You do not own your anxiety symptoms, they do not belong to you alone.

[Jeff1943]

Anxiety takes many forms but it is always still anxiety. All the bad feelings you feel each day are symptoms of anxiety: we have read about them here before, we will read about them here again. None of these symptoms are unique to you.

Naturally, you will spend copious time and attention stressing, obsessing and distressing over each symptom. But that will not help to free you of them. Only when you successfully address the actual cause of your symptoms can you expect the symptoms to yield.

Some upset in your life has reached anxiety overload, your mind has had enough. So it blows a few fuses, biologically speaking, and your nervous system becomes over sensitised. In this state it exaggerates all our minor worries and fears ten or twenty fold.

You are concerned for your own mortality, you want to live a full life. But your nerves are over sensitive so the natural concern not to die young escalates 20-fold into an idee fixee that your death is impending. This and this alone is what gives you this obsessive thought. When your anxiety disorder is overcome this and all other symptoms and obsessions will resolve as they are only the product of over sensitive nerves.

The tightness in your chest is not a sign of a failing heart, it is muscular tension caused by anxiety: what Claire Weekes described as 'the horse's hoof in the chest' in her book 'Self help for your nerves'.

You hate leaving your house because your nerves detect your anxiety and are unhelpfully trying to protect you from dangers that no longer exist outdoors such as Neanderthals and sabre tooth tigers. You know very well that when you venture out you will face no danger. It is your fear of the fear of going out that keeps you a prisoner in your home.

Best not to let these symptoms of anxiety rule your life much longer, best to face and overcome their common cause: high anxiety. All your symptoms are well known to people here, with persistence and practice you can gain respite and recovery.

All you have to remember are six words described elsewhere: Face, Accept, Float, Let time pass.

[Agora1]

Well said Jeff and that's the truth xx

[MRawPR]

Thank you for this writing that describes perfectly our feelings!

[Tranquilwaters]

Thank you so much, Jeff! I've just shared this with my Husband who at mid life has developed severe anxiety over his heart, despite having tests to reassure that all is well. The 'horse's hoof' description describes what he is experiencing perfectly. I have Dr. Weeke's excellent book and I'm going to encourage him to read it. Your post really couldn't have come at a better time.

[newbie56]

Amen

[newbie56]

Kevin 160

[newbie56]

Perfect !

[Booklover0219]

Thank you ❤️

[sweetiepye]

You can't post this too often Jeff. There's always a new member who can benefit from it. Remember the relief when you first read Dr.Weekes' book . At least that's what I felt. Here is someone who knows how I feel. Pam

[Jeff1943 in reply to sweetiepye]

Thank you sweetiepye, my postings are often repetitive but as you rightly mention there are new arrivals here all the time who won't necessarily find what's been posted in the past. Ah yes, the relief when I first read Claire Weekes' first book. Not the beginning of the end, as Churchill once said, but the end of the beginning.

[Bluetj]

Thx so much for this post. I am new & I just came across this & am tryn to get the anxiety to calm down at this moment. I was wondering about the feeling that I'm feeling because there is always a new feeling. Thx again. 😢😢😢

[Jeff1943 in reply to Bluetj]

Always a new feeling, you say Bluetj. Or as I wrote at the beginning of my post 'Anxiety takes many forms but it is always still anxiety.'

There are always new feelings, strange thoughts and symptoms to cope with, one follows another. But they are all imposters: fake feelings caused by oversensitised nerves. They can do you no permanent harm.

You have to go back to the cause of your anxiety disorder, what stress brought this on? Control or neutralise that and you begin to remove the cause of your anxiety disorder. And all the 'feelings' resolve.

You say you are trying to get your anxiety to calm down at the moment. I say do the opposite: let it come, agree to accept it for the time being, you can still continue to function. But once you agree to accept your anxiety for the moment you stop all the fighting which is causing you more tension and stress. Fighting always involves tension and stress so accept your anxiety instead of continuously fighting it.

The full story, set out by Doctor Weekes many years ago, is contained in the short book I mention in my post. It is not just any-old-book or just 'another book'. It is a self help book that sets out a recovery plan that will help anybody to recover no matter how long or how deeply you have suffered.

[Caseopia in reply to Jeff1943]

Thank you so much for your post. I need to learn to accept my anxiety and not be ashamed or embarrassed by it. I allow it to take over me. And thank you for the recommendation about the book. I’m hoping I can get a chance to get it and read it.

[Bluetj]

I will definitely look n2 ordering this book. I do not know how to accept this, which is one of my problems. Accepting this seems like I am accepting the diagnosis & I don't want this nor the diagnosis. 😢😢

[Mackielover06]

Thank you so much jeff1943. Really touched my heart.