The Chemistry of Calm

Zusatztext "If you are looking for a natural way of dealing with fear, anxiety, and worry, The Chemistry of Calm is for you. Dr. Henry Emmons offers a blueprint for a happier, healthier, and more fulfilling life that is based in solid science and deep wisdom." -- Larry Dossey, MD, author of Healing Words and The Science of Premonitions Informationen zum Autor Henry Emmons, MD, is a psychiatrist who integrates mind-body and natural therapies, mindfulness and allied Buddhist therapeutics, and psychotherapeutic caring and insight in his clinical work. Dr. Emmons is in demand as a workshop and retreat leader for both healthcare professionals and the general public. Klappentext Emmons presents a holistic, drug-free approach to reducing anxiety and balancing brain chemistry using Western neuroscience combined with Eastern medicine. Leseprobe The Chemistry of Calm 1 The Promise of Tranquility Why Anxiety Hurts, and How You Can Fix It I'M HAVING round two of PTSD. I haven't slept in seven months! Meeting me for the first time, Catherine slumped in her chair with fatigue, yet her body was so tense and restless that she could not stop moving. What bothered her most was the ceaseless movement of her mind, so locked in activity that it allowed her no rest, not even in sleep. I've tried everything I've been told to do, and nothing has worked. I'm afraid I'll never come out of this. Is there any hope for me? Catherine's life had been entirely halted by anxiety. Nine years earlier, she had experienced a similar episode that left her paralyzed by fear. Then, too, she couldn't sleep well for months. She found sleeping medications to be helpful at that time. But now, reeling from her diagnosis of cancer just seven months ago, nothing was helping. She had tried half a dozen medications, yet slept only three to four hours per night. She could not turn off the cascade of fear, and despite trips to a sleep center and several doctors, she had lost any hope of improvement. I know it seems like it will never end, I told her, but this is only temporary. I explained to Catherine that she was actually a very resilient person who normally enjoyed good health. Her fear switch was just locked in the on position right now, and it was keeping her stress hormones so high that she couldn't sleep. We need to find some things to calm that down, and to get you sleeping again, I reassured her. If you can get some sleep, I'm confident that you'll feel a whole lot better within a few days. Then we can look at ways to keep this from happening again. And it was true. This bout with anxiety started when she learned that she had cancer, but the cancer was successfully treated and her prognosis was good. It's entirely normal to feel scared when one gets such a diagnosis, but for some reason her body and mind were unable to shut down that automatic stress reaction as they should have. And since she couldn't sleep, there was very little chance that they would do so. I told Catherine to take a combination of supplements that I thought would calm her nervous system and help her sleep. I believed this to be the key to turning things around for her. She began using B vitamins, magnesium, and 5-HTP twice daily, along with tryptophan and a melatonin complex at night. Sure enough, within five days she clearly began to feel better. It's amazing, the calming feeling these supplements give me. And the antianxiety medications I used before did nothing! she told me, smiling for the first time since I had met her. Her sleep improved quickly and, as I expected, this allowed her mind to calm and her body to relax. The fear switch became unstuck, her stress hormones could return to normal, and she was abl...

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Henry Emmons, MD, is a psychiatrist who integrates mind-body and natural therapies, mindfulness and allied Buddhist therapeutics, and psychotherapeutic caring and insight in his clinical work. Dr. Emmons is in demand as a workshop and retreat leader for both healthcare professionals and the general public.

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Emmons presents a holistic, drug-free approach to reducing anxiety and balancing brain chemistry using Western neuroscience combined with Eastern medicine.

Résumé
Marrying Eastern techniques of meditation with traditional Western solutions of diet and exercise, celebrated psychiatrist Dr. Henry Emmons offers a proven plan to combat anxiety—without medication—that has helped tens of thousands gain inner peace and start enjoying life.

The debilitating effects of anxiety can affect your sense of well-being, health, longevity, productivity, and relationships. In The Chemistry of Calm, Dr. Henry Emmons presents his Resilience Training Program—a groundbreaking regimen designed to relieve anxiety and restore physical and mental strength. This step-by-step plan for mental calmness and emotional wisdom focuses on ways to create resilience as a key to resolving anxiety in everyday life, incorporating the latest science on:

-Diet—you’ve got to eat good food to feel good
-Exercise—it’s proven: moving makes you less anxious
-Nutritional Supplements—boosting your natural anxiety resistance
-Mindfulness—including meditation techniques to calm your body and brain

Using this program, Dr. Emmons has helped countless patients reduce their anxiety and reclaim the resilience that is their birthright. Now, with The Chemistry of Calm, you can be anxiety free too!

Échantillon de lecture
The Chemistry of Calm

1

The Promise of Tranquility

Why Anxiety Hurts, and How You Can Fix It

“I’M HAVING round two of PTSD. I haven’t slept in seven months!”

Meeting me for the first time, Catherine slumped in her chair with fatigue, yet her body was so tense and restless that she could not stop moving. What bothered her most was the ceaseless movement of her mind, so locked in activity that it allowed her no rest, not even in sleep. “I’ve tried everything I’ve been told to do, and nothing has worked. I’m afraid I’ll never come out of this. Is there any hope for me?”

Catherine’s life had been entirely halted by anxiety. Nine years earlier, she had experienced a similar episode that left her paralyzed by fear. Then, too, she couldn’t sleep well for months. She found sleeping medications to be helpful at that time. But now, reeling from her diagnosis of cancer just seven months ago, nothing was helping. She had tried half a dozen medications, yet slept only three to four hours per night. She could not turn off the cascade of fear, and despite trips to a sleep center and several doctors, she had lost any hope of improvement.

“I know it seems like it will never end,” I told her, “but this is only temporary.” I explained to Catherine that she was actually a very resilient person who normally enjoyed good health. Her fear switch was just locked in the on position right now, and it was keeping her stress hormones so high that she couldn’t sleep. “We need to find some things to calm that down, and to get you sleeping again,” I reassured her. “If you can get some sleep, I’m confident that you’ll feel a whole lot better within a few days. Then we can look at ways to keep this from happening again.”

And it was true. This bout with anxiety started when she learned that she had cancer, but the cancer was successfully treated and her prognosis was good. It’s entirely normal to feel scared when one gets such a diagnosis, but for some reason her body and mind were unable to shut down that automatic stress reaction as they should have. And since she couldn’t sleep, there was very little chance that they would do so.

I told Catherine to take a combination of supplements that I thought would calm her nervous syst…