Research has shown that women are twice as likely to be affected by panic attacks. ​The mean age at onset for panic attack in US is approximately 22-23 years old.  This is more related to a weaker autonomic response to emotional states in older individual compared to younger individuals. ​Negative affectivity (i.e., proneness to experiencing negative emotions) and anxiety sensitivity (i.e., the disposition to believe that symptoms of anxiety are harmful) are risk factors for the onset of panic attacks, as well as worry about panic.  Childhood experiences of sexual or physical abuse are more common in panic disorder.  Smoking is a risk factor also for panic attacks and panic disorders.  Personal stressors (e.g., interpersonal conflicts, diseases, or death in family, use of illicit drugs) are often identified as stressors before the first panic attack.

As we step into the new year, let's look at 5 common problems people face and what we can do about it:
a) Time
b) Conflict
c) Shyness
d) Patience
​e) Communication

​​All mums experience an intense emotional and physical transformation during pregnancy and the first year of a baby’s life, but for a significant proportion of us, this can lead on to full blown depression and anxiety and for a very small number, postnatal psychosis. The Baby Blues are a common expression for what happens to approximately 80% of all mums around the third to tenth day after birth. Because it is so common and temporary, we do not associate the Baby Blues as being a mental illness, but rather a natural state that is sure to pass once we settle into our new role as mothers. Symptoms include exhaustion, tearfulness, mood fluctuations, anxiety and irritability. Baby blues is thought to occur as a result of hormonal changes during pregnancy, the labour, breast feeding and lack of sleep.

With the prevalence divorce rate, many of us are now growing up to be Adult Children of Divorced Parents.  Having gone through the turmoils of our parents' divorce, we now feel the past is over and we can focused on living our own life, cutting our past and leaving it behind.  What we may not be aware of the continued effect of this hurt in our current, present lives as adults.

Often we seem to be trapped in the repeated cycle of doing unhealthy pattern of behaviours, over and over again, despite the pain and suffering we go through.  Sometimes we might even have the insights that these behaviours came from unresolved issues from our past and yet felt helpless in changing them.  Here's a poem for us to reflect upon.