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luni, 18 februarie 2013

inselatorii,internet,online,pereche,valentines day

Îți cauți perechea pe internet? Cum să nu cazi pradă înșelătoriilor online


Cu ocazia Valentine’s Day, experţii Kaspersky Lab au decis să sublinieze câteva dintre pericolele care pot fi întâlnite în căutarea „jumătăţii” pe internet. Numeroase persoane rău intenţionate încearcă să profite de dorinţa naturală a oamenilor de a-şi căuta un partener. Diferite forme de „capcane dulci” sunt întâlnite frecvent în mediul online – și, sub impulsul unei „pasiuni” de moment, un utilizator poate rămâne foarte uşor fără bani sau cu PC-ul afectat serios de un malware.

Unele site-uri de dating prezintă pericole ascunse Unele site-uri de dating prezintă pericole ascunse / FOTO: favim.com
 
Popularitatea unor site-uri matrimoniale precum match.com, badoo.com sau mamba.ru atrage atenţia infractorilor cibernetici. E-mail-urile de tip spam, care imită notificările unor site-uri matrimoniale cunoscute, sunt foarte întâlnite în aproape toate ţările. Accesând link-urile din aceste e-mailuri, utilizatorul riscă să îşi infecteze computerul cu tot felul de fişiere dăunătoare, care sunt descărcate în locul fotografiilor cu o persoană atrăgătoare.
Site-urile matrimoniale false nu constituie un pericol doar din perspectiva fişierelor malware sau a activităţilor de phishing asociate, ele pot pune în pericol finanţele unui utilizator credul. Una dintre cele mai simple înşelătorii menite să ia banii utilizatorilor este aceea în care se cere confirmarea sau înregistrarea vârstei printr-un SMS, care costă între 0.30 USD şi 12 USD. Însă, odată ce a fost plătită suma solicitată, nu este oferit niciun acces la informaţiile promise, deoarece conţinutul respectiv nu există.
Cel mai creativ tip de e-mail-uri de tip junk, care nu şi-a pierdut popularitatea de-a lungul anilor, este aşa-numitul spam nigerian. Autorii acestor scrisori ţintesc potenţiale victime care au conturi pe site-uri matrimoniale.
„Fata” care trimite aceste e-mailuri trăieşte de obicei într-o ţară africană foarte îndepărtată şi afectată de război. Potenţialul „mire” află că posibila sa „logodnică” este moştenitoarea unei averi de un milion de dolari şi că doreşte să îşi împartă averea cu viitorul soţ. Însă, pentru a-şi scoate soţia promisă - şi banii acesteia - din ţară, el este rugat să plătească o anumită sumă pentru a rezolva câteva probleme legale. Aceste strategii presupun o corespondenţă pe termen lung, dat fiind că foarte puţine persoane ar fi de acord să plătească o sumă considerabilă de bani mânați doar de motive sentimentale şi nu de raţiune. La primele e-mailuri trimise de victime răspunde un robot, însă, de îndată ce infractorii identifică o oportunitate, intervin în procesul de corespondenţă. Gestionarea unei potenţiale victime poate dura destul de mult timp, iar în această situaţie este nevoie de o abordare foarte personală şi de câteva cunoştinţe de psihologie a victimei.
Spre deosebire de aceste mirese „nigeriene”, cele din Rusia au nevoie de bani pentru a-şi cumpăra biletul de avion ca să îşi întâlnească bărbatul visat. Desigur, aceşti bani devin uşor de obţinut de infractorii cibernetici.
„Internetul oferă multe oportunităţi de comunicare,” explică Tatyana Kulikova, Senior Spam Analyst în cadrul companiei Kaspersky Lab. „Însă, nu este întotdeauna cel mai sigur loc pentru a iniţia o poveste de dragoste. Am descris doar câteva dintre ‘capcanele dulci’ care au fost lansate pe internet. Pentru a evita dezamăgirile, este bine să respectaţi următoarele reguli de siguranţă: nu vizitaţi site-uri matrimoniale necunoscute, în special pe cele promovate în mesaje de tip spam, nu deschideţi e-mailuri de la persoane necunoscute şi nu răspundeţi la e-mailuri care par suspecte.”, avertizează Tatyana Kulikova.


Citeste mai mult pe REALITATEA.NET: http://www.realitatea.net/i-i-cau-i-perechea-pe-internet-cum-sa-nu-cazi-prada-in-elatoriilor-online_1113552.html#ixzz2LH1TFNVj

duminică, 17 februarie 2013

A Bunch of Stuff You’ll Wish You’d Never Known

Competitive Eating: A Bunch of Stuff You’ll Wish You’d Never Known


Competitive eating involves consuming as much of a declared food as possible in an impossibly short amount of time. Speed eating contests tend to be under 15 minutes total. The Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest boosted competitive eating popularity by televising the gluttonous sausage free-for-all every 4th of July. What could be more patriotic than enjoying a hot dog while watching professionals eat an ungodly amount of the same substance?
The Preparation
Professional speed eaters train rigorously to secure financial earnings and sponsorships. The pros generally consider the stomach the essential component. Competitive eaters train by drinking excessive amounts of water, stretching the stomach until it’s ready for a caloric onslaught. Eaters may consume low-calorie foods like veggies in bulk to further boost the stomach’s potential, or chew gum to fortify the muscles of the jaw. For major national eating contests, competitors may train locally months in advance using the designated food.
Professional competitive eating organizations aggressively discourage any amateur eater from training for a food event. So stop daydreaming.
The Disgusting Techniques
  Competitive food eating photo courtesy of Shutterstock

Competitive food eating
photo courtesy of Shutterstock
Competitive eaters call themselves ‘gurgitators:’ their goal is to cram the unnecessary foods in without spewing them back out.
Chipmunking is an eater’s attempt to cram as much food as possible into their cheeks in the last few seconds of a professional event. Some contests ban the practice – others allow the competitors two minutes or less to swallow the menacing mouthfuls before judging begins.
Dunking is the process of submerging foods in water or other liquids. By cramming, say, a hot dog in a glass of water, competitors soften the substance to make chewing and swallowing faster and easier. Professionals claim buns and doughy breads respond best to water-boarding.
Regurgitating food is grounds for immediate disqualification. It’s up to the judges to spot and penalize contest-induced vomiting, politely euphemized as ‘reversal.’
The “Glory”
Does competitive eating really leave contestants with anything more than unsightly bloating and a stomach full of career regrets? Title-holders get a degree of recognition and acclaim for their efforts, and may garner prize money totaling over $10,000 for the most coveted speed-eating records.
Whatever their motivation, here are a few disgusting, excessive, and potentially vomit-inducing records held by top speed-eating specialists.

Pizza: Pat “Deep Dish” Bertoletti. He scarfed down 47 slices of pizza in 10 minutes.
Butter: Don Lerman. For reasons incomprehensible to mortal men, Lerman ate 7 entire sticks of butter in 5 minutes.
Tongue: Dominic Cardo. Cardo enjoyed over 3 pounds of whole pickled beef tongue in 12 minutes.
Brains: Japanese eating legend Takeru Kobayashi indulged in 17.7 pounds of cow brains in 15 minutes.
Haggis: Eric Livingston. If you’ve never heard of haggis, now is a good time to make a run for it. Haggis is a savory blend of internal organs wrapped appealingly in a tidy animal stomach. Livingston consumed an unthinkable 3 pounds of sheep heart, liver, and lungs in 8 minutes.

Take a hint from the professional leaguers – this sport isn’t for the timid, the picky, or the health-conscious. This July 4th, watch speed-eaters scarfing down Nathan’s hot dogs with a renewed sense of respect (disgust?) for what they accomplish.

Affiliate Marketing Trends According to Forrester

MyAdminSpace.com: Affiliate Marketing Trends According to Forrester

Affiliate MarketingForrester predicts that 2013 will finally be the year that affiliate marketing migrates successfully to mobile platforms. The marketing experts at MyAdminSpace.com take a look at all that it might entail.
The influential market research firm Forrester predicts 2013 will be the year affiliate marketing gets serious about mobile platforms. The affiliate marketing experts at MyAdminSpace.com say it’s about time.
Recent research from the Pew Internet & American Life Project confirms that in 2012, 46 percent of Americans used smartphones. Market penetration is more specific for certain demographics than for others.
Smartphones are most popular with affluent young people under the age of 45. The next largest groups of smartphone users are African Americans and Latinos respectively.
Most smartphone owners use their phones for accessing the Internet. At least 25 percent of all smartphone owners say their smartphones are their primary means of accessing the Internet.
Increasingly, e-commerce businesses design two sets of websites, one accessible by computer and the other accessible by smartphones. The design specs and elements for these two types of websites are very different from one another.
Affiliate marketers have been slow to jump on the mobile wagon. There are several reasons for this.
• Bumpy transfer between partners: The referral from the affiliate marketer’s content site to the retail site must take place as effortlessly as possible. If it doesn’t, customers start to wonder about the nature of the transaction.
• Referral must be properly credited: Affiliate marketers need to be properly credited for referrals they make to mobile retail partners. This type of programming is still problematic on a mobile platform.
This may mean that affiliate marketers and retailers will need to rethink their relationships with advertisers, says Forrester. “Now is the time for advertisers to form strong ties to the publisher community.” Increasingly, affiliate marketers will be forming relationships with advertising networks rather than with retailers themselves.
• Mobile platform templates: Finally, many affiliate marketers publish content sites using their web hosting site’s templates As of yet, though, no web hosting has begun designing templates specifically for mobile use.
Programmers for WordPress, the open source content management system, recently developed a Mobile plugin. In theory, any affiliate marketer who can use the WordPress content management system can customize content for mobile phones. WordPress may be difficult for neophyte affiliate marketers, however.
The WordPress Mobile plugin allows users to earn commissions through the global mobile advertising network AdMob.
• Conversion rate: The conversion rate for mobile phone affiliates is far lower than the conversion rates for laptop and desktop users. This is because many standard affiliate marketing strategies don’t work as well on mobile platforms.
For example, article marketing is not an effective mobile strategy. Many people prefer not to read content on their phones, so article marketing won’t be as successful.
MyAdminSpace.com is an online hosting network that provides its clients with the tools and expertise they need to become successful affiliate marketers. Whether clients are looking to supplement their job income or replace it entirely, affiliate marketing can help them succeed.

Affiliate Marketing Up in a Down Economy

Affiliate Marketing Up in a Down Economy

By Lindsey Miller

While other markets are struggling or even disappearing, affiliate marketing is an exception. Find out why it works.

There is no denying that the state of the economy is sad, to say the least. We are watching some industries struggle to stay afloat and finding others disappearing altogether.

The Internet has created new options in many markets. Industries that are flourishing despite the turbulence are ecommerce and affiliate marketing.

As reported by affiliate marketing blog affiliateprograms.com, staying current with the industry is all it takes to get started (and eventually thrive) in the business.

People are increasingly turning to the Internet for most of their shopping. It’s convenient, easy, and fun. Being able to shop on the Internet makes products all over the world completely accessible. E-commerce is directly linked to affiliate marketing.

Affiliate marketing is about rewarding the publishers of the ads that line websites we visit on a daily basis. When people navigate away from a page by way of one of the accompanying advertisements and make a purchase, that’s when the affiliate makes money. It’s really a very simple concept. And what’s great about affiliate marketing is that anyone can get involved.

As an affiliate marketer, you don’t actually have to make or sell products you have created. You’re selling someone else’s goods for them. Online e-commerce business Internet Solution Source sums it up perfectly: “As an affiliate marketer, you won’t be marketing your own products, so all of the research and development stuff… well, you can forget about that. Your job is to sell products for another company, period.”

Seems pretty simple, right? Internet advertising in general is a booming business. Affiliate marketing is just one of the many facets of that growing market of online advertising. 

It’s long overdue that we come to terms with the state of the economy. Many people are looking for ways to bring in a little extra money, and an easy way to do that is with affiliate marketing. Somehow, online marketing is a flourishing industry, and there aren’t really many industries in the same boat.

Sure, everyone has their fingers crossed that the economy sees its upswing sooner than later, but in the meantime, it might be worth looking at getting involved in affiliate marketing.

Facebook Shopping Flop

F-Commerce: Facebook Shopping Flop

By Lindsey Miller                               


At the close of 2011, there were more ways for people to shop than ever before. Facebook offered one of those ways to shop. Who knew?

There are tons of ways that we can shop in today’s world. We can do it on computers, at actual locations, on tablets, on mobile phones, etc. Though many people may think that Facebook is simply a social networking site, it can also serve as a shopping site.

Marketing Pilgrim gathered some of the opinions and experiences people had with using Facebook as a shopping tool at the end of 2011. They recently brought all that data together and released an interesting perspective about it.

Advertisements line the perimeter of so many websites we visit on a daily basis; Facebook is no exception. Advertisements on Facebook cater to our interests and places we visit on the Internet. Are these ads useful, and do we even notice them anymore to begin with? These advertisements can direct us away from Facebook and onto other pages we may like, based on what Facebook has learned from and about us.

Fan pages are another way to use Facebook to shop. Users can become fans of companies and make purchases on the fan sites. Fan pages often feature options to navigate away from Facebook and to other related pages or official websites for companies.
As Marketing Pilgrim reports, “When asked if they bought anything from a Facebook fan page, 91.4% of respondents said no.” Users also admit to hardly even paying attention to the extra nonsense on their social networking websites. “80.2% said that they weren’t even influenced by anything they saw on social media or their social media connections.” Trying to make social networks into shopping hubs may actually prove futile and could ultimately turn people off altogether.

Marketing Pilgrim created a report card of sorts, ranking the ways that people shopped in this past holiday season. Among shopping on at a retail website, on Facebook, on a tablet, and on a mobile phone, Facebook shopping fared the worst, receiving a “C+” grade.

People are most concerned with privacy issues when it comes to using Facebook as a shopping tool. All of those ads on the sides of the page make you feel like Facebook is getting to know you. It’s a strange mixture of cool and unsettling.

Is Facebook trying to be something it’s not? Maybe it should just stick to what it’s already good at—an effective, popular, and successful social networking site. I think it’s safe to say we can do our shopping elsewhere. Thanks, Facebook, but no thanks.

Lindsey Miller is a lively free-spirit who loves to go out and experience life and then write about it. She takes photographs frequently, listens to music constantly, and bikes aimless hours around Philadelphia—sometimes all at the same time. Lindsey is truly fascinated by human beings and the relationships they have with one another. All she really wants to do is travel the world… and write about it.

Starting Your Own Business

Jason Proch – Starting Your Own Business

Own Business
An entrepreneur and business owner, Jason Proch wants you to succeed in the best way possible for your business. Check out the four tips he gives for staying cool under pressure when trying to get your start-up off the ground.
Starting your own business is scary. The unforeseen production costs, sleepless night, and fear of failure can cause so much stress that you talk yourself out of it daily, even after you’ve already started. No one knows this better than Jason Proch. Jason is the owner of his own business consulting and project management firm, Grandview Solutions, LLC. He is also the creator of the Game Glide™, a new ultra light deer tent used for transporting game. It wasn’t long ago that he was working for someone else’s company, and that his passion for fishing and hunting were just a hobby. Here’s how he took his passions and turned them into money-making realities.
Think Fearlessly. Too often the problem with starting your own business or selling your own product is that you’re afraid of the outcome of a number of different situations. Perhaps you won’t get the funding you need. Or maybe there’s someone you’ve been meaning to talk to that could help grow your business, but you’re scared that they won’t have time to help you, or maybe they’ll ridicule your endeavor. Stop that thinking right now. Start taking action on the things you know you want to accomplish today. When you stop fearing the outcome the actions won’t seem so daunting.
Act with Confidence. You aren’t always going to know all of the answers. Whether you’re just getting started, or whether you’re established, there are going to be times that you won’t be confident. But, fake it. It’s not suggested that you lie or give false promises, but confidence is the key to your reputation. If you believe that you’ll be able to hit your numbers for the year, or produce enough retail to continue to build your product, you will. When you’re in meetings with potential investors or clients, you need to exude can-do confidence.
Speak calmly. Stress and fear can have a killer affect on how you speak about your business and abilities. A “no can do” attitude stops with your language. Start speaking positively about your actions and future plans, and don’t include negative or
“can’t do” speak into your business vocabulary. When you start to speak calmly, slowly, and with more intent you’ll realize that you’re setting the pace for your own success, and you will begin to speak more positively.
Employ your body. Your body is you. And you are your body. If you’re feeling tight, stressed and clamped up, your body language will display it. This is unhealthy for you and for your business. When your employees and clients begin to see that you’re stressed all of the time, they will change their reaction to you, either by avoidance, or fear. Instead of taking out your stress on your body and your staff, carve out a little time each day to remember that you cannot run a business properly if your body isn’t properly functioning. Continue to do things you enjoy, like Jason Proch does with hunting. Meditation, brief exercise, and a commitment to allowing yourself a break will actually help your business.
Jason Proch is the owner of a successful project management company, Grandview Solutions, LLC. He is also an avid hunter and the creator of the Game Glide™, an ultra light deer sled that transports your game to your truck or car easily.

Innovative on the Internet

Innovative on the Internet

By Lindsey Miller                                                                                                                                                                         

With everything and anything taking to the airwaves, it’s going to become more of a challenge to make your name stand out on the Internet.  It’s time to get creative.

            The Internet is creating a place for everything—music, retail, social networking, and a world of information.  That being said, it’s getting competitive out there on the World Wide Web.  Standing out in the pack and asserting yourself as a strong force on the Internet is going to become increasingly important.  Some helpful tips can keep you up to speed.
            Know what you are good at and what you are not.  Know your message.  When marketing yourself or your business or whatever it is that you do online, play to your strong suits.  If photography is part of your shtick, incorporate it in your website.
If you’re a good writer, use your words where they will be read on your site.  David Meerman Scott, viral-marketing strategist and author of The New Rules of Marketing and PR says for Forbes, “The Web allows you to tell your story directly.”Do not put something out on the Internet that you are not proud of.  Know what your strong suits are and use them to your advantage.  Others will only be confident in you and your message when you are.
            This tip is nothing new: people like funny.  What’s new about it is that the things people find funny are often changing.  By simply turning on the television, you can see what people find funny today.  Talking babies, for example, are the faces of several companies.
People poking fun at one another, or harmless jokes are also in right now.  It can be hard to find a balance between stupid and funny, but people are doing it.  Mastering that technique is vital.  People have always and will always enjoy finding something funny.  People remember things they laugh at.
            Send your message.  The innovation behind smart phones has made it possible to get emails to your phone.  People have their inboxes at their fingertips.  Why not put your message in those inboxes?  Maybe there’s some interesting advancement in your company.  Maybe you’ve got some breaking news.  Get it out there.  People are receiving messages more rapidly and more conveniently than ever before.
            The Internet is only going to become a bigger ring for contenders as time progresses.  Making yourself a strong challenger is going to become increasingly important.  It is vital that businesses owners and professionals learn how to keep up.  You don’t want your message or your company to get lost under all the others.  Your message should come across strong and confident.Make it likeable and get it out there.

Instead of Social Media Hurting You at Work, Work on Social Websites Daily

Instead of Social Media Hurting You at Work, Work on Social Websites Daily

By Courtney Amberik                                               

Employees’ ethics are directly related to social media.  Active social networkers have become less ethical in the workplace as opposed to those who steer clear of social media websites.  Creating your own company and using affiliate marketing may be the active social networker’s ideal job.
            According to Yahoo! News, a new study shows that ethics are currently lacking in the workplace over the past two years.  Social media has been connected to this.  As workers spend more of their time on social media sites, their ethical behavior has slowly turned negative.
“In addition, active users of social networks are much more likely to accept behaviors that have traditionally been considered questionable, such as keeping copies of confidential work documents for use in a future job, personal use of the company credit card and taking home company software.”
            Employees who do not use social media are less likely to experience pressure to compromise standards than those who do.  People are more accustomed to sharing information that was never available before, thanks to the social media sites.
            Instead of worrying about being fired for glancing at your social webpage while at work, why not work on social media sites as your job?  By using affiliate marketing, you can be on social media websites whenever you please.
There are multiple websites that allow you to create your own site, and they help you market your products or services all over the Internet.  These programs guide you step by step on how to create an organized, useful website for people to navigate through.
There are online training programs to ensure that you understand what you are doing.  Users are given personal training instructions depending on the specific needs of their business.  Each business is different, and these programs want to help you create the best website possible for your personal needs.  Novice Internet users as well as seasoned navigators are encouraged to sign up for these website programs.
The highly educated staff members will give directions on how to best create your website while showing examples.  This way, users can learn as they do it.  Learning this way is proven to be one of the best ways to understand information.  Once your website is up and running, the affiliate marketing programs will take over and give your company all the publicity it needs.
Affiliate marketing programs use blogs, social media websites, email, banners, and pay-per-click programs.  Pay-per-click campaigns will earn you money every time someone clicks on your advertisement.
Affiliate marketing allows you to earn money even while you are not working.  Instead of being tattled upon in the workplace, try your hand at creating your own company and website.  The affiliate marketing programs will help do the rest!

Affiliate Marketing Can Start Depending on Google

Affiliate Marketing Can Start Depending on Google

By Courtney Amberik

Google Plus users will have their information searched so that Google can personally cater to each user.  Affiliate marketing will find Google’s new feature a big help in locating their key audiences.
            As Google gets ready to launch their new social media website, affiliate marketers can get excited.  Affiliate marketing is a program that assists companies who want to reach more people when advertising.  This marketing system uses software that detects the companies’ key audience.  Affiliate marketing then uses social media advertisement space to spread the word on the client’s product or resource.
            Google’s new social media website will inspect the websites that its users travel to.  According to Yahoo! News: “The Internet search leader eventually hopes to know enough about each of its users so it can tailor its results to fit the unique interests of each person looking for something.”
Now that Google is importing results from their Plus social media program, search results will start catering toward its members.  Google Plus was originally created to compete with Facebook and Twitter.  Google’s rival sites would not allow it to browse through their members pages, making it difficult for Google to get a grasp on what search users would prefer.
            Google designed this new feature to connect the Google Plus users with others who have similar tastes in things.  “For instance, a query about the San Francisco 49ers might include links and comments made about the football team by other people in one of the social circles on the user’s Plus account. A search request that includes the name of a dog owned by the user or a friend might turn up photos of the pet that have been posted on Plus and Picasa.”
            Other companies, such as Bing, have been doing this same thing.  Bing has been filtering through Facebook in order to find out their user preferences and other shared information.  Google is expected to have greater feedback from this new feature since it dominates two thirds of the Internet search requests.  Ultimately, Google hopes the feature will be more useful to their users.
            Privacy concerns are not needed, as Google and Facebook alike have to sign agreements that make them submit privacy audits every other year.  Affiliate marketing users will be thrilled with this new setup on Google Plus.  These programs want to cater to their clients by finding people who would be interested in buying or using their products.  Google Plus users are expected to increase by at least 20 million users this year.

Playing Hard-To-Get Can Pay Off

Study Confirms: Playing Hard-To-Get Can Pay Off

playing hard-to-get works
Every parents’ advice for their daughter to play hard-to-get actually does have scientific backing, reports NBC News.
Pretending to be the least bit interested in a potential mate to increase your desirability has now gained scientific support. The new study says that if you want to be involved in a serious relationship, it is good for men and women to play hard-to-get. Even if you’re not.
A benefit of playing hard-to-get could be attracting a higher-quality partner who can commit to a relationship, said the study.
The new study was published in the European Journal of Personality. In the study, psychology researchers conducted four different experiments to see how and why people play hard-to-get, and if or when it works in attracting a potential partner.
In one of the tests, researchers looked for the ways people play hard-to-get and how often the different sexes use them. “Acting confident” and “talking to others” was rated as the two most commonly used methods of playing hard-to-get from a list of 58 strategies that almost 500 American college students rated.
Men and women are different, so naturally there was a change in strategies. When women acted uninterested, and tended “not to call,” “not to talk a lot,” and ”to stay busy,” more than men did.
When men acted uninterested, they used three methods more than women did such as ”acting snooty or rude,” ”saying all the right things but not calling,” and ”treating others like s#@t.” This sounds about right.
In their findings, researchers noticed that women played hard-to-get more often than men.
The study author Peter Jonason, PhD, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Western Sydney in Australia, said:
“Women derive more benefit from playing hard-to-get because it allows them to test men out and increase the demand men place on them.”
“Because women have greater value in the biological mating market, they can afford to play hard-to-get more than men can,” said Jonason. “Men who are too hard-to-get may miss out on a mating opportunity.”
The study shows that for a committed romantic relationship, women preferred a man who was not too easy or too hard-to-get. Men preferred a woman to be harder to get.
“We all would want honesty in dating but this is never going to happen,” said Jonason. “We are not overtly lying, but we’re always trying to marry up.”
Researchers said that their study only looked at college age students, so their results could vary among other age groups of single people.
Nevertheless, the findings did give some insight into playing hard-to-get.

7 things guys are afraid of in bed

7 things guys are afraid of… in bed

 7 things guys are afraid of… in bedphoto courtesy of ShutterstockHere we are thinking that only women have a ton of issues that prevent them from loving their bodies. While that very well may be true, men have just as many hang ups when it comes to themselves and sex. Though most men hide it well, it’s a guarantee that most of them have one or more of these fears running through their mind when they’re in the act.
#1: Size
Though someone made up some phrase about ocean motions, and vessel sizes not mattering, there’s a good argument for the opposition. While most men have nothing to worry about, and they’re partners are sufficiently pleased they can’t help but comparing themselves to the tried and true beside manual.Like many other elements of pornography, size is unrealistic. Do yourself a favor guys, put the measuring tape down. You’re just fine the way you are!
#2: Body issues
Both men and women can agree on the fact that who we fantasize about and who we actually date differ. Many times because women are fantasizing about the cast of True Blood and men are flipping through Sport Illustrated for images of feminine perfection. Men worry about their bodies just as much as women do during the act. Except they wonder about a solid six pack and muscular shoulders.
#3: Sweat
Lots of fluids can cause embarrassment during sex, but sweat is one that guys think of more than others. Some men sweat more than others, and they usually sweat more than their female partners. Many men worry about soaking the sheets and their partners while their in the midst of coital bliss.
#4: Bodily Odors
There are tons of studies suggesting that pheromones, or the scents that you secret that are only detectable by the opposite sex are great for sexual attraction. There are also studies that suggest women love the way their man smells after the gym. Nonetheless guys worry about how they smell all over, all of the time.
#5: Duration
This is a big one. Guys will think of almost anything to avoid finishing too quickly. It’s a huge concern because men associate lasting longer with virility and masculinity. And while most women think that it’s cute that they turned someone on enough to have a quick session; who wants to be described as cute when it comes to sex?
#6: Bad Lovin’
Though most men like to think of themselves as a horizontal Casanova, there are many that worry about their technique. Jack hammering your partner or super sloppy kisses are a turn off. Though someone would hope to be corrected many men fear their partners are telling them things are great, and telling their friends otherwise.
#7: Pleasure factor
Besides worrying about being a bad lover, many men are concerned with being a great lover. Though many people have had bad experiences with selfish partners, many are quick to tout the ones whose primary concern was their pleasure. In most cases, men are concerned as to whether or not their partner is getting off.

Woman Shot Dead For Shoplifting At Walmart

Woman Shot Dead For Shoplifting At Walmart


Shelly Frey, 27, was shot and killed by an off-duty sheriff’s deputy at a Houston, TX., Walmart. The deputy was suspicious of Frey, saying he thought she was stealing from the store, reports UK Daily Mail.
Harris County Sheriff’s deputies said that Shelly Frey, Tisa Andrews and Yolanda Craig were shoplifting when they were stopped by Louis Campbell, a 26-year veteran of the force, who is employed as a security guard at Walmart.
Campbell said that the women dashed to their car, and when he went to open their car door, they drove away. Campbell then thought it was his duty to stop the perpetrators so he fired the deadly shot into the car which hit Frey in the neck.
Security at the store noticed the three women putting items into their purses and notified Campbell, who was working an extra job that night.
The three shoplifters tried to pay for some small items to serve as a cover for the ones they planned to steal.
Campbell opened Frey’s car door and told her to get out, after he chased her and the other two women to the car, but she refused, said officials.
Andrews started to drive away while the deputy was standing between the open door and the driver’s seat.
“She threw it in reverse and tried to run over the deputy,” said Harris County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Deputy Thomas Gilliland.
Gilliland said, “He confronted the suspects at exit of the store before they left. One female wouldn’t stop, struck the deputy with her purse, ran off.” He added, “I think it knocked him off balance and, in fear of his life and being ran over, he discharged his weapon at that point.”
Officials said that there were two small children in the vehicle at the time of the incident, although they were not Frey’s, who is a mother of two.
“He was clearly marked in uniform as a Harris County deputy. And identified himself as the suspects were leaving the establishment,” said Gilliland regarding Campbell.
Even with Frey wounded, the women still fled, but they stopped at The Worthington at the Beltway apartments in the 1300 block of Greens Parkway. Frey was pronounced dead at the scene when paramedics arrived.
“Shelly was the perfect mom, perfect friend, perfect daughter,” said her father, Shelton Frey.
“Why couldn’t you just shoot the tire, shoot the window?” said her mother Sharon Wilkerson. “Was it that serious?”
Sharon said that even if Frey did shoplift, she didn’t deserve to die. She is now concerned for Frey’s children.
Andrews and Craig have both been charged with shoplifting. A small price to pay when their friend was shot to death.
As for deputy Campbell, he is on three days paid leave for standard protocol. The Harris County Sheriff’s Homicide Unit, Office of the Inspector General and the Harris County District Attorney’s Office will investigate this horrific incident. The case will go in front of a grand jury.
Walmart said in a statement:
“This is a tragic situation and we recognize this is a difficult time for all parties involved. We’re committed to working with law enforcement and providing any information we have as they determine the facts of the case. Because this is an active investigation, any specific details of the incident should come from law enforcement. We hire off duty officers to provide security to some of our stores. While we have policies in place for our associates to disengage from situations that might put them or others in harm’s way, off-duty officers working at a WM store are authorized to act in accordance with their department’s code of conduct.”

Nottingham tops student sex services league

Nottingham tops student sex services league

University sexual health services ranked on access to contraception, information and advice
Condoms
The study of universities' sexual health services looked at how students could obtain condoms and non-prescription contraception. Photograph: Peter Alvey/Alamy
Nottingham University's sexual health services for students have topped a league table of 24 elite universities in the UK.
Researchers from Dr Ed, an online medical service, have compiled the first sexual health report card of services at the 24 prestigious Russell Group universities.
The universities' sexual health facilities were ranked by many criteria – including opening hours, whether or not they operated drop in sessions, access to contraception, and the quality of the information available on site and online.
Nottingham University topped the league table, while "firsts" were also awarded to King's College London and Bristol University, but Cardiff University was placed at the foot of the table, graded F for many of its services.
Amit Khutti, co-founder of Dr Ed, said the survey was inspired by a similar project in the United States. The US survey, sponsored by Trojan, a condom manufacturer, has helped drive improvements to services, said Khutti, and it is hoped the UK report card will have a similar effect.
"We started off with the Russell Group universities," he said, "but we hope in time to extend this. We would like to use this as a benchmark and see services improve over time.
"We would like to repeat this so people can benchmark their services against other organisations, and against their own performance over time."
Dr Ed says most universities were good at offering access to condoms and other non-prescription contraceptives, and many had good access to chlamydia testing.
But the promotion of sexual health issues on campus was often weak, and student welfare officers who helped with the research reported that leaflets and posters promoting sexual health issues were often poor or not available at all.
As well as getting information from student welfare officers, Dr Ed used "mystery shoppers" to test services. They found a "postcode lottery" for access to services at some universities, with students told that they would have to visit the local genito-urinary medicine clinic if they lived outside the area covered by campus facilities.
Dr Ed said it would like to see standardised sexual health services for all students around the country.
The National Union of Students' vice president, Pete Mercer said the report card may encourage universities to improve the services on offer to students and to address areas where there is room for improvement.
He added: "Although it probably won't be a driving factor when choosing university, this is just the sort of information that should be at students' fingertips.
"The level of consistency in sexual health services is already a concern, particularly given recent sweeping changes in local health provision, and this gives all the more impetus to developing partnership and campaigning work to prevent a postcode lottery in the provision of what are vitally important services to the student community.
"If nothing else, hopefully the Dr Ed report card will increase awareness of student sexual health issues and encourage universities to both take them more seriously and to learn from the best examples already in existence."

Chinese struggle through airpocalypse smog

Chinese struggle through 'airpocalypse' smog

Pollution has hit record levels recently, prompting citizens to ask if they're paying for economic growth with their health
Children wear masks as a thick haze of air pollution envelopes Tiananmen Square in January. 
Children wear masks as a thick haze of air pollution envelopes Tiananmen Square in January.  Photograph: Alamy
Hu Li's heart sank when she realised that she could gauge how close she was to home by the colour of the air. Driving 140 kilometres from Tianjin City to Beijing last week, she held her breath as the chalky-white horizon became a charcoal grey haze. The 39-year-old businesswoman has lived in Beijing for a decade, and this past month, she said, brought the worst air pollution she has ever seen. It gave her husband a hacking cough and left her seven-year-old daughter housebound. "I'm working here and my husband's working here, so we have no choice," she said. "But if we had a choice, we'd like to escape from Beijing."
A prolonged bout of heavy pollution over the last month, which returned with a vengeance for a day last week – called the "airpocalypse" or "airmageddon" by internet users – has fundamentally changed the way that Chinese people think about their country's toxic air. The event was worthy of its namesake. On one day, pollution levels were 30 times higher than levels deemed safe by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Flights were cancelled. Roads were closed. One hospital in east Beijing reported treating more than 900 children for respiratory issues. Bloomberg found that for most of January, Beijing's air was worse than that of an airport smoking lounge.
The smog's most threatening aspect is its high concentration of PM 2.5 – particulate matter that is small enough to lodge deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream, causing respiratory infections, asthma, lung cancer, cerebrovascular disease, and possibly damaging children's development. The WHO has estimated that outdoor air pollution accounts for two million deaths per year, 65% of them in Asia. Yet the smog has become more than a health hazard in China – it has become a symbol of widespread dissatisfaction with the government's growth-first development strategy. Feelings of resigned helplessness have given way to fear, anger, and society-wide pressure to change the status quo.
The Lunar New Year, which came last Sunday, usually coincides with clear blue skies – an estimated 9m cars depart from the capital, and its emissions-spewing factories shut down as workers go on holiday. Yet the smog came back with a vengeance on Wednesday. Environmental authorities sent text messages to Beijing residents urging them to mitigate the pollution by refraining from the long-held holiday tradition of lighting fireworks. According to state media, they took heed. Fireworks sales fell 37% compared with last year.
"PM 2.5 and data measurement issues with regard to air quality have entered into mainstream Chinese life," said Angel Hsu, a doctoral candidate at Yale University. Hsu has tracked usage of the term "PM 2.5" on Sina Weibo, China's most popular microblog, over the last two years. In January 2011, it was mentioned about 200 times. Last month, the number soared above three million.
In China, PM 2.5 has acquired a symbolic weight to parallel its medical gravitas. Young internet users post photos of themselves wearing air filtration face masks. One popular mask is hot pink; another looks like a panda bear. Last spring, Shanghai hosted a PM 2.5-themed rock music festival. A music video called "Beijing, Beijing (Big Fog Version)" went viral on video sharing websites. "Who is searching in the fog? Who is weeping in the fog? Who is living in the fog? Who is dying in the fog," A man croons over images of cars crawling along smog-choked highways.
Experts say that the last month's pollution was probably caused initially by a cold snap, forcing huge use of coal, followed by a rare temperature inversion, which trapped emissions under a blanket of warm air. Others say that it could be related to a prolonged period of high humidity, trapping particulate matter in the air. Pollution levels depend heavily on the force and direction of the wind. A strong north-eastern gust can blow the smog out to sea; a few stagnant hours are enough to make noon look like early evening.
The standard international measurement for air quality – the US Air Quality Index, or AQI – rates air quality on a scale of zero to 500. With experience, it becomes possible to guess the AQI in Beijing without looking at official readings. One hundred correlates to a thin grey gauze hovering above the horizon. When the index hits 200, the sky is visible only in a small patch directly overhead. An AQI reading of 300 blots out the sun, smothering the city in drab uniformity. When the AQI reached 755 on 12 January, the worst day on record, the air felt like industrial smoke – chemical-tasting, eye-watering.
On particularly smoggy days, the toxic cloud is visible in satellite photos. The worst of the last month's pollution stretched 1,100 miles south, closing highways near the south-western city Guiyang. When the smog clears, it doesn't simply vanish, but instead drifts to surrounding countries. January's smog spurred Japanese authorities to release health warnings to people living in the country's western cities. Traces of China's smog have been detected as far afield as California.
The Beijing municipal government has taken steps to curb the pollution, temporarily shutting down factories and ordering government cars off the roads. While propaganda authorities used to quash reports of air pollution for fear that they could spark social unrest, Chinese newspapers were allowed to report freely on the crisis. Shanghai's Environmental Protection Bureau has designed a cartoon accompaniment to its AQI readings – a pigtailed girl with big anime-style eyes, green-haired and smiling when the index reads "excellent" but maroon-haired and weepy when smog rolls in.
"I'm pretty optimistic that this happened at the right time to prompt the most action possible," said Deborah Seligsohn, an expert on China's environment at University of California, San Diego. President Xi Jinping took the reins of the Communist party in November; incoming prime minister Li Keqiang has promised to make environmental protection a focus of his tenure. Beijing authorities hope to wean the city off coal and implement stricter vehicle emissions standards by 2016.
Seligsohn added that changes would take a while. "If Beijing were surrounded by cities that were doing the same thing that Beijing was doing, it would be fine, but it isn't," she said. A short drive from central Beijing, the landscape fans out into sprawling, dusty plains, where farmers burn coal to heat their concrete homes. Small factories there often escape the notice of environmental watchdogs. PM 2.5, she explained, is produced by four airborne pollutants – sulphur dioxide, nitrous oxides, volatile organic compounds, and black carbon – each of which would require its own slew of regulations to curb.
People have begun to take protection into their own hands. "People are starting to treat air purifiers as a necessary appliance like a washing machine or computer," said Bi Xiuyan, a 56-year-old product salesperson for Amway. Bi has sold about 50 air purifiers in the last month, each of which costs £960, about twice the average monthly income for Beijing residents. "Everybody needs to breathe," she said.
Louie Cheng, the president of Shanghai-based Pure Living China, a small company that tests indoor air pollution, said that the current situation boosted the company's web traffic 30-fold. "Literally you can see it – this isn't compared with a year ago, this is compared with a month ago," he said. Cheng said that he helped start the company three years ago when an expat friend with an asthmatic daughter couldn't find a local company to competently test his house for pollutants. His client-base has tripled since January, and now includes more than half of Shanghai and Beijing's international schools. "It's just hard to keep up with the demand," he said.
Awareness of the problem has spread beyond major urban centres. Ma Shiying, who sells moist towelettes in the small coastal city of Weifang, Shandong province, heeded the government's warning and lit fewer fireworks this year. "Over the past few months, the whole world has begun to pay close attention to this problem," he said. "It's become impossible for anyone to ignore."
Yet interpretations of the issue vary. Eva Zhong, the head of exports for a fireworks manufacturer in Hunan province, said that the government's fireworks warnings were misplaced. "Fireworks are very innocent," she said. "Car exhaust is a far greater problem."
Despite the government figures, she added, her company's sales this year have been unscathed.

Sex Addiction Criteria Finalized



Sex Addiction Criteria Finalized

By Janice Wood Associate News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on October 21, 2012
Sex Addiction Criteria FinalizedA team of researchers from the University of California-Los Angeles have tested proposed criteria for diagnosing “hypersexual disorder” — more commonly called sexual addiction — as a new mental health condition. The researchers found the new criteria to do a good job in discriminating between those who have sex addiction and those who don’t.
While sexual addiction is often fodder for talk shows and comedians, researchers say it is no laughing matter as relationships are destroyed, jobs are lost, and lives are ruined.
Even with these dire consequences, psychiatrists have been reluctant to accept the idea of out-of-control sexual behavior as a mental health disorder because of the lack of scientific evidence, the researchers said.
Rory Reid, Ph.D., a research psychologist and assistant professor of psychiatry at the Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, led a team of psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and marriage and family therapists who found the proposed criteria to be reliable and valid in helping mental health professionals accurately diagnose hypersexual disorder.
The results of the study, reported in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, will be a factor in whether hypersexual disorder should be included in the forthcoming revised fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), the primary diagnostic reference book for psychiatry, the researchers noted.
“The criteria for hypersexual disorder that have been proposed, and now tested, will allow researchers and clinicians to study, treat and develop prevention strategies for individuals at risk for developing hypersexual behavior,” he said.
The criteria, developed by a DSM-5 sexual and gender identity disorders work group for the revised manual, establish a number of symptoms that must be present in order for the diagnosis to be made.
The symptoms for sex addiction include a recurring pattern of sexual fantasies, urges and behaviors lasting six months or longer that are not caused by other issues, such as substance abuse, another medical condition or manic episodes associated with bipolar disorder.
Also, an individual must show a pattern of sexual activity in response to unpleasant mood states, such as feeling depressed, or a pattern of repeatedly using sex as a way of coping with stress.
The criteria also states that individuals must be unsuccessful in their attempts to reduce or stop sexual activities they believe are problematic.
“As with many other mental health disorders, there must also be evidence of personal distress caused by the sexual behaviors that interfere with relationships, work or other important aspects of life,” Reid said.
To test the criteria, Reid and his colleagues conducted psychological testing and interviews with 207 patients in several mental health clinics around the country. All of the patients were seeking help for out-of-control sexual behavior, a substance-abuse disorder or another psychiatric condition, such as depression or anxiety.
The researchers found that the proposed criteria for hypersexual disorder accurately classified 88 percent of hypersexual patients as having the disorder.
The criteria were also accurate in identifying negative results 93 percent of the time.
In other words, the criteria appear to do a good job of discriminating between patients who experience hypersexual behavior and those who don’t, such as patients seeking help for other mental health conditions like anxiety, depression or substance abuse.
“The results lead us to believe that the proposed criteria tend not to identify patients who don’t have problems with their sexual behavior,” Reid said. “This is a significant finding, since many had expressed concerns that the proposal would falsely classify individuals.”
Another finding of the study was that patients who met the criteria for hypersexual disorder experienced significantly greater consequences for their sexual activities, compared with individuals with a substance-abuse diagnosis or a general medical condition, according to Reid. Of the 207 patients they examined, 17 percent had lost a job at least once, 39 percent had a relationship end, 28 percent contracted a sexually transmitted disease, and 78 percent had interference with healthy sex.
“Our study showed increased hypersexual behavior was related to greater emotional disturbance, impulsivity and an inability to manage stress,” he said.
Another interesting finding, according to Reid, was that 54 percent of the hypersexual patients felt their sexual behavior began to be a problem before the age of 18. Another 30 percent reported that it began to be problematic during their college-aged years, from 18 to 25.
“This appears to be a disorder that emerges in adolescence and young adulthood, which has ramifications for early intervention and prevention strategies,” Reid said.
The study also examined the types of sexual behavior that hypersexual patients reported. The most common included masturbation and excessive use of pornography, followed by sex with another consenting adult and cybersex. The study noted that hypersexual patients had sex with commercial sex workers, had repeated affairs or multiple anonymous partners, amounting to an average of 15 sex partners in the previous 12-month period.
“It’s not that a lot of people don’t take sexual risks from time to time or use sex on occasion to cope with stress or just escape, but for these patients, it’s a constant pattern that escalates until their desire for sex is controlling every aspect of their lives and they feel powerless in their efforts to change,” Reid noted.
Source: University of California — Los Angeles

Panic Disorder Treatment

Panic Disorder Treatment


Introduction

Panic attacks and panic disorder can be very disabling conditions for the people who suffer from them. Sometimes they can lead to avoidance of any activity or environment which has been associated with feelings of panic in the past. This can in turn lead to more severe and disabling disorders such as agoraphobia. Panic attacks typically begin in young adulthood, but can occur at any time during an adult's life. A panic episode usually begins abruptly, without warning, and peaks in about 10 minutes. It can last anywhere from a few minutes to a half hour or longer. Panic attacks are characterized by a rapid heart beat, sweating, trembling, and a shortness of breath. Other symptoms can include chills, hot flashes, nausea, cramps, chest pain, tightness in the throad, trouble swallowing and diziness.
Women are more likely than men to have panic attacks. Many researchers believe the body's natural fight-or-flight response to danger is involved. For example, if a grizzly bear came after you, your body would react instinctively. Your heart and breathing would speed up as your body readied itself for a life-threatening situation. Many of the same reactions occur in a panic attack. No obvious stressor is present, but something trips the body's alarm system.
Treatment emphasizing a three-pronged approach is most effective in helping people overcome this disorder: education, psychotherapy and medication.


Psychotherapy

Education is usually the first factor in psychotherapy treatment of this disorder. The patient can be instructed about the body's "fight-or-flight" response and the associated physiological sensations. Learning to recognize and identify such sensations is usually an important initial step toward treatment of panic disorder. Individual psychotherapy is usually the preferred modality and its length is generally short-term, under 12 sessions. An emphasis on education, support, and the teaching of more effective coping strategies are usually the primary foci of therapy. Family therapy is usually unnecessary and inappropriate. Therapy can also teach relaxation and imagery techniques. These can be used during a panic attack to decrease immediate physiological distress and the accompanying emotional fears. Discussion of the client's irrational fears (usually of dying, passing out, becoming embarrassed) during an attack is appropriate and often beneficial in the context of a supportive therapeutic relationship. A cognitive or rational-emotive approach in this area is best. A behavioral approach emphasizing graduated exposure to panic-inducing situations is most-often associated with related anxiety disorders, such as agoraphobia or social phobia. It may or may not be appropriate as a treatment approach, depending upon the client's specific issues.
Group therapy can often be used just as effectively to teach relaxation and related skills. Psychoeducational groups in this area are often beneficial. Biofeedback, a specific technique which allows the client to receive either audio or visual feedback about their body's physiological responses while learning relaxation skills, is also an appropriate psychotherapeutic intervention.
All relaxation skills and assignments taught in therapy session must be reinforced by daily exercises on the patient's part. This cannot be emphasized enough. If the client is unable or unwilling to complete daily homework assignments in practicing specific relaxation or imagery skills, then therapy emphasizing such skill sets will likely be unsuccessful or less successful. This pro-active approach to change (and the expectations of the therapist that the client will agree to this approach) needs to be clearly explained at the onset of therapy. Discussing these expectations clearly up-front makes the success of such techniques much greater.


Medications

A lot of people who suffer from panic disorder can successfully be treated without resorting to the use of any medication. However, when medication is needed, the most commonly-prescribed class of drugs for panic disorders are the benzodiazepines (such as clonazepam and alprazolam) and the SSRI antidepressants. It is rarely appropriate to provide medication treatment alone, without the use of psychotherapy to help educate and change the patient's behaviors related to their association of certain physiological sensations with fear. Phillip W. Long, M.D. notes that, "Clonazepam (Klonopin, Rivotril) and alprazolam (Xanax), are the treatment of choice in the treatment of Panic Disorder. Clonazepam and alprazolam are preferred to antidepressant drugs because of their less severe side effects." He also states that it is preferred to try the anti-anxiety agents before moving on to the antidepressants because of the increased side-effect profiles. Xanax can be addicting for individuals and should be used with care. Treatment with either clonazepam or alprazolam should be discontinued by tapering it off slowly, because of the possibility of seizures with abrupt discontinuation.


Self-Help

Self-help methods for the treatment of this disorder are often overlooked by the medical profession because very few professionals are involved in them. Many support groups exist within communities throughout the world which are devoted to helping individuals with this disorder share their commons experiences and feelings. Patients can be encouraged to try out new coping skills and relaxation skills with people they meet within support groups. They can be an important part of expanding the individual's skill set and develop new, healthier social relationships.
Symptoms


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Panic Disorder SYMPTOMS

Panic Disorder

SYMPTOMS

People with panic disorder have feelings of terror that strike suddenly and repeatedly with no warning. They can't predict when an attack will occur, and many develop intense anxiety between episodes, worrying when and where the next one will strike. In between times there is a persistent, lingering worry that another attack could come any minute.
When a panic attack strikes, most likely your heart pounds and you may feel sweaty, weak, faint, or dizzy. Your hands may tingle or feel numb, and you might feel flushed or chilled. You may have chest pain or smothering sensations, a sense of unreality, or fear of impending doom or loss of control. You may genuinely believe you're having a heart attack or stroke, losing your mind, or on the verge of death. Attacks can occur any time, even during nondream sleep. While most attacks average a couple of minutes, occasionally they can go on for up to 10 minutes. In rare cases, they may last an hour or more.
Panic disorder strikes between 3 and 6 million Americans, and is twice as common in women as in men. It can appear at any age--in children or in the elderly--but most often it begins in young adults. Not everyone who experiences panic attacks will develop panic disorder-- for example, many people have one attack but never have another. For those who do have panic disorder, though, it's important to seek treatment. Untreated, the disorder can become very disabling.
Panic disorder is often accompanied by other conditions such as depression or alcoholism, and may spawn phobias, which can develop in places or situations where panic attacks have occurred. For example, if a panic attack strikes while you're riding an elevator, you may develop a fear of elevators and perhaps start avoiding them.
Some people's lives become greatly restricted -- they avoid normal, everyday activities such as grocery shopping, driving, or in some cases even leaving the house. Or, they may be able to confront a feared situation only if accompanied by a spouse or other trusted person. Basically, they avoid any situation they fear would make them feel helpless if a panic attack occurs. When people's lives become so restricted by the disorder, as happens in about one-third of all people with panic disorder, the condition is called agoraphobia. A tendency toward panic disorder and agoraphobia runs in families. Nevertheless, early treatment of panic disorder can often stop the progression to agoraphobia.

Specific Symptoms of Panic Disorder:

A person with panic disorder experiences recurrent unexpected Panic Attacks and at least one of the attacks has been followed by 1 month (or more) of one or more of the following:
  • Persistent concern about having additional attacks
  • Worry about the implications of the attack or its consequences (e.g., losing control, having a heart attack, "going crazy")
  • A significant change in behavior related to the attacks
Agoraphobia may also be present but isn't required in order to diagnose panic disorder. The Panic Attacks may not be due to the direct physiological effects of use or abuse of a substance (alcohol, drugs, medications) or a general medical condition (e.g., hyperthyroidism).
The Panic Attacks are not better accounted for by another mental disorder, such as Social Phobia (e.g., occurring on exposure to feared social situations), Specific Phobia (e.g., on exposure to a specific phobic situation), Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (e.g., on exposure to dirt in someone with an obsession about contamination), Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (e.g., in response to stimuli associated with a severe stressor), or Separation Anxiety Disorder (e.g., in response to being away from home or close relatives).
General Treatment of Panic Disorder
    References:
    American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, fourth edition. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.

    National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health, NIH Publication No. 95-3879 (1995)

Panic Attack Symptoms

Panic Attack

SYMPTOMS

A panic attack is a discrete period of intense fear or discomfort, in which four (or more) of the following symptoms developed abruptly and reached a peak within 10 minutes:
  • Palpitations, pounding heart, or accelerated heart rate
  • Sweating
  • Trembling or shaking
  • Sensations of shortness of breath or smothering
  • Feeling of choking
  • Chest pain or discomfort
  • Nausea or abdominal distress
  • Feeling dizzy, unsteady, lightheaded, or faint
  • Derealization (feelings of unreality) or depersonalization (being detached from oneself)
  • Fear of losing control or going crazy
  • Fear of dying
  • Paresthesias (numbness or tingling sensations)
  • Chills or hot flushes
Panic attacks often occur in people who are diagnosed with Panic Disorder.

    References:
    American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, fourth edition. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.

    National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health, NIH Publication No. 95-3879 (1995)

Prevention Program for Postpartum Anxiety Disorders

Prevention Program for Postpartum Anxiety Disorders

Prevention Program for Postpartum Anxiety Disorders By Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on August 19, 2011 
  
 
A new report describes a program that helps to reduce anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorders that may accompany childbirth.
Parents know that the birth of a baby can elicit many emotions, from joy and excitement to fear and uncertainty.
Birthing can also spawn mood disorders ranging from post-partum depression to difficulties with anxiety and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).
“Postpartum depression has received much attention, but anxiety-related issues, especially obsessive compulsive symptoms, can also be devastating to mothers and their families,” says psychologist Kiara Timpano, principal investigator of the study.
“Many women experiencing these difficulties are not getting the services they need because they don’t even know that what they are experiencing has a label and can be helped.”
In response to this need, Timpano and her collaborators from the University of Miami (UM) developed a program to prevent of postpartum obsessive compulsive symptoms.
The findings are reported online by the Journal of Psychiatric Research.
While it is natural for new mothers to have some thoughts of concern about their babies, some mothers experience a more severe form of anxiety known as postpartum OCD.
The condition includes disturbing thoughts about bad things happening to the baby.
In order to control these unpleasant thoughts, the mothers develop rituals or other behaviors in response, like checking the baby excessively or washing a baby bottle many more times than is necessary.
“The problem with OCD is that it is like a radio that’s turned up too high,” Timpano says.
“Part of our work is trying to figure out how it got turned up so high and how we can help individuals turn it back down. For example, while it’s okay to wash the baby bottle once, it is problematic if a mother ends up washing it for hours at a time.”
Timpano and her research collaborators decided to develop and test the effectiveness of an intervention that would not only treat mothers once their difficulties emerged, but could also prevent symptoms from developing.
Accordingly, the team designed a prevention program based on cognitive behavioral therapy principle – a treatment technique that has been found to be highly effective for anxiety disorders.
The program was incorporated it into a traditional childbirth educational class.
“We wanted to provide mothers with the necessary tools, which would hopefully keep them from going on to develop substantial symptoms that would interfere in their lives,” Timpano says.
Researchers evaluated the effectiveness of the program among a group of 71 expecting mothers at risk for developing postpartum obsessive compulsive symptoms. Half of the group was in a class that included the prevention program, the other half was in a regular childbirth education class (control group).
The mothers were followed for six months after the birth of their babies. Key aspects of the behavioral intervention included education on the warning signs of anxiety and OCD, as well as specific techniques for how to deal with the symptoms.
Investigators determined the prevention program was successful in reducing both the incidence of obsessive compulsive symptoms and the intensity of distress.
Compared to the control group, the mothers in the prevention program experienced less anxiety after the babies were born and they maintained this effect for at least six months postpartum. The team also found that the intervention reduced those thinking styles that put a mom at risk to begin with.
In the future, researchers would like to develop a program that would include screening for postpartum anxiety on the same scale and frequency as what is currently performed for postpartum depression, said Timpano.
Source: University of Miami

Young Children Can Develop OCD

Young Children Can Develop OCD
By Senior News Editor

Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on October 1, 2008
childA new study has found that children as young as four can develop full-blown obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and often exhibit many of the same OCD characteristics typically seen in older kids.
The study, published online by the Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, is the largest sample of young children with OCD published to date.
“There have been very few studies focusing on early childhood OCD, even though we know that OCD, if left untreated, can significantly disrupt a child’s growth and development and can worsen as the child gets older,” says lead author Abbe Garcia, PhD, director of the Bradley Hasbro Children’s Research Center (BHCRC) Pediatric Anxiety Research Clinic.
“That’s why we need to understand more about OCD in very young children, since early diagnosis and intervention are critical to reducing the severity of symptoms and improving quality of life.”
OCD is an anxiety disorder characterized by recurrent, unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and/or repetitive behaviors (compulsions).
Repetitive behaviors such as handwashing, counting, checking, or cleaning are often performed with the hope of preventing obsessive thoughts or making them go away.
Performing these so-called “rituals,” however, provides only temporary relief, and not performing them markedly increases anxiety.
According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, as many as 1 in 200 children and adolescents struggle with OCD.
Garcia and colleagues studied 58 children with OCD between the ages of four and eight, including 23 boys and 35 girls. All children underwent a series of clinical psychological assessments. Approximately 19 percent had been previously treated with medication and 24 percent had received some form of previous psychotherapy for OCD.
Twenty percent reported a first-degree family history of OCD. Nearly 22 percent of children had an additional diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and about 20 percent were also diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).
Common obsessions among children in the study included fear of contamination and aggressive/catastrophic fears (involving death or harm to themselves or loved ones), and three-quarters reported having multiple obsessions.
Nearly all of the children suffered from multiple compulsive behaviors, with an average of four compulsions per child. Washing, checking and repeating were the most commonly reported compulsions.
A data analysis revealed a number of parallels between young children with OCD and reported samples of their older peers in terms of symptoms and severity. For example, both groups appear to have similar types of obsessions and compulsions, multiple psychiatric diagnoses, and high rates of OCD family history.
“These similarities suggest this is a study sample involving full-blown OCD, as opposed to children who are either in the beginning phases of the illness or only have a partial OCD diagnosis,” says Garcia, who is also an assistant professor of psychiatry (research) at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.
However, Garcia says they also discovered some important differences between younger and older children with OCD. Although anxiety disorders seem to be a common comorbid diagnosis in both groups, younger children were less likely to have depression, compared to older children.
Also, while many experts believe boys are more likely to present with juvenile OCD, the findings from the current study actually indicate a lower boy to girl ratio.
“Our findings offer the first glimpse at the features and variables that emerge during early childhood onset OCD and will hopefully lead to further studies focusing on assessment and treatment of this age group,” Garcia says.
Source: Lifespan

Sensitivity in Children Tied to OCD

Sensitivity in Children Tied to OCD
By Janice Wood Associate News Editor
 
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on December 28, 2011
Sensitivity in Children Tied to OCDChildhood rituals, such as routines for meals, baths and bedtimes, are a basic part of healthy behavioral development. But when combined with hypersensitivity to touch or taste, it could be an early warning sign of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), a new study suggests.
The study by Reuven Dar, Ph.D., of Tel Aviv University’s Department of Psychology shows that hypersensitivity and excessive adherence to childhood rituals can foreshadow the onset of OCD. Dar first suspected the link while working with OCD patients who reported sensitivity to touch and taste as children.
In the study, which appears in the Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, Dar and his colleagues see a direct correlation between sensory processing — the way the nervous system manages incoming information — and ritualistic and obsessive-compulsive behaviors.
When children are extremely sensitive to certain types of touch or smell, they can feel that they are being attacked or that the environment is threatening them, Dar said. Ritualism could develop as a defense mechanism, helping children regain a sense of control, which is a symptom of adults with OCD.
The researchers devised two studies to map the connection between sensory processing, rituals, and OCD. In the first, parents of kindergarten children were asked to complete three questionnaires on their child’s behavior: their level of ritualism, such as the need to repeat certain acts or to order objects in a particular way; their level of anxiety, with questions relating to reaction to strangers, worrying about outcomes of events, and attachment to family members; and last, their reactions to sensory events, such as being touched or exposed to unusual tastes or smells.
In the second study, the researchers asked 314 adults to answer online surveys about their OCD tendencies, their anxiety levels, and their past and current sensitivity to oral and tactile stimulation.
Results from both studies indicated a strong connection between compulsive tendencies and hypersensitivity, the researchers claim. In children, hypersensitivity was an indicator of ritualism, while in adults it was related to OCD symptoms.
Dar was quick to note that all children have habits and preferences, and they’re not all precursors to OCD. So what should parents watch for to determine if they should be worried about their child?
“If you see that a child is very rigid with rituals, becoming anxious if unable to engage in this behavior, it is more alarming,” he said.
Age is also a factor. A habit exhibited by a 5- or 6-year-old is not necessarily a predictor of OCD, but if the same behavior continues in children ages 8 and above, it could be a warning sign, especially if accompanied by anxiety or distress, he said.
Source: American Friends, Tel Aviv University

OCD May Heighten Moral Sensitivity

OCD May Heighten Moral Sensitivity
By Traci Pedersen Associate News Editor

Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on November 12, 2012
OCD May Heighten Moral Sensitivity
Individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) appear far more sensitive when it comes to moral dilemmas.
“Faced with a problem of this type, people suffering from this type of anxiety disorder show that they worry considerably more,” said Carles Soriano, Ph.D., researcher at Hospital de Bellvitge in Barcelona.
For the new study, scientists looked at the neurofunctional basis of this increased moral sensitivity. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, they measured the brain activity of a group of 73 patients with OCD and 73 healthy patients.
All participants had to face a variety of moral problems in which they had to choose between two alternatives both leading to very negative consequences.
For example, they were asked to imagine themselves in a hypothetical war. Enemy soldiers lie in wait to attack and the entire village is hiding in a cellar. A baby starts to cry. If nobody makes the baby stop, the enemy soldiers will find them. Would it be justifiable to smother the baby’s cry, possibly suffocating it to save the others?
The results demonstrated that during situations of moral dilemma, the brains of those with OCD showed a higher degree of activation in the orbitofrontal cortex, especially in the medial part, which is associated with decision making and the development of moral sentiment.
“The majority [of people with OCD] are characterized by being obsessed with dirt and compulsive cleaning or by doubting that they have carried out important actions properly, like turning off the gas. Such behavior makes then repeatedly check whether they have performed such actions,” said Soriano.
There are other types of obsessions and compulsions as well, such as needing objects in the environment to be perfectly symmetrical and in order. 
There are also those that suffer from involuntary and unwanted thoughts of a sexual or religious kind.  They may feel unsure whether they have committed a sexual act that is unacceptable in their opinion or they worry that they have blasphemed God.
“The last group of patients is identified for precisely having a higher level of moral hypersensitivity,” said Soriano.
The research included help from experts at Barcelona’s Hospital del Mar and the University of Melbourne in Australia.
Source:  Archives of General Psychiatry