April 8, 2025-We live in an age where being average is often seen as something negative and not to be sought. The goal of many people is to be the very best at what one does regardless of the psychological and physical impact on them by putting their total energy to this end. To become the CEO of the company, to become the top athlete in the chosen sport, to be the top student in the chosen field, to earn the most money of anyone they know, to have the biggest house, to have the most expensive car, to have the most attractive spouse/ partner, in a never-ending list of being the best and number one. Media of all types blare out the glory of being number one! Heartbreak and psychological devastation can be the result if one does not reach the pursued goal of being number one. My argument here is not for a person to not aim to be excellent and do the best they can do. No, there is nothing wrong with that if you can do it and maintain your mental and physical health along the way. Too many people in their striving for excellence, negatively impact their psychological development and even their physical development by blindly striving to be number one at something at all costs. They then can lose out on all the other activities that can be enjoyed in life if everything is lo pushed in the one direction of being excellent in one or even more areas. Again,the point here is not to have you strive for excellence, but to consider what can be done in life by being average and successful. Considering that most persons are average, there is nothing wrong with trying to find happiness and joy as an average person. The average person is the one who actually makes a country work. They work everywhere around us and make the world we live in function effectively. Everyone cannot be the CEO of the company or the greatest athlete on the team. Finding joy in being average can be the key to a happy life and is for millions of persons. The psychologically well balanced average person strives to be successful and goes about it by being a good student, a good citizen, a good partner, a good friend,a good worker and someone who can enjoy the bountiful opportunities in life by not becoming obsessed with learning everything about something, being the leader of the group or the number one person at something that often requires one to lose out on many other joyful things in life. The potential joys of being average would include having extensive time for hobbies and relationships, being free of unpleasant expectations, not being robbed of the joy and peace that can come from not trying to be number one, enjoying the road of life not perturbed by their own expectations or those of others for them, having a job that pays the bills and enjoying it, and not risking burnout and disillusionment by not being obsessed with being number one. A word to the wise is to learn being number one has high potential for job burnout, feelings of failure when not being number one and potentially not having solid relationships with friends, family, a significant other, and even children due to the obsessiveness of trying to be number one at sometimes everything and spending all their time to achieve that end. Take a look at your life and see if things would be better for you if you approach life from being a joyful and happy average person versus a constantly stressed out person striving and obsessed with being number one.

April 1, 2025- Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder that causes great discomfort with someone whenever they are in certain situations that cause them extreme anxiety. It generally ranges from such fears as being with persons, being in wide open spaces, driving in a car, standing in line, using public transportation, being in an elevator, being on a plane or many other situations where the person becomes very uncomfortable being around people or in certain anxiety producing situations. When you add panic attacks, which cause symptoms that a person can actually feel they are dying with a heart attack, it is evident that this is a very difficult situation to live with. A further complication is that some persons who have panic attacks often will go to the emergency room in the hospital because they actually believe they are dying. Typical symptoms of panic attacks include heart racing/palpitations, trembling, difficulty breathing, sweating, chest pain, shortness of breath and sometimes with the fear of dying. That is how severe the symptoms can be. Persons with agoraphobia also have many of the same symptoms of persons with social anxiety. Agoraphobia is a broader problem area because it can relate to almost any situation with or without persons. The unfortunate result of agoraphobia with panic attacks is that persons become afraid of being around other persons and can lose contact and become isolated. They also fear losing control in public or being around other persons. They may have feelings they are weird or strange and do not want to be around persons. When they do, the symptoms of panic attacks come back. They also will avoid many places where they have had difficult problems of the past such as a large or small store,a mall,an elevator, a certain seating in a car or an office or any possible situation that one can imagine. I personally have been amazed how many things can cause agoraphobia with panic attacks. This only leads to their world becoming more and more narrow. Comorbid conditions that exist with agoraphobia with panic attacks would include depression, social anxiety,OCD along with many physical symptoms that can come from having this intense emotional pressure from fears and panic attacks. In order for one to have the diagnosis, the characteristics need to have been in place for six months. Women tend to be diagnosed twice as often as men. Successful treatment usually includes some combination of medication,self help and mental health counseling that includes some aspects of cognitive behavioral therapy treatment and exposure therapy. The number of persons with agoraphobia with panic attacks are probably somewhere around 2,000,000 in the United States. While this number may not seem high, it does if you are one of the persons with this condition. You know how debilitating and difficult this can be from both a physical and emotional perspective.

Chronic procrastination is the type of procrastination that a person constantly has and leads to
them not completing activities they desire or are mandated by work or other life responsibilities.
Chronic procrastination can be so devastating to the person that it can ruin and even end
relationships and can make work advancement and even keeping a job impossible. It is actually
amazing how many persons who have this condition do not overcome it. It is not unusual for
therapists to work with persons in their 40s and 50s and even older who have not learned how
to overcome chronic procrastination even if it has had major negative effects on all aspects of
their lives. Even though procrastination is a problem that most persons have at times, the
person with chronic procrastination has it all the time. Reasons for it would include
anxiety,depression,perfectionism,low self esteem, fear of failure, lack of discipline, psychological relief from not having the burden of doing something, laziness,
rebellion against others, or self-destructive behaviors that can lead to problems in all aspects of
their lives. As I have previously stated before, chronic procrastination is also a major hallmark of
ADHD. Following are ways to overcome chronic procrastination: 1. Accept you have a problem
that needs to be resolved. 2. Believe you can overcome chronic procrastination. 3. Set up a plan
to do it. 4. Set up daily goals of what you plan to complete and work at them on the priority of
importance. 5. Keep track of your list of daily activities to complete and cross them off as you
complete them. 6. Make sure you do not go off track by regularly looking at your list of daily
activities and crossing them off as completed. 7. Enlist the support of a family member or friend
to help keep you on track if you find you lose track of time and even have what could be called
time blindness. 8. Break down complex required activities into smaller parts and work at each
one individually rather than getting overwhelmed by a large task that for one reason or another
you are not doing. 9. Begin with the hardest or easiest part of a long project depending on which
one will help motivate you the most to complete the activity. 10. You may seek out a trained
therapist in procrastination to help you if you find regardless of how hard you try, you are not
able to overcome chronic procrastination. It is not a form of weakness to admit a problem is too
much for you to overcome on your own. It is a sign of strength.