The psychiatrist who wrote 'Self help for your nerves' said it isn't a question of 'if' you recover, it's a question of 'when'.

[Jeff1943]

For those who don't know, Claire Weekes was a psychiatrist who suffered from anxiety disorder. As luck would have it, she developed a method for recovery which worked for her and she spent the rest of her life advocating it to others through books, consultations, lectures and TV appearances.

Weekes claimed that her method could help anybody recover so long as they were willing to practice it and to not expect a cure just because they read the book.

As many of us realise, high anxiety can run in families from generation to generation, so the tendency will always be there. She herself fell into this category of inherited anxiety disorder.

But she still claimed her method could still bring recovery because if people can cure themselves once then if they have a subsequent episode they can cure themselves again. And should find it easier the second time round.

Weekes taught that first and foremost we should FACE our anxiety rather than hiding from it or pretending it doesn't exist. This doesn't mean we should obsess about it all the time, the distraction of keeping ourselves occupied stops us becoming too introspective which only grinds us down further.

Secondly, Weekes said that instead of fighting our anxiety and constantly testing ourselves, which only causes more stress, we should ACCEPT the symptoms for the time being. Agree to co-exist with our anxiety and depletion (depression) for the moment. Through understanding about the limitations of anxiety and reassurance we can stop responding to the flash of first fear with second fear and so stop bombarding our nervous system with extra fear hormone. So eventually our nerves lose their sensitivity and return to normal and all our symptoms resolve.

Acceptance is the hard part of Weekes' method but the reward is great: nothing less than the restoration of our quiet mind. To help us accept (for the time being) she developed FLOATING. This means developing a sensation of literally drifting through our daily tasks on an imaginary cloud carrying us effortlessly forward.

The final imperative is to LET TIME PASS! This is no five minute fix, we probably spent months getting ourselves into this state, at least allow a few weeks to get out of it.

As you may realise, the purpose of Claire Weekes' method is to end the corrosive fear that keeps our nerves sensitised - thereby exaggerating all small worries ten fold and opening the door to agoraphobia, derealisation, social anxiety, feelings of impending doom and general anxiety disorder.

This method for recovery she first described in the 1960s in her first book 'Self help for your nerves" (U.K version) and 'Hope and help for your nerves' (U.S. version) both available from Amazon new or used. When I last checked the U.K. book was in its 44th reprint so it has withstood the test of time.

I apologise to regular posters here who have heard all this before from me but newer members are popping up here all the time who will be unaware of Doctor Claire Weekes' method.

[Agora1]

Jeff1943, it never hurts to pass this by us one more time. Eventually

it will sink in

Thanks for your post.

[lorianxiety]

Jeff,well said Doctor C.Weeks is indeed a person with an amazing understanding of this dreadful affliction ,namely how the mind plays tricks when anxiety,or any type of phobia ,on our nervous systems ….and how very real all those symptoms we experience when under attack by Anxietyshe deserves all the acclaim and glad you raised her acheivment Jeff she is a remarkable woman...,;

[Hidden]

Thanks, Ive not heard of her. I will check her out.

[CatIsMyCopilot]

Great summary!

My favorite Claire Weekes quote:

"Recovery from panic always lies on the other side of panic, never on this side."

Meaning of course, that you must go through it to recover from it.

I actually feel her writing is sometimes very poetic!

If you haven't, try to check out her "audiobooks" (not really exact transcripts of her books, but she summarizes). Sometimes her Australian accent just pops into my head, heh.

[Calm_mama in reply to CatIsMyCopilot]

Her voice is in my head nonstop! So much better than all that noise that used to be there

[Hidden in reply to CatIsMyCopilot]

I just downloaded 2 of her books( free) on Amazon, can’t wait to listen. Thanks!

[Laniben in reply to Hidden]

free? Is that through Audio? 😊

[Hidden in reply to Laniben]

I got it on Amazon, had to download to Audible app. Free for 30 days then they charge a monthly fee for other books but says can cancel at anytime with no fee

[Laniben in reply to Hidden]

Ok thank you

[Jeff1943]

Her contribution to mental health and recovery from anxiety disorder is colossal. Read the reader reviews to her books on Amazon. How many times you read the words 'She saved my life!'

This is not to belittle the contribution of other doctors, writers and pharmaceutical researchers in this realm.

[Hidden in reply to Jeff1943]

I am especially attracted to ideas and people who teach self healing. I’m not anti medications. I do believe our bodies want balance and try to correct themselves if we don’t get in to our own way.

[Jeff1943 in reply to Hidden]

You're right, Hoski, we are our own worse enemies, always getting in the way of the mind and body's tendency to heal itself. We just need to slow down the fear hormone we're constantly pumping out and let our over sensitised nerves return to their normal state. I think Claire Weekes' Acceptance method does this - with our participation.

[Hidden in reply to Jeff1943]

Ive only listened to the first hour of 10 hours on her book so far. It makes sense. Please give me your opinion on my situation. I’m 66 yr old retired RN, struggled with depression off and on over the years. Now that I’m retired, of course I’m over thinking everything, lol. Ive got moderate depression with anxiety. No self harming or suicidal issues. My hubby and therapist are all about me continuing antidepressants. I think the drug( Zoloft) is helping. I’m getting ready to have a knee replacement soon so don’t want to rock the boat until I’m well healed from surgery. My thought is that when I am not dealing with chronic knee pain, I deserve a trial of weaning off Zoloft and making my long term goal of dealing with depression/ anxiety myself without mind altering drugs. Dr Weekes is saying what I believe to be true. How do I know I need drugs until I go without them. Am I making good sense? Therapist response to me is why do I think I can create more seratonin. I know diet and exercise play a big role and I would be better motivated to do better self care without numbing my brain.

[Jeff1943 in reply to Hidden]

As you know, Hoski, I'm no mental health professional but I think that a lot of these meds for anxiety and/or depression lose their effectiveness after a long period of use, I'm talking years. But the mind and body have got used to them and it can still be a long slow job tapering/weaning off them.

I understand what your therapist says ie why do you think you can make more serotonin? But as I say I suspect a lot of these meds taken long term are failing to produce the extra serotonin. Why hasn't someone done some clinical testing of thus? Can't they monitor serotonin levels with a blood test?

So to answer your question I agree with your plan. None of us want to stay on meds for ever if we can help it. So yes wait until your knee is well sorted and you could very slowly try reducing the Zoloft dosage. But of course have a pack of Zoloft in reserve so if the bad old feelings come back you can get yourself back on the Zoloft. Well worth a try but although it's your decision and your doctor and therapist may not be convinced still best to keep them fully informed so they know what you're doing.

When Weekes wrote her first 2 books there were no meds, just barbituates which she refers to as sedatives. Then she starts talking about 'tranquilisation' when diazepam came in during the late 1960s. Hope everything, including the knee job, go well.

[Hidden in reply to Jeff1943]

Thankyou so much Jeff1943. It feels good to have long term goals. 4 yr ago I was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation( intermittent). The meds to prevent the a fib were aweful, making it hard to work. After about 4 mo I sought a second opinion from a University based electrophysiologist. He spoke to me at great length re healthy lifestyle changes. He allowed me to take the meds only as needed. I made some major changes. My episodes went from every 2 to 3 months til now I haven’t had the heart meds or episodes in 15 months. I know it can sneak back up on me unannounced but for now, I’m a happy camper in the heart department. Thankyou so much for sharing your insight and opinion. That gives me confidence. Blessings to you⭐️

[Needtovent]

Thanks Jeff, it’s always good to review your summaries and each time I can glean something new. In therapy I’ve learned that some of the fear (for me at least) is attributed to childhood patterns of behavior. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it trauma, but difficult circumstances nonetheless. I suspect that for many the fear response is very deep rooted, and until one can recognize that fear AND connect it to old behavior patterns, only then can they accept it, float through it, and consequently let time pass. Therefore I encourage folks to try and explore the background to their fears/anxieties. The combined methods have been helpful to me.