Would Not Have Recovered From Anxiety Disorder Without Stacey

Video Transcript

My name is Lydia, and I live in Melbourne, Australia. I have been an anxiety sufferer ever since I can remember. My earliest memories seem tinged with anxiety. I have been aware since my late teens that I had a problem with anxiety and have been striving to control it for my entire adult life.

I am now 57 years old. Before discovering the Anxietycentre, I had had previous bouts of therapy. Previous therapy helped me maintain some level of normalcy, but the suffering never ceased. It was just my normal. Mostly, I just existed to get through for my husband and my kids. There was no real pleasure but just a sense of satisfaction in having survived and appearing more or less outwardly “normal”.

Then, I endured a series of unfortunate events. My mother was diagnosed with stage 4 terminal breast cancer, and I became her primary caregiver. She did not drive and could not speak English. She passed away after 18 months.

At the same time, my daughter was diagnosed with scoliosis, which required major surgery. And while in the midst of her treatment, my husband was diagnosed with terminal kidney cancer. He passed away in under a year. This was the proverbial “straw that broke the camel’s back”. Incidentally, during this time, we also discovered my daughter had a tumor in her neck, which fortunately turned out to be benign and she contracted glandular fever.

I fell apart. I needed help. Every day became a nightmare of nausea, vomiting, dizziness, aches and pains. FEAR became my driving force. I was afraid of everything. I was afraid I would die and abandon my children, who were already suffering from anxiety and depression. I was suddenly responsible for everything and not coping. I was drowning and felt like the kids were holding onto my failing life raft.

AND THEN….through my clouds of misery, I Googled the Anxietycentre. I did not realize it at the time, but I had found my knight in shining armor. The more I read, the more I understood. And the more I understood, the better I felt. I was not alone. These people understood anxiety and its symptoms. The fact that the therapists on the website not only understood intellectually but physically (having all been sufferers themselves), resonated with me very deeply.

I made contact with Stacey Ellertson and began a journey back to happiness. Only through his help did I realized why I had become this way. He helped me understand that I had subconsciously been using my husband to contain my anxiety. Whenever anything felt overwhelming, I would “throw it into his basket,” so to speak. Having the rug pulled out from under me finally was what put me over the edge. My main support from my mother and husband no longer existed, and I was on my own.

Stacey’s help was invaluable. I don’t think I would have made it without him. Talking with him was like having epiphany after epiphany. His genuine care, and his easygoing and casual approachableness, together with his incredible understanding, was the perfect storm. It took me seven years (Covid not helping) with Stacey guiding me and helping me understand, accept and work through my setbacks, but I feel free.

Obviously, anxiety is a necessary part of the human condition, but it no longer holds any fear. Thanks to Stacey and his guidance, I no longer feel controlled by or fearful of anxiety. I now have the tools in place to guide my thinking patterns in a healthier way. I am finally living rather than just existing, and I have no illusions about where I would still be if it weren’t for Stacey.

God bless him and the Anxiety Centre and its founders, for I live again.