Mark Ellis

"Conventional medicine really wasn't a solution. Originally I was prescribed Prozac because they initially thought I was suffering from depression - which I now know I wasn't. And then as the panic developed I was prescribed Valium and Diazepam and that's really where the problem started getting out of control. The panic got more and more severe and I got dependent upon the Valium. And it was just a spiral really. The dose got more and more every week, and I got more dependent on it. That's a real black time. So I haven't got much faith in the doctors unfortunately. I know they've got a tough job but they just didn't help me at all. They just wanted to give me the tablets and send me away. So conventional medicine really didn't have any long-term benefits for me."

"I let it get a grip of me it affected my relationship with my girlfriend, who obviously didn't understand what was happening to me at the time. Nor did I so I couldn't really expect her to understand. My work suffered. Eventually I left because I wasn't able to work any more. I was phoning in sick and making up excuses. I did split up with my girlfriend. I lost my job. I lost my house. I had to move back home with my parents, and thank God for my mum, because she looked after me. So the anxiety really took over, everything, completely. There was nothing that stayed the same. Friends would call up and say are you coming out tonight, and I'd make up excuses not to go out, and eventually they didn't bother calling. So it really made a big change in my life."

"Just a feeling of complete loss of control. A feeling of the unknown, just horrible. It would start with a dry mouth. All my senses would be on high alert; light and sound, would be so painful I'd have to block them out. So my way of coping with a panic attack would be to shut the curtains, lie down flat no sound, no light and just try and switch off. I've had panic attacks last for up to an hour, which is just absolutely terrifying. I wouldn't wish it upon my worst enemy. I can look back now and smile within myself because I'm OK now, I'm back to the old Mark But that was a place I just never want to go again and I never will."

"At the time I thought that was it I thought my life was basically over. I couldn't really see old cliche 'any light at the end of the tunnel', Just dealing with the anxiety and the panic was my job. Thinking about anything else, doing anything else work or relationships was another planet away. I thought this was it for life. I was wrong though fortunately!"

"I first came to hear about The Linden Method after a friend of the family contacted my mum and told her about it. Obviously my mum was really worried By this time, I'd moved back home and she was looking after me 24 hours a day. So she contacted Charles, and really it just changed from there. I was in the fortunate position of living quite local to him and he paid me a visit. He sort of took my hand, and showed me what I could do if I took control."

"It was the turning point. It was really the first time I discovered I did have some control. He took me outside and walked with me for ten minutes and that ten minute walk changed my life. And from then on, every day, I gained confidence. It wasn't easy. But those ten minutes changed my life. He just taught me that I could take control. And in the first few weeks, it was just taking little bits of control, not taking on too much. But then that grew and grew. And I kept a diary of it as well. I've still got that now. I laugh sometimes to think: I went outside today and went to the shop which is literally two minutes around the corner! But that was the turning point. That walk outside the house taught me that I could gain control again."

"It was all about taking small steps but positive ones. And learning the breathing techniques I cannot say enough about breathing techniques! They really did help more than any tablets. There were times when I'd have a panic attack and I knew I wasn't breathing right, and trying to do the breathing exercises was the hardest thing ever! But you just have to focus."

"After I met Charles my life totally started to change back around again to what it used to be like. I started to wean myself off the tranquilizers. I'd reduce the dose every week. And I suddenly realized, hang on, I've got some control here. And of course that had a positive affect more positive things after another happened. It got a lot better, it really did!"

"I'm a much calmer person now, a lot calmer. I feel more relaxed with myself. I don't get stressed out in the car like I used to. My whole life's changed for the positive. I've just got myself back into gear again, I guess. Nothing seems to really faze me anymore. If I have a bad day, I just think back to what I was like a few years ago and it just makes me smile. A positive has come out of it."

"I don't know where I'd be now without Charles. That meeting, and learning all about The Linden Method, really did change everything. Because I'd reached the point where I thought this is it? I'm going to be like this for the rest of my life. It really did turn everything around in the space of a few months. It's made me into a much more confident person. Nothing much fazes me any more."

"If I came across someone who was suffering from anxiety, I'd have no hesitation in talking to them about The Linden Method. It completely changed my life around it really, really did. If I hadn't discovered the Method I don't know where I'd be now. If people are reading this now, who are suffering from anxiety, all I'd say to them is that there is hope, you can gain control again. The Linden Method gave me the confidence and the control again. It does work. I'm sitting here now, I'm living proof."

"Since using the Method, I'm now able to live my life again. I'm going travelling for three months around America with my girlfriend, which I've been planning for two years. I haven't been abroad for six years. I'm so looking forward to it and I think I deserve it because of what I've been through! Without The Linden Method, I wouldn't be going away. I just can't wait to go!"