Time to think outside the box.

[Jeff1943]

Countless thousands have felt exactly as you do. Countless thousands have recovered their quiet mind. And so will you.

Your nervous system is responding perfectly normally to what you are subjecting it to. Anxiety overload. It has put up with so much for so long and now it's complaining.

Fear of fear is behind all anxiety symptoms. It's not what lies outside your front door that frightens you. It's the fear of feeling fear if you go outside. A panic attack is the fear that you are about to feel overwhelming fear.

What's happened is that anxiety overload has caused your nervous system to become over-sensitised and in that state it produces all the symptoms we know only too well.

The symptoms cause fear. The fear causes more nervous sensitisation. Sensitisation causes more symptoms which cause more fear. Which causes more sensitisation. You are caught in a vicious circle that is self perpetuating.

For recovery you have to stop 'battling' and fighting your anxiety symptoms. Fighting causes more stress and tension. Your nervous system needs less. So do the opposite instead.

Rather than fight the panic attacks, the bad feelings, the agoraphobia, the health anxiety, accept them for the time being. Offer no resistance, let them come. Accept them completely for the moment despite how unsettling those symptoms are. They cannot kill you, disable you or make you lose your mind. So why fear them? Frame your mind for Acceptance instead.

Do not seek to avoid the bad feelings, don't try to block them out or lose yourself in distraction. Face them head on and pass through your angst and panic.

When you truly accept then you no longer flood your nerves with fear hormones and gradually your nervous system recovers from the over sensitivity - and the bad feelings cease. But you must let time pass, this is no quick fix.

The Acceptance method for recovery from anxiety and nervous depletion was devised many years ago by Doctor Claire Weekes and set out in her first book 'Hope and help for your nerves' also titled 'Self help for your nerves' (the same book). Her protocols for recovery can be summed up in six words: Face, Accept, Float, Let time pass. Her book is available for a few pounds/bucks new or used on Amazon and Ebay. It offers understanding, reassurance and a road to respite and recovery.

Doctor David Barlow, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry at Boston University wrote:

"By thinking outside the box the brilliant physician Claire Weekes created a treatment protocol to the unending benefit of tens of millions of patients over the years."

Whatever course of action you take I hope you soon experience respite and eventual recovery from all your symptoms.

[Lin1944]

Thanks Jeff, I keep your mail bookmarked and often read them when I am feeling poorly with anxiety. I saw a new Locum Doctor a few weeks ago and instead of saying the usual “What’s triggered it off” she said it was all the anxieties building up over the months and then like a Pressure cooker coming to head. She gave me Valium 5 mg which I took besides my usual anti depressants and now after only 2 weeks I can stop them as feeling ok.

A large glass of wine to celebrate tonight. Another book similar to Claire Weeks but more modern is “ At Last a Life “ by Paul David.

Thanks Jeff for all your helpfully posts you help so many x

[Jeff1943 in reply to Lin1944]

Thank you Lin, I'm glad you're making progress and I like the pressure cooker analogy. I know my posts are often a bit deja vu but I'm aware that every day there are many new people joining the group who won't be aware of previous posts. Thanks again.

[Ardraven]

Thanks that's given me some food for thought. I'm not sure if I would have been so ready to consider the idea of anxiety being the fear of fear if I hadn't realised quite a while ago that the fear of insomnia is the single most common worry causing sleep onset latency for me. Far from the only one, sure but the one that crosses my mind the most often by far while I lie awake trying to relax enough to make sleep possible. As Franklin Roosevelt said "We have nothing to fear but fear itself"

[Booklover0219]

Wow thank you so much for taking the time to write this wise and thoughtful advice. I want to read this book. I needed to hear this today. Just thinking about how countless thousands have felt exactly the same as me is a bit humbling and really puts things in a better perspective for me.

[Agora1]

Thank you, thank you Jeff1943 for your post. For those of us familiar with Dr. Weekes,

it's a refreshing reminder of her work. For all the newbie's, it's a reassurance that a

door is waiting to be opened for them in regards to anxiety. You're the best Jeff. We

all need to know that this not be a lifetime sentence. Make it a great weekend...

[Lin1944 in reply to Agora1]

I also really like your posts and keep them as well as Jeffs to refer to when feeling very anxious. After 25 years of this horrible illness thankfully not all the time I feel as if I am starting to understand about ignoring anxiety but not there yet as it’s hard to do but I am improving. Thanks again for your helpful posts xx

[Agora1 in reply to Lin1944]

Thanks for your kind words Lin but know that it took me many years as well

to get to where I am now. It was like one day, I call it my "aha" moment, everything

made sense and became clear as to what I needed to do. Ignoring/accepting anxiety

is all about not allowing the fear to grow. Once I got to that point, I started finding

methods that would calm me by using meditation and especially breathing, I brought

my body and mind back in sync.

We're here to help each other get to that point. It will happen xx

[Hidden]

Hi Jeff, WonderBro teaches exactly the same method as Claire Weeks and yourself. And it does work, but it takes a lot of practice and meditation and dedication.

[Jeff1943 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you Timeless, I will look that up.

[Cjonesabq]

Thank you Jeff, i always feel encouraged by your posts. Dr. Claire Weekes book sits in my nightstand and i am about to start reading yes again.

[Jeff1943 in reply to Cjonesabq]

Yes, rereading her words is good as then the right response comes almost as a reflex action. Of course, reading the book is one thing, respite and recovery come only through persistent practice. That is the more difficult part.