I have had chronic anxiety for around 2 years now. My emotions have become very Eeyore and Piglet-like (I've been watching too much Winnie the Pooh). It was around April in 2008 when I developed problems with my knees a few months after straining my hamstrings, and since then I've been unable to walk or stand properly, and I went from having moderate social anxiety problems, to severe generalised anxiety. Now, I feel very disconnected from everyone, even my parents and my brother and sisters. The Piglet side of me tells me that the world is a very scary place, especially for such a very injured animal, and its much too dangerous to trust anyone. But a more Pooh-like voice tells me that I need support, and since I don't know where else to go, I thought this would be a good place to start.

Before this, I had gone through a period of depression during 2003-2005. I had dropped out of school because I couldn’t handle it. Fortunately, in 2005 I found an EFT practitioner, and without knowing why, I started to get better and my life turned around. I still had some anxiety issues, but I was happy. I went back to school and had a great year in 2006, finishing year 12 and even winning awards. After that, I went to university and I was doing pretty well, but things seemed to slowly get worse. I didn't have any friends (it's been many years since I've had a friend) and I wasn't enjoying my studies. My life was missing something, or maybe I missed some issue from my period of depression. And then, since April 2008, it's been hell. I used to find meaning, purpose and enjoyment in my athletics and physical training, but after my injury, it was all taken away. I've seen many physiotherapists and sports doctors and such, but none have helped. Medical scans show no damage to my knees or hamstrings. I went back to see the EFT practitioner to treat my anxiety, but after several sessions of failing to help me, he gave up on EFT and started to try other methods, which also failed to help me. Now, I can't afford to see him or any other EFT practitioner, because I'm still studying at university and no longer working.

 It seems that I should be able to overcome this injury, as there is no serious damage, only a dysfunction with the way my knee is moving, mostly due to extremely poor flexibility. So I try and I try to increase my flexibility and sometimes my legs improve. But like a rubber band, they always end up snapping back to where they started and I get nowhere. And so I can't help but think that my anxiety and my knee problems are connected. I sometimes wonder which problem started first, but I don't suppose it matters. I fear that there may come a day when I need to escape from something, and I won't be able to.

I'm not sure if posting here will help because I've read the general tips and I will try them out, but I'll post anyway, because I'm quite lost. Do you think that my injury and my emotional issues could be related? Thank you for reading this

"Now Piglet, as we know, is a very small Animal, and not exactly
 the bravest one at that, but when Owl`s house fell down, Piglet
 discovered that he had more courage than he had thought he had."




hi Piglet, having...the...courage...to...reach...out...to...this...forum...is

...much...like...the...above...quote...from...the...tao...of...Poo...it...always

...seems...to...be...here...when...we...need...it...however...because...courage

...and...Faith...are...so...closely...connected...and...Faith...is...connected...to

...strenth...when...we...lack...faith...in...our...physical...abilitys...then...it...can

...seem...like...our...courage...is...indeed...elsewhere...and...the...lack...of...connection

...is...the...lack...of...faith...so...lets...start...with...the...physical...and...i...will...share...

with...you...a...true...master...key...take...a...small...object...or...a...bunch...of...keys

...and...place...it/them...on...a...table...now...take...one...step...back...from...the...table

...now...take...one...step...forwards...and...pick...up...the...keys...now...this...is...the...key

...did...you...pick-up...the...key...by...placing...the...same...foot...forwards...as...the...hand

...you...picked...up...the...keys...with...if...you...did...then...place...the...keys...back...on...

the...table...and...take...a...step...back...this...time...if...you...are...right...handed...then...step

...forwards...with...your...left...foot...however...if...you...are...left...handed...then...use...your...right

...now...this...is...a...percetage...game...when...we...can...get...to...around...60-70%...do-ing...it...

left...with...right...and...vice-versa...then...you...will...feel...the...faith...returning...via...the...physical!



peace&love...vern


p.s...and...yes...the...courage...too!

Hi Piglet,

It is interesting that although you seem to say a lot about the knee, you posted in the Anxiety forum, so already your mind is telling you that an anxiety thing is an issue behind the knee thing.

Anxiety is an issue that I have worked with clients on for anything between 6 sessions and a few years, with EFT.  This depends on how many aspects, the person's nutrition, any addictions, etc.  So my guess is that you need to work longer on the anxiety until it finally can be resolved.

I don't know if this was the answer you wanted, but I hope it helps anyway  :-)

Piglet:

Now, I feel very disconnected from everyone, even my parents and my brother and sisters. I used to find meaning, purpose and enjoyment in my athletics and physical training, but after my injury, it was all taken away. I fear that there may come a day when I need to escape from something, and I won't be able to.

Hi,

I'd start tapping on feeling disconnected from everyone, having meaning and purpose in your life and feeling supported. Write down how you feel about all of these and start tapping. Ask your self when you first felt this way?

When you say you don't know whether you'll be able to escape, do you mean to physically run away because of your knee, or is there something else there? Maybe you could tap on not feeling in control?

Hope this helps

Noreen.

What emotionally was happening for you around  around April in 2008?  "I had gone through a period of depression during 2003-2005". Depression is anger turned inwards - so who or what are you angry at? Why is is not safe or permissible for you to express this anger?

Here are some sentences to print off and tap through using the karate chop point to start with. Write down further 'should'  s or issues as they come up and tap on these too.

Even though I have had chronic anxiety for around 2 years now, I accept myself.

Even though my inner Eeyore is pessimistic and my inner Piglet is afraid, I accept myself.

Even though I developed problems with my knees a few months after straining my hamstrings, I accept myself.

Even though I've been unable to walk or stand properly, I accept myself.

Even though I went from having moderate social anxiety problems, to severe generalized anxiety, I accept myself.

Even though now, I feel very disconnected from everyone, even my parents and my brother and sisters, I accept myself.

Even though the Piglet side of me tells me that the world is a very scary place, especially for such a very injured animal, and its much too dangerous to trust anyone, I accept myself.

Even though a more Pooh-like voice tells me that I need support, and even though I don't know where else to go, , I accept myself.

Even though I had dropped out of school because I couldn’t handle it, I accept myself.

Even though In 2005 I still had some anxiety issues, but I was happy. I went back to school and had a great year in 2006, finishing year 12 and even winning awards, I accept myself.

Even though  things seemed to slowly get worse, I accept myself.

Even though I didn't have any friends (even though it's been many years since I've had a friend), I accept myself.

Even though I wasn't enjoying my studies, I accept myself.

Even though my life was missing something, I accept myself.

Even though I missed some issue from my period of depression., I accept myself.

Even though since April 2008, it's been hell, I accept myself.

Even though I used to find meaning, purpose and enjoyment in my athletics and physical training, but after my injury, it was all taken away, I accept myself.

Even though I've seen many physiotherapists and sports doctors and such, but none have helped, I accept myself.

Even though Medical scans show no damage to my knees or hamstrings, I accept myself.

Even though I went back to see the EFT practitioner to treat my anxiety, but after several sessions of failing to help me,, I accept myself.

Even though he gave up on EFT and started to try other methods, which also failed to help me, I accept myself.

Even though I can't afford to see him or any other EFT practitioner, I accept myself.

Even though because I'm still studying at university and no longer working, so I don"t have any money, I accept myself.

Even though It seems that I should be able to overcome this injury, I accept myself.

Even though there is no serious physical damage, only a dysfunction with the way my knee is moving, mostly due to extremely poor flexibility, I accept myself.

Even though it is all in my head, I accept myself.

Even though I try to increase my flexibility, I accept myself.

Even though my legs always end up snapping back to where they started, I accept myself.

Even though I get nowhere, I accept myself.

Even though my anxiety and my knee problems are connected, I accept myself.

Even though I sometimes wonder which problem started first , I accept myself.

Even though I fear that there may come a day when I need to escape from something, and I won't be able to, I accept myself.

Even though I'm not sure if posting here will help , I accept myself.

Even though I'm quite lost, I accept myself.

Even though my injury and my emotional issues could be related, I accept myself.

Once you have gone through all these phrases, what else is coming up? I sense hopelessness, self-hatred, discouragement, undeservedness, lack of spiritual direction, helplessness, and a feeling of being dependent on those that are controlling you. Choose any of these that resonate and tap on these topics too.

Mildred

I know that somehow my anxiety holds me back from healing, even if its just the fear of re-injury, or fear of getting better and then having problems again. I don't know how much it holds me back though... On the other hand, I don't know how I can move on from feeling this anxiety until I have resolved my physical problems.

When I say that there may come a day when I won't be able to escape from something, I mean that I physically won't be able to run and get away. And it would be because I failed to heal myself when I had the chance. Without really noticing, I have imagined a lot of similar scenarios... like if I was an animal trying to keep up with the herd, I would fall behind and die.

I was bullied at school during and prior to my period of depression, so that would definitely be a cause of anger at that time, not only for those who did it, but for myself as well. I need to think about this some more.

Thanks very much for your responses. You've given me a lot to work with so I'll go and get started.

I'm tapping morning and night, every day, doing the personal peace procedure, hoping that something will change.  I am working on the issue of self hatred particularly. 

Mildred:

Once you have gone through all these phrases, what else is coming up? I sense hopelessness, self-hatred, discouragement, undeservedness, lack of spiritual direction, helplessness, and a feeling of being dependent on those that are controlling you. Choose any of these that resonate and tap on these topics too.

Everything that you said above resonates with me. In fact, I don't even feel like I deserve to get better... And I have these goals that I've set, but I feel guilty for having them, and I don't feel like I deserve to achieve them either.  I don't understand what you mean about being dependent upon those that control me, though. Could you be referring to my parents?

I do have issues with my parents and I still live with them. My mother had a very bad childhood, and I think she has a lot of issues that still need healing. She can be very nice, and very nasty... and I find that part of her difficult to deal with. I'm not sure how to address the issue...

Your suggestions have lead me to realise a few things: that I was carrying around a lot of anger about my injury, the emotional pain I was going through prior to and around the period of my injury, and that I was already starting to feel empty and purposeless before I was injured. I'm still working through some of this.

I'm afraid, but I still have some hope that if I keep trying, something will change...

There is something else that I need help with. Next week I need to give a presentation in one of my university classes. With the last presentation I gave, I was doing simple energy techniques (SET) right beforehand. At first it was helping me to reduce the powerful waves of anxiety that I was experiencing while waiting to give my presentation. But after doing it for a while, I got tired, then I started to feel like crying, and then I was panicking. I felt like I had no choice, so I asked my partner for the presentation to talk to me outside for a minute, told him what was going on and that I didn't feel like I could do the presentation that day. He encouraged me and suggested washing up in the bathroom, and I managed to barely pull myself together and do the presentation, but it was awful.

I don't know what would have happened if I didn't use SET, but I believe it was very unhelpful in that situation. It seems I can't just tap away the anxiety, so what can I do to make this presentation more bearable?

 I am sorry I have taken so long to read your post, Piglet. Sometimes, especially if we are in the beginning phases of healing our emotional wounds, a bit of tapping for something fairly simple can open the floodgates. 

I believe that just a bit more specific work would have gotten you past that hump, but in future, don`t wait until just before your presentation to do some tapping.  If you have tapped for giving a coherent, effective and confident presentation ahead of time, you can tap a bit for nerves just before, again.

Thanks Mildred. I didn't think anyone was going to reply.

For the past few weeks I've really slacked off with my EFT. But I want to get back to it now. I've been focusing more on the physical treatment of my leg, but I know that treating the emotional aspect is important as well. And yes I think it would be a good idea to go back over those sentences you gave me.

Thanks for the email aswell. I'm still reading through the website and it looks helpful.

Things are getting worse. My leg is so bad that I don't want to go outside. And it's causing problems with my back, so I've been pretty much unable to exercise at all. I wanted to jump off the roof today.

I'm drifting further away from the little social life I have. I can't dance anymore so I've had to cancel my dancing lessons. I'm becoming afraid to go to my other social events.

I've tried tapping for those sentences but I just feel utterly hopeless, and I couldn't get through half of them before the pain in my back became too much and I went to bed.

I have always hidden my troubles from my parents because they usually get angry and I get yelled at. But I can't hide this, and it's very hard for my dad to see me like this, which makes me terribly sad as well. But I don't know how to get better. I feel so messed up in the head and I have no idea what to do from here.

 Piglet

I am very sorry to hear of your difficulties and that your practitioner felt unable to help you with the anxiety.  This is a common experience with anxiety as it is sometimes hard for traditional EFT to reach those places.  Often its not what we can remember that causes our anxiety but things we can't.  

I grew up in a situation where parents were emotionally volatile and my body never felt safe, you are always waiting.  Often it can be very hard as well when you are still living in the situation.  It sounds like you have suppressed all your feelings and have needed to, perhaps for fear of a reaction.

Rather than using complicated set up statements I often find it easier to find a quiet place to go to tap and just express how I am feeling.

Try I am scared and thats ok, I am angry and thats ok, I am frustrated and that's ok.  When we have never been able to express ourselves we tend to jump on our own feelings with criticsm

I will PM you with a couple of resources that may be of benefit to you, but in the meantime you will find alot of helpful advice on this thread.  Sadly the search facility doesn't work now the forum has changed home, so I had to scroll through hundreds of posts to find it.  There is alot of good information on this forum so perhaps you could start having a look around and gaining other advice and resources.  If you do ever feel in a position to work with someone again I would go for someone with experience of working with anxiety, dissociated feelings and inner child work.  Check out their articles and testimonials and ask questions about how they work.  Not all EFT therapists have the same skills or knowledge base.

http://eftforum.net/p/4546/25862.aspx#25862

Best wishes

Gill

I have been out of action on the forum for a little while

Thanks Gill. Your advice is helpful.

I'm moving forward again. I saw a chiropractor who helped to relieve my back pain and I'm starting to clear some more issues. I'm also learning more, thanks to these forums. I was wondering about that saying, "you become like those you spend most of your time with". Does this mean that living with my parents and the problems they have will prevent or slow my healing?