New Anxiety Book

[Luckiecharm]

Hello everybody,
Yes, I've written a book about Anxiety! Oh no, not another self-help book on how to beat anxiety in six easy steps I hear you cry. No! I wanted to write a book on what it's really like to live with an Anxiety Disorder - an honest account with a realistic outlook. I believe that the goal is acceptance rather than cure and you can only begin to accept your situation when you truly understand what you are experiencing.

I got so fed up of all the ignorance surrounding SP, the lack of information and the endless stigmas attached to it that I felt compelled to write about it, in the hope that people would have a better understanding. I wanted to use my own story in order to help other people who find themselves in similar situations with no practical information about what they are going through. I'm not setting up a self-help empire or anything, in fact I am self-published so in reality I'm still in debt! But that's not what it's about. As someone who has been living with Social Phobia for four years, I feel it is about time that we raise awareness of the third most common mental 'illness' (hate that word) in the world today.

THe link is below (hope it works) and you can even browse some of the pages online. I'll be dying to know what you all think...... only if it's positive of course! I'm sorry for blatantly advertising myself here, but I've just realised that my book isn't much use to anybody if no-one knows it exists! Thanks for reading and thanks for this really great forum where I can always be myself and share my thoughts.

http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?isbn=0-595-36436-5

 

[Luckiecharm]

I'll be dying to know what you all think...... only if it's positive of course!

Yikes, tough crowd! :lol:

 

[scatmantom]

i think wot u have done is really good....but we dont need to raise awareness here on the forum...we already know about it cos we have it lol.

I do agree that people in general have little understanding of anxiety and raising awareness and understanding would have a benefit on society. You would think a disorder as common as social phobia would be better understood but people a thick and intolerable so I wont hold my breath

 

[Luckiecharm]

Good point Scatmantom. I guess alot of the users on this site are all too familiar with the ins and outs of anxiety :roll: Still, if my experience can offer some kind of solidarity or support to at least one person it will be worth it. It's my way of paying it forward! I know that it's very difficult to raise awareness about an illness that people are completely unconcerned with (unless it happens to them) but if we can raise our own awareness that we're not lazy, weak or just plain 'wierd' for having SP (or whatever other stigmas get thrown at us), then I think that will be a start. Thanks for your support

 

[kima]

Hey, I've read this book! My brother ordered it for me on BarnesandNoble. It really helped me through a particularly bad patch and gave me some different ideas about SP and other problems in my life. Well done Luckiecharm It was refreshing to read a book about someone who is still coping with SP, rather than someone who is all recovered and smug while telling you where you're going wrong! :wink:

 

[Jack-B]

Luckiecharm,

I am really pleased for you about your book, i believe you are genuinely concerned for others and their welfare and i congratulate you on writing your story about your experiences. I hope it helps many sufferers and i wish you well on your journey.

I know you light heartedly said positives only, so i hope you are not offended by my comments I just wanted speak about about the goal you stated and what you truely experience.

You believe the goal is acceptance, of course this is vital, but when you truely know what you are experiencing, anxiety as a state of mind, you can do more than just accept it. Accepting ones own mental suffering is helpful but to be free of anxiety and its causes is real freedom, this is completely cureable. States of mind are fleeting, the acceptance i feel you are talking about is how anxiety exists in the minds of individuals, momentary, yet seemingly real and concrete.

Because anxiety has many causes both internal and external contributing factors, we can overcome it by training to identify the mind of anxiety.
The initial goal therefore is identifying what anxiety is, how it appears to our mind.

We can accept and pay for bad tasting food at a restaurant and we are ok with this. But if we continue to eat at the same restaurant which sells us bad food we will continue to feel unwell. Therefore we need to take action by curing our self and not being decieved by what is causing our pain.

Jack

 

[Luckiecharm]

Hello Jack-b,

No worries and I appreciate you treading so softly It's difficult to write a synopsis of my book on a forum and so I can see how my idea of 'acceptance' could be misconstrued. In my own case, I found that I was constantly stuggling with the idea of having SP and always trying to fight my feelings of fear and panic. This only created more fear and panic and thus led to a viscious circle of anxiety - non-acceptance - etc.

However, once I began to accept the situation at that moment, my struggle ceased and I became calm. (Obviously, this didn't happen overnight - I had to make a concious effort not to fight my feelings over a long period of time). And so, acceptance became my (I don't like to use the word cure) coping technique. I am not suggesting that we should just sit back and resign ourselves to our fate, but I am saying that we should accept our current situation first before we can move on and find ways of changing it/adapting to it/working around it etc.

I am really glad you brought that up because you're right; I really do want to help people if I can and I am sincere about it. I don't think I have the cure to SP (I don't think anyone does!) but I know what helped to make progress for me. I just feel that alot of self-help books skip over the most important parts of recovery and leave the reader wondering how to get from A to B. Therefore, I do believe acceptance of yourself and your current situation is fundamental to moving forward and doing something about it.

thanks again for your feedback

 

[Jack-B]

Luckiecharm,

Well said!!

Thanks for clarifying. I look forward to reading more of your posts.

Jack