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Excessive Irrational and Unnecessary Anxiety

Discussion in 'General Discussion Subforum' started by JanAtheCPA, Apr 30, 2025.

  1. JanAtheCPA

    JanAtheCPA Beloved Grand Eagle

    All of the many forms of TMS go hand-in-hand with excessive, irrational and unnecessary anxiety. We could even call it EIU Anxiety. The number of people with EIU Anxiety has been quietly on the rise for decades, and very obviously on the rise in the most recent ten years or so, which may be why Nicole Sachs frequently says that we are experiencing an epidemic of fear-based symptoms.

    Denial about the importance of anxiety's role in physical suffering is just another form of repression, and the work we take most seriously here is based in the truth about Dr Sarno's theory of emotional repression.

    It is my firm belief that you can't do the emotional work required to deal with unconscious emotional repression if Excessive Irrational and Unnecessary Anxiety is taking the place of rational mindfulness.

    The number one resource for overcoming anxiety continues, even after many years, to be Hope and Help for Your Nerves by Dr Claire Weekes, PhD - the little book published in 1969 that has saved countless thousands, all over the world, from the prison of debilitating anxiety. It was literally the second book that saved my life in 2011, right after The Divided Mind. I'm sure I discovered it right here, because I joined the forum and started working the SEP right after I finished TDM.

    Hope and Help for Your Nerves is a disarmingly small book, very easy to read, and powerful in the effectiveness of its message. It's available everywhere, in all of the formats, free from public libraries, perhaps free on Audible for subscribers? and I imagine that affordable used paper copies are out there.

    I invite the community to add to this thread with your favorite free or low-cost resources for anxiety and/or your personal toolkit of anti-anxiety skills . You can add links to freely available video and audio recordings of Dr Weekes.
     
  2. Diana-M

    Diana-M Beloved Grand Eagle

    I can’t say enough good things about Claire Weekes! She explained things to me that I needed to know my whole life. I went over the top with drastic anxiety symptoms during the pandemic. Dr. Weekes is curing me. My symptoms are slowly subsiding.

    Here are two of her books free on YouTube:



     
    Last edited: Apr 30, 2025
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  3. Diana-M

    Diana-M Beloved Grand Eagle

    This is a great anxiety app (and book) that’s very popular and successful for treating anxiety. It’s called the DARE response. It’s not free, but you can sign up for free resources on their website. There’s a free portion of the app.

    https://www.dareresponse.com/ (Dare Response - Dare Response)
     
    Last edited: Apr 30, 2025
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  4. Bonnard

    Bonnard Well known member

    Getting past this denial about the importance of anxiety's role in TMS symptoms, and the blocks denial can put up:

    Nicole Sachs describes her suggested way of journaling (she calls it "JournalSpeak") so clearly here--it's even a pleasant set of pages to look at and read the instructions:
    https://www.yourbreakawake.com/journalspeak (JournalSpeak | BreakAwake by Nicole Sachs)

    That practice is extremely helpful. You can adapt her JournalSpeak instructions for various specific purposes, including EIU anxiety. In the first part, instead of writing about past and current stressors--and personality traits, write specifically about anxiety and those feelings of unease, dread, and worry. Then follow the rest of the instructions (parts 2 and 3.). It's not that much different, but the emphasis is on current anxiety.

    Like Nicole suggests, get raw and unfiltered--with this kind of writing, if you get to this question and these kinds of thoughts, you've nailed it:
    "How can I be such an awful person?! If my partner (or friend, or anybody in our lives) ever saw this, I could never face them. They'd be horrified at who I really am." "If there were thought-police, I'd be done. What kind of monster am I anyway?"
    Shame and embarrasing stuff, and repressed rage can all be underlying and be part of current anxiety.
    Maybe you won't get to that place with your anxiety--just let the writing take you wherever it goes.

    There is that final 3rd part where we engage in some self-soothing behavior to come back to the present whole.
     

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