This is a biography of an incredible woman. Born in 1903 in Sydney, Claire Weekes became a keen scholar and, with education her passion, commenced her Bachelor of Science at the Sydney University. In 1928 she was working towards her doctorate when she became ill, suffering very disturbing symptoms. She was mistakenly diagnosed with tuberculosis and sent to a sanatorium in the country for six months. Without no work to keep her busy, she had only fear and a rapidly beating heart as companions. Nobody was there to save her from the dreadful anxiety and mental torment that would be with her for the next two years. But then with the meeting of a friend who spoke about the terror that men suffered in the trenches and how that fear was still there after the war was over, Weekes discovered that she was frightened of the fear itself. This was, as she says, ‘a profound revelation’.

This led to Weekes graduating as a doctor at the age of 42. She began to question psychiatric treatment for anxious people and then wrote her first book, Self Help for Your Nerves. The first 500 sold in three hours. There was nothing like it on the market. It was an international success. It was written in 1962 and is still in print. Tens of thousands of sufferers all over the world have learnt how to manage anxiety and the terrible panic attacks that were wrecking their lives. They followed Claire Weekes’ advice within the book – just four steps: Face, accept, float, let time pass (FAFL as it is known now). Sounds easy, doesn’t it and yet so hard to do. And so wonderful to understand that the power to get better is within ourselves.

Don’t miss this biography, especially if you have been helped, as I was, by this wonderful woman. It is very detailed but well worth a read.

Reviewed by Merle Morcom