Managing Anxiety: The Basics

Rachel Hagerty, MA, Limited License Psychologist

Rochester Hills, Michigan

[We’re welcoming our local friend and Psychologist, Rachel Hagerty, as our guest blogger on Managing Anxiety, a common condition affecting many of us at some point in our lives.  Rachel will share some useful, self-motivated techniques in managing the symptoms of anxiety.  We’ll be sharing these techniques in a 2-part series.  Take it away, Rachel!]

In our lives we experience a multitude of events; some thrilling, others difficult, life altering and ordinary.  From navigation through life changes, to finding balance between our home and personal life, or maintaining our sense of self while fulfilling many other roles our daily lives can be very challenging and demanding. So if you are finding yourself burning the candle at both ends and feeling like you’re being pulled in too many directions at once, believe me when I say you’re not alone.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health website, anxiety disorders effect 18.1% of the adult US population with the average age of onset at 11 years old.

Consistently dealing with large amount of stress can lead to symptoms of anxiety that could possibly lead to depression-like feelings as well.  It’s a rather slippery slope; one that many people tend to find themselves facing.

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‘Tis the season for high school graduations, and thus that (sometimes dreaded) question for graduates, "What are you gonna do?"  Though college bound, I can still remember that question being pretty awkward for me, because I had no real clue of what my career interests/aspirations were.  I found that a simplistic answer, like “business”, seemed to satisfy most of those that asked, though I barely even had a clue of what a focus in “business” really meant.  If not for a great career counselor at my university helping to identifying my strengths in math/science, and directing me towards potential careers stemming from those interests…you wouldn’t know me as Dr. Hall!

I'm hearing of women losing weight with the HCG injections, and I decided to look into it. While Dr. Sheri Emma, Creator of the Dr. Emma's HCG Protocol claims that this 'crash' diet allows you to loose weight while maintaining muscle, other researcher have shown the HCG injections to be no more beneficial than saline-water/placebo injections for weight loss. The HCG diet plan usually involves severe calorie restriction (500-1500 cal/day), and it's this significant caloric reduction that's likely responsible for the weight loss, rather than the HCG injections themselves. Dr. Emma quotes, "Remember, HCG does not make you loose weight - the diet makes you loose weight!"

Keep in mind, the safest and most healthy way to loose weight is still by moderate calorie restriction & Exercise! :)


http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/hcg-diet-fact-vs-fiction

@drsuzyyhall

Suzanne Hall, MD

Eastside Gynecology Obstetrics

In the recent several years, public health initiatives have been underway to increase public awareness of the prevalence of the HPV (Human Papilloma Virus) among the sexually active population, it’s health consequences of genital warts and cervical cancer, and the recommendations for Gardasil, one the available vaccines effective in the prevention of HPV.  How much do you know/understand about HPV?

Test your knowledge of HPV here, with this simple quiz:

1.  Of sexually transmitted infections, the most common is:

• – HPV (the Human Papilloma Virus)
• – HSV (the Herpes Simplex Virus)
• – HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus)

2.  The HPV virus is spread by:

• Genital contact, most commonly through sex
• Oral-genital contact
• Straight and same-sex partners
• All of the above

3.  The HPV is the cause of most cases of both genital warts, and cervical cancer?

• True
• False

4.  The majority of cases of HPV infection cause no (visible) signs of infection at all, and are cleared by our body’s own immune system?

• True
• False

5.  The HPV is a ‘newly’ discovered virus, linked with genital warts and cervical cancer?

• True
• False

6.  The HPV vaccines are more than 90% effective in preventing genital warts and cervical cancer in femalefemafemifemales vaccinated before their sexual debut?

• True
• False

(See next page for answers...)

Have you had embarrassing episodes of leaking urine? This is actually not uncommon for women. I’d like to simplify the explanation of the 2 most common reasons for urinary incontinence.  We’ll start first with the anatomy…

Imagine the bladder as a ‘balloon’ that holds our urine, located centrally just above the mid pubic bone. (It actually dwells right on top of the lower uterus.)  This balloon has a short ‘straw’ that empties it (the urethra.) The urethra exits the bladder at about a 45 degree angle, in a ‘locked’ angle disallowing  urine’s unexpected release.  For urination to actually occur, a complex neurologic system connects the brain’s signal (which we mentally initiate) to the bladder to ‘command’ urination, with the bladder’s function of ‘contracingt’ to empty the urine, and the urethra ‘relaxing’, to  allow the urine to actually release.

The use of estrogen/progesterone containing Birth Control Pills have long been known to slightly increase one’s risk for Venous Thromboembolic  events (i.e., deep vein blood clots.)  Recent reports have put into question additional increased risk by use of BCPs containing the progesterone, dropserinone (Yasmin, Yaz, Beyaz, and their generics.)  Available studies on this issue are inconsistent,  some studies showing a fractional increased risk, others showing no increased risk.  In comparing risks of VTE, the increased risk from any Birth Control Pill (3-9/10,000) is still significantly less than the increased risk of VTE in pregnancy (5-20/10,000), and the immediate post-delivery time period (40-65/10,000)…  According to the FDA’s advisory committee, the benefits of all contraceptive methods still outweigh the risks.

drsuzyyhall

(See WXYZ's interview with Dr. Suzanne Hall on their recent story on Yaz

at http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/health/mom-warns-birth-control-killed-her-daughter)