I’m looking for some meditation or stress and anxiety self help for a teenager. Does anyone have any good links they’d like to share?
A DVD I could buy her maybe?
Thanks in advance.
Have I got a book list for you! I’ve read most of these myself, and they are quite good at addressing anxiety.
Self-Coaching: How to Heal Anxiety and Depression – Dr. Joseph J. Luciani, Ph.D.
The Power of Self-Coaching – Dr. Joseph J. Luciani, Ph.D.
From Panic to Power - Lucinda Bassett
The Feeling Good Handbook – Dr. David D. Burns, M.D.
Anxiety and Phobia Workbook – Edmund J. Bourne
Coping with Anxiety: Ten Simple Ways to Relieve Anxiety, Fear, and Worry - Edmund J. Bourne, Lorna Garano
Power over Panic - Bronwyn Fox
Hope and Help for Your Nerves - Dr. Claire Weeks
Worry – Edward M. Hallowell
Most of these authors also have websites that they can visit:
www.stresscenter.com - Lucinda’s site
www.panicattacks.com.au - Bronwyn’s site
Lucinda Bassett also has a self-help program that you can buy. It’s spendy, but quite good - I’ve gone through the program myself.
I wish I had better advice than the standard, but medical care (by a competent GP, internist, even a headshrinker or maybe a support group) is really the sine qua non. I’ve had a few years ago crippling anxiety, and drugs worked for me, as well as my own care (which consisted of diet, exercise, and some mental juju I tried to [a] remember and ** work on myself).
I had anxiety issues at a younger age, for a period of time, and while I sought help at a campus med facility when in grad school, I basically had to self-medicate and use a combination of those legally available drugs and some mental juju. Not satisfactory, but steady work “cured” my in that case, although the underlying problem was (one might guess) not addressed, and I fell back on home remedies, friends, and lovers, one of whom became a long-term (seven years) partner.
I don’t think a website is going to do it – this needs some face time with an interventionist, IME and IMO.
ETA I didn’t see Cat’s post. I like the (current) Dalai Lama’s book on anxiety, and Stop Running Scared – when I was younger, as your friend, I felt much delighted by reading Hui Neng’s sutra and Chuang Tzu’s writings, but that’s not really medical information. Just what made me feel on a path somewhere. Now, it’s all legs – walk it out. That and music. Not helpful for everyone, but it worked for me.
Thank you thank you for the list Cat!
@Jaledin - she has seen her GP and is prescribed a low dosage anti-anxiety, plus something for her nausea (something like tagamet). It worked well for a while, but just isn’t cutting it lately. I plan to take her back in to see if they think she can up the dosage, but I want to try some self help things also.
The troubling part is the anxiety happens when she is in what should be her comfort zone, and not just in stressful situations.
Thanks so much for your ideas, both of you.
It can occur at anytime and in my experience stressful situations are actually better handled as you steel yourself. The meds are just a crutch and eventually you just have to defeat it yourself and trust me it does get better.
A bit of reassurance and understanding also helps because when you are suffering from anxiety, in clear moments you feel guilty for being so weak and you feel useless. It’s a horrible thing, you now fear what you once loved. it gets better, slowly, but you need to tell her it gets better.
I have nighttime panic attacks and general anxiety (I’m in therapy and have a prescription for Zoloft and Hydroxizine that barely takes the edge off). What works for me is to listen to steady chanting. This especially: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqcWl6VAB_M&feature=related
The Mayo Clinic released a great CD in 2002 called The Mind/Body Approach to Stress Management. I believe they have released some similar material since then, and they have a lot of information on stress management techniques on their web site as well.
Thank you everyone!
I do reassure her best I can, and always remind her that it will pass when she’s having an attack.
@AK84 - Yes! I do tell her it will get better, that there are ways to fight it. This runs in the family, my sister and father both have suffered with it their whole lives. My father is fine, but my sister is not.
I ordered the mp3’s from Bronwyn Fox that Cat recommended and am putting them on her iPod right now.
@Sudden Kestrel - I’m checking the Mayo site out now, thank you!
@Rushgeekgirl - Thank you! I’ll send her that link.
It’s distressing to me to see her unable to do the things she loves to do because of this. Or having to fight the anxiety so hard to do them.
Again, thank you everyone for your ideas, tips, and advice. It’s greatly appreciated.
Moodgym: A free self help program to teach cognitive behaviour therapy skills to people vulnerable to depression and anxiety.
http://moodgym.anu.edu.au/welcome
Ecouch: e-couch provides information about emotional problems - what causes them, how to prevent them and how to treat them. It includes exercises to help you understand yourself and others better. Even better, it provides you with a set of strategies that might help you to improve your life.
Perhaps you are feeling anxious or depressed. You may be upset by a divorce or separation or a recent loss of someone close. If so, e-couch may help you work through your feelings.
http://ecouch.anu.edu.au/welcome
Something on this site might be helpful: http://www.youthbeyondblue.com/
Checking those sites out now madrabbitwoman, thank you!
Not everyone is with me on this, but I find Andrew Johnson’s iPhone apps to be AMAZING for getting me calmed down (and asleep, if need be.) He has a couple that are anxiety-specific. He has a couple free apps, so it might be worth downloading and seeing if they work for you.
Self-help can be very effective for panic attacks- often if you can recognize what is going on, you can get enough distance on it to deal with it. I get full-on physical panic attacks, but I have learned to completely defuse the psychological aspect. So while now and then my heart races for no reason, it doesn’t really affect my life.
Youtube has fantastic guided meditations. A few I like:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jyy0ra2WcQQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6civGWY1f2s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoM57Z8dRUY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Oj1hEiDgf0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFvelHlN9Rw
Just check the comments and rating first to make sure it isn’t a screamer! Also, I kinda like to watch massage instructional videos. They’re very relaxing.
The internet is such a fantastic place 
Thanks for those links even sven and rachelellogram!