As a teenager, my problems progressed. While my friends were concentrating on high school, sports and boys, I was focused on my health problems. I suffered from bouts of irritable bowel syndrome, headaches, nervous stomach, and developed eating disorders. I also experienced these strange periods of "unreality." It's hard to describe these eerie, dreamlike periods. But I would feel strangely detached from myself and my surroundings.
I worried constantly - about EVERYTHING! I worried about being liked. I worried that something bad was going to happen to my family. I worried about my health - fearing I had this disease or that illness.
It was around my twenties when my world became most limited and intolerable. I was having panic attacks on a daily basis. It wasn't long before I began limiting my activities to avoid these attacks. I had difficulty driving, flying, socializing - even sitting in closed-door meetings at work. I was an emotional roller coaster, frustrating everyone around me with my obsessiveness and negative, irrational thinking.
I visited doctor after doctor, saw specialists, psychiatrists and had just about every medical test known to man at the time. I literally spent a SMALL FORTUNE over 10-years looking for answers and relief from my heart palpitations, headaches, stomach problems and other symptoms. Yet, I wasn't getting any answers.
I was afraid to take medication. I didn't want to become dependent on a medication for the rest of my life. I worried about addiction, withdrawal, and the unpleasant side effects.
In my heart I believed I was alone and completely different from everyone else in the world. Secretly, I even wondered if I might be "losing my mind.
I know that sounds strange, but it's true. I hit rock bottom during one of my many sleepless nights. I can remember it clearly. I was sitting on the sofa, my head in my hands, wishing for something to calm the steady stream of scary thoughts racing through my mind. My heart was pounding. I was anxious, overwhelmed, and scared to death that night. I wasn't LIVING, and I was tired of feeling so emotionally sick and physically exhausted. So, I did what a lot of people do when they hit bottom. I prayed.
My anxiety was diagnosed by watching the "Today Show"
I prayed to God to help me. I pleaded with Him to show me ONE person who had survived these feelings. I promised I would serve Him the rest of my life if I could only discover why I felt so terrified, bewildered and depressed.
The next morning I was getting ready for work and had turned the television on. I wasn't really watching, but I soon began to tune in. There was a woman on the Today Show talking about agoraphobia, anxiety, and depression. She described the personality characteristics: negative, analytical thinkers, perfectionist, chronic-obsessive worriers and emotionally sensitive.
She began describing all of the symptoms I was experiencing: racing - seemingly irregular heart rate, dizziness, tightness of the throat, sweating, diarrhea and stomach problems, and feelings of bewilderment. She described the fear of losing control and embarrassing yourself in public and the fear of strange body symptoms. She talked about the fear of choking, having a heart attack and dying, and fear of losing your mind.
I was stunned, frozen in mid-step and glued to the TV. I couldn't believe she was talking about ME! For the first time in my life, I had a name for what might be affecting me. With a glimmer of hope, I set off to solve my own problem. I went immediately to the library and bookstore taking home every book and journal I could find about anxiety, agoraphobia, panic attacks and depression. Over the next six months, I devoted all of my time to simply understanding myself and this condition.
What I learned not only saved my life, but also opened the door to a future beyond my wildest dreams. The first thing I learned however was most comforting. I wasn't alone! I wasn't sick, mentally ill or otherwise that different from many other people. In fact, I was among the estimated
30-MILLION Americans suffering from anxiety and depression.
As I learned more and more over the following months, I slowly began to take control of my life. I started to think that my long journey was nearing an end.
Then, I met Dr. Fisher.
Fate strikes a second time
At the same time I was undergoing my transformation, I also changed insurance companies and had to find a new physician. I scheduled an appointment with a man who had an excellent reputation. Phillip Fisher, M.D. I feel so strongly that it was fate. We hit it off right away.
During the course of my visit, I mentioned to Dr. Fisher that I had suffered from anxiety and panic attacks. He was very sympathetic. He was also curious, wanting to explore all the details that lead to my dramatic recovery.
I told him about my experience, all of my research and how much better I was feeling. I explained how I attacked my anxiety head-on, stopped running from it and learned how to cope through these periods of fear and physical symptoms. I described some of the coping techniques I was using, even demonstrated my breathing exercise right there in his office.
I must have made quite an impression. Dr. Fisher explained he had dozens of people in his practice suffering with the same symptoms. He was frustrated that all he could do was medicate them - he knew they needed more. He then shocked me by asking if I would consider assisting him with therapy groups. This was in 1984, the beginning of The Midwest Center for Stress and Anxiety.
A whole new beginning: sharing what I had learned
To help build public awareness about anxiety, depression and our therapy groups, I began doing local newspaper and television interviews about my condition. Opening up and talking about my pain and fear was very difficult. I worried about what people would think of me. But as I continued to talk about my experience with anxiety and depression, not only did I gain more strength and control, I was AMAZED at the numbers of people I touched who were suffering with the same problems.
Our weekly groups at The Midwest Center in Toledo, Ohio grew rapidly, but we learned that meeting once a week was not enough. While participants were making fabulous progress, they really needed more practice using the new skills they were learning.
Then, as it happens many times with groundbreaking innovations, Dr. Fisher made a simple suggestion that profoundly changed the course of our future. Dr. Fisher suggested we begin taping our group participants as they recovered through our groups. He believed that tapes could be offered in addition to the weekly sessions to strengthen and enhance group member skills, as participants would be listening and practicing their educational tools and techniques on their own throughout the week. The tapes could offer support, guidance, and instruction twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
Well, little did we know that we had discovered the "Holy Grail" of thought and behavior restructuring - repetition and reinforcement!
The efficiency of our groups increased tenfold using the taped sessions in conjunction with our therapy sessions. Word of our success traveled fast. I began receiving invitations to appear on nationally syndicated talk shows to share my story of hope and triumph. People began calling from Cleveland to Los Angeles. They called searching for help for relatives and friends from cities in every corner of the world. Some people drove over five hours one-way to attend our groups. We became the most noted authority on anxiety and related disorders literally overnight.
The taped sessions from our groups became the nucleus of our therapy program. It was the practice participants were doing on their own which led to such quick and dramatic results. People were out there participating in life. They were putting their skills to the test everyday and reaping the benefits of challenging themselves. And if they got stuck, they just pulled out a tape specific to the issue at hand and brushed up on their skills. It was a powerfully effective compliment to our groups!
Given the proper format and direction, Dr. Fisher and I had no doubt that people could learn these skills on their own. I remembered how alone I felt all those years, how hopeless my life had seemed. The thought of being able to reach out to anyone, anywhere in the world with REAL answers and relief... The feeling was overwhelming!
We spent the next year completely revising the tape program from start to finish. Our goal was to duplicate our successful therapy groups in an independent, home-study program design.
In 1986 we conducted the first public seminar to sell our taped program, ATTACKING ANXIETY & DEPRESSION, in my hometown of Findlay, Ohio. Imagine my amazement when over 200 people flooded the room! I received incredible feedback from the seminar attendee's and many became home study participants.
The Midwest Center has since conducted thousands of free seminars in the US, Canada and the United Kingdom. In 1989 we began production of a television infomercial as an extension of our seminar outreach service. It took one and one half years to complete and went on the air in 1991. We have been nothing short of ASTONISHED and PROUD of the effect ATTACKING ANXIETY & DEPRESSION has had on people's lives.
Over 1 million people have used the skills and techniques that literally saved my life. Our award winning television show is now the longest running infomercial of all time! People who have been severely debilitated in their lives have found peace and freedom through my recovery. I have been invited and featured on such national programs as OPRAH, REGIS, MONTEL WILLIAMS, MAURY POVICH, THE VIEW with BARBARA WALTERS, Reverend Schuller's HOUR OF POWER and too many more to even list! My work has been published in countless newspapers and magazines including, Prevention, Family Circle, Longevity, The Journal of Clinical Psychology, and more.
ATTACKING ANXIETY & DEPRESSION - now in its 7th generation - is used in hospitals, clinics, HMO's and by a nationwide network of psychologists, psychiatrists and therapists. I receive calls each week from licensed professionals around the world. They want to know how THEY can get involved. I hear things like, "A patient of mine ordered your program. I can't believe what I am seeing. They're regaining their self-confidence, going places and doing things they used to avoid. They're changing - their attitudes, eating and exercise habits - heck, they're smiling now! And I've never seen this patient smile!"
That is why I'm still here some 20-years after my own recovery. My suffering was not in vain. Today, I see my struggle with anxiety and depression as a gift.
Why ATTACKING ANXIETY & DEPRESSION Will Help You - Even When Everything Else Has Failed
We could talk about the various reasons traditional treatment may have failed you in the past. We could talk about how medication by design only treats the symptoms of anxiety. We could talk about the concerning side effects of various medications, and the risks of addiction, and over-dependence.
I could also tell you all the reasons why traditional 'talk-therapy' for anxiety and depression falls short too often. But I don't want to waste your time; you are probably already aware of the shortcomings of traditional care, and that's why you're reading this today. So instead, let me explain what has made ATTACKING ANXIETY & DEPRESSION such a global success.
The program is based on cognitive-behavioral modification, proven time and time again to be the most effective and lasting treatment method for overcoming these disorders. In a nutshell, we teach you to recognize the thoughts, behaviors, and reactions CAUSING your distress and then show you how to change these negative, anxiety-producing habits.
Furthermore, what has really made this program so powerfully effective is NOT only the information alone, but also the way this program is structured and presented.
The methodology of using an audio/video teaching format is ideal for overcoming anxiety and depression. This format allows you to listen to the material time and time again, at your own pace, until it sinks in. That's the way we break habits. Obviously it would be wonderful to have a therapist who would sit with you every day on your journey to recovery. But first, very few of us could actually afford it. Secondly, the goal of the program is to teach YOU to rely on your own skills for recovery.
Even if you are seeing a therapist for an hour each week, that still leaves you over 160 hours each week where you are totally on your own. And like learning a foreign language or learning to play a musical instrument, all it takes to develop the necessary skills is a good teacher and practice, practice. Let me ask you something, would it be realistic to expect to be good - at anything - while practicing just one-hour each week? Hardly, and that's exactly the problem with traditional treatment today. You can't erase a LIFETIME of self-destructive thoughts and behaviors working in this manner. Restructuring our thoughts and behaviors takes practice, repetition, and reinforcement. It's only when these skills are practiced and repeated that they are fully accepted and understood. Only through reinforcement do we begin to alter our behavior and make these recovery skills our own. And that's the magic of ATTACKING ANXIETY & DEPRESSION.
In many ways, you will be learning how to be your own therapist. First, I'm going to show you how your current thinking and reacting habits are actually causing your stress, anxiety and depression. Then, I'll show you a different way to look at life, a different way to react to the stressors in your life. You'll learn to recognize the automatic thoughts, reactions, impulses and behaviors that have been programmed over the course of your life. You will discover what motivates and drives these thoughts and behaviors, where they come from and why. Then step-by-step, week-by-week, you will begin attacking these destructive patterns and replacing them with more healthy, compassionate habits.
Remember it is YOU who decides what goes into your head and what comes out. It is YOU who decides how you will react to your stresses, your thoughts and the people around you. While it may be easier to blame all of our problems on a tough childhood, bad genes or biochemical causes, the answer to complete recovery - to true happiness and contentment of being - lies in taking full responsibility for our own well-being.
No matter how mild or severe your problem is - generalized anxiety, severe anxiety and panic attacks and/or depression - you can be helped by this program. Like the saying goes, "if you only do what you've always done, you'll only get what you've always got." With regards to your emotional and physical well-being, a truer statement cannot be made. So, if you haven't been happy in your life - then step out of your old, negative ways of doing and thinking. Trust me, you'll be happy and relieved you did!
ATTACKING ANXIETY & DEPRESSION: SERVING YOU AND YOUR LOVED-ONE'S FOR A LIFETIME
The ATTACKING ANXIETY & DEPRESSION program is the educational equivalent to a 15-week college course. But not only do you get to keep the course textbook when you're through, but every valuable lecture as well! This program will be there to serve you and your family as a lifetime resource. If life throws you a curve, if a family member starts to struggle with these feelings - comprehensive hope and help will be waiting for you right on your bookshelf.
And this program is not just for sufferers of anxiety and depression. anyone who wants to get a better handle on stress, anger, moodiness, guilt, or have better communication and time management skills can be helped by ATTACKING ANXIETY & DEPRESSION.
What else can you expect from this world-renowned program?
- Specific, concrete action techniques for coping through an anxiety or panic attack. With just a little practice you will become so confident in your new skills you'll actually DARE a panic attack to happen, just to prove to yourself that they cannot harm or scare you anymore (really!).
- You'll master the art of positive self-talk and abandon pessimism and negative emotions. Imagine, self-talk that COMFORTS you, encourages you, and soothes your soul. No more using your powerfully creative imagination to scare yourself.
- You will finally quiet that nagging, negative voice from within you that is constantly feeding you lies, interjecting doubt in your every decision, and stirring fear in all you aspire to do.
- You will stand up for yourself and get your personal needs met - without being made to feel guilty.
- You will once and for all be in charge of all of your emotions. Imagine, no more explosive anger, no more uncontrollable mood swings, and no more procrastination.
- You will get more accomplished in a day - without extra stress - with healthy time management skills.
- The positive healing that takes place inside of you will be obviously apparent on the outside; your spouse, family, friends, co-workers - even your boss - will wonder what is so different about you. You will be vibrant, healthy, and whole again.
- You will sleep better, eat better, enjoy new experiences - even travel to new places you've never dreamed about visiting.
- You will be actively pursuing your dreams again and attracting people in your life who can help you reach your goals and dreams.
- You will face personal challenges and obstacles with courage and optimism...
- and much, MUCH MORE!
All of this and more is yours for the taking; it's for anyone who wants to work at developing the new life-management skills of ATTACKING ANXIETY & DEPRESSON. And you will begin realizing all of these wonderful benefits in a matter of weeks - NOT years.
Your decision today is NOT to buy ATTACKING ANXIETY & DEPRESSION, but to TRY it FREE. My pledge to you is - if you follow the course you WILL KNOW if this program is a life-management tool you'll want to keep forever within your first week. How will you know? Because you'll begin to FEEL better. Suddenly, you will realize that all of this anxiety and emotional pain is a by-product of your thinking process and you will have already begun demonstrating to yourself that you CAN think and respond in a healthier, more compassionate way. Don't ruminate or second-guess yourself about your decision to get help right now. You'll want to sit down and take an emotional inventory by asking yourself some pointed questions. "Am I better off today than I was before this program arrived? Has my level of anxiety decreased, has my level of personal satisfaction increased? Does this self-care approach speak to my personal needs? Am I going in the right direction?"
Try it, then buy it - but only if you're happy with your results during your trial. You owe it to yourself, you owe it to your loved ones' - to give this program an honest and fair chance to work for you. How are you going to know if you only give it a half-hearted effort, or worse, don't even try at all? Log into the program; kick the tires, USE THE MATERIALS. Stop worrying about making a purchase and give the program the chance it deserves. Give yourself a chance you deserve.
I know something about you...
You are in no way oblivious to your situation, this ongoing cycle of worry, fear, physical symptoms and depression. I am certainly not the first source you have turned to, you may even know more about this condition than your doctor. It's time to change - the way you think, the thoughts you're entertaining, the messages you're sending yourself, certain aspects of your life-style. It's just not healthy living!
If you want to feel different, be different, live different, then begin to think different. Doesn't that make sense? One of my employee's is fond of saying that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. It's so true. If what you have been doing up to now hasn't produced the results you've been looking for, maybe the life-management approach of the ATTACKING ANXIETY & DEPRESSION program is just what you need to finally take control of your life again. And again, what do you really have to lose here?
Don't deny yourself a quality of life that comes only to those who learn to manage their fears and anxieties. The world is an open book, ready for you to write the next exciting chapter. Knowing that over a million people have come before you over the last 20-years to use these skills should make any perceived risk very minimal!
And think about it realistically. Would I still be here two-decades later if this course did not work? Of course not.
I wish you a life without fear and limitations.
Sincerely,
Lucinda Bassett, President
Midwest Center for Stress & Anxiety
