That which does not kill me...

[Franz]

It was Nietzsche who wrote that, and he died of syphilis. I don't think his syphilis made him stronger, it just made him insane.

[Zingara]

Wow, thanks for that, Francis. I can always rely on you to say something cheerful (kidding).

[Zingara]

Sorry things are so bad for you, Belle... I do sympathise. I don't think that just 'being strong' can conquer our type of illness any more than it can conquer cancer or heart disease, so the fact that you're still struggling (as are most of us) doesn't in any way mean that you are not strong. Coping with anxiety, panic attacks and agoraphobia requires enormous effort, courage and fortitude. The fact that we don't have any choice but to keep going doesn't make us any less brave. xx

[ana]

I have to say that I used to feel so worn out because of my anxiety. Panic attacks were weakening me and I felt exhausted and tired of everything. I used to feel like that for 5 years.
Then, all of a sudden, 2 years ago I started to feel stronger. I was able to do a lot of things that used to scare the hell out of me (like taking a bus, for example!) and now I realize how these 5 horrible, horrible years were simply a process, the one I had to go through in order to feel ok today.
I still feel bad at times, but I know I can never go back to how I used to feel, and you know why? Because what didn't kill me, made me stronger!
Sometimes time is all we need. Hey, if I haven't gotten on that bus 2 years ago, I might have never gotten my driver's licence now, gone to university and so on and so on...

Stay patient and you'll get there, I promise!

Ana xxxxxx

[Zingara]

Thanks for all your comments, I found them really interesting and helpful. I didn't mean to be negative, I just wondered if there was anyone else who felt like me about it. I've found your comments interesting and encouraging. xxx

[pooh]

That which does not kill me can only make me stronger.......i've been waitin all night now I can't wait much longer... who sang that( it's doing my head in lol) the reason i ask is because this song used this quote and then the rest of the song did not make any sense to me because of how i interpret the quote.

If I can explain..... up until recently anxiety and panic would have always stopped me from challenging things that really upset me. Usually this involved challenging people over their behaviour. Now theres no stopping me since i expressed my unhappiness to a manager in a job.
Samira....that which does not kill me can only make me stronger....is a mind set. It's about learning and putting into practice, hence the strength to deal with things like our anxiety.
Just my tuppence worth.

Pooh xxxx

Ps Francis telling us about the origin of the quote so made me laugh lol I loved it. Here we all are debating and analysing deeply its meaning and the guy who said it went nuts and died of syphilis. You gotta laugh at the irony LOL TY Francis xxx

[Tom_M]

I guess what "That which does not kill me can only make me stronger" means is that you learn by your mistakes, which makes you wiser and stronger.
I used to read a lot of biography's of people that are considered survivors, to see what the difference between them and the average person was. I came to the conclusion that they have a higher level of what I can only define as "the spirit of man", or women for that matter. It's something that's inside some people that makes them never give in, no matter what they are up against. They would never give into panic because it was not in keeping with their self-image. I guess what it really is, is a type of arrogance combined with pride?

Tom