If anxiety hasn’t made you think you’re crazy yet, then trying to find effective ways to kill it will.
It is frustrating to have to spend so much time locating books, CD’s, or other products that can deliver on what they promise when it comes to getting rid of anxiety but, if you can find a decent anti-anxiety tool that combines two ways of delivering it’s message, then you’ve got a winner.
I’ve said the following in blog posts, eBooks, podcasts, kitchen table conversations and everywhere in between: In order to win your fight against anxiety you have to learn ways to undue anxious thoughts and repeat what you learn.
The problem is that people give up too easily, they quit. They get a sudden pang of anxiety and only try to solve their problem as long as the intense anxiety is around. After that, most take a wait and see attitude, which doesn’t work.
Whether you’re in the midst of severe anxiety, or just slightly nervous, you have to continuously work toward your goal of being anxiety free. There is no such thing as an easy solution to this problem, that is a fact.
One of the best ways to ensure that you knock out your anxiety cold is to use audio AND text based solutions at the same time. This one-two punch will drill the information into your subconscious mind and help you to replace all the anxiety filled thoughts that swirl around in your head.
A perfect example of how this approach to learning works can be found in any school. The first part of the day students are asked to come to class and listen to lecture. This is the audio portion of your learning experience. Obviously all of your senses are involved in this process, but your ears are doing most of the work. Teacher talks, you listen.
Auditory learning is passive and allows you to relax while you learn. And even if you think the information isn’t seeping into your brain matter, it is. Slowly but surely the information you’re passively receiving is absorbed and stored in your mind.
After school, students are expected to go home and do self-study by readings books, which is a more intensive form of learning which engages your mind. This is where you read, re-read, think and repeat the process until you “get it.”
Using audio and text based tools together is an effective way to hammer home the information you need to internalize. Audio can be listened to while you relax in bed, on the couch, at work, school or wherever. You then follow up with a book or manual that repeats the same information to help immerse your mind in the lesson.
It’s this two channel stream of information that is making your brain work to tie things together because the different bits of information are twisted and combined to form a much more potent means of learning than any one method alone can provide.
With this strategy you can jab your anxiety steadily until one day you’ll be able to throw a devastating haymaker and drop it to the floor. This is how it’s done: With good information pounded into your brain repeatedly over time.
Let me recommend two ways you can do this.
The first way, is the way that I first used. More than three years ago I randomly bought a book and CD from Amazon about how to fight anxiety – most of you familiar with this blog know what they are – Dr. Claire Weeke’s book Hope and Help for Your Nerves
I would listen to her CD in my car on the way to and from work, and would read her book at home. I did this routine for weeks. I used both tools over and over until her message sank in to my thick skull. I could recite lines from her work verbatim, and til this day her message of acceptance and perseverance is still with me.
Whatever combination you decide to use, try this audio + text format. I think you’ll gain a lot more from your efforts to eliminate your anxiety if you do. Don’t lay back and think that this problem will go away on its own because I promise that it won’t.
You might get relief every now and then, but like a starved pit bull, anxiety has a way of latching on and not letting go. So, be aggressive in your efforts to be anxiety free and double your chances of success by using audio and text based solutions at the same time.
i could not agree more! while talk therapy helped me greatly, listening over and over to claire’s pass through panic during my extremely anxious period was amazing. even now, 8 months later, i can hear her voice in my head when i have an anxious moment.
Excellent job, Paul! Right on the money. I very much believe a multi-faceted approach does work best. I always try to think about is as percentages. If exercise (for example) can give me a 10% improvement, I’ll take it. Same for self-help materials. Also agree with the above comment about Claire Weeks’ audio book. It’s on my iPod and listened to on a regular basis.
Keep up the great work, Paul.
Great blog, and great ideas. Using the audio and text formats of Claire Weekes’ information was probably the biggest breakthrough I have ever had with anxiety.
I have tried a lot of different methods and found this to be the best.
If you’d like to read my reviews of many of the popular methods out there, they are available on my blog.
Thank you.
the one thing that caught my attention was when you said
“The problem is that people give up too easily, they quit. They get a sudden pang of anxiety and only try to solve their problem as long as the intense anxiety is around. After that, most take a wait and see attitude, which doesn’t work.”
That’s exactly the trouble with anxiety problems, or problems in general. We wait till things get out of control, and then try to take action.
The best offense is a good defense, and to truly live life anxiety free you need to be proactive and preemptive.
Great post. Keep up the good work.
Thanks everyone, I’m glad you all took something away from this post. And I sincerely appreciate the participation. Please keep it up!
Has anyone purchased the instant panic pack or can comment on it? It sounds promising but I am always skeptical with cure all solutions. If it is any bit as useful as Claire Weekes material I’d shill out the money for sure. Claire Weekes has made me hopeful of a way out of this without medication for the first time I can remember.
I am also curious if anyone has purchased and used the Instant Panic Relief pack. My experience with any of the “guarnteed” do it yourself kits is that they are expensive and ineffective. I tried the Linden Method, and was truly disappointed in the production quality and content. It was very expensive, and seemed to contain a great deal of “filler” material. It was full of promises and claimed to come with phone support, which turned out to be a toll number outsourced in a far away land. Claire Weeke’s books and audio recordings are cheap and effective. They also clearly make no promises of instant relief. I think that helps lend them a great deal of credibility.
I also wonder if constantly seeking information about curing abnormal anxiety is the best course of action. I have some of my best days when I realize that I haven’t given anxiety any thoughts for a while. When I relapse, which now seems to come after about a week of peace and lasts a few days, I dive right back into the material and websites. I am confident that I am getting better, but it is a slow and painfully ebb and tide recovery cycle – great periods followed by the old unfounded anxious feelings. I can say for certain that I do not feel anywhere near as hopeless as I did when my anxiety was new to me. I owe Dr. Weeke’s and people like Paul a great deal for what I learned form them. I have been on this “anxiety” roller coaster for about a year now, and I’ve started to see real improvement in the last two months. I need to figure out how to keep a constant attitude of acceptance – not just for a week at a time. If the Panic Relief Pack can give me a real boost I’ll gladly pay the money, but if it’s like the others I’ve tried – I’ll pass.
In response to the inquires about the Instant Panic Relief pack. I recently purchased the program after deliberating for about a year after hearing Alex Taylor on one of Paul’s podcasts. I was nervous about the cost and effectiveness. Having had it for a couple of months now, I have listened to all of the audio programs once and downloaded the printed materials. I am now going back to re-listen and apply myself more specifically to the strategies Alex recommends. Because I haven’t fully engaged the program yet, I can’t attest to its long-term effectiveness, but I have found the audios very valuable, full of good strategies and insights–definitely worth the $67 to me on their own. Taylor’s material is clear and empathetic, and while he promises great results he also makes clear that users have to apply themselves to his program and want to get better–not in a demanding time consuming way, but the program is not a magic pill. Rather, it’s sensible and thorough. Clearly, a huge amount of work went into it, making the cost very reasonable, and even though I’m not cured by any means (yet), I have learned some good info and anxiety-coping tricks, and think highly enough of it to write this post. (I’m a longtime follower of Anxiety Guru site and podcasts).
I have purchased that programme and have sent emails to Alex and have had no reply?