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Wonderful Post by Seth Godin on Anxiety

Holly ScottBy

I read Seth Godin almost every day and love his work.  Today’s message is so spot-on in describing a healthy way to reframe anxiety that I am copying and pasting the entire post.  Enjoy.

reframing thoughts to treat anxiety

Trash talking important work

The self-induced anxiety formula often goes like this: What I’m about to do is important. I’ve never done it quite like this. It’s incredibly crucial, a turning point, a high risk venture, a moment in time I won’t have again. Therefore, I am nervous. And I need to get more nervous, because the importance of the moment warrants it. This is going to fail. I can vividly picture all the ways it won’t work…
On and on.
A common approach to decreasing the unhappy cycle is self talk to minimize how important the upcoming event is. The mantra is: No one will be watching, I’m exaggerating this moment, it’s no big deal, it’s not as important as you think, it doesn’t really matter…
The problem with that approach is that you spend your day trash talking your leverage and impact. By actively diminishing what you’ve accomplished, you make it less likely you’ll see yourself as worthy of even bigger achievements tomorrow.
In fact, it does matter. In fact, this is an important thing you’re about to do, and denigrating it undermines the very reason you’re doing this work in the first place.
Here’s an alternative: It’s okay to be nervous. Instead of fighting that anxiety, dance with it. Welcome it. Relish it. It’s a sign you’re on to something. “Oh good, here comes that itch!” This is important after all.
When we welcome a feeling like this, when we embrace it and actually look forward to it, the feeling doesn’t get louder and more debilitating. It softens, softens to the point where we can work with it.
Use your fear like fuel.
Try reading some of Seth’s other blog posts, he has some fantastic ideas.

Just Discovered Alana Karsch on Upworthy.com

Holly ScottBy

As I was doing my evening internet browsing, I read some posts on Upworthy.com and tweets by Alana Karsch.  Liked them so much, I wanted to share her information here:

Google+
Facebook

upworthy.com

Alana Karsch
 By day I’m a transformative photographer and art therapist. At night, I sleuth the web for outrageously important stuff. I want you to be happier, smarter, healthier, and more generous. Also, I want to paint the world with watercolors and glitter. Share all this important goodness with me on Facebook and Twitter.- Alana Karsch

I love her goals and the approach she uses to try to achieve them.  Take a look.  You may also like them.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in Children.

Holly ScottBy

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) in children can be difficult to diagnose.  Parents often confuse developmentally-appropriate rigid behaviors with OCD behaviors.  The following table (adapted from Freeman and Garcia’s Family based Treatment for Young Children with OCD: Therapist Guide, 2009) may be helpful for parents in differentiating OCD from developmentally appropriate routines.

Photo Courtesy of D. Sharon Pruitt

Photo Courtesy of D. Sharon Pruitt

DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE BEHAVIORS
Age 1 to 2:  Strong preference for rigid routines around home rituals.  Very aware and can get upset about imperfections in toys and or clothes.

Age 3 to 5:  Repeat same play activity over and over again.

Age 5 to 6:  Keenly aware of the rules of games and other activities and may get upset if rules are altered or broken.

Age 6 to 11:  Engage in superstitious behavior to prevent bad things from happening and may show increased interest in acquiring a collect of objects.

Age 12+  Become easily absorbed in particular activities enjoyed (e.g., video games) or with particualr people (e.g., pop stars); may also show superstitious behavior in relation to making good things happen.  (e.g., performance in sports).