The Jokes On Us/The Innocent Mind

By George Christophe

The Jokes On Us/The Innocent Mind

There has never been a book that exposes the reality and facts of anxiety disorders, for as far back as memory serves this obsessive dilemma has plagued people around the world and became a social stigma forcing families to hide the truth of any family member because of the shame attached to this illness. Until now there has never been a satisfactory explanation of what they are or why these disorders occur. After being a victim for many years I recovered in hours from this nightmare that almost destroyed my life, this book covers everything about this mental illnes from a very narrow type of this disorder concerning acute avoidance, to the more serious and manic form of panic disorder which culminated in the killing of two abusive men who had attacked a woman who was helplessly in fear of being alone! There are other stories in this book that show the dark side of this mental schism, the abusive nature of men dealing with helpless women who are forced by this disorder to accept the company of any kind of man to avoid the terror of being alone. Recounting many stories of those women who sought out men, not for money, but traded their bodies for the companionship these men offered! The book describes the abuse and the assaults by alcoholic men, and those who were sadistic that showed no mercy to the women who were trapped by their own emotional and fearful need. It takes the reader into scenarios of unsuspecting men who were so traumatized by their disorders that unthinkable suicide was thought to be there only release from this terror of a near death experience.

• Language: English
• Publisher: George Christophe
• Release date: May 3, 2011
• ISBN: 9781458124067

George Christophe

Advocate for mental disorders; Release from fear - on HuffingTon Post.com,@thenewadvocate, Twitter.com,@releasefromfear, Facebook.com, Helium.com, Author;The Jokes on Us/The innocent mind amazon.com - E-Books, Aol.com, Google.com Published Soon #1- Beyond the Schism #2 - America's Toxic Betrayal #3 -The Spiral Road Contact Information www. [e-mail] [e-mail]

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The Jokes on Us/The Innocent Mind

By George Christophe

Smashwords Edition

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The Jokes On us/The Innocent Mind

Copyright © 2008 George Christophe

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To My Wonderful

Gayle

An Angel with Patience,

The Instrument

Of My

Recovery

Important Note to Readers:

This book and its contents are accounts of my personal experiences about anxiety and panic disorder, included are different situations and textual illustrations to make these disorders more comprehensible to the readers! The graphic textual illustrations are offered as further examples of a wide representation of anxiety and panic mental disorders. For seminar location schedules email [e-mail].

To protect their privacy, pseudonyms have been used for some of the individuals in this book and some details about them may have been altered.

No book can amply describe the wide reach of anxiety disorder, for each person affected by anxiety; there is another story of suffering and bewilderment. This book was written to give a better understanding of an obsessive habit largely responsible for the suffering these disorders create. The Author…

Contents:

And now the book…Enjoy.

CHAPTER 1

We have a built-in Achilles heel when it comes to anxiety and panic disorders, an obsessive preoccupation with ourselves;

Obsessive; (distressing, intrusive thoughts)

Preoccupation; (Something that preoccupies or engrosses the mind)

Because of the way we deal with this disorder with such a dark mindset, it is important that the true nature of anxiety and panic are finally looked at in their right prospective. It is in truth something our power of suggestion, so to speak, convinces us of illogical feelings that just do not exist. The use of common sense can restore everything that was once part of what normal life can be. Accept the words in this book as the path to leaving anxiety and panic disorder behind you.

This book is the culmination of years trying to cope with a mental disorder that changed my life completely. The words anxiety and panic had little meaning to me before the onset of depressive and anxious feelings that began so subtly it’s difficult to say when they began. Trying to deal with these strange and inexplicable moods that became almost impossible to deal with over time; my life became a daily fight to keep from losing my sanity, the depression became deep apprehension that I couldn’t understand.

I realized, only after recovering many years later, that as strange as it may sound, the only reason for my long term with this disorder was my total lack of understanding of what it was that had overtaken me. I slowly became isolated because of my reluctance to admit what I was going through. Trying to recall what went on in my mind then seemed to be beyond my comprehension, and how this shadow of darkness kept on affecting me for years!

This book is a direct result of the frustration and suffering I experienced because of the simple lack of understanding and my inability to find a doctor who could explain the reason for my feelings of dread and apprehension! I was always hoping but never received an answer to why these symptoms were occurring.

For a very long time I believed I was alone in how I felt and looking back I was convinced I was going to end up in a mental hospital. The overpowering feelings that I felt seemed to be with me all the time and I remember having an expectation that something bad was about to happen.

After years of trying to find some explanation the simple answer became obvious. We, each of us who became victims of anxiety or panic were the victims and perpetrators of our own making. What I’ve written is an answer to ending this frightening and illogical habit called a disorder. Consider the reason for this problem carefully and do not place more importance on this mental aberration than it deserves as you’ll find it only tends to make it something that it’s not.

The most logical way of facing this disorder is what I believe to be a common sense approach to understanding anxiety and panic. It may be oversimplifying things when I say we have a tendency to make it something inexplicable and terrible. When in fact, we are training ourselves to be self-induced participants in what could be a life changing disruption. We are convinced, through a repeating cycle of trepidation (fear and apprehension etc.) that we continually obsess over, of something unknown, which is the driving force behind this irrational disorder!

A strong suggestion would be a medical checkup, which will confirm that the symptoms are a result of anxiety or panic, inasmuch as the symptoms can mimic other medical problems!

The one important mention in my particular case was what I experienced happened years ago, and although the science of medicine and new drugs has change, anxiety disorder has not!

A doctor’s report can assure you that the symptoms are those of anxiety or panic and nothing else, even though chances are you may not believe it.

With the amount of people affected by this disorder there is a good possibility that we have a relative or close friend affected to some degree with anxiety. Chances are you may not know or even suspect it, but the signs of the symptomatic behavior are usually there. Quite likely they may be camouflaged so well you may never know the difference, what in most cases may be viewed as odd behavior may in fact be a way of hiding the disorder and an attempt to keep the symptoms in check.

There is an old axiom that applies to this disorder in the widest way; the truth will set you free!

The simplicity involved in actually ending the anxiety and its symptoms, makes short work of the obsessive nature of this mental disorder (habit). It can mean freedom from the symptoms you continually try to avoid! Change your thinking, and what you think about/and change your life!

This book is not some profound theory of mine, but the actual facts of how anxiety and panic are perpetuated; it is about an epiphany that I experience in the middle of the night during one of my worst encounters.. It’s my account of time I spent dealing with this illness, I point out the ease of which a person can recover from its obsessive grip in no uncertain terms; there is no need to remain in a state of apprehensive confusion and bewildering anticipation until the next frightening episode.

This book is written to underline a common sense approach to anxiety disorder; it is a question of understanding what we know to be a fact about these symptoms. We know it certainly does not come out of the blue, although it may seem that way in the suddenness of how it usually happens. Whatever we experience mentally and physically because of anxiety or panic, is the sole product of our mindset! The strange and frightening way it makes us feel creates fear and bewilderment in all of us.

The strong emotional feelings we are confronted with surprise us to the point of confusion, no one contending with anxiety ever connects the trepidation we experience with the root cause, that of our mindset being the culprit! As hard as it may be to believe, it is the undeniable truth. The different meanings of what is called anxiety disorder, centers on whatever level of fear it affects us! In the case of panic, the fear becomes more manic, but the same applies to the combination of circumstances where the episodes may occur.

This is the definition of fear!

A distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition is of being afraid.

I’ve underlined the word imagined, because we anticipate something fearful of that which does not exist.

This book addresses the profound affect that anxiety has on ordinary people, but not everyone has an acute form of this aberration, there are millions who function every day despite the challenge of coping with the different intensities of each person’s symptoms.

We try to include some of the situations that arise in the course of daily life; these may be out in public, in the workplace, traveling to or from, or simply at home. They vary depending on the combination of circumstances that trigger the episodes which may mean any time and any place.

We use the common sense approach, because it removes any sense of fearful speculation in recovery, to all who are experiencing symptoms of anxiety or panic, the mystery is still part of the disorder, if it were otherwise there would be no disorder. The fact that there are symptoms only means there is no understanding of the mechanics of their own illness.

For every person, it may mean a different scenario, and even though all symptoms are alike they manifest themselves to fit each and every mindset.

The term common sense, means understanding what the symptoms are and how this disorder works. Remember, it is no mystery, it’s a bad habit made worse by dwelling on something you feel, and the act of obsessing about the apprehension, nervousness, or the feeling of dread, only add to the pre-occupation of something that does not exist.

There is no logical reason for symptoms of anxiety, keep in mind; it’s not how we come to this disorder, but how we end it! Anxiety affects a wide range of people who have a predisposition for this disorder, but perpetuating it is strictly a matter of the obsessive habit we are responsible for.

I found one recurrent theme among victims of anxiety, it is something I never realized before, it seems to be the almost desperate sound in conversations of the poor little me I can’t help myself attitude" in their voices. Some may call it the wounded bird syndrome, the absolutely helpless state of mind that perpetuates anxiety disorder.

This self-defeating attitude permeates the mindset undermining the will to use logic to end the intrusive impact of this disorder! The apprehension that is made to order creates a mystery for all, if such was not the case there would be far fewer people with these disorders! The habit that sustains the symptoms is the chronic anticipation of something fearful and the preoccupation with a baseless expectation.

The irrevocable truth of The Cognitive Shift can and does end anxiety and panic symptoms as the facts substantiate. The simplicity, seems not only hard to believe, but denied out of hand for the quick relief it promises. It would appear, many would rather remain steadfast in their suffering, than explore the possible alleviation of their dilemma. I believe this is a common failing among anxiety victims.

Anxiety not only creates the groundwork for this disorder, but also undermines the will to think logically about anything, and consequently we follow like leaves in a stream to wherever it chooses to take us.

Through the years I’ve spent writing this book, what I found to be difficult was trying to describe the indescribable. To form an explanation of not only how and why I suffered but also more difficult to describe, how I recovered. In a written article somewhere, I suddenly discovered to my surprise that there was a name for what I was trying so hard to explain, I found the words "Cognitive Shift" along with the explanation of what it meant.

Why Panic/Anxiety is a disease of Ignorance:

Typically, a certain stimulus, such as a specific location, person, event, or thing may bring on the anxiety.

The power of the Cognitive Shift (a simple change in thinking eliminates Panic and anxiety disorders!)

A cognitive shift is a psychological phenomenon most often experienced by individuals suffering from mental disorders of this type. Let me add, that this experience of relief can affect the individual without being cognizant of that fact! (Dictionary.com)

The satisfaction that I felt finding those words, validating what I already knew to be true was incredible, and now there was a name for what I was trying to explain! The last part of that quote typifies the basis for recovery, if it seems too simple to be true, let me assure you that it is as factual as written; the Cognitive Shift is without a doubt the only release from anxiety disorder and panic attacks.

No matter how it is achieved, by cognitive-behavioral therapy or recovery without awareness or realization when it happens, I think the majority of sufferers recover this way in their own specific time! Whether initiated on their own or not, the end result is always A Cognitive Switch! The only difference being, you can end the symptoms almost immediately once you understand how.

I find it hard accepting behavioral therapy that requires triggering anxiety in order to become desensitized to it; I’m quite convinced that understanding the role we play as perpetrator/victim, to be a far less painful method of recovering from anxiety and panic disorders but without the trauma involved in accomplishing recovery.

Recovering without being conscious of the process, through a cognitive switch, may occur through an unexpected or unintended change in lifestyle or through an unplanned alteration in the thought process, to something or someone else other than ones self! The only drawback for anyone not being able to accomplish recovery through a cognitive switch would be the person themselves without the will to end this disorder! The only path to recovery lies with a cognitive switch, with or without therapy, the end result will always be the same.

Through hundreds if not thousands of episodes and attacks, what I feared most was the feeling of fear that I obsessed over, that which I was so afraid of was the reason for my disorder! The term (anticipatory anxiety) was more responsible than I realized in perpetuating my long term disorder! That may sound repetitive, but it was only that feeling that became the trigger for my disorder! Dwelling on the things like apprehension, is what eventually leads to the frightening episodes! Without the pre-occupation and anticipation, there is absolutely no disorder! That’s what our anxious mind obsesses over, a frightened habit!

Reading the words in this book do absolutely no good unless you absorb their meaning, there is no denial, there is no excuse, there is only the truth of what makes this disorder what it is! We live in a frightened reality that no normal person can understand, but what’s even more incredible, neither do we!

The sub-title of this book The Innocent Mind, refers to an area of understanding that is completely unknown to the human mind, no brain can ever conceive the source or reason that initiates the dread and the apprehensive anticipation of the unknown that grips the victim!

The indescribable fear it produces is a terrifying shock to that individual and remains a mystery imbedded in the psyche whether or not it ever happens again! No matter the level of intelligence, we remain innocents when it comes to this phenomenon!

It’s not hard to appreciate when you think about it; anybody who has suffered these anxious feeling knows exactly how disturbing they are! Understanding why they happen is another matter; there is no point of reference to explain the reason. If we are lucky enough to have someone point out why we experience those symptoms, we are indeed fortunate, and even then we find it hard to believe! It’s a common failing among those with anxiety problems, we often think we know everything, and yet we know absolutely nothing about our own disorder!

I blame that one single reason for the years I spent with this so-called mental disorder! It might sound so unbelievably strange, that a human being wouldn’t have the slightest notion of what they were suffering from? Each and every one who has had a anxiety problem knows were incapable of connecting the dots, we are totally in the dark when it comes to anxiety and its manic cousin panic! Whatever form of anxiety you may be dealing with, you will find that we fill our thoughts with pre-occupation of when we expect our next episode? Of course, these dark thoughts only are present when we allow them to be; only the idyll mind invites the anxious mischief that we concoct!

That is the reason I was unable to sort out my dilemma, total ignorance of anxiety disorder and everything about it for all those years!

Had it not been for a furious burst of anger from my wonderful wife whose patience had been worn thin with my excesses of manic behavior, who knows how much longer this disorder would have continued?

The question of what this mysterious affliction is I am sure still plagues those who are still suffering. The number of victims with this illness would suddenly decline with the knowledge of how simple it would be to end it.

The premise of these fear based disorders is heightened by the added question of the unknown, but only someone who has suffered the indignity of its symptoms, can appreciate the indescribable fear that it can generate!

The intention of this book is to hopefully convince all those who are dealing with panic, to make the effort that will lead to the end of their particular form of this disorder! When dealing with any of the forms of obsessive trepidation, there is a sense of dread in facing reality. The disorder itself promotes unbelievable control of mind over matter through its main pre-occupation with fear!

There is a misguided presumption of fearful consequences in making the attempt to recover; there is absolutely no truth to that speculation, recovering is a normal process; it is the disorder that is abnormal!

Most patients in therapy hope for eventual relief from their anxiety problems. I mistakenly maintained the same hope for a long time considering all the doctors I had seen, unfortunately that turned out not to be the case. According to many reports there are people who very often may end up seeing as many as ten doctors in the course of trying to recover. These figures are well documented, and with a little effort can be verified quite easily!

When one considers the staggering numbers who have been and continue to be victims of this social aberration, it is inconceivable to me that this widespread so called mental illness has not been taken out of the dark ages and shown up to be what it really is. The terms obsessive or compulsive have been used to describe this terrible habit that is called a mental illness, with all the medical knowledge at our disposal it is unbelievable that more hasn’t been done to alleviate the ignorance that surrounds these disorders!

The truth of the matter is those affected by anxiety usually do little to help themselves, do only as their fear dictates. Some may choose to deny the obvious, I repeat throughout this book that without the obsessive habit to dwell on irrational apprehension, the anxiety and panic we generate would disappear immediately!

Come to terms with the truth about fearful anticipation, after all it is our Achilles heel and it is that which brings on each and every attack that we are so frightened of!

There are publication and marketing programs for anxiety that suggests a method of coping with these disorders, such as breathing exercises or contemplation or other means to help reduce symptoms. In my estimation, teaching coping as a way to live with anxiety is doing a great disservice to everyone seeking relief from an obsessive habit!

Coping may give temporary relief of anxiety in some cases; I believe that acute anxiety and panic require something more than relaxing programs. I have found that learning to cope rather than recover only prolongs the disorder, why anyone would rather live with this intrusive habit rather than end it, is beyond my understanding! There is only one way to deal with anxiety or panic and that’s to end it!

There are unavoidable truths to understand, this is not an illness you can live with, you can try to cope with its disturbing excesses whether acute or less severe, but it will ultimately dictate what you can do, so for your own sake, set your mind to recover!

One more cold fact, get used to the idea, that no one really cares about the way you feel, absolutely no one. Just remember the old story about the boy who cried wolf, after a while people stopped listening. It’s almost impossible for anyone to put up with the behavior of someone affected by such a ridiculous and unnecessary behavior! Even if you can hide it beyond detection, usually your behavior will ultimately give you away!

I’m not minimizing the symptoms, only the lack of will to end them! The perception that it would be difficult attempting to alter this habit is absolutely untrue, and any thought that it might be fearful is nonexistent, recovering is a normal and painless process, and it’s living with this aberration that is not!

After the first few trips to the emergency room my wife started to have doubts about my sanity, wishing with all my heart the doctors would find something wrong with me, anything to justify the way I felt! My humiliation at being viewed as someone trying to gain sympathy by feigning an imaginary illness left me embarrassed and angry, my intention now was to convince everyone, particularly my wife I was truly in the grip of some mysterious and frightening illness, and make everyone believe how terrible these symptoms were that I was experiencing!

Those findings were not only demeaning but absolutely useless; you are absolutely convinced there is something definitely wrong with you. Being informed there is nothing wrong and what you have experienced was (just) a panic or anxiety attack! The hospital has made a mistake, a big mistake, you’re quite sure of that, you know everything you experienced actually happened, and that tells you it must be serious. Trying to persuade others of that however, was an entirely different matter!

After arriving on deaths doorstep, and a short while later leaving the hospital as if re-born, can you claim the symptoms you experienced were so bad and a near-death experience; I doubt it, that’s why The Jokes on Us

There are so many sides to anxiety as you come to learn with time, the guilt and inevitable shame you feel is always there. Believe me, I am not over-dramatizing when I say, I was becoming persona non grata to my wife, the coup-de-grace is when the doctor tells my wife there is nothing wrong with me, except, that I just had an anxiety or panic attack.

Somehow the word (just) minimizes anything you have to say from then on! It becomes impossible to overcome being shot down by the doctor, with those few words, whatever you may say in the future about how you feel has now become irrelevant. The unfortunate choice of words by the doctor, from then on remain in my wife’s mind that I am a head case, and as far as she or relatives are concerned, that never changes.

That feeling of hopelessness only tends to make you feel more isolated, you’re really not asking for or expecting pity, what you hope for and need is their understanding.

The truth of the matter is we place too much importance on something that is driven by a habit! The consequences of that ignorance, is the belief our suffering is from some great illness that we magnanimously call a mental disorder! It’s not a disorder, it’s just a stupid habit that we keep perpetuating, it’s the poor little me syndrome, I have a disorder and I don’t know why! I just can’t help myself! Baloney! Baloney! Baloney!!!

Something that I repeat throughout this book that makes it absolutely clear! The realities of the symptoms are not there unless we put them there! The most relevant fact to understand is it’s only a feeling that’s what we fear, the apprehension and a dread of something unknown that we anticipate or expect, we all may feel it differently but the outcome is the same! We start with that premise, and whatever follows is inevitable!

The longer we entertain the thoughts that have become a very bad habit, and the longer we allow them to continue, the worse they become. Strange as this disorder is, we really begin to believe there is something almost incurably wrong with us;

It’s ironic how a baseless feeling can throw us into some frightened imaginary disorder! This reader is called The Jokes On Us. We deceive ourselves into thinking that there is something really strange that has affected us!

You will have to accept that it is a habit; you will have trouble believing that premise and how it works! I can promise you will find it hard to believe the enormous power of the brain and how it can change the way you think. There is no mystery on how to end the abnormal behavior; it all starts by believing the words you read here!

If you’re wondering whether or not something in your behavior indicates you may be suffering from this disorder, no matter how insignificant it may seem, ask yourself does it make you change your behavior or your will to do certain things! These may be reasons to seek medical help!

Is there fearful anticipation or has your thinking become compulsive or difficult to dismiss; seek the advice of a doctor, especially if continuing for more than a few weeks.

Some Indications:

Do you go out of your way to avoid certain places or certain things?

Do you have a tendency to feel apprehensive or afraid all the time?

Do you find it difficult being alone because your afraid and don’t know why?

This type of symptom may be an indication; a visit to a doctor would certainly clear that up. It may be nothing at all, and in that case, you have a clean bill of health, if for some reason you may be in the early stages of an anxiety, a doctor can help nip it in the bud. Do not accept anything strange in your behavior and brush it off as nothing to worry about, only you know if it’s not natural for you.

All of us have a tendency to hide or camouflage this type of behavior, and very often we become isolated because of shame or embarrassment, take it from me the sooner you face it the better.

A hard but very important issue you should face, come out of the closet with your disorder, harboring that secret only increases your level of anxiety! There is no shame in having a disorder, especially one that can be so easily ended!

Letting this disorder get out of hand can cause a great deal of unnecessary suffering and can disrupt your life and that of your family. Do not automatically accept something that makes