Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Calming The Body, Calming The Mind: A Pilot Study On The Use Of Zero Balancing To Reduce Anxiety, Misty L. Rhoads, Mary Murphy

Journal of Transformative Touch

Background: The predominance of anxiety is currently at record levels, and the need for non-pharmaceutical approaches to help alleviate and decrease the harmful effects of anxiety on an individual and collective level is necessary. This study explored how Zero Balancing supports individuals with anxiety to manage their physical, mental, and emotional health more effectively. Researchers hypothesized that Zero Balancing would lower the perceived severity of general anxiety and lower perceived anxiety symptoms.

Methods: To honor the holistic nature of bodywork and the participants' lived experiences, the researchers utilized a concurrent mixed-methods phenomenological research design. Each participant received one Zero Balancing …

Mental Health Problems Among Elementary School Students Mandated To E-Learning: A Covid-19 Rapid Review Caveat, Renée M. D'Amore, Angelina N. Halpern, Lauren R. Reed, Kevin M. Gorey

International Journal of School Social Work

Extended lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic mandated millions of students worldwide to e-learning and by default made many of their parents proxy homeschool teachers. Preliminary anecdotal, journalistic and qualitative evidence suggested that elementary school children and their parents were probably most vulnerable to this stressor and most likely to experience mental health problems because of it. We responded with a rapid review of 15 online surveys to estimate the magnitude of such risks and their predictors between 2020 and 2021. The pooled relative risk of mental health problems among school children and their parents was substantial (RR = 1.97). Moreover, …

“Chains Weigh Heavy”: Body Mapping Embodied Experiences Of Anxiety, Priya Vaughan Dr, Anna Tewson, Patricia Morgan Dr, Katherine M. Boydell Professor

The Qualitative Report

Anxiety has both cognitive and somatic dimensions as is ubiquitous at a population level. We report on an arts-based research workshop gathering data on embodied experiences of anxiety and non-anxiety. We developed an innovative short body mapping workshop to collect data and undertook thematic analysis to analyse textual and visual data. 35 body maps were produced. “Tightness,” “pain,” and “heaviness” were the most frequently expressed embodied sensations of anxiety. By contrast, when not feeling anxious, participants’ bodies primarily felt “energetic,” “ordered,” and “open.” Anxiety was most frequently felt in the stomach, head and heart. 35 Participants mostly used an abstracted, …

Yoga For Mental Health And Healing, Angie Holzer Edd

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Overview: Yoga has been shown to be a great tool in dealing with a variety of different mental health topics. To utilize yoga as a healing tool, there needs to be a broader understanding of yoga beyond using yoga as an exercise. When we engage other aspects of yoga into our practice, such as mindfulness and pranayama (breath), we increase the possibilities of healing by making it a holistic approach.

Anxiety Symptoms Among Extension Professionals' During The Covid-19 Pandemic With The Gad-2, Glenn D. Israel, Colleen E. Gariton, Harsha E. James

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, anxiety disorders are a common mental health disorder but often remain undetected and undertreated. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Extension professionals have worked hard to address emerging issues that communities face, possibly impacting the amount of anxiety they experience. This study determined the prevalence of anxiety symptoms among Extension professionals in the United States. Participants from 24 states completed a survey containing the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 2-item (GAD-2) screener. Almost one-quarter of Extension professionals had a GAD-2 score greater than three, an indicator of anxiety with a possibility of generalized anxiety disorder, which …

Anxiety Symptoms And Sleep Disturbance In Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: The Impact Of Receiving And Training A Service Dog, Diane Scotland-Coogan

The Qualitative Report

The impact of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on our combat veterans and their families is extensive. Symptoms of anxiety and the effects of sleep disturbance have a negative impact on daily functioning (Wright et al., 2011). The presence of a dog has demonstrated a reduction in anxiety symptoms, which may have a positive influence on improved sleep (Shearer, Hunt, Chowdhury, & Nicol, 2016). The Veterans Administration (VA) has been using canines to assist combat veterans in reintegrating into civilian life, and most currently, as a part of psychological therapy (Rubenstein, 2012). This research examined the impact on combat veterans with …

Financial Anxiety, Physiological Arousal, And Planning Intention, John Grable, Wookjae Heo, Abed Rabbani

Journal of Financial Therapy

Results from this exploratory clinical study indicate that financial anxiety—holding an unhealthy attitude about one’s financial situation—and physiological arousal—the physical precursor to behavior—play important roles in shaping consumer intention to engage in future financial planning activity. Findings suggest that those who are most likely to engage the services of a financial adviser exhibit low levels of financial anxiety and moderate to high levels of physiological arousal. The least likely to seek the help of a financial adviser are those who exhibit high financial anxiety and low physiological arousal. Results support findings documented in the literature that high anxiety levels often …

Exploring The Lived-Experience Of Limerence: A Journey Toward Authenticity, Lynn Willmott, Evie Bentley

The Qualitative Report

Limerence is an acute onset, unexpected, obsessive attachment to one person, the Limerent Object, which is rarely reported in scientific literature. Presented here is an interpretative phenomenological analysis to explore the livedexperience of six international Limerent respondents. The condition's unique and common journey is conceptualised in a Limerence Trajectory, which is characterized by generally sequential yet overlapping super-ordinate themes. The themes primarily regard experiences of ruminative thinking, free floating anxiety and depression temporarily fixated and the disintegration of the self. These themes are further linked to an inclination to reintegrate unresolved past life(s) experiences and to progress to a state …

Women’S Experiences With Postpartum Anxiety: Expectations, Relationships, And Sociocultural Influences, Andrea A. Wardrop, Natalee E. Popadiuk

The Qualitative Report

Evidence about anxiety in the postpartum is sparse and contradictory. Our research expands this knowledge by using a qualitative methodology, the Feminist Biographical Method, to explore first time mothers’ experiences of postpartum anxiety. Data collection included 1.5 to 2.0 hour interviews with six women about their experiences of anxiety in their transition to motherhood. We transcribed the interviews and used an iterative hermeneutic coding process to develop themes and subthemes over the course of four coding cycles. The findings include five major themes: (a) experiences of anxiety, (b) expectations of a new mother, (c) issues of support, (d) societal scripts …