Dear David,
Today is the day I have finally seen the light and can confidently say that
I'm 100% free of all my fears!!! I have not been your patient, however my
wife was, in May 2006. We both went to see you at your Papakura practice
while visiting New Zealand. I listened and thought I understood everything
you said at the time; it all made so much sense to me. Although I was
listening, I don't think I really understood what you said clearly, so I
thought I'd do some reading and research of my own. I read some of Dr.
Weekes work, but, once more did not really understand where she was going
with her theories. In essence, I did not have the tools (i.e) I could not
understand properly what I was told or what I read) to come out of this
state of fear that I was in. I called my state of fear "my own prison" as it
was impossible to get out unless I really thought deeply how to escape it.
The harder I would think, the less it made sense. That created what I called
dark clouds in my head. Those clouds did not help me understand and they
just grew bigger. I could not think straight and thought I was caught in a
downward spiral - a vicious cycle. I thought someone has to take me by the
hand because I could not control my emotions. My own prison grew darker with
these black clouds hovering above me.
However, although I was fearful, I knew there had to be a way out of my own
prison, but I didn't really know how. I said to myself: do I start digging,
do I push the walls down? Since I'm not that physically fit, I decided this
was too much work for me and I just started thinking and thinking some more.
Then your words, those of Dr. Weekes and my own came to my mind. Those
positive thoughts came and went, over a period of 6.5 years; solutions came
in and out of focus. Well, little did I know that all I had to do was focus
and the location of the key to my prison would be revealed, which would then
allow me to open the prison door and walk out.
How did I remember where that key was? Well, I asked the right questions to
the right people and got the right answers back. I realized that sometimes
we ask questions and no one can give us the answers, either because they
don't listen to us or they don't know the answer to the question we just
posed. In my personal case, it took a lot of effort and time to get people
to listen to what I was saying and actually understand my questions, but
after many years of perseverance, I was finally able to find the people that
put me on the path to recovery. The answers to my questions led me to find
the key to the lock that had been holding me against my will for all these
years. I was essentially a slave of my own prison and I think this can
resonate with your patients as well.
The lesson I learned from you, David, is that if you are in a state of fear,
you need to raise your hand for help, look around at who comes to your aid
and if one of them is someone you trust with your life, open up to them and
tell them you need help... they will get that help for you. In my case, the
help for my wife came through her brother who recommended she sees his
family doctor who actually did not recommend sedatives or similar drugs, but
recommended we go and see you. Now that I'm fearless, I can confidently say
that was the best advice we've ever been given, as it has given me my life
back! So, I want to thank Garry, my wife's brother, and his doctor, Dr.
Jonathan Sprague, and, most importantly, I want to thank you, David!
Finally, people MUST remember that if they NEED HELP, they MUST WANT HELP as
God only helps those who help themselves!
Fred C., Canada.
Testimonials as of Aug 2024
Hi David,
Just wanted to send you a short message to tell you I have RECOVERED!!!!
I can't thank you enough for your program and how it really helped me with the understanding I needed to start the recovery process back in January 2011. Although I had been suffering from medium level anxiety most of my life (although I didn't realize it and thought it was normal) it became severe and manifested itself in panic attacks with severe intrusive thoughts in October 2010.
I remember reading your website and seeing the words - anxiety is not in the least bit serious. Until that time although I had some good help no one ever told me this or that you could recover from anxiety. I now know this is because they didn't really understand anxiety themselves and the bluff it plays on you.
My most difficult experience was the scary intrusive thoughts and I can't tell you the relief I experience when I first listened to the recording and you said that these thoughts 'are not your real thoughts'. Although I had many setbacks post this time I think as soon as I heard this I locked this understanding away in my RIV and it gave me the reassurance I needed time and time again.
I listened to on the plane from Australia to the UK and back, almost every day on the tube to work in London, on the tube heading out to parties - as much as I could. The repetition and reminding of all the information was so important for my recovery.
Do I regret having anxiety - not for a second. Although it was a living hell as you describe the process of recovery has allowed me to figure out who I am and who I want to be in life. I have just enrolled to study my Masters in Psychology and my aim is to bring your teachings into this world.
I am the HAPPIEST I have ever been and am able to deal with more stress than even non-sufferers because I understand it so well.
I was close to recovery for probably the last 6 months or more, but realized I was fully recovered when I asked myself if I was and I just knew. That was in the shower a few days ago:)
The forum was a fantastic support to me especially in the year after I found the program and I will be sure to post about my recovery sometime soon.
I am so grateful for the amazing work you have done and continue to do and hope in someway to contribute to the spreading of your message in my career moving forward.
All the best David.
Sam.
Hi David
I just wanted to say a huge thank you and to let you know how your programme
has literally saved me. You called me about 3 weeks ago and we spoke for
about an hour, you were so understanding. I'm not sure if you remember, I
gave you a wrong digit in my phone number and you couldn't get through at
first.
Anyway, your programme is absolutely magical. I was aware of Claire Weekes
work over 15 years ago when I had a previous issue and read her books which
were wonderful. However, if I'm honest, in hindsight I never really took
the time to absorb all the information. My mind tends to wonder off when
reading which is why your audio is so much better for me. I remember I would
just read and re-read the pages that referred to my particular condition and
didn't take into account the bigger picture. ie. the beginning,
sensitisation, mental fatigue etc. I would just sit and read about facing,
accepting, floating which I now know will not work on its own. As you say,
you need complete understanding why you are in this state before anything
else.
When I came across your website it was the reference to Claire Weekes that
caught my eye. After reading the first page and seeing your video I burst
into tears (off relief, not sadness)
I know that I've just started my journey to recovery and there will be many
twists and turns along the way. However, what I do know is if I hadn't come
across your work I would literally be curled in a ball afraid to do
anything. In honesty, I thought your programme would be a repeat of Claire
Weekes work pretty much word for word. However it is so much more than that
and I don't know how you've managed to do it.
You explain it all on an even more human level.
I went to my doctor for the first time 2 weeks ago. He was very attentive
and understanding. However, as we know he didn't really understand. How
could he? He gave me a leaflet on CBT but I told him I had found your work
and told him I know this is the way forward. He hadn't heard of your work
but said that this was fine. What I find the most frightening of all is if I
hadn't found your programme then how would I cope between now and my first
CBT session in say a weeks time?
It doesn't bear thinking about. I think I would have come out of the doctors
in an even worse state than ever.
I cannot thank you enough for how much you have helped me so far, although I
fully understand it is still the very early days of my journey. I'm amazed
that your work seems relatively unrecognised across the world. Every website
I've visited refers to CBT or this way or that. But none of these websites
come even close to truly fully understanding or explaining.
I thank you once again for your dedication in helping all current and future
sufferers.
All the very best
Stuart
To Fellow Sufferers,
I know you. I used to be you. Now I am recovered…and you can be too. I was nervously ill for 21 years before I found David's program. It all started when I was 18. I had moved away from home into the big city. I loved it, but was also a little overwhelmed with adulthood. I started to feel a general anxiety that escalated into anxiety attacks. I did not know what it was, my mom called the doctor and I was told it was ANXIETY….and to take some nerve pills and that was it.
A 10 minute appointment that left me feeling even more bewildered and like a total failure. He did not offer me a cure, but looked at me strangely, like I was going to lose my mind…which is exactly how I felt.
I couldn't explain my feelings to my parents, siblings, or friends; all I did was sink deeper and deeper into the maze of nervous illness. So off and on it went for a few years. I would feel somewhat better and would distract myself from the feelings, but they were always there, in the back of my mind, making me feel like they were waiting in the shadows to finally bare its ugly teeth. I could not read any articles about mental illness, and nervous breakdown, or I would get instantly scared that was going to be me.
I was constantly on edge, but managed to live my life, not happily, but just felt like I was barely holding my head above water. From 1995-2007, I tried medication (was usually too scared to take it) also tried many therapists, tried Lucinda Bassett's From Panic to Power program, tried The Linden Method (total waste of money) and all other kinds of things. Also during this period I married, had one son, then another, then another…..lack of sleep, working, building a house, moving 1000 miles away from my family, renovating a house, starting a business and then finally CRASH.
I did read Dr. Claire Weeks book and ordered her audio tapes. Her teachings helped me a lot, but still did not quite get me recovered. Then one night I was up late scouring the internet in desperation for a miracle solution, and I stumbled upon David's program. I was impressed with how he seemed to truly understand this condition, when nobody else could quite pin it down for me. My symptoms where mostly mental/emotion ones, so for the first time I felt really validated that I wasn't some sort of freak and this is indeed what I had….just good old anxiety. I always had a hard time articulating the strange sensations and feelings I would get, and finally here was someone explaining it and saying I could be cured of it as well! I emailed him and low and behold the next day, he phoned me. I was shocked, but after a lovely one hour conversation, for the first time in years, felt truly understood, hopeful, and also blissfully normal.
I ordered the program, joined the forum, and started my journey. The forum was great, and it was a huge relief to share with fellow sufferers. I worked on the program for a couple of years, along with many phone calls to David before I could finally say I was recovered. Now don't get discouraged with the two year part, as my journey was not all suffering. I had some really good periods of peace/rest, and then setbacks would occur and I would once again, listen to my tapes, spend time on the forum, or ring David, to get back on track.
This truly is a journey of self- discovery, and now that I am recovered, I really cannot say that I wish I had never had anxiety. I think in the end, for all my suffering, my life is richer than it would have been if I had never suffered at all. You cannot truly enjoy the sun unless you have experienced the gray.
So I will be forever grateful to Freedom From Fear and David Johnson, he gave me my life back.
Shauna