Depression, Anxiety, Stress, and Irritability

Do you feel that recently you have developed a shorter temper?  

Do you become overly angry when someone cuts you off in traffic?

Are you grumpy for no reason?

Is it difficult to NOT take things personally at home, at work, at the grocery store, or with friends?

Do you frequently become impatient while standing in lines at the post office, cafe, or movie theater?

These are all examples of irritability.  

Irritability can be a symptom of depression or anxiety (and also of stress, lack of sleep, being really busy, and many other situations and conditions, so please don't try to diagnose yourself with depression or anxiety).

When we become irritable, we tend to say and do things that we may later regret.  Maybe not big things, but smaller things that impact our jobs, our marriages, our kids, our neighbors, our friends, and our larger communities.

If you suspect that your irritability may be a symptom of something else, perhaps it's time to get some professional help.  A good place to start is with your primary medical provider, or a counselor or psychotherapist.  These professionals can provide screening for depression and anxiety, and they can also treat these health condition so that you begin to feel better and not so grumpy.

You don't have to suffer with irritability.  

Be nice to yourself and get some help.

To your best health,

Teresa

Teresa Heald, LCSW

Test Anxiety

Are you a student?  Are final exams (sometimes called EOC's, or end of course exams) fast approaching?  Do you struggle with nervousness over taking tests?  

You might have test anxiety.

It's a thing.

It's not a mental disorder per se, but it is very real.  And the fall-out is real too:  individuals with test anxiety perform worse than their actual potential, and it can impact long-term quality of life.*

So, how do you "fix" it?

There are so many strategies to help you reduce text anxiety.  Here are a few general tips.

1.  It starts with good preparation the week or day before:  being well-prepared for a test will help you to feel more in control, and feeling more in control of a situation reduces the anxiety you will feel.  So, review your homework assignments, re-read or skim specific chapters, make flash cards (Quizlet.com allows you to make your own flash cards on your smart phone!) and complete the study guide given out by your instructor.

2.  Get a good night's sleep the night before your exam.  Here are some tips.

3.  On the day of the exam, try to eat a healthy breakfast, make sure you arrive at the test site early, and take deep breaths to lower your anxiety.  When anxious, humans take small, shallow breaths.  You want to breathe deeply, as if you were inhaling the aroma of a beautiful rose.

4.  Continue to breathe deeply during the test.  This will help you to think more clearly, and thus, perform better.

Bonne chance!

Teresa

Teresa Heald, LCSW

* Zwettler, C., Reiss, N., Rohrmann, S., Warnecke, I., Luka-Krausgrill, U., & van Dick, R. (2018). The relation between social identity and test anxiety in university students. Health psychology open, 5(2), 2055102918785415. https://doi.org/10.1177/2055102918785415  Retrieved on 04/20/2022 from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6069033/

ADHD Treatment Options

Contrary to what you might have heard on social media, ADHD treatment is not solely limited to taking prescription medication.  Medication is just ONE way of treating ADHD in children, teens, and adults.  

Here's another way of looking at it:  if you have a toolbox and all it contains is a hammer, you would be missing out on all the other wonderful things you could build if you had a full toolbox with various other tools inside it.

Medication is just ONE tool.  It's a good one, but it's not the only one!

If you or some you love has been diagnosed with ADHD, please consult with a counselor or psychotherapist to discuss treatment options.  Medication is just one tool in the toolbox of helping individuals with ADHD to thrive. 

Be well!

Teresa

Teresa Heald, LCSW