drug hallucinations from the schizophrenic ones. he couldn’t sleep because the voices in his head were too loud. he self medicated by doing more drugs.

“The voices were relentless,” he said.

“Leave the state,” the voices told him. “You’re an alien.” “The FBI is tracking you.”

However, a problem can arise when nervousness occurs and there may not be an associated primary trigger. Some people can feel nervous for no reason at all. These people, unfortunately, can experience episodes where they feel extremely nervous — and this can occur without any particular reason. These symptoms fall under a condition called anxiety.

The person who feels anxious will find that their heart pounds faster than normal, their chest feels tight, they breathe rapidly, they feel that they cannot get a deep enough breath, their hands will tremble, they do not think properly, they worry continuously and these thoughts cause them to be pre-occupied to the point that it may even interfere with their daily life. when this occurs, it becomes a true anxiety disorder.

Anxiety disorders are very common. it has been estimated that more than 25 million Americans suffer from anxiety disorder. the main kind of anxiety disorders include panic disorder, phobias (fears), social anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder.

These anxiety disorders can start in a person because of the lack of the body’s own defense to prevent anxiety. the body produces chemicals that prevent anxiety. Some people can inherit a lack of these chemicals. thus, it can be said that some anxiety disorders come from genetic causes. Also, environmental situations can cause anxiety. Stress, hard work and lack of sleep can lead to anxiety.

If a person believes he or she could be suffering from an anxiety disorder, talk it over with a doctor. there are many treatments available that help with this condition.

The first thing people should examine when they feel excessively nervous or anxious is what they are doing. If they are working long hours without rest periods, they should try to curtail that. If they are drinking a lot of caffeine containing drinks, they should try to reduce that. If they are not getting a good night’s sleep, they should try to correct that. If they are doing everything right and they still have these episodes of anxiety, then it is time to see a doctor.

Dr. Gordon J. Rafool is a specialist in family practice and geriatrics at Gessler Clinic in Winter Haven.

There are totally different kinds of anxiety disorders that folks can get.

Panic disorders are episodes of anxiety that hit frequently and generally without a warning. among the symptoms are shortness of breath, dizziness, chest pain, heart palpitations, fear of dying and stomach distress. One other type of anxiety disorder is post traumatic stress disorder. this disorder gives you symptoms that occur after an upsetting event just like natural disasters, crashes, assault, child abuse, warfare, feelings, nightmares depression, anger, and flashbacks to point out a few. Obsessive compulsive disorder are compulsive behaviors that you cannot control and have trouble stopping.

Phobias are another kind of anxiety. there are 2 types of phobias, social phobia and specific phobia. Individuals who have social phobia have fear of embarrassment, humiliation, scrutiny, causing them to stay away from social situations and miss out on other significant activities in their own life. Specific phobia is where you experience a fear of things that pose no danger to you. this will cause an individual to avoid particular objects and conditions. this may restrict peoples lives in many ways. another type of anxiety disorder is generalized anxiety disorder. this is when you have persistent thoughts of fear and stress about your day by day routines, life events and other activities. Even though there is no reason to anticipate it, you almost will always think the most horrible. The bodily symptoms are exhaustion, tension, queasiness, headache, and trembling.

There are specific methods that will be able to treat anxiety disorders. An anxiety checklistcan come in handy.

Treatments for anxiety problems are medications, and psychotherapy. These things may be combined together to help people with their anxiety. there are more drugs than there has ever been before to help treat anxiety disorders. some of these drugs are referred to as antidepressants. If one drug isn’t effective when it’s tried than others could be, try to see if they are going to be effective. new medicines are currently under development to help treat anxiety.

2 effective types of psychotherapy utilized in treating anxiety disorders are behavioral therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. Behavioral therapy focuses on changing specific actions and makes use of some methods to stop undesirable behaviors from happening. Besides the behavioral therapy techniques, cognitive behavioral therapy will educate patients how to understand and change their thinking so that they could act in a different way to the conditions that bring about anxiety to them. Panic Awayis an online program to cure panic attacks. For some individuals this may be a good alternative.

Stop Panic Attacks the easy way.

Share and enjoy: