Robert Wayfair - The Brain Heart Link: End Anxiety, Depression, Panic Attacks, Control Anger, Negative Thinking And Master Your Emotions

I know I know the boring about me section. You probably want to get right to the good stuff, however I encourage you to read this section as you may identify with some of the things I mention.

The root of my issue is discussed a little in section 12 of this book, however I want to start with my introduction to anti-depressant medications. I was 22 years old. I had suffered with anxiety for probably about 8 years at that point. The anxiety snowballed into OCD, lack of self-confidence, and eventually a pretty bad depression. After many years of suffering I finally decided to get some help and made an appointment with my family doctor.

My doctor talked to me for all of about 10 minutes before prescribing me the medication Effexor (an SNRI Serotonin Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitor). I didnt question him on this decision because I didnt know any better and I was all too happy to take a medication which I thought it would fix my problem. He didnt ask me about my diet, he didnt recommend that I exercise, he didnt check my vitamin D status, he didnt suggest meditation, he didnt ask one single question about my experience of my suffering he just went straight to the meds.

This is beyond negligent behaviour for a doctor in my opinion, and is something that is happening to millions of people across the globe not just me. To add to the negligence there was no discussion of the side-effects of the medication, nor was there any discussion of the severe withdrawal many people experience when stopping Effexor.

Anyway back to the story. So I did initially receive some help from the medication, however after a few years of use my anxiety actually got considerably worse (which can be an issue with these meds). I decided it was time to get off of Effexor and face my issues without medication. I tapered off of the meds slowly over a period of about eight months. I was doing ok until finally stopping the medication altogether, at which point my life fell apart. A depression hit me like nothing Id ever felt before. Absolute darkness and despair. I came close to having panic attacks (which I had never experienced before in my life) because I felt like I was going to lose my mind. I got head zaps (feels like an electric shock passing through your head) whenever I moved my eyes. Overall it was the worst experience of my life.

Had I followed my medical doctors advice of halting the medication over a period of a month I probably would have killed myself. And I say that in all earnestness and not figuratively. I was told that theres no such thing as withdrawal and that what I was experiencing was due to my need for the medication. This is a common story you will be told if youre on medication and is absolutely NOT TRUE . Withdrawal is unquestionably real and is experienced by most people when stopping their medications.

I tried to make it without meds for a month or two, but the depression and darkness (including ongoing bouts of crying out of nowhere) was too strong for me to continue, so I started taking an SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor, the most common type of anti-depressant) called Cipralex. I gradually crawled out of the depression over the next few weeks and eventually felt somewhat normal again after a few months.

It was over the next several years that I learned pretty much everything I lay out in this book. What is discussed herein allowed me to finally taper off of Cipralex and live a life free of anxiety and depression without the use of medication. It was a long and difficult journey, but Im happy to be here and happy to hopefully help you from falling into the same trap as I did.