Hope and Help for Your Nerves Mass Market Paperback – September 4, 1990

By the time I read "Hope and Help for your Nerves" for the first time, I was 10 years or so into my anxiety disorder and fairly well into my recovery. I had decided to read it because I have always been interested in other people's views on anxiety and I love finding new ways to look at it, and I had heard great things about this book on various anxiety message boards.Well I read it and, "spoiler alert"......... I loved it. I knew that this was the best anxiety book I had ever read or ever would read, and when I started my blog and decided to do anxiety book reviews, I knew this book was going to be one of the first books I wrote about.As I started reading this book again a few weeks ago, it immediately came back to me what a genius Dr. Weekes was. Sadly, she passed away about 25 years ago and what a huge loss to the mental health world it is because there is nobody on Earth, at least that I can think of, who "gets" anxiety the way that she does. I have always said to myself that she should have won a Nobel Prize for her work in self help and psychiatry, and after reading this bio the other day, I discovered that she actually was nominated for the Nobel....... twice. She was that brilliant.Another thing I have wondered in the past, while reading "Hope and Help For Your Nerves", is HOW Dr. Weekes knew what she knew. I knew she "got it"....but how did she "get it"? Anxiety disorders are a pretty difficult thing to grasp for people who haven't experienced it themselves. I knew she was a well educated woman in the field of mental health.....but how did she know anxiety so well?I later found out that it is because Dr. Claire Weekes had an anxiety disorder herself while studying to become a doctor. She usedher knowledge and personal beliefs about anxiety to heal from her "nervous exhaustion" and decided to use her experiences and knowledge to help others. What an amazing, remarkable happening it was that THIS particular woman happened to get an anxiety disorder. Without that happening, her interests in medicine and research may have steered elsewhere and hundreds and thousands of people may not have found the help that they needed.Okay, back to the book. "Hope and Health For Your Nerves" is brilliant not only for the information that it contains...but for the way that it is written. Dr. Weekes' goal with this book is not to inspire, or motivate, or hold the reader's hand. She is not trying to share the story of her life and "tell her tale of strength and courage". There is nothing self indulgent about her writing style. This book is about YOU....the reader.This book was written to be an instruction manual for people who live with anxiety disorders. And it does the job beautifully.If you don't know why you are feeling the symptoms of anxiety, she is there to tell you why. If you don't know how to make those symptoms better, she will tell you how to make them better.I honestly think that every person who goes to the doctor with an anxiety problem should just be given a copy of this book, told to go home and read it and then call the office for another appointment if they still feel like they need some help.I'm not sure all that many people would call back for another appointment.Dr. Weekes says that she will show you how to "cure" your anxiety. I don't think she meant cure permanently, because she herself admits that she still suffered from bouts of panic later on in her life. But I think this book could definitely cure you of the idea that there is something seriously wrong with you...and that is 90% of the answer to anxiety right there. She demystifies it so much, that it just all starts to make perfect sense and seem like a pretty "normal" thing. This book takes the "overwhelming" out of anxiety. It makes it a "real" thing, that exists for a reason...as opposed to some strange force that comes in and blows your world apart."Hope and Help For Your Nerves" is so full of information that it practically bursts at the seams. Dr. Weekes discusses the physical aspects of anxiety, as well as the mental aspect. She touches on every anxiety symptom there is....depersonalization, jelly legs, palpitations, panic attacks, insomnia, morning dread.........if you are experiencing it, chances are she has written about it in this book and will explain it confidently, swiftly and efficiently. Dr. Weekes does not waste a single space in this book with frivolous details. There is no fluff.....only substance. Every single word is there to serve one purpose: to teach.She teaches in a way that makes it easy to learn and understand. Every anxiety topic that she covers is explained in a way that is so easy and simplistic that you almost feel a little silly for not having figured it out for yourself. That is where the beauty of this book lies. Dr. Weekes knows her reader doesn't have the mental energy or focus to read a bunch of medical terminology and scientific explanations for why they have anxiety. She was a research scientist at the beginning of her career and could easily have chosen to use the same "textbook style" approach that some physician - self help authors use.....especially those authors who were published back in the 1960's, which is when this book was first published. But Dr. Weekes understood who her reader was and knew that for them, a different, more simple approach would be the most beneficial. And that approach still holds up to this day. No matter how tired you are....no matter how anxious you are....this is a very readable book that will have you feeling better about your anxiety situation from the very first page.In my opinion, this book gives you everything you need to know about your anxiety disorder. There are no questions unanswered. It will tell you how you ended up where you are, and it is the closest thing you will ever find to a map that will take you back to where you are supposed to be.If you have an anxiety disorder, or a loved one with an anxiety disorder, I highly recommend this book to you. Its not only a game changer....its a life changer.Fleur de Lisa, Anxiety Blogger at TheWorryGames.com

It took me months to stumble upon this book. I discovered this through “the anxious truth” and it really helped me a lot after months of continuous daily suffering. I will always recommend this book!

This book is absolutely brilliant. I want to give Claire Weekes the world. For anyone who is suffering with SEVERE PANIC must read this book! However, there are a million different levels of anxiety & panic attacks. For someone who has neither stayed in the hospital or felt they needed admitted to a mental hospital for panic may not understand some of the book. But it will still teach you how to cope well with any anxiety, from small to full blown.I started having anxiety attacks at 18 years old and suffered for years wondering what on earth this torment could be. It was not until 10 years ago, when I was 31 years old, that this book came into my life when I was truly at the end of my rope. All those years of panic attacks that would sometimes last for weeks at a time were NOTHING compared to the nervous breakdown I experienced. My emotions were completely frozen, I could not feel love for my husband or even my children who I had always loved more than life itself. I could not chew food or eat at all. I had to force myself to drink nutrition drinks. Lost tons of weight. Would go 3 days without even falling asleep for even a second & then only sleep a few hours & it was another 3 days of living hell without a wink of sleep at all. I was basically in a non-funtional catotonic state where my eyes stayed wide open & I just stared at things.The worst part was the torment and sheer terror I felt 24/7. I had an electrical feeling that ran all over my body & down my spine that never went away. No wonder I couldn't sleep.The doctors gave me every kind of sleeping pill u can imagine & it never touched me. No sleep at all. I am a person who would always knock straight out with any pill like that. They gave me zanax, clonipin, & other anti-anxiety drugs & they never touched me. I never knew the human body could go into an electrical state where no medication could get through at all. It scared me to death. But what was scarier was that I thought I was going to kill my kids. I have always been a very overprotective mother who would die for her children & do anything to protect them. So this made my crazy state 100% more horrifying!When I read the part in the book about the nurse thinking she may throw the baby out the window (even though that is the last thing she would EVER do) I cried out thanking God that this has happened to others and their babies were completely safe!! I read her book over & over & over & I NEVER READ ANYTHING! It was like she was talking directly to me!! She knew EVERYTHING I was going through! It took months but the day I only felt the electric in my spine & no where else I knew it was fading! Panic never takes total control of me anymore & I know how to conquer them, by accepting & letting them come. And NEVER being afraid of them. They never get severe when u do that. Even if it lasts for hours, I can handle it & deal with it without it controlling me or sending my thoughts tumbling out of control.I learned that my nervous breakdown was not surprising as at the time I was staying home with our children, 5 kids 3 & under while our older 3 went to school. I gave birth to my last 4 babies in less than four years & 3 in diapers was beyond a handful. One of the 3 yr olds was my step-son & we had sole custody of him and my older 2 stepchildren. I had also found my 1st husband dead just 2 years before that (when I had just found out I was pregnant with our fourth) which was devastating & gave birth to the baby alone which was so hard. but started dating my current husband within a year after his death (way too early). I was so hurt and lonely & found an angel. Then we were married & had a baby together right after & bought a new home & it was way too many major stressors within just 2 years time. I was always gentle with the children when I was ill but not firm at all like I should of been with the toddlers running wild but I was so spaced out that discipline was NOT on my mind. I needed to go somewhere else to heal but I would never leave my kids & husband so I suffered through the torment. Our 8 children were all in a 10 year age range. Now our 2 oldest have graduated & our youngest is 9. He was 4 mos old when I was so very sick. Our lives are full of kids sports & activities & so much sunshine. Most of them are straight A students & they are all such a joy.The truth is that a person's body can feel EXACTLY like a person in war with bullets flying at them & death everywhere. Or stuck on a train track with a train coming at you. In that state the body would never be able to sleep, eat, think straight, & only feel sheer terror. I lived this for months & Thank God for this book every day of my life for helping him save me. I only survived knowing I had this book & a soul & that God would not abandon me. This book second to the Bible is the best there is!

This is the only thing that has helped me with my severe panic attacks. If you genuinely have panic attacks or panic disorder read this book. Then wait 2-3 weeks and read it again.

The best thing I've ever read regarding my panic/anxietyI read the whole book in the space of 48 hours and felt the effects of its words on me instantaneously, obviously healing is from within but the words in this book definitely help guide youAs sad as it is, I found myself crying at intervals, big of sadness but just at how much it resonated with me, made me feel I am not alone and this anxiety can be beat

Helped me through a very difficult time and gave me a great understanding of why my body was reacting the way it was with all the scary symptoms, clare weeks is so understanding and after reading the first few pages it was as if she was talking privately to me, it made me cry with relief that someone understood, so there is help out there, give it a go hopefully it will be your comfort blanket like it was mine on the road to recovery from this interruption in your life, happy healing 😊

This book has its virtues, but in the last analysis I find it predictable and patronising. I write as someone who has been afflicted with both anxiety and depression – the two often occur together in one form or another. The strengths of the book seem to me to consist in its clarity of expression and its convincing description of many, if not all, of the symptoms of anxiety that cause so much pain in those who suffer this condition.Towards the end of her book, Dr Weekes admits that doctors are divided over both causes and treatment, yet at the beginning, in almost her first words, she states categorically that:’ the advice given here will definitely cure you, if you follow it’. She follows this with the statement that ‘how you feel depends on what you think’. I take issue with both these statements. The first is arrogant beyond words and also deceptive. The ‘if you follow it’ assertion is nonsense, since the advice so often defies the action she prescribes, barred by the symptoms themselves, a Catch 22 situation from which she never escapes. The second sounds alarmingly like the main tenet of CBT, justly dismissed by many doctors as hopelessly simplistic and even more importantly an inversion of reality. To deal with both anxiety and depression we have to confront the emotions that dictate how we think, not the other way around. It is quite possible for many patients to understand the origins of their fears, but in itself understanding is no cure at all. We might well know why we feel as we do, but still be wholly unable to change our feelings. The same goes for Weekes’ instruction to banish self-pity and memory. These are most often ingrained features of the condition, themselves begging for therapeutic attention. It seems to me that the example of the woman, the bonfire and the bird, strikes at the weakness of her outlook – at best naïve.It is difficult to take issue with such extravagant claims for success. I wonder how far they have been independently investigated. I am suspicious of Weekes’ enthusiasm for ECT, but I don’t challenge that in the mildest states of anxiety and perhaps in the treatment of some phobias, Claire Weekes’ ideas may work, and I share her distaste and rejection of revenge. I certainly agree that at the root of all anxiety conditions lies the fear of fear. Beyond that I would strongly recommend Janov’s books and the whole process of Primal Therapy, neither readily available alas, nor cheap. For me and for many others, including incidentally John Lennon, who is eloquent in its praise, it was a life-enhancing experience. Neither do its exponents proselytise; they acknowledge that other theories may have value.I’m afraid that I found this book extremely disappointing.

So many books about anxiety aren't worth the use of paper. This one is. No clever jargon and simple to understand and apply. Many people have said this ook saved my life, and for good reason.

If you suffer from anxiety or depression then buy this book. Can highly recommend. This book is like a bible and tells you straight how to cope with your symptoms. It doesnt promise any gimmicks or gives false hopes and Dr Claire Weekes gets straight to the point. Theres no telling you it will forever go away which if you are prone to anxiety you will always be prone again to getting it in future its a matter of how to manage the symptoms which the big key is acceptance and try not to fear the symptoms.