View Full Version : Feeling unsettled after reading Claire Weekes
Hi all, Just wanted to rant a little bit about a book I bought called Selp Help For Your Nerves by Dr. Claire Weekes. Has anyone read it? It had excellent reviews on amazon hence why I bought it. The title sounds so gentle and supportive and not far in, she starts mentioning SHOCK TREATMENT and how helpful it can be for certain people. That's just put me off finishing the book straight away. Previously I've read books on anxiety with a CBT approach and one of the points that kept coming up was "You are not going mad. It is only the anxiety and you will overcome this." which I found so helpful as I did think I was going mad a few weeks back! But the Claire Weekes book seems to be geared towards people who have spent time in hospital following a nervous breakdown and it doesn't much explain how day to day sufferers of anxiety (like a lot of us on here) can learn to cope.
I should mention that the book was originally publilshed in 1962....
It was written a long time ago .So skip those bits ..I read Essential Help For YourNerves and found it really helped me .A lot of other books are based on her teachings .Try to see it in the present day .it is a bit old fashioned and not every ones cup of tea ,Granted ..Sue
nomorepanic
02-09-11, 14:44
Keep with it - she has some excellent advice. Yes some of it is dated but most of it is still relevant today.
Yeah, stay away from shock treatment!!! haha. I haven't read the book, so I can't comment on that. I just wanted point out that there were a lot of crazy treatments people did way back when. I learned in a class last night that they used to even spin people in chairs really fast to "balance their brain energy" ... they probably just made them puke! thought that would make a few people chuckle. I know I did.
Hi,
Yes, just ignore the bit about shock treatment. It is/was only ever used as a last resort for people with severe depression and is certainly not the way nowadays to tackle anxiety.
I have read bits of the book and only referred to the bits I could relate to with anxiety and depression myself, and found comfort from.
I can also recommend a GREAT book that is very up to date and helps you get to grips with anxiety and why you feel what you do.
It is called 'COPING WITH ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION' BY SHIRLEY TRICKETT.
I found it a brill book as it explains all your feelings and reassures you that you are not mad, just anxious.
xxxxx:hugs:
Yeah, I just found the shock treatment stuff very very frightening. I thought that stuff went out with the ark but I saw some people discussing it on an American site once. Apparently it's still done. :ohmy:
Maybe I'll check out her books at the library next time, instead of buying them.
Thank you debs71, I will look out for that book. I'm currently waiting a few more weeks for CBT and counselling and am trying to read as much as I can before then.
Hi Mum83, I can only repeat what the others here have said. Essential Help for your Nerves by Claire Weekes is my bible, old tattered and highlighted to death!. I have never come across a book that has helped me understand all aspects of nerves, fear, anxiety etc than hers. Her tapes are equally as good. Yes, she is old fashioned and I also skipped the shock treatment bits, they are irrelevant. I found her calming, encouraging and humourous at times and we are all better for a bit of humour.
Please don't give up on her. You need to almost study her books and go over and over what she says. Each time you read it you will learn a bit more. I don't find the modern authors half as good as her but each to their own.
Best of luck with your CBT - hope you benefit from it.
You have to take what is relevant to your situation and ignore the rest that is sexist and old fashioned!
The part that helped me most is to LET IT PASS.:)
Yes the book was written when shock therapy was given for major depression and probably anxiety routinely. In my job I used to have to go to the psychiatric unit to help anaesthetise patients for shock therapy. It did give amazing results for very severe depression where patients showed no interest in anything.
But these days it still has a small part to play in severe mental health illness but only as a last resort.
Dr Claire Weeks has got the illness Sussed 100% and all others such as Charles Linden use the same tools as she describes in her book. Charles Linden uses more up to date material but it's the same message, Face, Accept, Float Through and let time pass.
cathycrumble
02-09-11, 20:04
I have that book and also her other 2. If you read that chapter to the end she does emphsise that she is NOT in favour of shock treatment, infact she says you can get better without it if you follow her advice.
Also may I add that Beverly Callard who was an actress from coronation street. She had EST in 09 As I have just bought her biography but she was really depressed. So it is still used but only in extreme cases.
Please try and read claire weekes book, she is amazing and she was born before her time she isn't antiquated not one bit.
Cathy :) xx
I'm not quite sure I understand the "float through" thing...maybe I am trying too hard. Is it basically a way of letting your body relax?
I think that because I've been pretty stable for a few weeks now, I'm finding reading about such bad cases like the ones presented in the book, hard going. (The fear is always there--- "Could that happen to me one day?") I just want to be prepared for when/if I ever get an attack again. I read about some of her case histories and thankfully I have never been that bad. I can get out and shop, I don't have phobias or anything. I mostly get panic at home. I get very worried/stressed/anxious with 4 young children and a husband who's health isn't the greatest.
Maybe I am "floating" without even knowing it. I went to the cinema with a friend eariler this week to see One Day. If you've seen it, you'll probably know the scene which started me off!! I was in the seat watching an awfully shocking and upsetting scene (would not have gone to see the film if I'd known this was going to happen) and without even having time to THINK, my heart started RACING like mad. Then of course the racing thoughts came and I started to breathe like I'd been taught and kept telling myself this will pass. And within 3 mins, my heart was back to normal again and I felt better. Whereas before, I probably would have had a full blown attack, or would have had to leave the theatre, etc. I just remained in my seat and looked away from the screen and breathed through it. At the end of the film I told my friend what had happened to me and she hadn't even realised!!!
Mum83 float through is as it says, go with the flow, not resisting and if you have difficulty going into shops then imagine that you are floating and go into the shop on a bed of air.
It's a tool to stop the adrenaline release and so de-sensitising the nervous system.
You seem as though you are doing it, well done mum
Veronica H
03-09-11, 09:41
(The fear is always there--- "Could that happen to me one day?") I just want to be prepared for when/if I ever get an attack again. ......It is fear of fear and 'what ifs' that keep the cycle going. Sensitised nerves produce very powerful physical symptoms and is difficult to accept that we are 'building our own crisis' as Dr Weekes says, by not accepting that they can not harm us. I agree her book is frozen in time but her ideas and insights into the illness are spot on and have not been bettered, only copied, in my opinion. It sounds as though you are doing the right things by getting out there and living your life despite the anxiety, but If you could try not to be 'too impresssed' by the symptoms then your nerves will recover even faster. Best wishes Vx
I have to say that I always find the 'floating through' thing a bit airy fairy and simplistic.
I never feel like I can 'float' through it, more that I confront it, but not fight it (the anxiety/panic) I think floating is somehow the wrong word as it sounds so gentle and easy, and let's face it, it AIN'T easy at all!
I totally see where you are coming from mum83.:wacko:
Yes debs, I can understand the floating in principle (because I am relaxed while reading the book) but when you're in the grip of a panic attack....it would be hard to do!! I just BREATHE and clam myself down in my own way and that's worked so far. I was pleased to see at the end of the book she mentioned Religion. I know it's not for everyone but it is working for me. I joined a church (after leaving my religion behind as a teenager. I'm now 28) and have made some nice friends. I have faith and I don't feel so afraid anymore. I am trying to turn my life around in lots of ways--all for the better.
That is great mum83. You sound like you are tackling the anxiety in all ways which is wonderful.
I have never been a particularly religious person in the sense of being a regular churchgoer (only when I was a child and in Brownies) but I do have a belief in God and I have to say that in my darkest times - when I was very depressed and could not see any end to it - I prayed regularly, and it gave me comfort and I did get better eventually. Sceptics may pour scorn on the idea that prayer helps, but if it sees a person through then it works as far as I am concerned.
That is how I get through my panic attacks now too. I breathe deeply and distract myself and tell myself this is just panic and it will pass.
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