Posted on мая 17, 2010 under Video Game Trailers |
Video game trailers are becoming more advanced these days as technology moves and developers find new ways of making the games more engaging. A good example of this is development is God of War 3 on the Playstation 3. The same can be said of xBox 360 games. This is good news if you want to make your own game trailer or indeed any kind of video presentation for the web. You can use these game trailers to inspire ideas for your own trailers as I have.
Here is the process I use to make my own video game trailers.
Step 1:
The first thing that I always do when making a video game trailer is to source good graphics and if it's for a game then its pretty easy. There is always an abundance of high quality desktop wallpapers on the internet. Just make sure that the wallpaper is of high quality to minimise degradation of quality when changing the file format or editing size etc. Most should be ok to use as long as you aren't using them illicitly. If anything you can always make your own if you have the time although I wouldn't recommend it unless you want to do 1 or 2 designs and no more.
Step 2:
Next you may want to source some transparent images. These are images with a see through colourless background which means you can add the image to any other image or background colour without the two clashing. So say you have an image of Kratos with a white background and you want to put him on a black background without the white showing. You will need an image of him with a transparent background and there are two ways to achieve this – one easy one not so easy.
1. The easy way:Go to Google images and type «kratos png» (without the quotes). You will eventually find the right images because most PNGs are typically transparent images.
2. The harder way: Get an image with clean well defined edges that don't blur into white or any other colour then use masking software like Fluidmask. It will extract the image from the background and save it as a png. You can also do this manually yourself in photoshop if you have the patience and time. Use your transparent image in you slideshow software or if you really want to go to town use it to do layering in software such as Adobe Photoshop.
Step 3:
Next I source the right music because the length and mood of the music dictates the structure of the slideshow. You can get royalty free music on the net or if you are lucky enough to have cds like the Uberschall or Bigfishaudio series. In some cases you are going to need the recommended software to extract the sounds if they aren't in WAV format. I use cinema scores for many of my game trailers. It's best to use software that can handle slideshows and music and has good transitions eg Power Director, Magix or Corel Videostudio. I do all sorts of cuts, fades, transitions and keying slide transitions to the music using this software. My Final Fantasy XIII is a good example of this. But you can also use Winows movie maker and other free softwares for basic presentations.
Tips:
If you are like me and don't like narrating then use text to voice software. Liquendo is the best I have found. I have used it for a car advert but any good quality text to voice software should suffice.
Another technique I have found that works well is mixing static slides with video. This is a bit tricky to do because you need to extract precise sections of video files that fit in into your slideshow. If you want to take things even further you can take a still image of that video and present it as a still slide then have it animate from a still.
Some of the above techniques although more involved than a standard video, should result in a nice effective video trailer that you can be proud of and that others can enjoy.
Freegamebundles.com
Posted on Мар 18, 2010 under WordPress Themes |
In choosing a very unique and creating your own designs establishing system built on the basic grounds of MySQL database and PHP programming, that’s what free wordpress themes is all about. This sort of publishing software program is regarded because the very best wordpress becoming utilized currently; it have been recognized and loved by numerous post writer and author’s throughout the several region round the world because of its working plus the smoothness high quality. In addition, a free of charge wordpress subject is as flexible in dynamics and operate simply with almost all of the other techniques for the net, working plus the ability in the software program can additional be enhanced from the different plugins that might be quickly downloaded from the net therefore WP is recognized for its functions that stresses additional for the ease from the people, speed and encounter. In selecting a theme for your website is not easy to find out for the reader’s attraction and pleasing to them to post, 70% of the author or writer usually find those wordpress with a very unique style or graphic as well as backgrounds simplicity. When we say theme it’s all about the detailed background such as the colors you use or the combination of the texture and display, you can even use pictures or graphic images for more detailed and attractive site, some instances they put their own system logo to identify their program easily when surfing in the internet, like for example the Google, a colorful font style but the simplicity and unique designs in the theme is much good to the eyes, not into putting up more colors and identification in the sites. A beneficial title subject is usually also applicable for the internet sites, like as an example the “Yahoo”, individuals can immediately determines the internet site. This is categorized which include: The picture records that incorporate the pictures which are being displayed within the structure from the wordpress style and design, the PHP documents incorporate the full html structure on the pattern and as well incorporate the header, footer along with the side bar records and final however the least the CSS documents incorporate the form.css documents that embrace the full styling from the website or even the style and design. The linked in the header.php that is further included into the index.php file of the design, along with the proper selecting of various designs for your website to change its appearance and attract more client and users, the other image files is used to know well in advance of the design would look in the internet. The significance on the pattern for your web page is really a excellent thought to catch up some viewers and viewers, but you need to ensure that your website give a ideal final result and enable your bloggers to accomplish numerous items for the website you produced and organize like for occasion the wordpress that provide you with an suitable plugin procedure previous to submitting a specific post or prior to blogging too as commenting inside the web sites you’re going to and registering in.
Free WordPress Themes – www.wpmart.net
Posted on Мар 17, 2010 under Wordpress Services |
Develop a considerably greater internet institution with WP companies. WordPress is usually the software program routine behind the web page. There's a sensible excuse for it as well. WordPress could be the most up-to-date software program to merely construct a web site plus a web site without having significantly specialized discover how. An improving range of marketers are discovering that it is often a outstanding application to service them grow a worthwhile group empire and are transforming from Blogger. Besides getting a good communication unit, working a weblog may be a advantageous process to acquire earnings. Need to you be new to blogging and site-building and nonetheless call for to commence swiftly, you can find a lot of organization kinds you will end up capable to effort for biggest leads to some tiny whilst. As we go on I would share to you some techniques on how to possess an web corporation using the use of WP products and services. The first thing to do is to get paid out to weblog. In applying this method, you would develop your website and add one or two excellent content articles to it. Then you definitely undoubtedly signup with paid out operating a weblog networks like Fork out Per Post or Assessment Me and locate out what possibilities are around. These networks are filled with publishers trying to arrive throughout blogger who can aid them spread the phrase, and they're geared up to fork out. Take the possibility, create about it in your web site, and also you get paid out. Subsequent factor to accomplish would be to create AdSense WordPress services info internet sites. This option calls for any touch far more particular facts. You wish to create a WordPress web site on the particular niche subject, and start off composing some excellent written content on it. At precisely the very same time, effort and get links from other facts websites by leaving comment for that data internet sites or by performing a link exchange utilizing the blogger. The target is usually to obtain heavier specific visitors who will credit score using the sale and acquire royalties. At some place, which style you choose on is dependent upon what kind of time and sources you might be ready to dedicate to generating and managing your info web-sites. Your finest shot would be to decide on a low-investment alternative at first. When you've the trick down pat, you're capable to venture into other operating a weblog styles at the same time. Just find out anything you'll be fanatical about and start composing. Splatter in some AdSense adverts immediately after which start composing about linked affiliate promotion products. Employing WordPress services may well be the premier platform to build your empire on and premier of all, it truly is no expense. In case you are not joking about understanding WordPress services and producing funds from the webpage, I truly suggest looking at out WordPress Web2.0. It is an fantastic video tutorial series that walks you thru everything out of your fundamentals of purchasing a domain, setting up world-wide-web hosting, installing WordPress, at the same time as other great world-wide-web marketing strategies. Several and numerous no cost WordPress themes for your personal use that you would be making use of.
WordPress Services – www.wpmart.net
Posted on Мар 12, 2010 under Без рубрики |
Gym bags which are directly connected with fitness has been recently one particular subject through the major worries of individuals all via the globe. It is one particular of the hottest troubles on the community currently. There are lots of individual actions that is the major goal is to maintain themselves match and to have rid of that excess fat. We also need to admit that performing exercises makes us really feel beneficial and appear very good. It's even been noted that an individual in the most frequent New Year's resolution that men and women make is usually to eliminate excess fat and to preserve ourselves being match. In maintaining ourselves fit, we require gym bags which are necessary for preserving the items we need to have while we go to the gymnasium. We might ask ourselves why we demand a health and health and fitness center gymnasium plastic bags when we could just use any other tote as an individual. Accurate, but to notify you being honest the suitable gymnasium bags would offer the usefulness important for persons who are doing work out. The most frequent gymnasium totes are the one wherein people are straightforward in one compartment totes which have adequate space to keep your clothing, shoes, towel and likely water. But presently, we can come throughout considerably of gymnasium plastic bags with specific added characteristics which came to exist through the needs of distinct men and girls. We have arrived to realize that tahere's much more to workouts than maintaining it. Most gymnasium bags that we find out inside of the marketplace differ in expense based on what add-on features it's to supply and on what might be the brand, fashion, material it could be created of and durability. You'll be able to discover considerably of fitness center totes in what color and style you would like it to be that most probably suit your wants and ways of life. Some on the extra functions that we can uncover currently on gym bags contain the sticking with. Most gymnasium bags are equipped with mesh paneling that is normally a substantial compartment to retailer your towel, clothes for physical exercise, make-up tote and other things. You moreover have standalone mesh paneling to retailer your dirty perform out clothes or wet swimsuit. Some gym bags have accessory areas wherever you possibly can preserve your valuables, keys, wallets, PDA, or mobile phone. Others have customized pockets for your water bottle. You will discover also persons which have ventilated side pockets in which you will be capable to retail outlet your smelly cross trainers and socks. Ought to you hold your shoes in ventilated pockets you assistance stay away from having smelly feet. It's also common to obtain mesh string totes connected to health club bags to retail outlet wet outfits and towel. Maybe, making use of the right health and fitness center plastic bags would inspire you to possess causes wherein you would not have any excuse to skip an physical exercise regime.
www.gym-bags.net
Posted on Мар 12, 2010 under Без рубрики |
When paying for for an exercise treadmill you need to expend a little time and function in finding the task system that will carry out extremely very best to suit your requirements. There is no single individual who desires to perform difficult doing exercises with a device that's not generating the ideal outcomes and that is why your picked exercise treadmill has to match your expectations correctly. Which is why a modest investigation preceding for your invest in will get a will need like a educated purchaser is truly a smart purchaser, once you presently know. Providing the right selection depends upon a number of factors, for instance the exercise treadmill type you wish, how a great deal it expenses, what variety of well being and health and fitness regimen are you able to have to use it for and so forth. The initial issues that we will focus on with would be the primary functions of an exercise treadmill. Quite simply, you just have to ask some questions to yourself such as, what can you desire to achieve with it? Do you think you're attempting to place on some muscle, or are using up excess fat your major goal? Which locations on the body are you currently heading to workout the best? Do you would like a complete physique exercise treadmill or one that's focused on leg muscle progress or upper chest improvements? If muscle constructing is your goal, go for a workout device that permits you to do heavy lifting and has much less cardiovascular training included. Burning up fats, in regards to the other hand, demands an exercise treadmill that entails aerobics plus a cardio workout, mixed with elevated repetition quantities and low weights. You will discover also significant benefits that exercise treadmill provides. According to your person needs, you should get info on many versions and cut them as a result of the list whilst you uncover very much a smaller amount compatibility with each other along with your goals. Your final alternative have to be an exercise treadmill which could be the nearest for the outlook and that permits you to accomplish a minimum of 90% with the primary set goals. Undoubtedly, the offering cost from the treadmill may well also arrive into carry out as getting a key debate. Normally make specific to pick a treadmill based on challenging truth and associated particulars, not on an emotive result. Definitely, deciding on the suitable exercise treadmill will depend on far much more features that you will really need to appear at concerning the spot. Examine out the assure length to your system you are obtaining, an outstanding system is ordinarily supported by a healthful and lengthy ensure this really is also demonstrates the suppliers trust in their individual item. Cost is usually essential, but if you could have the possibility to invest a couple of additional bucks to be able to purchase a visibly far better treadmill, attempt generating that additional work, as this will probably be a device that you are going to be making use of regularly and walk your way to be fit with the use of these exercise treadmill.
www.exercise-treadmills.net
Posted on Мар 01, 2010 under Panic Attacks |
The short and obvious answer: panic attacks are caused by high anxiety. But, what exactly is anxiety? Understanding how anxiety crops up will help you defeat panic attacks.
One of the biggest myths surrounding anxiety is that it is harmful and can lead to a number of various life-threatening conditions.
Definition of Anxiety
Anxiety is defined as a state of apprehension or fear resulting from the anticipation of a real or imagined threat, event, or situation. It is one of the most common human emotions experienced by people at some point in their lives.
However, most people who have never experienced a panic attack, or extreme anxiety, fail to realize the terrifying nature of the experience. Extreme dizziness, blurred vision, tingling and feelings of breathlessness—and that’s just the tip of the iceberg!
When these sensations occur and people do not understand why, they feel they have contracted an illness, or a serious mental condition. The threat of losing complete control seems very real and naturally very terrifying.
Fight/Flight Response: One of the root causes of panic attacks?
I am sure most of you have heard of the fight/flight response as an explanation for one of the root causes of panic attacks. Have you made the connection between this response and the unusual sensations you experience during and after a panic attack episode?
Anxiety is a response to a danger or threat. It is so named because all of its effects are aimed toward either fighting or fleeing from the danger. Thus, the sole purpose of anxiety is to protect the individual from harm. This may seem ironic given that you no doubt feel your anxiety is actually causing you great harm…perhaps the most significant of all the causes of panic attacks.
However, the anxiety that the fight/flight response created was vital in the daily survival of our ancient ancestors—when faced with some danger, an automatic response would take over that propelled them to take immediate action such as attack or run. Even in today's hectic world, this is still a necessary mechanism. It comes in useful when you must respond to a real threat within a split second.
Anxiety is a built-in mechanism to protect us from danger. Interestingly, it is a mechanism that protects but does not harm—an important point that will be elaborated upon later.
The Physical Manifestations of a Panic Attack: Other pieces of the puzzle to understand the causes of panic attacks. Nervousness and Chemical Effects…
When confronted with danger, the brain sends signals to a section of the nervous system. It is this system that is responsible for gearing the body up for action and also calms the body down and restores equilibrium. To carry out these two vital functions, the autonomic nervous system has two subsections, the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system.
Although I don't want to become too «scientific,» having a basic understanding of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system will help you understand the causes of panic attacks.
The sympathetic nervous system is the one we tend to know all too much about because it primes our body for action, readies us for the “fight or flight” response, while the parasympathetic nervous system is the one we love dearly as it serves as our restoring system, which returns the body to its normal state.
When either of these systems is activated, they stimulate the whole body, which has an “all or nothing” effect. This explains why when a panic attack occurs, the individual often feels a number of different sensations throughout the body.
The sympathetic system is responsible for releasing the adrenaline from the adrenal glands on the kidneys. These are small glands located just above the kidneys. Less known, however, is that the adrenal glands also release adrenaline, which functions as the body’s chemical messengers to keep the activity going. When a panic attack begins, it does not switch off as easily as it is turned on. There is always a period of what would seem increased or continued anxiety, as these messengers travel throughout the body. Think of them as one of the physiological causes of panic attacks, if you will.
After a period of time, the parasympathetic nervous system gets called into action. Its role is to return the body to normal functioning once the perceived danger is gone. The parasympathetic system is the system we all know and love, because it returns us to a calm relaxed state.
When we engage in a coping strategy that we have learned, for example, a relaxation technique, we are in fact willing the parasympathetic nervous system into action. A good thing to remember is that this system will be brought into action at some stage whether we will it or not. The body cannot continue in an ever-increasing spiral of anxiety. It reaches a point where it simply must kick in, relaxing the body. This is one of the many built-in protection systems our bodies have for survival.
You can do your best with worrying thoughts, keeping the sympathetic nervous system going, but eventually it stops. In time, it becomes a little smarter than us, and realizes that there really is no danger. Our bodies are incredibly intelligent—modern science is always discovering amazing patterns of intelligence that run throughout the cells of our body. Our body seems to have infinite ways of dealing with the most complicated array of functions we take for granted. Rest assured that your body’s primary goal is to keep you alive and well.
Not so convinced?
Try holding your breath for as long as you can. No matter how strong your mental will is, it can never override the will of the body. This is good news—no matter how hard you try to convince yourself that you are gong to die from a panic attack, you won’t. Your body will override that fear and search for a state of balance. There has never been a reported incident of someone dying from a panic attack.
Remember this next time you have a panic attack; he causes of panic attacks cannot do you any physical harm. Your mind may make the sensations continue longer than the body intended, but eventually everything will return to a state of balance. In fact, balance (homeostasis) is what our body continually strives for.
The interference for your body is nothing more than the sensations of doing rigorous exercise. Our body is not alarmed by these symptoms. Why should it be? It knows its own capability. It’s our thinking minds that panic, which overreact and scream in sheer terror! We tend to fear the worst and exaggerate our own sensations. A quickened heart beat becomes a heart attack. An overactive mind seems like a close shave with schizophrenia. Is it our fault? Not really—we are simply diagnosing from poor information.
Cardiovascular Effects Activity in the sympathetic nervous system increases our heartbeat rate, speeds up the blood flow throughout the body, ensures all areas are well supplied with oxygen and that waste products are removed. This happens in order to prime the body for action.
A fascinating feature of the “fight or flight” mechanism is that blood (which is channelled from areas where it is currently not needed by a tightening of the blood vessels) is brought to areas where it is urgently needed.
For example, should there be a physical attack, blood drains from the skin, fingers, and toes so that less blood is lost, and is moved to “active areas” such as the thighs and biceps to help the body prepare for action.
This is why many feel numbness and tingling during a panic attack-often misinterpreted as some serious health risk-such as the precursor to a heart attack. Interestingly, most people who suffer from anxiety often feel they have heart problems. If you are really worried that such is the case with your situation, visit your doctor and have it checked out. At least then you can put your mind at rest.
Respiratory Effects
One of the scariest effects of a panic attack is the fear of suffocating or smothering. It is very common during a panic attack to feel tightness in the chest and throat. I’m sure everyone can relate to some fear of losing control of your breathing. From personal experience, anxiety grows from the fear that your breathing itself would cease and you would be unable to recover. Can a panic attack stop our breathing? No.
A panic attack is associated with an increase in the speed and depth of breathing. This has obvious importance for the defense of the body since the tissues need to get more oxygen to prepare for action. The feelings produced by this increase in breathing, however, can include breathlessness, hyperventilation, sensations of choking or smothering, and even pains or tightness in the chest. The real problem is that these sensations are alien to us, and they feel unnatural.
Having experienced extreme panic attacks myself, I remember that on many occasions, I would have this feeling that I couldn’t trust my body to do the breathing for me, so I would have to manually take over and tell myself when to breathe in and when to breathe out. Of course, this didn’t suit my body’s requirement of oxygen and so the sensations would intensify—along with the anxiety. It was only when I employed the technique I will describe for you later, did I let the body continue doing what it does best—running the whole show.
Importantly, a side-effect of increased breathing, (especially if no actual activity occurs) is that the blood supply to the head is actually decreased. While such a decrease is only a small amount and is not at all dangerous, it produces a variety of unpleasant but harmless symptoms that include dizziness, blurred vision, confusion, sense of unreality, and hot flushes.
Other Physical Effects of Panic Attacks:
Now that we've discussed some of the primary physiological causes of panic attacks, there are a number of other effects that are produced by the activation of the sympathetic nervous system, none of which are in any way harmful.
For example, the pupils widen to let in more light, which may result in blurred vision, or “seeing” stars, etc. There is a decrease in salivation, resulting in dry mouth. There is decreased activity in the digestive system, which often produces nausea, a heavy feeling in the stomach, and even constipation. Finally, many of the muscle groups tense up in preparation for “fight or flight” and this results in subjective feelings of tension, sometimes extending to actual aches and pains, as well as trembling and shaking.
Overall, the fight/flight response results in a general activation of the whole bodily metabolism. Thus, one often feels hot and flushed and, because this process takes a lot of energy, the person generally feels tired and drained.
Mental Manifestations: Are the causes of panic attacks all in my head? is a question many people wonder to themselves.
The goal of the fight/flight response is making the individual aware of the potential danger that may be present. Therefore, when activated, the mental priority is placed upon searching the surroundings for potential threats. In this state one is highly-strung, so to speak. It is very difficult to concentrate on any one activity, as the mind has been trained to seek all potential threats and not to give up until the threat has been identified. As soon as the panic hits, many people look for the quick and easiest exit from their current surroundings, such as by simply leaving the bank queue and walking outside. Sometimes the anxiety can heighten, if we perceive that leaving will cause some sort of social embarrassment.
If you have a panic attack while at the workplace but feel you must press on with whatever task it is you are doing, it is quite understandable that you would find it very hard to concentrate. It is quite common to become agitated and generally restless in such a situation. Many individuals I have worked with who have suffered from panic attacks over the years indicated that artificial light—such as that which comes from computer monitors and televisions screens—can can be one of the causes of panic attacks by triggering them or worsen a panic attack, particularly if the person is feeling tired or run down.
This is worth bearing in mind if you work for long periods of time on a computer. Regular break reminders should be set up on your computer to remind you to get up from the desk and get some fresh air when possible.
In other situations, when during a panic attack an outside threat cannot normally be found, the mind turns inwards and begins to contemplate the possible illness the body or mind could be suffering from. This ranges from thinking it might have been something you ate at lunch, to the possibility of an oncoming cardiac arrest.
The burning question is: Why is the fight/flight response activated during a panic attack even when there is apparently nothing to be frightened of?
Upon closer examination of the causes of panic attacks, it would appear that what we are afraid of are the sensations themselves—we are afraid of the body losing control. These unexpected physical symptoms create the fear or panic that something is terribly wrong. Why do you experience the physical symptoms of the fight/flight response if you are not frightened to begin with? There are many ways these symptoms can manifest themselves, not just through fear.
For example, it may be that you have become generally stressed for some reason in your life, and this stress results in an increase in the production of adrenaline and other chemicals, which from time to time, would produce symptoms….and which you perceive as the causes of panic attacks.
This increased adrenaline can be maintained chemically in the body, even after the stress has long gone. Another possibility is diet, which directly affects our level of stress. Excess caffeine, alcohol, or sugar is known for causing stress in the body, and is believed to be one of the contributing factors of the causes of panic attacks (Chapter 5 gives a full discussion on diet and its importance).
Unresolved emotions are often pointed to as possible trigger of panic attacks, but it is important to point out that eliminating panic attacks from your life does not necessarily mean analyzing your psyche and digging into your subconscious. The “One Move” technique will teach you to deal with the present moment and defuse the attack along with removing the underlying anxiety that sparks the initial anxiety.
Faith is an expert writer on a variety of topics. She
writes and reviews many quality products. Visit her blog
at, http://panicaway-now.blogspot.com/
Causes of Panic Attacks
Posted on Фев 02, 2010 under Stress Management Tips |
Stress affects all students, from graduate level to those in the kindergarten. The term stress refers to the response you have when facing circumstances that force you to act, change or adjust in some way to keep things balanced. It is your body's way of responding to any kind of demand. It can be caused by both good and bad experiences. In the right dose, stress can be healthy or even enjoyable. However, stress can be very damaging for students when it becomes excessive. It can harm students' health, happiness, performance, relationships and personal development. This article will deal with management of negative stress.
Causes Of Stress In Students
Causes of stress in school children include; bullies, a mismatch between student and teacher, concerns about not having enough friends, not in the same class as friends, peer pressure, lack of family time, over scheduling of extra-curricular activities, insufficient sleep, poor diet, lack of preparation, noise pollution among others.
As the students progress to a different level the causes of stress often increase. When students go to college or university, they have to contend with leaving their parents and beginning the process of finding their own identity as adults and their place in the world. The main causes of stress here will therefore include; the new university or college environment, payment of fees, the new relationships formed, the competitive circumstances, exams, lack of proper time management techniques, peer and parental pressure.
How Students Can Manage Stress
Students can manage stress using various techniques. The most important of these are;
- Learning to manage their time wisely. This is done by setting up a study schedule, breaking up studies into smaller chunks. In short, students are advised to formulate, with the help of their teachers and parents, study timetables and adhere to them.
- The student will also need to have a system of organization for note-taking, keeping track of assignments and other important papers.
- Creating a good study environment is also a great tool for stress management. Students have different study habits. While some need a completely quiet room free from interruptions, others actually study better listening to quiet music in the background. A student should pick which is best for him or her.
- Determining the most appropriate learning style: whether the student is a visual, kinesthetic or auditory learner. Tailoring your study practices around your particular learning styles makes success easier to attain and keeps stress at bay.
- Using relaxation techniques like deep breathing, visualization or imagery, progressive muscle relaxation, meditation and yoga. Additionally, being optimistic will help students become healthier, less stressed and more successful.
- Learning how to budget money, spend wisely and pay bills on time, if any, is very important for the student's survival and will lower stress levels.
- Lastly, students must take care of their bodies and minds by getting proper nutrition, getting some form of physical exercise and getting enough sleep. Seven hours of sleep each night is recommended for optimum body and brain function. Naps, not exceeding one hour, should also be taken when needed.
Following these tips will help you greatly to reduce the stress and it might even help to improve your performance on exams.
If you are interested in this topic you should read the extensive guide to stress management for students on the web site that is dedicated to stress management.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Luka_Malgaj
http://EzineArticles.com/?Top-7-Stress-Management-Tips-For-Students&id=2832207
Posted on Янв 31, 2010 under Panic Attacks |
By dwelling on the thoughts of a panic attack, patients inadvertently worsen their own situation. With no warning, a patient could suddenly develop a crisis. Shortness of breath and hyperventilation are sudden. You feel this choking and increase in heart beats. There is also slipping in your hands as you sweat through them, and rapid pulsing. You find yourself being inexplicably tremulous and frozen in horror. You find yourself virtually motionless. Panic attack symptoms do not get any more classic. A panic attacks can also be suspected if you suddenly cannot see very clearly and experience itchy sensations and nausea. Basically, you are so inexplicably frightened that you loose all sense of thought or motion. You do not need anything to incite a panic attack. The primary instance is one that leaves the sufferer thinking they just survived a near death experience. Lasting sometimes as long as ten minutes, panic attacks have been known to come in waves. These symptoms occurring repeatedly suggest that the person has a panic disorder. Although the disorder can be treated, victims are advised to stay faithful to their treatment. At the onset, doctors will normally address the attack with diazepam and lorazepam amongst others. Other patients will probably have antidepressants on their prescription. But of course, panic attacks can be cured. Lastly, it should be noted that anxiety panic attacks are not psychological in nature, but are often as a result of circumstances the victim has no control over.
http://www.medicinenet.com/panic_disorder/article.htm
Posted on Янв 30, 2010 under Panic Attacks |
The short and obvious answer: panic attacks are caused by high anxiety. But, what exactly is anxiety? Understanding how anxiety crops up will help you defeat panic attacks.
One of the biggest myths surrounding anxiety is that it is harmful and can lead to a number of various life-threatening conditions.
Definition of Anxiety
Anxiety is defined as a state of apprehension or fear resulting from the anticipation of a real or imagined threat, event, or situation. It is one of the most common human emotions experienced by people at some point in their lives.
However, most people who have never experienced a panic attack, or extreme anxiety, fail to realize the terrifying nature of the experience. Extreme dizziness, blurred vision, tingling and feelings of breathlessness—and that’s just the tip of the iceberg!
When these sensations occur and people do not understand why, they feel they have contracted an illness, or a serious mental condition. The threat of losing complete control seems very real and naturally very terrifying.
Fight/Flight Response: One of the root causes of panic attacks?
I am sure most of you have heard of the fight/flight response as an explanation for one of the root causes of panic attacks. Have you made the connection between this response and the unusual sensations you experience during and after a panic attack episode?
Anxiety is a response to a danger or threat. It is so named because all of its effects are aimed toward either fighting or fleeing from the danger. Thus, the sole purpose of anxiety is to protect the individual from harm. This may seem ironic given that you no doubt feel your anxiety is actually causing you great harm…perhaps the most significant of all the causes of panic attacks.
However, the anxiety that the fight/flight response created was vital in the daily survival of our ancient ancestors—when faced with some danger, an automatic response would take over that propelled them to take immediate action such as attack or run. Even in today's hectic world, this is still a necessary mechanism. It comes in useful when you must respond to a real threat within a split second.
Anxiety is a built-in mechanism to protect us from danger. Interestingly, it is a mechanism that protects but does not harm—an important point that will be elaborated upon later.
The Physical Manifestations of a Panic Attack: Other pieces of the puzzle to understand the causes of panic attacks. Nervousness and Chemical Effects…
When confronted with danger, the brain sends signals to a section of the nervous system. It is this system that is responsible for gearing the body up for action and also calms the body down and restores equilibrium. To carry out these two vital functions, the autonomic nervous system has two subsections, the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system.
Although I don't want to become too «scientific,» having a basic understanding of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system will help you understand the causes of panic attacks.
The sympathetic nervous system is the one we tend to know all too much about because it primes our body for action, readies us for the “fight or flight” response, while the parasympathetic nervous system is the one we love dearly as it serves as our restoring system, which returns the body to its normal state.
When either of these systems is activated, they stimulate the whole body, which has an “all or nothing” effect. This explains why when a panic attack occurs, the individual often feels a number of different sensations throughout the body.
The sympathetic system is responsible for releasing the adrenaline from the adrenal glands on the kidneys. These are small glands located just above the kidneys. Less known, however, is that the adrenal glands also release adrenaline, which functions as the body’s chemical messengers to keep the activity going. When a panic attack begins, it does not switch off as easily as it is turned on. There is always a period of what would seem increased or continued anxiety, as these messengers travel throughout the body. Think of them as one of the physiological causes of panic attacks, if you will.
After a period of time, the parasympathetic nervous system gets called into action. Its role is to return the body to normal functioning once the perceived danger is gone. The parasympathetic system is the system we all know and love, because it returns us to a calm relaxed state.
When we engage in a coping strategy that we have learned, for example, a relaxation technique, we are in fact willing the parasympathetic nervous system into action. A good thing to remember is that this system will be brought into action at some stage whether we will it or not. The body cannot continue in an ever-increasing spiral of anxiety. It reaches a point where it simply must kick in, relaxing the body. This is one of the many built-in protection systems our bodies have for survival.
You can do your best with worrying thoughts, keeping the sympathetic nervous system going, but eventually it stops. In time, it becomes a little smarter than us, and realizes that there really is no danger. Our bodies are incredibly intelligent—modern science is always discovering amazing patterns of intelligence that run throughout the cells of our body. Our body seems to have infinite ways of dealing with the most complicated array of functions we take for granted. Rest assured that your body’s primary goal is to keep you alive and well.
Not so convinced?
Try holding your breath for as long as you can. No matter how strong your mental will is, it can never override the will of the body. This is good news—no matter how hard you try to convince yourself that you are gong to die from a panic attack, you won’t. Your body will override that fear and search for a state of balance. There has never been a reported incident of someone dying from a panic attack.
Remember this next time you have a panic attack; he causes of panic attacks cannot do you any physical harm. Your mind may make the sensations continue longer than the body intended, but eventually everything will return to a state of balance. In fact, balance (homeostasis) is what our body continually strives for.
The interference for your body is nothing more than the sensations of doing rigorous exercise. Our body is not alarmed by these symptoms. Why should it be? It knows its own capability. It’s our thinking minds that panic, which overreact and scream in sheer terror! We tend to fear the worst and exaggerate our own sensations. A quickened heart beat becomes a heart attack. An overactive mind seems like a close shave with schizophrenia. Is it our fault? Not really—we are simply diagnosing from poor information.
Cardiovascular Effects Activity in the sympathetic nervous system increases our heartbeat rate, speeds up the blood flow throughout the body, ensures all areas are well supplied with oxygen and that waste products are removed. This happens in order to prime the body for action.
A fascinating feature of the “fight or flight” mechanism is that blood (which is channelled from areas where it is currently not needed by a tightening of the blood vessels) is brought to areas where it is urgently needed.
For example, should there be a physical attack, blood drains from the skin, fingers, and toes so that less blood is lost, and is moved to “active areas” such as the thighs and biceps to help the body prepare for action.
This is why many feel numbness and tingling during a panic attack-often misinterpreted as some serious health risk-such as the precursor to a heart attack. Interestingly, most people who suffer from anxiety often feel they have heart problems. If you are really worried that such is the case with your situation, visit your doctor and have it checked out. At least then you can put your mind at rest.
Respiratory Effects
One of the scariest effects of a panic attack is the fear of suffocating or smothering. It is very common during a panic attack to feel tightness in the chest and throat. I’m sure everyone can relate to some fear of losing control of your breathing. From personal experience, anxiety grows from the fear that your breathing itself would cease and you would be unable to recover. Can a panic attack stop our breathing? No.
A panic attack is associated with an increase in the speed and depth of breathing. This has obvious importance for the defense of the body since the tissues need to get more oxygen to prepare for action. The feelings produced by this increase in breathing, however, can include breathlessness, hyperventilation, sensations of choking or smothering, and even pains or tightness in the chest. The real problem is that these sensations are alien to us, and they feel unnatural.
Having experienced extreme panic attacks myself, I remember that on many occasions, I would have this feeling that I couldn’t trust my body to do the breathing for me, so I would have to manually take over and tell myself when to breathe in and when to breathe out. Of course, this didn’t suit my body’s requirement of oxygen and so the sensations would intensify—along with the anxiety. It was only when I employed the technique I will describe for you later, did I let the body continue doing what it does best—running the whole show.
Importantly, a side-effect of increased breathing, (especially if no actual activity occurs) is that the blood supply to the head is actually decreased. While such a decrease is only a small amount and is not at all dangerous, it produces a variety of unpleasant but harmless symptoms that include dizziness, blurred vision, confusion, sense of unreality, and hot flushes.
Other Physical Effects of Panic Attacks:
Now that we've discussed some of the primary physiological causes of panic attacks, there are a number of other effects that are produced by the activation of the sympathetic nervous system, none of which are in any way harmful.
For example, the pupils widen to let in more light, which may result in blurred vision, or “seeing” stars, etc. There is a decrease in salivation, resulting in dry mouth. There is decreased activity in the digestive system, which often produces nausea, a heavy feeling in the stomach, and even constipation. Finally, many of the muscle groups tense up in preparation for “fight or flight” and this results in subjective feelings of tension, sometimes extending to actual aches and pains, as well as trembling and shaking.
Overall, the fight/flight response results in a general activation of the whole bodily metabolism. Thus, one often feels hot and flushed and, because this process takes a lot of energy, the person generally feels tired and drained.
Mental Manifestations: Are the causes of panic attacks all in my head? is a question many people wonder to themselves.
The goal of the fight/flight response is making the individual aware of the potential danger that may be present. Therefore, when activated, the mental priority is placed upon searching the surroundings for potential threats. In this state one is highly-strung, so to speak. It is very difficult to concentrate on any one activity, as the mind has been trained to seek all potential threats and not to give up until the threat has been identified. As soon as the panic hits, many people look for the quick and easiest exit from their current surroundings, such as by simply leaving the bank queue and walking outside. Sometimes the anxiety can heighten, if we perceive that leaving will cause some sort of social embarrassment.
If you have a panic attack while at the workplace but feel you must press on with whatever task it is you are doing, it is quite understandable that you would find it very hard to concentrate. It is quite common to become agitated and generally restless in such a situation. Many individuals I have worked with who have suffered from panic attacks over the years indicated that artificial light—such as that which comes from computer monitors and televisions screens—can can be one of the causes of panic attacks by triggering them or worsen a panic attack, particularly if the person is feeling tired or run down.
This is worth bearing in mind if you work for long periods of time on a computer. Regular break reminders should be set up on your computer to remind you to get up from the desk and get some fresh air when possible.
In other situations, when during a panic attack an outside threat cannot normally be found, the mind turns inwards and begins to contemplate the possible illness the body or mind could be suffering from. This ranges from thinking it might have been something you ate at lunch, to the possibility of an oncoming cardiac arrest.
The burning question is: Why is the fight/flight response activated during a panic attack even when there is apparently nothing to be frightened of?
Upon closer examination of the causes of panic attacks, it would appear that what we are afraid of are the sensations themselves—we are afraid of the body losing control. These unexpected physical symptoms create the fear or panic that something is terribly wrong. Why do you experience the physical symptoms of the fight/flight response if you are not frightened to begin with? There are many ways these symptoms can manifest themselves, not just through fear.
For example, it may be that you have become generally stressed for some reason in your life, and this stress results in an increase in the production of adrenaline and other chemicals, which from time to time, would produce symptoms….and which you perceive as the causes of panic attacks.
This increased adrenaline can be maintained chemically in the body, even after the stress has long gone. Another possibility is diet, which directly affects our level of stress. Excess caffeine, alcohol, or sugar is known for causing stress in the body, and is believed to be one of the contributing factors of the causes of panic attacks (Chapter 5 gives a full discussion on diet and its importance).
Unresolved emotions are often pointed to as possible trigger of panic attacks, but it is important to point out that eliminating panic attacks from your life does not necessarily mean analyzing your psyche and digging into your subconscious. The “One Move” technique will teach you to deal with the present moment and defuse the attack along with removing the underlying anxiety that sparks the initial anxiety.
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