What do you know about panic disorder?

National Anxiety and Depression Awareness week begins May 4th and continues through May 10th.

What are the characteristics of Panic Disorder?
• 6 million Americans experience panic. It is more common with women, with the
disorder appearing to be hereditary.
• Characterized by sudden attacks of terror , dread and fear
• Symptoms: Person may experience faintness, dizziness, sweats, pounding heart,
chills, chest pain
• Person feels intense fear of losing control, dying, impending doom

What are some important facts about panic?
• Panic attacks are uncomfortable, but not dangerous. You will not have a heart
attack, you will not die, or you will not go crazy. As soon as you believe
this, you are on the way to recovery.
• You are in control. You may feel out of balance or disoriented, but you can
learn techniques to minimize the effects.
• The panic will pass. Most attacks last just a few minutes, and with the use
of breathing and rational thinking, the attack will pass.
• Many attacks don’t have to happen. You can avoid some attacks with techniques
you can learn, and by staying in the present and believing you can cope with
the effects.

What are some common treatment methods for panic disorder?
• Learning facts about panic disorder and means for coping with panic attacks
• The use of medications (if appropriate) combined with therapy
• Learning skills and techniques for managing and minimizing panic attacks from
a licensed mental health professional.

Are you a road rager?

The weather is getting warmer, and more people are excited about getting out of their houses and go for a wonderful ride and enjoying the sights of spring… but will you find yourself a victim of a “road rager?”

First of all, how would you describe road rage?
• Road rage or road violence is characterized by deliberate or dangerous driving under the influence of anger or frustration, or a violent emotion

Are there different causes for road rage?
• Environmental: Traffic congestion, some other drivers’ dangerous driving behaviors, noise levels, time constraints, and weather conditions such as heat, can cause rage.
• Intuitive response: This is a response to someone else’s careless driving. Typically this happens when we want to get some “retaliation” on the careless driver. Sometimes this e is called an “impulse control response”. It may involve yelling, giving someone a gesture, cutting the driver off, horn blasting, etc.
• Territorial defense: This is an internal response when we feel that we are defending our personal space or our car. Feeling invaded, we act out to defend our self and our emotion race and we become a road rager with some of the techniques we just discussed.

Who are typical road ragers?
• Studies show ragers typically have hostile aggressive thinking patterns (judgmental and critical people)
• People who are quick to anger. (People who tend to be name callers, yellers, those who hit or throw things, people who abuse substances, people who are anxious, etc)
• Drivers who are risk takers. Studies show those who report driving 10-20 miles per hour over the speed limit, who switch lanes rapidly, and those who tailgate are included in this group.)

What are some suggestions if you meet a road rager?
• Never make eye contact. Remember in the wild, you would not look an animal directly in the eye and indicate antagonistic behaviors. This will only intensify their anger
• Get to safety and turn the corner and get away from the abusive driver. If they follow you, never go home—in fact you might want to drive towards a police station.
• Take a deep breath, try to relax yourself, and don’t endanger yourself. Drive the speed limit and think about something pleasant instead of getting caught in impulsive thoughts.

The Power of One

We may represent 5% of the world population, but Americans uses more than a quarter of the world’s natural resources each year. Joining Peoria's WMBD-TV 31's efforts to change the world, one person at a time, we will look at how YOU can make a difference and the POWER OF ONE.

Tell us more about the power of one?
• Creating change seems overwhelming when you look at world problems as a whole
• Breaking down the issues into small “do-able” efforts helps people believe they CAN make a change.
• One person can make a difference in our world. Taking a small step to change the world feeds our feels of compassion, love and understanding.

What are some changes with the POWER OF ONE?
• If each of us lowered our temperatures by one degree during the winter, we would save 230 million barrels of crude oil. (that’s the amount of oil we import from Iraq each year).
• If every newspaper reader recycled their Sunday papers we could help create 212 million pounds of cellulose insulation. (that would insulate over 118,000 houses)
• If each elementary student recycled one soda can it would save almost 25 million cans – which translates to enough aluminum to build 21 Boeing 737 airplanes.
• If every American switched and got just ONE bill online instead of a paper bill, we would save almost 218 million sheets of paper
• If one dimmer switch replaced a switch in the US, it could save enough to light ½ million homes (that’s every home in the state of Arkansas)

*source: Delta SKY magazine

For Your Consideration...

"Let's not limit our challenges, instead, let's challenge our limits!"
Author Unknown

Workplace Taboos...

We spend the greatest part of our week at our job, with some people spending between 40-60 hours per week at their place of employment. But, are there some key things we need to do to maintain our job security?

What are some of American’s most common taboos occurring in the workplace?
SIT DOWN… YOU MAY BE SHOCKED BY THE STATISTICS REPORTED BY CAREER BUILDERS.
• 35% percent of those surveyed have puckered up with a co-worker
• 31 % have tipped the bottle while on the job.
• 42% have fallen asleep at work.
• 21% say they have stolen things at work
• 19 percent of workers who have spread a rumor about a fellow employee.
• 4% have lied about their academic background
• 2% report taking credit for someone else’s work


Career builders reports there are some key things you should NEVER do at work. What are they?
• BLAMING OTHERS. Own up. Take responsibility for your errors even though it is difficult and sometimes embarrassing.
• GETTING COWORKERS INVOLVED IN YOUR PERSONAL PROBLEMS. It is nice to have friendships, but bringing your home problems to work can be distracting and unprofessional. Remember your coworkers are not your therapists, and this type of relationship will only lead to complicated work situations.
• ABUSING OFFICE TECHNOLOGY. Be watchful of using work time for your personal emailing, internet shopping, personal phone calls or watching last night’s episode of that TV show you missed. Trust that eventually this will catch up with you, and your coworkers will most certainly mention it to higher ups.

Are there other things we should see as taboos?
• STEALING IS STEALING. You may think it’s no big deal to take home the storeroom pencils, pens, paper. Staplers, or zip drives but it all adds up, and if you are caught you can guarantee that it will lead to a firing.

• DON’T HIT ON YOUR BOSS. This is a disaster in the making! In fact, dating coworkers generally has poor results. You may think your relationship is a secret, but trust me; your coworkers are more astute than you think.