NEW YORK - As a motivational speaker and executive coach, Caroline Adams Miller knows a few things about using mental exercises to achieve goals. But last year, one exercise she was asked to try took her by surprise..........
Bev's Story
I remember as a child being constantly scared of nuclear war. This was in the late 70s and 80s but we lived near a military base so every week the bomb raid sirens would go off and during the school year we would have weekly bomb drills, you know "duck and cover". That was my first real paranoia.
I also lived in constant fear, through out childhood and into my early 20s, of someone coming to get me in my sleep. In my late teens my townhouse I shared with friends was broken into while we were asleep. The guy who broke in ran off, after my boyfriend woke up and pumped his shotgun. We never even saw the guy. Only thing he got was my wallet. Thats when my obsession of locking the doors started. It took me years to stop the lock, unlock, lock, unlock, lock thing. I still catch myself doing it from time to time. I also have a big, scary sounding dog that makes me feel more secure. But, to this day I have really horrid dreams of being chased and not being able to get away.
After the birth of my son a few years ago (my 2nd child) I got a bad strep like infection in my throat. It took from July until early November that year for my fever to go away. I was REALLY sick. During that time my anxiety and panic attacks started. My symptoms were so confusing, I didnt know what was panic, what was a side effect from drugs or what was a part of my actually infection. I had hot flashes, extereme nausea, numbness, insomnia, heart palps, dizziness, extreme thirst, muscle spasms, horrid thoughts, KNOWING I was dying....I could go on and on. Combine all that with feeling like crap from a fever, and its hell.
Finally after all those months my fever went away and I gradually crawled out of my head and back into the real world. I still get scared when I get a sore throat because I really, really dont want to go back there again. Worst thing I have ever felt.
I still deal with daily anxiety (3 1/2 years later) but I usually can handle it. Some days are really bad but I usually only have a bad, bad day a couple times a month or so. Thank goodness the panic attacks dont happen very often, I haven't had one since last August. I hope that they stay away, but you can never tell.
Anyhow, thats a basic overall picture of my story
After Treatment for Mental Illness, Fight for Insurance Often Follows
By SUSAN FREINKEL
Like millions of Americans, Caroline Polk, a freelance editor in Washington, was left deeply unnerved by the Sept. 11 attacks.
She could not sleep and felt tense and nervous all the time. Unable to calm herself, she decided to go for counseling, paying out of her own pocket. After four months, her anxiety had subsided, and she quit.
Ms. Polk did not give the therapy another thought until a few months later, when she decided to switch her health insurance. She applied for an individual plan through a Maryland company, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield. When the application asked about recent medical treatments, she duly noted the counseling, as well as some visits to the doctor for minor back pain.
To her surprise, CareFirst initially turned her down, saying that while neither the anxiety nor the back trouble alone disqualified her, together they tipped the scales against her. Ms. Polk, 38, appealed the decision, and eventually the company agreed to issue her health insurance.
''I'm very healthy,'' she said. ''I don't have any chronic conditions. I don't smoke. I exercise regularly. I'm actually a very good health risk.''
Alcohol Awareness Month (AAM) is an annual observance that encourages the public at large and local communities to focus on alcoholism and alcohol-related issues. AAM began as a way to inform the American public that alcoholism is a treatable disease, not a moral weakness, and that people who are addicted to alcohol can and do recover.
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) defines alcoholism (or alcohol dependence) as a chronic disease with four symptoms:
SIMON SASSOON saw the future in a dream. Mr. Sassoon, a former watch designer, dreamed he was standing in a women’s public restroom, which his hygiene-conscious girlfriend had just left. Attached to the door above the knob was a white plastic box.
A new product for the germaphobe: the HYSO, which disinfects public restroom door handles.
As Mr. Sassoon’s dream self watched, the box made a gushing sound. Out from the bottom sprayed a fine dry mist, which bathed the metal knob and killed every germ on it...............