Читать книгу Self-Help for Your Nerves: Learn to relax and enjoy life again by overcoming stress and fear - Dr. Weekes Claire - Страница 9

People suffering from the first type of breakdown (anxiety neurosis), complain of some, or all, of the following symptoms of sensitized involuntary nerves: sleeplessness, depression, fatigue, churning stomach, indigestion, racing heart, banging heart, shaking heart, palpitations, ‘missed’ heart-beats, a sharp knife-like pain under the heart, a sore feeling around the heart, sweating hands, ‘pins and needles’ in the hands and feet, a choking feeling in the throat, an inability to take a deep breath, a tight feeling across the chest, ‘ants’ or ‘worms’ crawling under the skin, a tight band of pain around the head, giddiness, and strange tricks of vision such as the apparent movement of inanimate objects. Nausea, vomiting, occasional diarrhoea, and frequent desire to pass urine may be added to the picture.

The following is a typical list brought to the doctor by such a patient. This was brought by a young mother. It is printed exactly as she wrote it:

All tied up.

Headaches.

Tired and weary.

Palpitations.

Dreadful.

Nervous.

Sharp pain under the heart.

No interest.

Restless.

My heart beats like lead.

I have a heavy lump of dough in my stomach.

Heart-shakes.

Sufferers from these symptoms are easily upset by little things. They are quite certain that there is something seriously wrong with them and cannot believe that anyone else could have had such a distressing experience. Many feel convinced that they have a brain tumour (at least something ‘deep seated’) or that they are on the verge of madness. Their one wish is to be, as quickly as possible, the person they used to be before this ‘horrible thing’ happened to them. They are often not aware that their symptoms are nervous in origin and follow a well-recognized pattern shared by numerous sufferers like themselves, the pattern of continuous fear and tension.

I shall describe in detail the development of such a breakdown before discussing cure, because bewilderment at what is happening and fear of what may happen next are often the main factors prolonging illness.