“Knowledge is power”

Francis Bacon

In my experience, complete recovery from anxiety disorders can only be achieved by gaining a thorough understanding of your condition and by applying complete acceptance

I remember when I was a kid and my dad suggested we watch this old black and white horror movie called ‘The Haunting’. He said it would be one of scariest films I would ever see. He was right! It was a film about a group of people, temporary living in a supposedly haunted mansion in the middle of nowhere, hoping to find some evidence of ghosts. I remember after the film he asked me if I knew why it was such a scary film. I had no idea why. He told me that it was because it was one of the only horror films where you never ever get to see the ghost throughout the entire movie. He had an excellent point, people get frightened when there is uncertainty and stay frightened until they know what is happening. As soon as they understand what is happening and uncover what is scaring them, they can let go of it in their mind and begin to relax. As I never got to see the ghost throughout the entire movie I was continually left frightened and tense.

In the same way, it is necessary for you to uncover everything there is to know about your anxiety disorder. Ultimately your anxiety disorder exists within you because of the way you think, your thinking habits. Habits are hard to break but gaining knowledge about how these thinking came to be and why they continue to cause you suffering will help empower you to find the courage and determination to ‘accept’ everything and make recovery much more achievable. It really only comes down to acceptance you know – acceptance, acceptance, acceptance!!