3 words hold the key to recovery. Let it go. Let go of the grip that people have on those anxious thoughts. Let go of the feelings that are driving them crazy (pssst...they won’t). Let go of trying to do anything to rid themselves of their constant anxiety.
Let go...and accept. Accept that what is happening to you is perfectly normal under the circumstances and live your life as if you did not feel anxious all the time.
It is just the mind and body’s way of releasing negative energy that has built up due to stress or trauma. This is how the mind and body recovers. Unfortunately, many people don’t know this and are bewildered and frightened as to what is happening to them. Being afraid of these natural symptoms of stress just creates more fear, more stress and become trapped in a vicious cycle. It’s the not knowing.
When you do know and understand. it becomes easier to accept what is happening to your mind and body and to literally step aside of yourself and to leave or let go. It takes time to let this natural healing process do its thing. Time for your sensitised nerves to recover and de-sensitise and recognised by the sufferers ability to cope with life again. They become more resilient and much less prone to being overwhelmed by trivial matters. Matters that used to leave them in a crumpled heap are now done without even thinking about it. They have their life back and all because of those 3 words which are immensely powerful when you truly understand what they mean.
For the record, I used to suffer from terrible anxiety for quite some time. I suffered all day, every day without much respite. It was like Groundhog Day but without the laughs. I recovered by following the teachings of Dr Claire Weekes who pioneered self help treatment for anxiety and depression. I bought her book called Essential Help fo your Nerves but there is also a lot of her material on Youtube and those who recovered by applying her teachings.
I did it without medication because I learned that those sensations, although very scary, were perfectly normal and had to be felt (nerves de-sensitising) in order for them to be released.
Recovery didn’t happen overnight and was a gradual process with lots of setbacks ( perfectly normal) along the way when you think you are going back to square one. You might feel that way but it’s just anxious thoughts trying their hardest to bluff you into believing recovery won’t happen and a measure of how far you have travelled along that road to recovery.
Recovery is waiting to happen. You don’t need to go looking for it either. It will happen, naturally. When you learn to let go.
Written by
Beevee
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Hi Beevee It’s great reading your posts, they give me hope, although I’m still finding it extremely difficult not to fight my feelings and question why they are there constantly, as soon as I awake I’m instantly checking to see if the knot in my stomach is there and before I know I’ve kicked off that cycle of ‘why’ and ‘how’. I somehow need to find an alternative way of starting my day instead of feeling defeated and despondent before my feet have even hit the floor.
Accept that you will wake and monitor how you are feeling. Accept that you will question the thoughts. Accept everything! Developing a So What!? attitude and meaning it takes time. It’s about not caring that you are still feeling rubbish and simply carrying on with your day, no matter what. A good barometer for this is when you genuinely stop complaining about how you are feeling either to others or to yourself and instead just getting on with your life. Normality (not constantly living in fear) will gradually return.
My anxiety was worse in the mornings and would be there within a split second of my eyes opening. It might take longer to recover if you are following the same routine but it is your attitude towards the symptoms that will make all the difference, not your routine. There may be triggers (work was an issue for me but only because of the anxiety I was feeling) but the more you allow your anxiety to be triggered, the more the brain understands that there is no threat and tones down the fight or flight response. Those molehills that suddenly became mountains to climb when anxiety came knocking, shrink back down to molehills, or less.
Accept that recovery takes time. It will come to you so there is no need to go searching for it yourself. It just happens gradually without you even noticing. It’s like you just forget about it.
Occasionally, My memory will throw up a thought as to how bad things were for me but they don’t bother me. Just keep moving forward with your life, make it bigger than your anxiety. Feel the fear and do it anyway, taking the anxiety with you.
Thanks Beevee, I know you’re right, somehow I need to find a way to stop caring how rubbish I feel and continue in spite of it instead of letting it consume me and making me analyse and question everything and withdraw from my normal daily life and my loved ones, I know that is my big problem and is why I keep fighting.
Very inspiring. Did you find yourself with depression due to the anxiety, and this book helped you recover from both by understanding those three little words that are so much bigger than they actually are?
Yes, constantly fighting against the symptoms brought on depression, feelings of hopelessness with no light at the end of the tunnel. In the book I mentioned, it happens in sequence, makes complete sense and like to use the analogy of a car battery which has run flat because all the electrics, lights etc being left on overnight. It has been drained of its energy but will recharge. Our energy and resilience is drained away by the constant thrashing we are giving ourselves trying to recover when recovery is about stopping trying to find ways to recover and leaving it to do its thing.
Recovery can be summed up in those 3 words or even in one word which is Acceptance. It means the same thing and is the foundation to recovery. The other part is knowledge. When you understand what is happening to you and why, it takes away a lot of the fear and unknown, the constant questioning, introspection, making acceptance easier.
Ohhh you are so right. But in the middle of a setback after a year of peace and to accept the blasts. The shocks. The storm. It’s truly overwhelming me and I’m falling apart. How did u keep going when all your acceptance was met by more waves of fear and dread. I start off strong but the stronger it gets the weaker I seem. Xxxx
The book was my bible but the more I practised the teachings, the less I needed to rely on the book for reassurance. I literally flew on my own and simply let the anxiety do it’s worst and just carried on.
I also came across another website called anxietynomore which helped me to understand what acceptance was all about. I think this is the part that people struggle with the most because I don’t think there is a right way or a wrong way. You just get there through trial and error as you take your anxiety along for the ride. It’s a learning process which you don’t forget. If you avoid life because of anxiety, your brain doesn't get the chance to see through the lies it spins. You don’t call it’s bluff because that is all it is. Just a big confidence trick. You have to go through the woods in order to see the trees.
But not impossible. It’s the only way to overcome fears generated by anxiety by facing them and continually accepting them passing through the symptoms. If I can do it, any one can. We all have it within ourselves to overcome the disorder. If people continue to be afraid of the symptoms, nothing will change.
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