Dear Anxiety. This Is My Life

When John's frantic search for spiritual accomplishment delivered way more than he expected, things suddenly got extremely weird! A reality-shattering event propelled John, an ordinary twenty-two-year-old Londoner, into a terrifying world where the very fabric of reality itself could not be trusted. This sounds like fiction. It is not. Dear Anxiety is a first-hand account of John's extraordinary journey of recovery from an existential crisis so profound that it left most therapists clueless about where to even begin. After many years of fruitless attempts to resolve the debilitating anxiety and depression which followed, John finally met a gifted therapist who was willing and able to go with him to the complex depths of healing necessary for recovery, and he shares that journey with us in sometimes unsettling detail. The book touches on matters both spiritual and clinical but deliberately leaves any conclusions about the crisis undecided. Was it a clinical psychosis? Or was it, in fact, a spiritual and transformational process? John presents the details of his experience, offers his thoughts, and leaves it up to the reader to decide. Dear Anxiety is a deep and fascinating biography but it is a "warts and all" account of a sustained period of severe struggle with poor mental health which may not be suitable for particularly fragile or anxious readers. The intention though was to write a story of hope for those who have lost theirs. In demonstrating how dark anxiety and depression can be, it was necessary to share the gory details. As a result, it cannot be called a "light" read, but many have found comfort in knowing that ultimately, recovery is possible from even the darkest of places. Now, twenty-five years on, John Crawford is happy and well. He went on to become a successful full-time professional therapist from 2003-2018. He now writes full time and has published numerous self-help books, including the much-loved Anxiety Relief. Get Dear Anxiety today for a free introduction to the work of a true "anxiety insider".