Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/39903
4A Daily News – Monday, August 22, 2011 Vitality & health Do you know your Medicare ABCs? As we fast approach what is known in the Medicare world as the Annual Election Period, begin- ning Oct. 15, many Medicare beneficiaries are overwhelmed with advertise- ments, mail pieces and the dreaded phone call regarding their Medicare benefits. A process that should be as easy as ABC has become wrought with information overload. Christina Stanley Information that is identical in so many ways but with just enough individuality to make you add it to your research pile for further review. I have seen such piles and they have two effects on the person doing the piling. The first and minimal of the effects is that that pile takes over your dining room table or desk, gener- ally leaving an unsightly mess. The second effect is much more serious, it makes you question your current coverage choices and whether or not you have the best plan avail- able. This is the exact effect the senders of the pile material want and they have done their job well. The best way to tackle the pile and eliminate the adverse affects is to never start it in the first place. I know, I know, everything looks so official, and it may be important. Well, I am here to tell you it's not. Unless it is from your cur- rent insurance provider or Medicare it is an adver- tisement from another insurance provider or agent trying to earn your business. Now that you have eliminated or better yet never started your pile it is time to discuss the best way to review your cur- rent coverage and the ABCs of Medicare. First and foremost, it is always best to work with and independent, local agent when discussing your Medicare ABCs. The reason being is that some plans are regionally based with network limitations. The pile material you have received may be from someone in Texas who considers San Francisco Northern Cali- fornia and may not be familiar with our local doctors and hos- pitals. Another benefit of an independent local agent is that they are available year round to answer any questions or address any con- cerns. Chances are with the out of town or state agent you will be given a 1-800-please hold number when you have questions. Home- town agents equal home- town service. Once you find that local agent he or she should be able to explain Medicare in the simplest of terms. It should be as easy as ABC. Part A– Hospital Cov- erage Part B – Doctors Cov- erage Part C – Combination of A, B and sometimes D Part D – Drug Cover- age Once your independent local agent has explained the Medicare ABCs they should take the time to dis- cuss the gaps in Medicare coverage and how to fill those gaps. The agent should talk to you about your health, prescription use, habits and lifestyle to determine which direction is right to you. That direc- tion could be a Medigap plan a Medicare Advan- tage plan, or sometimes staying with you retire- ment coverage. Either way it is the agent's job to guide you through the process to ensure that you have a complete understanding and are comfortable with your choice. Remember your independent local agent will be there tomor- row, next week, next month and next year to assist you with questions concerns and most impor- tantly, next year's pile. Christina Stanley is an agent with Futurity First Insurance Associates, 332 Pine St., Ste. H, in Red Bluff and can be reached at 233-0334. Care home offering a Full-time or Part-time position As a Direct Support Professional caring for Adults with Developmental Disabilities Experienced preferred, but not mandatory Please contact Autumn Walker at (530) 209-2748 ANNIVERSARY www.redbluffgoldexchange.com 17th Sept. 1st - 17th Gold Exchange 413 Walnut Street Red Bluff 528-8000 WALNUT CREEK, (MCT) — For most of his life, 24-year-old Steven Bringas so feared humili- ating himself if he spoke that only an emergency would get him to enter a store. The few times he shopped, he couldn't look at the clerk and barely managed a "thank you" when he left. He avoided encounter- ing others, thinking his small talk so clumsy that it would invite ridicule. Dealing with fellow stu- dents was so painful that he dropped out of commu- nity college. "I was a mess" in col- lege, said Bringas, of San Jose. Today, he's unrecogniz- able from the withdrawn, anxious man he was. While squarely making eye contact, Bringas described how a clinical trial using cognitive behavioral therapy at Stanford University in 2009 all but vanquished his nearly lifelong social anxieties. It isn't news that the well-known therapy would yield profound changes. But the Stanford study generated a new kind of evidence: Brain scan images revealed the thera- py caused dramatic changes in the brain's inner workings. In the fall, Stanford researchers will start a new, five-year clinical trial to continue their study of non-drug treatments for social anxiety. As with the previous one, the trial will test the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral ther- apy and mindfulness med- itation in calming social anxiety. The disorder affects about 7 percent of U.S. adults in varying severity, from the painfully shy to people deeply fearful of normal social interaction. The behavioral therapy changes distorted thinking about oneself, and mind- fulness meditation trains in awareness skills that reduce anxiety. The researchers test one of the two approaches on each subject. MRI scans and person- al accounts confirm that mindfulness meditation also reduces social anxi- ety, said Philippe Goldin, a clinical psychologist and MCT photo Steven Bringas, of San Jose, attends a Giants' game at AT&T Park. Bringas overcame severe social anxiety after undergoing cognitive therapy during a clinical trial at Stanford University. Stanford researcher involved in the studies. The new round of research will directly compare cognitive therapy and mindfulness medita- tion. Results thus far show the behavioral therapy and the meditation practice each stimulate different neural networks, Goldin said. After the behavioral therapy, the prefrontal cor- tex — the seat of logical, analytic thinking — was more engaged in control- ling reactions in the brain region from which emo- tions arise, the amygdala. Cognitive behavioral therapy challenges patients to reconsider dis- torted thinking that gener- ates negative self views. Through gradual exposure to anxiety-arousing situa- tions, it builds confidence as they realize their worst fears are unwarranted. "Fear exposure" also breaks hardened cycles of avoiding anxiety-provok- ing situations. Mindfulness medita- tion, in contrast, stimu- lates a brain network in the posterior cortical region that helps us pay attention. The shift directs the mind away from dis- torted self-perceptions. It also appears to reduce social anxiety by interrupting habitual poor self-judgments and rumi- nations on self-defined negative traits, among other changes, Goldin said. The discovery that each treatment stimulated a dif- ferent neural network — hence a different mental approach — is critical, he said, as some people will mesh more easily with one type of treatment. "Just like the same drug won't help everyone, one form of mental training doesn't necessarily help everyone," Goldin said. Brain scans for psycho- logical research could ulti- mately prove useful in tai- loring treatment approaches, said Judith Rumsey, a program officer with the National Institute of Mental Health who is overseeing the Stanford grant. The institute is funding the $2.5 million, five-year study. "For many years we couldn't look inside the black box," she said. "Now we can look at how these different treatments are affecting the brain, and hopefully use that to improve things." Early psychological research with brain scans focused more on the effect of medications, Rumsey said. The Stanford study is part of a newer focus on analyzing non-drug approaches to mental health treatment. Goldin said finding effective drug-free treat- ments for social anxiety is a critical motivation for the research. "Medications can be very effective for some people, but they have side effects that most people don't really like that impact their quality of life," he said. Those include weight gain and grogginess. The two therapies being investigated by the Stanford team — the behavioral therapy and mindfulness meditation — in effect teach the brain new ways of managing emotional reactions. "Our brain has been sculpted to learn, and medications are not about new learning," Goldin said. The Stanford research is also intended to raise awareness of the preva- lence of social anxiety, Goldin said, which often goes unrecognized even by those suffering from it. "All over the Bay Area, there are thousands and thousands of people with social anxiety sitting alone," he said. The condition typically arises during childhood, and one study linked it to emotional abuse and emo- tional neglect, Goldin said. The earlier a sufferer receives quality treatment, the more easily the condi- tion is relieved. "It changes the trajectory of their whole life," he said. About 40 percent of people coping with social anxiety are in treatment, but only one-third of them receive adequate therapy, according to the mental health institute. It was the non-drug nature of the two treat- ments that drew Bringas to the Stanford study after a desperate Internet search when his mother's remar- riage triggered a crisis. He hit "rock bottom" in July 2009, when his moth- er's plan to move to Ger- many with her new hus- band threatened to leave him on his own. The terrified young man's search for ways to overcome what he thought of as shyness turned up a checklist for social anxi- ety disorder. He was shocked to learn that his painful condition had a name and that many suffer from it. "Every symptom was there," he said. "After reading a bit more, I knew I wasn't alone." Bringas learned about medications for anxiety. "But I felt that would just be masking the problem. I just wanted to face the fear." Then he came across the Stanford clinical trial for treating social anxiety without drugs. He's deeply grateful to the Stanford team mem- bers, who opened the door to a new life. With his outgoing girl- friend by his side, Bringas said he's going to enter San Jose State in the fall to study political science and psychology. "Where I was then and where I am now is just such a huge difference," he said. And Bringas wants to spread the word that there's effective help for those still suffering from the agonizing anxiety that once hobbled him. "There could be a rocket scientist who's just too scared to come out and interact with people," he said. "So he's going to sit in his room and live a mediocre exis- tence." fitness Stanford study vanquishes social anxieties