Have you been trying to get rid of your anxiety and panic for years? Do you recognize the following:

• Tried everything to get rid of your Anxiety, Panic or Depression;
• Nothing seems to work;
• You are afraid you will never get rid of it;
• Feeling that no one can help you;

The reason nothing seems to work is that nobody has explained to you exactly how anxiety works and what you are doing wrong. No, even psychologists don’t know! On this page, I’m going to explain to you exactly why you just can’t seem to get rid of it. And I will provide you with a real solution to handle and end your anxiety, panic or even depression.

Are you completely done with your Anxiety, Panic and other symptoms?

My name is Johan and I am an expert in the field of anxiety and panic. Not because I studied for twenty years and work as a psychologist but because I have experienced so many different anxieties that I cannot count them on two hands. Think about:

• Social anxiety (blushing);
• Fear of sensations in my body (hypochondria);
• OCD
• Fear of illness;
• Fear of heights;
• Panic attacks;
• Fear of sleeping;
• Fear of flying;
• Tinnitus;
• Dizziness;
• Derealization;
• Etc.

Therefore, I can well imagine how you feel in anxious situations. Despite the laundry list of anxiety, I no longer suffer from this. I learned how anxiety works and where the symptoms come from. You too can learn this! And you don’t always need a psychologist or medication to do so. 

Anxiety, panic and depression exist because people resist thoughts, sensations, feelings and emotions. You are doing something with your anxiety that causes the anxiety to keep coming back. You are trying to:

• Get rid of it;
• Put it into perspective;
• Avoid it;
• Hold it back;
• Etc.

Then you start thinking of all the techniques and ways to get rid of them. Does anything look familiar to you in the following list:

• Trying to think positively;
• Thinking that what is happening to you is not fair or “why me?”;
• Applying mantras;
• Putting into perspective “it’s not that bad”;
• Thinking about a better future;
• Trying to think logically or rationally;
• Engaging in discussion with your thoughts;
• Countering negative thoughts;
• Avoiding situations;
• Criticizing yourself;
• Using drugs (coffee, alcohol, weed, excessive eating, smoking, supplements, etc);
• Wishing something had not happened in the past;
• Wishing you felt like you did in period X again;
• Comparing yourself to people who feel “good” or wishing you were like person X;

I too applied all the above. I did everything I could to get rid of my anxiety. Until I realized that trying to get rid of it is exactly the problem!

Stop trying to get rid of your anxiety!

Every time you:

• Start a new therapy;
• Start a new course;
• Start reading a book about anxiety;
• Hang around on the internet looking for a solution;

You do so with the intention of getting rid of your anxiety, panic or other mental health issues. That is exactly the problem and the reason why you just can’t get rid of it!

I have worn out several psychologists and none of them told me what was the purpose of the therapy we were going to start. I always thought that someone was going to help me get rid of my symptoms. So every time I started doing a new therapy, reading a book, mindfulness course and you name it I always had the same intention:

Hopefully, this is going to help me get rid of my symptoms!

Do you recognize this in yourself? This is exactly why you have been stuck for years and no one can help you. You think there is a way to get rid of your anxiety or panic. But this way does not exist at all!

The solution is the exact opposite:

• Stop trying to get rid of your anxiety;
• Be OK with the outcome of your disaster scenario;

With the following exercise it becomes clear why you should not have the intention to get rid of your fear and why that will never work:

Exercise: the anxiety filter

• Sit on a chair or couch;
• Put your hands out in front of you and spread your fingers;
• Bring your left hand in front of your face so that you are looking at the world through your fingers;
• Then bring your right hand in front of your face and place it over your left hand;
• If all goes well, you now have two hands in front of your eyes, both with fingers spread. Looking at the space where you are currently sitting is difficult but you can still see somewhat through the gaps of your fingers;
• Take one or two minutes and look through your fingers at the space where you are currently sitting;
• After two minutes, remove your hands and place both with open palms on your legs.

Your hands and fingers are your anxiety. They cloud your vision and you no longer see clearly what is actually happening in the world. In other words, your hands have to go away; You want to get rid of them!

Now try getting rid of your hands by thinking…

Can you think of a way to get rid of your hands without chopping them off? No, you can’t do that at all! Your hands are always with you wherever you go.

All you have to do is lower your hands. They don’t have to go away, they can just be there! Just as much as your anxiety and panic or even depression is also allowed to just be there. It’s OK! Your symptoms don’t have to go away, you have to learn to be OK with the symptoms you are experiencing. Start greeting them instead of wishing them away.

What!? I have to greet all those weird feelings and thoughts I don’t want?  I understand very well that you don’t want to greet them. You want to get rid of them, right? You are already trying for years to get rid of them, how did that go?

No matter how bad your thoughts or feelings are, greet them, they can be there, it’s OK!

Put your energy into ways that do work

So STOP trying to get rid of your anxiety, panic attacks or depression. All that energy you put into trying to get rid of them is wasted energy. It will never work. That’s not how anxiety, panic or depression works. So where should you put that energy? In ways and exercises to move toward your anxiety. Welcome them, give them a greeting and consciously summon them.

There is no way to get rid of your symptoms. Just as there is no way to get rid of your hands without physically chopping them off, burning them away with acid, etc. That is not to say that you can never get rid of your anxiety or panic. You will get rid of them 100% if you can greet them and allow them 100% to be there! In other words, just let what you are so afraid of happen and see what happens.

Does a burden already fall off your shoulders? That you can finally stop trying to get rid of your awful thoughts and feelings?