Anxiety Resources

Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor, so if you're having mental/physical issues please seek medical help in addition to reading this. :)

As well as depression I also have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and anxiety, in particular health anxiety. I know that many people have similar problems and it can be hard to deal with. Sometimes I feel better than others but the anxiety is pretty much constant. I've been interested in self help techniques for years and have been looking more up lately, so I thought I'd share some resources here. :)


General help for anxiety and related disorders


No More Panic

No More Panic is a website that has articles, a forum and chat room for people who have anxiety, depression, OCD, panic disorders and phobias and their carers as well. I've often used this when I've been in a panic about something.

IMPORTANT: If you have health anxiety and you are panicked about a symptom, try not to Google it because you can put a symptom in and it can come up with all sorts of diseases associated with it that you probably don't have. If you're really worried about something try doing a search on No More Panic or a similar forum rather than just doing a random search because you're more likely to get helpful advice. :)

Update 14/10/18: Just want to add that your first port of call should be a doctor if you're worried about any symptoms/medical conditions. :)




Anxiety UK

UK based site with information about anxiety, a Resource Centre with things to buy (books, CDs, DVDs, information and self help booklets and more) and a Live Chat option. You can become a member for £30 a year. Their services include reduced cost therapy. I'm not a member, so I can't give a recommendation but I think it's something to look into. :)


Anxiety Zone

Online forums for different conditions, including Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD), hypochondria/health anxiety, OCD, depression, social anxiety, panic disorder and agoraphobia. Also has a chat room. I used to belong to this but haven't posted for a while.


Anxiety and Depression Association of America

American based site with information on different anxiety conditions. I don't think I've come across this site before but it looks useful.


The Right Inner Voice

I found this blog through No More Panic recently. It provides tips for dealing with anxiety, panic and depression and there's a book that you can download when you sign-up to the newsletter.


Practical Happiness

Just came across this website run by a psychotherapist from the High Peak and Manchester area (UK). It looks useful; it has information on different conditions and links to specialised sites.

Update 15/12/14: This site also contains free self help documents and worksheets to download.


Self- Help for your Nerves by Dr. Claire Weekes

This is a book that was originally published in 1962 and it's often credited as being very good for helping anxiety and panic sufferers. I got it quite a few years ago and haven't found it that helpful in the past but I've been re-reading it lately and it's helping me more.

Claire Weekes helped lots of patients with "nervous illness" as she called it. Her main methods for coping in this book are facing your fears, accepting the sensations/symptoms and thoughts that are caused by your anxiety, "floating" past them and letting time pass. Here's a link to a site which explains what she meant by floating past your fears: http://www.anxietycoach.com/claire-weekes.html



If you have anxiety, depression, panic disorder, OCD etc I'd suggest trying one of Claire's books or audio CDs (people absorb information differently, so you may prefer to listen to an audiobook) and seeing if they help you. I only have Self-Help for your Nerves but I'm going to have a look for more of her books at the library.

The Right Inner Voice also has posts under the category Dr. Weekes Method: http://therightinnervoice.com/category/dr-weekes-method/*



OCD


Here are a couple of sites about OCD:

OCD-UK

This has information about OCD and a discussion forum.


International OCD Foundation

Information about OCD and the different forms of it.


Stuck in a Doorway

OCD forum. I did belong to this as well but haven't posted in a long time.


Depression


I did a post on depression resources in June which you can read here: http://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/depression-resources.html

I only listed a couple though, so here are some more links:

Depression Alliance

Info on depression, blog and links to crisis services.


MoodGYM

Free training programme for preventing and coping with depression. This was recommended to me by a therapist a few years ago and I use it periodically.


7 Cups of Tea

Free depression chat room and articles to help you. Looks like a good site.


Health Anxiety


Helping Health Anxiety

Somebody posted a link to this in the Anxiety Zone Health Anxiety forum (thank you very much!), I'm going to check it out and thought I'd post the link here too.

Go here to download a free NHS (National Health Service) leaflet on health anxiety (also has other self help leaflets): http://www.ntw.nhs.uk/pic/selfhelp/



That's it for now. I hope this post was helpful. If I find more good sites in the future I'll do a post about them too. :)


Photo: Worthing Beach. Copyright Moonsparkle 2010.


*Site now gone (as of Nov '18).