Reddit reviews Hope and Help for Your Nerves: End Anxiety Now

You need to understand the cycle of anxiety in order to understand how your body convinces itself that shit is real.

The cylce is Initial fear > causes your nerves to release adrenaline > causes your body to create fight or flight symptoms > causes more fear > more adrenaline > more symptoms.

in short: fear > adrenaline > symptoms > more fear and so on.

The "cure" is to let go of the initial fear, that first warning sign, let it float and give it no meaning.

I'd highly suggest to you to read that book:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009PFN4IQ?ref=dbs_P_W_faw_dp

its a must for anyone who suffers from anxiety, a book from 1962 that teaches how to cure anxiety for good (not instantly tho).

Spend time working on your issues with anxiety and panic attacks.

This is a good book that was helpful to me - It's in plain words, and easy to comprehend and especially pertinent and useful to anyone with issues with their nerves.

Who knows if you're an 8 or a 5 really. When under extreme stress and anxiety your true type is incredibly hard to discern.

I suffered with panic attacks and thought I was going crazy and/or had a terrible cancer. The book "Hope and Help for Your Nerves" gave me my life back. I got over crippling panic disorder without drugs and without a psychiatrist... well, actually, I briefly tried prozac and klonipn, but the prozac made me more nervous and I worried about getting addicted to the klonipin. (Intense worries like that are part of the illness)

"Hope and Help for Your Nerves" by Claire Weekes is an amazing book. It was written in 1962 by a female family practice doctor in Australia and is the greatest resource someone with panic disorder could hope for. Her terminology is delightfully archaic but she understands every symptom, thought and nuance of panic disorder. You feel like she knows you and is speaking directly to you.

I was up a lot of nights with my heart pounding with chest pain and having difficulty breathing and hot flashes and reading her book (well, chapters 1-7 anyway) over and over again got me through it and got me back to normal.

http://www.amazon.com/Hope-Help-Nerves-Signet-ebook/dp/B009PFN4IQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1379892156&sr=1-1&keywords=claire+weekes

Please read the Amazon reviews. The is a young doctor that wrote a particularly touching one about the book saving him as a medical student. A recurring theme in the reviews is how much they wish Dr Weekes was still alive so they could thank her.

It's $6.

If I can make a recommendation it would be to read this Hope and Help For your Nerves by Dr Claire Weeks I've read it last week in the midst of my taper and it put a lot of perspective on what's anxiety and what it can do and convince you of. It also has helpful methods of coping as well.

I can empathize with having a severe and debilitating fear, because I have been there. Also like you, I am badly psychosomatic and this is something I still struggle with daily. I have had various health issues/focuses since I was young but the past few years have by far been the worst. I won't go into detail on what my problem is, but know that I also fear an undiagnosed or missed medical condition that may kill me suddenly. I too have been to the doctor, ER, and urgent care multiple times. And I too have been told there is nothing wrong with me.

These are the things I have done to try and help myself.

• Exercising. I began running about a year ago. I was out of shape and it was horrible but I am now able to run 3 miles 4 to 5 times per week. This has greatly helped me with my anxiety.
  
  
• Therapy. After years of knowing that I had a mental health issue, I finally said enough and found myself a therapist. He also referred me to a psychiatrist. Both of these individuals have had a positive impact on my life and have helped me cope with this disease.
  
  
• Books. The two that I recommend most for people like us are It's Not All in Your Head and Hope and Help for Your Nerves
  
  
• Meditation. The books I mentioned above discuss meditation. It's a simple thing to do and it takes a minimal amount of time each day. At first I felt it was silly, but it has truly helped me.
  
  You may have already tried all of these things without success, but I would give them another shot if you have. I felt hopeless, like you. There were days I feared even leaving my bed. I'm in graduate school, as I believe you are as well, and I know that we are both under a lot of stress and the expectations are high.
  
  We have over-analytical minds, which help and hurt us. I hope that this is helpful for you and please reach out to me if you ever need advice, need to vent, or just want to talk.
  
  Best wishes my friend.