Changing the Way You Feel About Yourself

May 29th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted in Family Health

There is a huge number of people who now suffer om a variety of anxiety disorders. This is largely a result of the growth in the number of stressors we are exposed to each day. However, there are instances when external forces are not the cause of stress; rather, the primary cause is self-image.

While low self-esteem is most common among adolescent girls, this problem is something that is not limited to these teens. The various stressors inherent in life can make someone easily feel insufficient in one part of their life or another, despite the relative completeness of their lives. Unfortunately, low self-esteem often comes with anxiety.

People who suffer from low self-esteem often seek the approval of other people all the time, which does not always come their way. Without constant affirmation, these individuals become self-destructive, which can further the anxiety they feel.

Improving How You See Yourself

To begin gaining enough self-esteem and pride, change the way you think and see the world. This one is not something that will happen overnight. However, by slowly building your self-esteem daily, you will find that it will be able to strengthen it to the point that you will have eliminated what has been causing your anxiety. Below are some guidelines on how you can begin to improve your esteem.

  • Recognize the reality that no one is truly perfect. If you feel unattractive, stop for a moment to contemplate on how much effort goes into editing and polishing the images that you see on television or on print. These celebrities have armies of stylists whose only job is to ensure that each hair is in place. Some of the images you see are even airbrushed to perfection.
  • Your worth is not measurable by how people see you. In fact, you’ll be surprised at how there are other people out there who try to deal with their own insecurity by putting others down. Those who are indifferent to your plight often are overwhelmed by their own issues that they hardly have any time to mind other people. The business of being happy is something you owe yourself, and not anyone else.
  • List down your traits that you like. There’s no need to short-change yourself or be modest about it; this is a list that’s designed for you to appreciate yourself better. When you’re feeling down, go over this list and look at all the things that make you a great person.
  • Begin seeing yourself in a new light, and consider changing first the things that will cause a visible impact on your life. There are things about ourselves that we don’t like, some of which are within our control, some are not. Focus on things you can change, and work daily to change them. Thinking about the things you cannot change is useless and counterproductive.

The way you see yourself and how you feel has a huge impact of the amount of stress you feel. Once you feel satisfied and content about your life, you will be surprised that you will either be feeling less stressed, or be more capable of the daily stressors that life throws on you. Having a more positive sense of self will help you ensure that you will not succumb to anxiety.

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What You Need to Know About Mammograms

January 26th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted in Family Health

Mammograms aren’t all that much fun so a lot of women put them off and don’t get them on a regular basis. Women, especially those who are over the age of 40, need to educate themselves about the where, why and how often mammograms are needed.

Mammograms are done to look for lumps or other irregularities in the breasts that may go unnoticed otherwise. Mammograms are similar to X-rays. Often, the lumps are tested and turn out not to be dangerous at all. Mammograms are also fairly reliable in detecting cancerous growths. For women, mammograms are essentially their first line of defense when it comes to early detection of breast cancer.

Doctors do not all agree on the age at which you should start getting mammograms. Some doctors think that you should get them at a young age but mammograms are expensive and often women end up getting needless tests due to false positive results. The younger you are, the more likely mammograms are to find something that turns out to be nothing. The testing that happens then can be stressful and expensive.

Most doctors will tell you to start having a mammogram when you hit 40 to establish a base for doctors to compare to future mammograms. This allows doctors to notice small changes in your breasts. After your first mammogram, which should be before you turn 50 at the latest, you should have a yearly mammogram done or at least have one every other year.

There are some women who should get a mammogram at an earlier age. For instance, if you have a family history of breast cancer and your mother, grandmother or other close relatives have had breast cancer, you should get a mammogram earlier. Also, if your doctor detects any lumps in your breasts during a routine physical exam, she might suggest you have a mammogram earlier.

Digital mammograms are a new technology that takes the same pictures as regular mammograms but processes the images faster since the pictures are digital and not on film. While this is a great improvement, it doesn’t mean that you are not getting as good of a mammogram with a regular machine. One benefit of digital mammograms is that the pictures during surgery can be used to make more precise and accurate incisions during surgery.

Mammograms are only part of maintaining good breast health. All women should get regular breast exams from their doctor and do their own breast self-exam each month as well. If you’ve never done a self-exam before and don’t know how, ask your doctor and she will show you how to do it.

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