I thought that for one of my first posts over here, I should share something really special with you…
When I was struggling with fears and anxiety, I was always getting self-improvement books, hoping that one of them contained the one nugget of wisdom that would instantly let me let go of my fear. As if I would read some magic sentence and *poof*…no more anxiety.
Well, information is good, but unfortunately, overcoming anxiety doesn’t work quite like that, and I never found the one magic sentence that made it all better. But I did read some good books and one of them was “Embracing the Fear: Learning to Manage Anxiety and Panic Attacks”, by Judith Bemis.
Judith is a recovered agoraphobic, and started experiencing panic attacks in 1965. At one point she was near housebound (not unlike myself), and was finally was able to successfully overcome her anxiety after years of wandering from treatment to treatment.
She eventually founded Open Door Outreach, Inc. (a network of support groups for people with agoraphobia and other related anxiety disorders) and has served as director and facilitator for the organization since 1986. In January of 2007, Open Door merged with NAMI Minnesota (National Alliance on Mental Illness). Judith currently serves on the NAMI Minnesota Board of Directors.
Here’s an interview with Judith I think you’ll find really interesting, I mean let’s face it…who wants to hear from ME all the time!
Enjoy, I’ll talk to you soon. Just hit the play button below and turn up those speakers:
I’m getting pretty fancy now, huh? Leave a comment and let me know what you think!
P.S. I’m going to be be talking a bit about something new I think you’re really going to love in the coming weeks…stay tuned…
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Rich,
Really enjoyed the interview thanks so much for sharing it. I am still sorta “searching for that silver bullet” to end my anxiety.
To hear your experiences and Judith’s wisdom on this subject really helps.
Thanks Frank, glad you liked it!
Rich
thanks Rich! helpful. Reinforcements again, you bring us! I am motivated again to start working on taking risks knowing it is not the absence of the anxiety but acting in spite of it…they say that is courage.
Thanks Rich,
Good stuff on the blog! Enjoyed the interview with Judith, among other things.
My own specialty is helping people with financial stress, and I can see how some of the methodology is similar, even though the perceived “sources” of anxiety are different.