Is there any hope?

[abcdefghix]

Hello,

Someone recently stated in a post that he was happy to find this forum because it allowed him to share his experiences with others. At the same time, he was discouraged by the fact that very few people on here seem to have recovered from their struggles with anxiety.

Obviously, the reason why most of the posts on here come from people who are still struggling is because those who recover no longer have a reason to participate on an anxiety forum.

This is unfortunate because it creates a skewed view of the prospects for recovery.

So I feel obligated to briefly share my experience: I have struggled with excessive anxiety for most of my adult life. Earlier this year, the anxiety began to literally destroy my life. It spiraled me into a deep depression--constant stress, constant suffering, no sleep, no hope. In a word, Hell on Earth.

So I tried every option available to me. None of them worked. With each failed option, I became more anxious, more hopeless, and more depressed.

One day, I stumbled on a book at Barnes and Noble written by Dr. Steven Hayes called "Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life".

All I can say is, wow!

I have read virtually every book that you can find on anxiety at your local bookstore--none of them compare.

Four months into the process, this book has literally changed my life.

So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, if you've tried a number of options and are still suffering, go to a bookstore and read the first 20 or so pages of this book. What do you have to lose, other than your suffering?

Best wishes,
--Brian

[Foxfire]

I totally agree with you on this Brian, I know that the sad reality is that once I started to get a handle on my anxiety, I actually came to this forum less and less because I found that reading about the experiences of others, while comforting in knowing I wasn't alone, actually tended to make me doubt my ability to get over this. Now that I'm fine and cruising along, I still make a point of browsing the forum to offer any help (such as it is) to anyone that wants it (and probably even if they don't! :)).

The thing that I find interesting is that all of the people I know who have recovered totally from this condition have done it without medication, often without paid psychological help, usually using one of the many good self-help books out there.

Guys, the problem with this condition is that the symptoms are so overblown when compared to the thing that caused it in the first place, it makes us think that any solution or cure is going to be just as difficult, to match the severity of these symptoms. The cure ISN'T that difficult, just requires perseverence, a willingness to succeed and accept the conditon and the ability to let your body heal itself as it so desperately wants to do.