My Focus – Joanne L. Pilon

Chronic Pain

Chronic pain is pain that lasts longer than the usual healing time for a condition. Typically a person is diagnosed with chronic pain when they have pain lasting for longer than six months duration. Chronic pain cannot be treated the same as acute pain. If a person only rests that muscles become atrophied and pain […]

Depression

Many people who experience the symptoms of depression may begin to wonder if there is something really wrong with them. One typical fear is that they think they might be going crazy. Other people often react to low mood with comments such as, “Just get over it!” and this is not very helpful. Depression can […]

Anxiety

Anxiety is a normal part of being a human being and two in five people worry at least once a day. It is also estimated that 1 in every 20 people experience significant generalized anxiety at some point in their life. Feeling afraid is a normal survival instinct and occurs in response to a dangerous […]

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a common disorder in which a person experiences disabling anxiety following a traumatic event. Symptoms include increased startle response, feeling numb, irritability, loss of interest in things you used to enjoy, aggressiveness or even violence, sleep disturbance, nightmares, flashbacks (where you feel like you are reliving the event), difficulty trusting […]

Phobias

Phobias occur as a result of sensitization, in which you learned to associate anxiety to a particular situation. Once sensitization occurs being near that situation or perhaps just thinking about that particular situation triggers anxiety. A normal response is to avoid that situation and thereby avoid feeling anxious. When you always avoid a situation it […]

Health Anxiety

Health anxiety refers to the experience of thinking that there may be a threat to your health, which consequently triggers your anxiety response. Health concerns can become a problem when they are excessive; are out of proportion to the realistic likelihood of having an actual and serious medical problem; are persistent despite negative test results […]

Perfectionism

On the surface, perfectionism sounds like a good thing. If we did not have high standards we may never meet our goals. High standards also can lead to depression, anxiety, stress, and burn-out. The common consequences of perfectionism are avoidance of challenges, procrastination, and being easily overwhelmed. Learn to set and reach realistic, achievable, and […]

Parenting Challenges

Raising children is one of the most important and rewarding parts of life and can also be one of the most challenging of tasks. Whether are your children are living at home or have already left home we can work together to find a balance between caring for our children and self-care.

Self-Esteem

“Self-esteem”, “self-image” “self-perception,” and “self-concept” all refer to the way we view and think about ourselves. As human beings, we have the ability to not only be aware of ourselves but also to place a value or a measure of worth to ourselves or aspects of ourselves. So, self-esteem usually refers to how we view […]

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