Dr Weekes book help for nerves - acceptance

[GrayEm]

In this book she advocates not fighting the anxiety feelings but simply accepting them and letting them pass. Has anyone had any success in adopting this approach?

[warkie]

Hi,

Ive suffered with health anxiety for a year now,and i was really bad,claire weekes books saved me,i did everything she said to do and its worked,i take her book everywhere wih me n if i start to feel funny i start to read it and i feel fine,i got to the point i wouldnt drive because of the symtoms,but because of claire weekes im back driving and working x

[Hidden]

Hi grayem

Yes I bought her book and read it alongside having therapy and taking meds. She makes a lot of sense and if you practise you become less fearful/frustrated when anxiety rears its ugly head. I hope her book helps you love eve x

[mallet-head]

Hi GrayEm,

I am working my way through Dr Claire Weekes' book "Help and Heal your bad nerves" and what she says makes a lot of sense and does work for me. Acceptance of the sensations your bodys self-defence system produces, embracing them and choosing to allow them to co-exist alongside everything else that is going on, is the best way to convince your mind that nothing is really wrong. You will then start to break that "anxiety spiral" and allow your para-sympathetic nervous system to kick-in and start the "unwinding process". A very similar approach is advocated by Steve Pavilanis in his "life less anxious" programme, and by Barry Joe McDonagh in the "Panic Away" system.

All this said, I still get episodes of elevated anxiety, I don't think it's something that ever goes away completely. What you can do however, is manage it so that you are not ruled by it. Your anxiety is after all is being produced by your own mind, and the horrible physical sensations produced in your body are a byproduct of the adrenalin released into the blood stream when the mind thinks (rightly or wrongly) you are under threat. When you adopt the principles of acceptance, "floating through it" and letting time pass (results are not instantaneous) you will over time start to feel so much better.

Very best of luck with this, hang in there buddy!!

Mallet-Head

[GrayEm]

Thanks for all your very helpful replies. I bought the book a couple of months back, but havent put it into practice. Today I resolved to try the acceptance approach to see if it will help at all.

[Jeffju]

I read one if her books twice as I found it very comforting and it made sense to me. I appreciated her ideas of a 'fatigued mind' rather than a ' mental illness' as I really believed that's what I have after a very stressful last 18 months,( losing both my parents, my job and my husband developing a serious heart condition). After I had read her book the second time I had the courage to face the fear, acceptance and working through. Took me a while to get there but I did and , truly, it has worked for me. I photocopied some pages and take those around with me to read and remind myself of her ideas. Read it and try it.... not easy but it works. Good luck. xxx

[fadedlizard]

Yes, Gray, it does work. It isn't quick and it isn't easy but it is the only approach I have tried that has made me believe I could be free of this once and for all. I'm not there yet but I will be.

Best Wishes,

Lizard.xxx

[GrayEm]

Thanks again for your replies. It sounds like it is definitely worth me trying to stick at it. Today has been quite a good day. Not sure how tomorrow will go. Back to work.

[Hidden in reply to GrayEm]

I thoroughly recommend it Em, it takes time to get it right, but so worth it.

Face, Accept, Float, And let time pass.

Wishing you lots of sucess

B

xxxx