MSI Press Blog

  In her most recent blog post, Diana Keathley, author of the award-winning book, GodSway , writes: I know someone who lives nearby who struggles with anxiety. We all do to a certain extent. That is, we all deal with anxiety to one degree or another… and, many of us know someone who suffers greatly from it. I myself have as well. This young man is handsome, intelligent, gentle, loving, very talented musically, and funny. He believes in God and knows that Jesus is His Son. I’m actually very fond of the man. Yet I’ve watched him go through a number of phases of dependency in his efforts to deal with the anxiety – from vodka to marijuana, from prescription anxiety meds back to medical marijuana. Truth is, he is much the same, at least from outward observations, as he was a decade ago – except ten years older – still stuck, paralyzed with fear about a variety of issues: working, how to begin looking for a job, what kind of job, how to explain why he hasn’t been working, loss of faith and i

  In "Putting the Fun into Functional Anxiety," Franki Bagdade, author of  I Love My Kids, But I Don't Always Like Them ,  writes: I woke up gasping for breath. I had a horrible nightmare. I was with the girls in some big city, I was holding something in my hand (yogurt, actually, whatever subconscious...) and I told Ruby not to run towards the bridge and she did and flipped over it and I woke up with the startle that I lost her. Read the rest HERE . Awards IAN Book of the Year Literary Titan Gold Award For more posts about Franki and her book, click  HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC? Check out information on  how to submit a proposal . Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book  in exchange for  reviewing  a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book? Contact editor@msipress.com. Want an  author-signed copy  of this book? Pur

  Most patients who end up at the end of life, from cancer or otherwise, experience anxiety and restlessness. Typically, medications are given to help with both of these conditions. Ironically, Carl's last days were very peaceful although he suffered from restless leg syndrome for many years (it disappeared as he entered his final month of life -- probably NOT common). To understand the differences, here are accepted definitions: Anxiety  An abnormal and overwhelming sense of apprehension and fear often marked by physical signs (such as tension, sweating, and increased pulse rate), by doubt concerning the reality and nature of the threat, and by self-doubt about one's capacity to cope with it.  Use words of encouragement and remind them that a panic attack can never harm them and that nothing is physically wrong with them. This is because many people will assume they're having a stroke, or even dying. Reminding them that they are physically okay can help. Typically when so

  Excerpt from Anxiety Anonymous -  Steps to Wholeness Appreciating the addictive quality of anxiety may open the door to a different way of finding relief and enable you to be more patient with yourself. Conventional therapy has been limited in helping because it does not reach to the deeper roots of anxiety in the human psyche. Therapy, including medication, addresses the symptoms and not the underlying cause in the human condition. In the 1930s, it became clear that psychology had failed in treating alcoholics. Carl Jung, the renowned Swiss psychologist, announced the failure and the need for a spiritual conversion. He called alcoholics “frustrated mystics” who looked for the Spirit in the spirits. Bill Wilson, a hopeless alcoholic, found recovery outside the walls of traditional psychological treatment. He and Dr. Bob Smith founded the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous and formulated the Twelve Steps as the guideposts of recovery. They realized from personal experience that only

  Franki Bagdade, author of the award-winning* book, I Love My Kids, But I Don't Always Like Them , has posted a stellar blog post with insights into anxiety disorder in children. Read it HERE . * Literary Titan Gold Medal Independent Authors Network Book of the Year Read more posts about Franki and her book HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC Newsletter Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC? Check out information on  how to submit a proposal . Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book  in exchange for  reviewing  a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book? Contact editor@msipress.com. Want an  author-signed copy  of this book? Purchase the book at 25% discount (use coupon code FF25) and concurrently send a written request to orders@msipress.com. 

  \ LIFE’S JOY “What can separate us from the love of Christ?” --Paul of Tarsus   “I’ve never been happy. I don’t believe I’ll ever escape my misery,” my elderly patient lamented. She had suffered from anxiety her whole life. She was its prisoner. “I’m always worrying about something. If it’s not one thing, it’s another. Anything can cause me to panic,” she explained.  I asked her, “Who would you be if you didn’t worry?” She responded honestly, “I don’t know. I wouldn’t know myself. That would be even scarier!” My patient had constructed an identity around her illness. She could not imagine living without it and the misery it caused her.  Another patient of mine was terrified of leaving the house. She insisted she wanted to feel free to go out and socialize, but still stayed home to feel safe. I asked her, “You say you want to go out, but still stay home. Which is true, what you say you want or what you do?” Both, in fact, may have been true. She felt hopelessly conflicted, not knowin

  Excerpt from Anxiety Anonymous Déjà Vu All Over Again All addictions begin with “stinking thinking.” After many experiences of the soothing effects of alcohol, a tranquilizer, the budding alcoholic begins to believe that she can find happiness in a bottle and cannot live without it. She continually tells herself, “I need a drink,” whether she is anxious, sad, angry, or happy. She rationalizes many reasons for drinking. Over time, as the addiction takes hold, she becomes more preoccupied with the thought of drinking. It becomes her obsession. She begins to plan her life around drinking opportunities on weekends with friends or at home alone to chill out. Her obsession with drinking spills over into compulsive behaviors. She develops drinking routines, going to the same bar every Friday evening, meeting the same people. Cocktail hour, with the same drink, mixed in the same way, happens every day at precisely 4:00 p.m. She may make rigid rules for herself to assure herself that she is n