Anxiety News and Treatment
Pumpkin Pie Can Get You in the Mood, Study Shows
This Thanksgiving, if you want to get your lover in the mood, serve him some pumpkin pie.
A study published in Medical Aspects of Human Sexuality, showed the smell of pumpkin pie aroused men by enhancing penile blood flow, WPBF-TV reported.
Also topping the charts as a fragrance turn-on for men was the smell of lavender.
“Maybe the odors acted to reduce anxiety,” said Dr. Alan Hirsch, director of Chicago’s Smell and Taste Treatment Center. “By reducing anxiety, it acted to reduce inhibitions.”
However, men with erectile dysfunction could also benefit from eating pumpkin seeds, health experts say.
Pumpkin seeds are rich in zinc, which can increase testosterone and sexual desire, said Dr. Ralph Monserrat, who specializes in alternative medicine in Palm Beach, Fla.
Coalition helps moms with anxiety and mood disorders
Elizabeth “Liz” Beachy was diagnosed with perinatal mood disorder about one month before giving birth to her second child, who was born Sept. 30.
“I just began to feel very anxious and my mind couldn’t think clearly,” the 26-year-old said. “I began to withdraw and I began crying at the drop of a hat.”
She eventually sought help but before the medicine could take effect, Beachy felt completely overwhelmed and was not able to function normally or take care of her 3-year-old daughter, Lena Beachy. She had to move in with her mother for about a week.
“I would stand in front of the fridge and just cry and not be able to put something together for lunch,” said Beachy, a former Lafayette resident who just moved to Kokomo. “There would be times I could not get up from the chair.”
To help women such as Beachy, local health care providers have formed the Lafayette Coalition for Community Awareness of Perinatal Anxiety and Mood Disorders. The coalition consists of representatives from Clarian Arnett Health, Riggs Community Health Center, St. Elizabeth Regional Health and local independent therapists.
The group started meeting about one year ago and held its first support group this summer at the Kathryn Weil Center for Education in Lafayette.
Marcia Daehler, a psychiatric clinical nurse specialist with St. Elizabeth Regional Health, said the coalition aims to increase physician awareness by providing education, creating a support group for women and men and identifying physicians and therapists who are skilled in treating postpartum depression and perinatal mood disorders.
Pam Smith, a registered nurse with St. Elizabeth Regional Health, said these disorders include postpartum anxiety disorder, where women experience extreme worry or fear about the health of their baby.
This disorder can cause panic attacks, shortness of breath and chest pain. Another perinatal (the period immediately before and after birth) mood and anxiety disorder is pregnancy postpartum obsessive compulsive disorder, where women have repetitive, upsetting and unwanted thoughts or mental images.
Smith said the thoughts can be scary and unusual, but the women are unlikely to act upon them. However, they should seek clinical help if they are experiencing these symptoms. Other disorders include postpartum traumatic stress disorder, which is caused by a traumatic or frightening birth and postpartum psychosis, where the women see images or hear voices that others cannot.
Given the nature of these disorders, many women do not seek help because they fear removal of their baby.
However, these women can get better if they seek treatment, Smith said.
Now life is looking better for Beachy. Through medication and seeing a therapist, she is more equipped to manage her symptoms.
Also, making lifestyle changes such as moving from Lafayette to Kokomo to be closer to family, has helped remove stress.
“As long as I can keep things even keel, it’s fine,” she said. “Through lots of prayer, the support of my husband, family and friends, I am able to get back on track.”