From Claire Weekes' Hope and Help For Your Nerves

Hello! I'm not in this group (in another anxiety group) and have been asked to repost something I recently posted. I have many tools and resources that I use to help me with recovering from my anxiety. I am a big proponent of Claire Weekes. Her method is also used by others (including the DARE response). The following is a list of her ideas from her book "Hope and Help For Your Nerves" (that's the US title).

Do not run away from fear.

Analyze it and see it as no more than a physical feeling.

Do not be bluffed by a physical feeling.

Accept all the strange sensations connected with your illness.

Do not fight them.

Float past them.

Recognize that they are temporary.

Let there be no self-pity.

Waste no time on “What might have been” and “If only …”

Face sorrow and know that time will bring relief.

Be occupied.

Do not lie in bed brooding.

Be occupied calmly, not feverishly trying to forget yourself.

Remember that the strength in a muscle may depend on the confidence with which it is used.

Accept your obsessions and be prepared to live with them temporarily.

Do not fight them by trying to push them away.

Let time do that.

Remember, your recovery does not necessarily depend “entirely on you,” as so many people are so ready to tell you.

You may need help.

Accept it willingly, without shame.

Do not measure your progress day by day.

Don’t count the months, years you have been ill and despair at the thought of them.

Once you are on the right road to recovery, recovery is inevitable, however protracted your illness may have been.

Remember, withdrawal is your jailer.

Recovery lies on the other side of panic.

Recovery lies in the places you fear.

Do not be discouraged if you cannot make decisions while you are ill.

When you are well, decisions will be more easily made.

Never accept total defeat.

It is never too late to give yourself another chance.

Practice, don’t test.

Face. Accept. Float. Let time pass.

If you do this, you will recover.

"Weekes, Claire. Hope and Help for Your Nerves (pp. 182-183). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition."

[Quest4peace]

Thanks for sharing. I wish I knew about her sooner. Will give her book a try if/when I feel better.

[Beevee in reply to Quest4peace]

The whole point about recovering is not to wait until you feel better but to take your anxiety with you and make your life bigger. Gradually, your focus will shift outwards instead of yourself and the respect you give to your symptoms will ebb away. No one recovered sitting at home waiting to feel better. It’s about facing your fears and having a “don’t care” attitude towards the symptoms which will inevitably surface. Like the title of another book you have to feel the fear and do it anyway.

If you apply the teachings of Dr Weekes in full, you will recover.

[bonkers65 in reply to Beevee]

That "Don't Care" attitude is a tough one.

[Agora1 in reply to bonkers65]

Hi bonkers65, everything worth while in life is tough but so worthwhile

when you win xx

[Beevee in reply to bonkers65]

Tough, at first but not impossible. Its not a case of ignoring the symptoms. Its a case of feeling crap but carrying on doing normal stuff. Its about doing the opposite to what anxiety may be telling you. I had feelings of dread for along time, brain zaps that stopped me in my tracks, many nights lying awake filled with terror. Every thought loaded with anxiety. I lost interest in everything, everyday life was a complete nightmare. I had no safe place where the anxiety would back off a little. I didnt know what was happening to me. Awful stuff. However, it does get better. Believe me. Read up on Dr Claire Weekes. Check out a website called anxietynomore.co.uk and the blog which is full of useful advice from people who have recovered or on the road to recovery. This helped me alot during my recovery. Your anxiety will scream at you but just ignore those false messages and step on to that road to recovery.

[Hidden in reply to Beevee]

Beevee!!!!!

I think it is helpful to tell your story as often as possible. Like you, I went through sheer hell with anxiety, but for some odd reason I was resolved to do the best I can with all the tools and resources available such as Claire Weekes and the acceptance approach. Others need to hear success stories!! Everytime I have a setback, I get back on track with reading/listening to all these great resources and keep putting one foot in front of the other until the anxiety doesn't matter.

[Hidden in reply to bonkers65]

It's all tough...but with practice it becomes a part of your self-understanding. Keep practicing!!!!

[Beevee in reply to Hidden]

You do end up having a "Couldnt care less attitude" towards the symptoms even when they are giving you both barrels but like you say, you put one foot in front of the other and just keep moving forward, no matter. The brain will eventually get the message and switch off the anxiety and all associated symptoms, including depression. That is such a depressing word and prefer to call it depletion because that is all it is...a depletion of emotional reserves. The good thing is, those reserves are just like a rechargeable battery that has run flat because anxiety sufferers have exhausted themselves fighting against the way they are thinking and feeling. By accepting, they allow those batteries to fully recharge and for the depression to fade away. Acceptance will cure ALL symptoms of anxiety.

[Jeff1943 in reply to bonkers65]

BeeVee is right, for certain that "don't care" attitude takes time and perseverance to cultivate but therein lies the crux of the cure. To begin with you may only 'glimpse' it for a few munutes. Build on that. "Learn to live with anxiety and you'll be able to live without it." BeeVee's words expressed a while back, it is the way that thousands before us have found respite and recovery.

[Hidden in reply to Quest4peace]

Hi Quest! I just read your intro message and I am sorry to hear that you are in such a dark place at this time. You certainly have been through the ringer and I'm sure you will continue to get better as you go through this phase of your life. Hang in there!!!!!! One little step at a time!!!! The tools and resources are here and you need to engage them one at a time and give it time. Lots of time! You will get better. Trust that!

[Quest4peace in reply to Hidden]

Thank you for that. I really appreciate!

[Beevee in reply to Quest4peace]

One other thing I’d like to say relates to your forum handle. If you keep searching for peace of mind, it will continue to elude you. With anxiety, let your mind go wherever it wants to go. Let those thoughts scare you. Nothing is off limits. Learn to observe the thoughts and feelings and not getting involved with them and adding more fear. By letting them go, peace will come to you. There is no quest, other than to practice acceptance.

Best wishes

Beevee

[Quest4peace in reply to Beevee]

I get you...acceptance is everything....now you have to help me come up with another name

[Jeff1943]

The U.K. version of Claire Weekes' book is titled 'Self help for your nerves'. The U.S. version is "Hope and help for your nerves". Same book, you'll find it on Amazon.

[AZ1970]

All I can say is, wow! What wisdom. She is spot on.

[SlothTamer]

Thanks so much. Very kind of you to share.

[goldieoldie]

Thankyou Friend,for this post,for the outlining certain keypoints that are indeed worth there weight in gold ,just came across them and its sheer joy to have a likeminded understanding of the late ,great Dr.CLaire Weekes,she is my godsend ,I first bought Self help for your Nerves ,when I was very young and its around 2 yrs now that Essential help for your nerves,was invaluable in my understanding of how our nerves respond ,and remain highly sensitised -my new Gp said nothing. Im still very much needing her book and still havent a copy of my own...........im at the later stages in my life and as you know most people are influenced one way or another by this Virus(pandemic)........I hope you are well and keeping yourself safe,kind regards.