Im new

[Bianca0035]

Hello everybody!! Im Pam and i have really bad anxiety. I tryed everything. The only thing i didnt do is trying to accept it, thats why im here today. Any tips what acceptance really means?

[Nicole8631]

Hello ! Well that's what i'm trying to figure out myself too😣

[Hidden]

Hello

For me I look at it like this

If you had a cold you would accept it , take care of yourself , take medications if needed until you feel better

Acceptance of anxiety is the same , take care of yourself , do what you need to do for you , take meds if they help , therapy and accept at the moment you are not very well so to speak

Not sure if this makes sense but instead of fighting against the anxiety accept this is what you have just like any other illness but in time it can and does get better and if some parts of your anxiety you have to learn to live with you will

Take Care x

[Bianca0035]

Im thinking about beginning CBT. Did someone try it?

[Shelley24 in reply to Bianca0035]

I start this in 2 weeks

[Bianca0035]

Im still thinking about it but i read it does help!

[Jeff1943]

Acceptance is simple to understand but with practice and persistance has led thousands to find recovery from anxiety disorder. When we are under stress, strain, worry or overwork for too long our nervous system can become over sensitised. In this state it begins to 'misfire' and play tricks on us: we feel over anxious and can develop symptoms that make us think we have some dreaded organic disease. These symptoms can include panic attacks, stomach problems, aches and pains in various parts of our body, dizziness, visual disturbances and feeling there's a lump in our throat. And that's just a few!

We go to the doctors and have tests but the results come back saying there's nothing wrong. But this doesn't change our feeling that we have heart disease, cancer or are about to die.

All this causes us great fear but this fear only feeds our over sensitised nerves causing more symptoms causing more fear causing more symptoms. We have arrived at anxiety disorder.

The Acceptance method for recovery is designed to break this vicious fear-symptoms-fear circle. But not by 'fighting' the feeling as fighting only causes more stress and tension. Instead the Acceptance method involve doing the very opposite which is to accept all the symptoms and bad feelings for the time being and to do so calmly and with the minimum of fear. Anxiety can not kill or disable you and won't send you insane, despitehow bad it makes us feel its power is limited: it is not real physical illness. It us 'only' our frazzled nerves playing up by producing fake symptoms.

If with this reassurance we can frame our minds to accept the symptoms for the moment without fear then we stop feeding our sensitised nerves with that which fuels the vicious circle. Our nervous system is no longer being bombarded by us with fear and gradually it returns to normal and we recover.

So when you feel the panic and palpitations and pains coming on just relax and let your muscles go limp and allow the bad feelings to wash over and past you and stop reacting with fear. You are like a rock on the shore constantly buffeted waves which crash against you and disperse. But the rock endures.

There's a lot more to Acceptance than that of course. But if you go to Amazon and search for Claire Weekes book 'Self help with your nerves' on Amazon.co.uk also titled 'Hope and help with your nerves' on Amazon.com you will find hundreds of reader reviews for this book and over 90% rate it Very Good or Excellent. This is the short book that sets out tge Acceptance method in full and bribgs knowledge, reassurance and recovery in the fullness of time.

It was written a long time ago when Claire Weekes when a medical student: she began to experience anxiety disorder hersekf and recovered by practicing Acceptance. She then wrote this first book of many to help others to recover and spent the rest of her life advocating her method. She died at a great age in 1990 and there are tens of thousands of people across the world who owe everything to her.

You will recover, you will not feel this way forever, you do not have some terminal illness. I commend this book to you all.

[Usagold in reply to Jeff1943]

Excellent Jeff! I totally agree. I always love reading your encouraging & well-founded comments.

[Usagold in reply to Jeff1943]

And this excerpt from your comment is going on a notecard. I love this...

So when you feel the panic and palpitations and pains coming on just relax and let your muscles go limp and allow the bad feelings to wash over and past you and stop reacting with fear. You are like a rock on the shore constantly buffeted waves which crash against you and disperse. But the rock endures.

[Usagold]

Hey Pam! Unfortunately, I'm a veteran anxiety sufferer. I should have a T-shirt or some award for what I've been through by now. But, I've just recently learned that I've been doing all this to myself! It's not a disease or something we're born with, although it's possible we are born with more of a tendency to succumb to anxiety, like super productive adrenals, but studies have proven it's largely a result of our thinking. Hence, CBT, when done right, works! Since I've been working on acceptance and changing my negative thinking patterns (and honey, my brain was trained to jump to the worst possible outcome), I have glimpsed recovery and have had more normal days. I had recovered from a major anxiety breakdown w/o meds last year, then had a set back when my mom died this past March. I can sum up my advice to you in 4 points, 1)acceptance, 2)changing your negative thinking patterns, 3)relaxation and 4)prayer.

I'll expound on my 4 points: 1) acceptance- get Claire Weekes' book, Hope and Help For Your Nerves! Best book on anxiety ever written. She explains how to accept your symptoms and take them with you as you go on living. I've read it 3 times. 2)change your thinking- if you need notecards, write down statements that counter your fears and read them throughout the day. Everytime you have a what if... thought, change it immediately. Do not harp on how bad you feel, see it as good for you, your teacher, an opportunity to grow. Memorize Phillippians 4:8 and do it! 3)relax- a sensitized body needs time and rest to heal. Practice deep relaxation twice/day. Minimize stress. 4)prayer- I believe that God allows difficult circumstances For our betterment. Boy, did I need this experience! I was living an anxious life with fears, doubts, and not trusting God. I have come into greater communion with Him and I feel stronger, no matter how my fleshly body feels. He was always there, I just wasn't doing what He said to do. I can honestly say I'm thankful for my anxiety. Blessings and healing to you, Pam.

[Renesia in reply to Usagold]

Beautiful

[Hidden]

Accepted it to me means let it flow through you. Don't fear it, don't run from it, just let it flow. You could always try Magnesium too, it calms the nervous system naturally.

[Bianca0035 in reply to Hidden]

I will try that. I take medication but anxiety still persist. I guess i can add them to my daily medication since they are vitamins right?

[Hidden in reply to Bianca0035]

It's a mineral, one with dramatic results. Magnesium glycinate is the one you need.

[Bianca0035]

Thanks also for your reply :-))

Im afraid of the anxiety itself. I worry about anxiety, fear about anxiety, cannot do things i normaly done because of my anxiety and the story goes on...i fear anxiety thats the problem!

Ps: sorry for my imperfect english but im maltese. Im good in reading but when it comes to writing i do the best i can do

[Hidden in reply to Bianca0035]

You are caught in a cycle, fear is the very thing you fear. Once you let the fear flow through you and are not scared of it you'll start to get better. It won't hurt you. It's like when you nearly get injured from an accident and your all shook up. It passes !!.

You have to be brave and try not to be scared.

[Bianca0035]

Thats what im trying to do..not to be scared although sometimes it seems impossible. But im trying..