Her modality weaves in nicely and is compatible with other, more recent, approaches - most salient for me, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). This is a book I revisted after two years. I have been recommended the book by an old lecturer/professor in my Mental Health Studies class at university. She said it was helpful for her own struggles and felt that I would appreciate it too with what we had discussed. Sadly I had never ended up finishing her copy and then when I got around to buying mine, I never ended up touching it and soon forgot about it. noticing your heartbeat gets stronger, faster or irregular, or you get short of breath when you start feeling anxious Peace of mind is possible, even in a frantic world and despite challenges. If you're experiencing emotional turmoil or anxiety, these tips can help… READ MORE

Anxiety takes up space in your head, and movement will help you get out of your head. Essentially, you’re taking the attention away from your mind and putting it into your body, which can help you reconnect and get grounded. Sufferers of nervous illness regard Self Help for Your Nerves as their bible – many believe that if they had found it earlier they would have been saved years of unnecessary suffering. I am definitely not a stranger to anxiety and depression and so for a long time I have been actively searching for ways in which these 'illnesses' can be 'cured' or made less intense. This book has definitely helped me in the sense that it has given me a completely different perspective compared to what I had before reading this book. Stress and depression can cause you to be a lot less open minded than you perhaps used to be and being accepting of new ideas and view points may seem very daunting, however, when ideas are presented in this book Dr Weekes gives examples about how the sufferer may be feeling once presented with an idea (personally I found her to be pretty spot on) and so you are given a sense of relief that someone out there knows what you are going through and that she has helped many people in similar situations. You have choices and options to manage your anxiety. And maybe you choose to take a deep breath right now and let out a sigh of relief.

You could also make a note of what's going well. Living with anxiety can mean you think a lot about things that worry you or are hard to do. It's important to be kind to yourself and notice the good things too.

Maybe you want to take a quiz to understand your anxiety better. At other times, it might help to step away from your anxiety to understand it (see the next tip). There are many self-help options for anxiety. And if you’re reading this, you’ve already taken an empowering step toward taking care of yourself.

How can I help myself?

Anxiety can help us to focus or take extra care when needed, but if it gets too much or goes on for a while, it can affect our daily life. It’s common to describe anxiety as a feeling of dread, fear or unease, which can range from mild to severe. Yet, the benefits of opening up about it can help you feel less alone and discover new ways to overcome it. It’s time to close the door on stigmatizing self-help and anxiety and open the door toward taking care of ourselves unapologetically. The next time you feel a spasm of fear, instead of shying away from it and trying to forget it or control and prevent it coming, as you have done in the past, I want you to examine it as it sweeps through you and even to describe it to yourself, noting in detail its various component sensations. When you do this, you will find that the wave of fear strikes hardest when it first strikes, and that if you stand your ground and relax, it quietens and disappears. When you have learnt to face fear this way, and see it as no more than a physical feeling, you begin to lose your fear of fear. You step outside a vicious circle. A spasm may come from time to time, but you learn to disregard it. Eventually it means so little that you hardly notice it in passing."