Anyone here on the Midwest Center for Stress & Anxiety forum back on 2002?

[Bryce_in_Texas]

I was on that forum for a couple of years and made one really good friend and a few others as well. Just curious.   Hello MedHelp!!  Cowabunga dude, life is exciting!!!! (blows into a paper bag after hyperventilating)

[Bryce_in_Texas]

Well, as a member of that forum for about 3 to 4 years, I made one good friend and several other friends that posted there frequently.  And I went through their program, itself, from late 1999 to about 2004 and it pulled me out of a pretty deep depression.  I was bed ridden some of the time in 1997 and 1998. After getting the program I learned what the root of my problem was and dealt with it as best I could.  I was able to re-enter the workforce in late 2003.  I've maintained that recovery since.  I was on meds for 40 years and under psychiatric care all of that time.  But after getting the Midwest's program my medication was reduced very substantially.   Then, in 2017, I was able to go off of all meds and my psychiatrist decided to cut me loose.  I've maintained by recovery.  CBT works.

Later on, in 2007 or so, there seemed to be some problems with vitamin supplements being shipped at an added cost to buying the Midwest's program that was being complained about by a number of folks.  But, that was after I had mostly left the forum because of being emotionally healthy to work.  I don't know the legitimacy of those claims, but there were enough people complaining that it at least appeared legitimate to me.

However, the program, itself, "Attacking Anxiety and Depression" was not a scam, IMO.  It's based on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).  CBT is a proven therapy for overcoming anxiety, panic, and depression.  Dr. David D. Burns, a psychiatrist with decades of work in the mental health field, has written several books on CBT, ,the first "Feeling Good" coming out in 1980.  Several of them were written for depression and anxiety and one is specifically geared to anxiety and panic.  I have 3 of the books.  If you compare the Midwest's program to Dr. Burns' "Feeling Good, the New Mood Therapy" they are essentially the same in many respects.  The difference is that the Midwest's program is audio with a workbook whereas Burns is strictly text.  Both are excellent resources, IMO.  I used both while recovering from clinical depression.

Unfortunately, the founder of the Midwest Center for Stress and Anxiety, Mrs. Bassett, lost her husband to suicide in mid 2008.  It seems the company ran into trouble after that and she sold it.  I'm not sure what kind of trouble that was.  It's my understanding that Mr. Bassett struggled with bi-polar illness.  That's a form of mental illness that is often inherited by genes, rather than it being a psychological illness.  There have been studies that validate this, which are referenced in Dr. Burns' book "Feeling Good".  

[GuitarRox]

No, but I read that they were pretty much a scam.