For those who like science and statistics… here is the full report.

The efficacy of The Linden Method in eliminating anxiety symptoms in a cohort of anxiety sufferers

Martin Jensen. Kingston University – University of Copenhagen.

The present study was carried out in order to investigate the efficacy of the Linden Method, in a cohort of clients, who had followed the structured programme to treat their anxiety disorders including GAD, agoraphobia, OCD, PTSD and OCD.

It was predicted, that participants post-treatment, would exhibit significantly less anxiety distress, as measured with the Generalized Anxiety Disorder -7 (GAD-7), than before initiation of treatment.

Method

The present study was conducted among clients treated with the Linden Method. Participants were initially contacted by The Linden Method specialists, who are British Association of Chartered Psychotherapists and British Psychological Society registered counselling psychotherapists and asked to participate in the study to assess the efficacy of the method in reducing or eliminating anxiety disorders. These participants were selected based on the knowledge that they had complied with the method’s directives, rules and principles.

Just as any other study involving a demonstrable effect of an intervention, it is important that people adhere to the treatment regimen. Of the 100 invitations to participate, 61 agreed to participate in the study.

Measure

To assess the levels of anxiety in participants, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 (GAD-7) was implemented (Spitzer et al. 2006). GAD-7 is a self-report measure used for screening and measuring the severity of generalised anxiety. The measure has seven items, which measure the severity of various signs of generalized anxiety disorder. One such item example is: “Prior to doing the Linden Method, how often have you been bothered by the following problems?” Feeling nervous, anxious or on edge? Participants were asked to respond with the following (not at all = 0, infrequent = 1, frequently = 2, constantly = 3). Assessment is indicated by the total score, which is made up by adding together the scores for the seven items of the scale. According to the GAD-7, there are four categories or anxiety levels, ranging from minimal anxiety (score 0 – 4), mild anxiety (5 – 9), moderate anxiety (10 – 14) and severe anxiety (15 – 21).

As the aim was to assess the efficacy of the Linden Method, participants filled in the assessment of their anxiety levels, both at pre- and post treatment. This was done retrospectively, i.e. both assessments were done post-treatment.

Analysis

Data were analysed using the IBM SPSS Statistics software package.

In order to test the hypothesis that the Linden Method would result in a significant decrease in anxiety severity, the Wilcoxon signed-rank test was chosen to analyse the data.

As the data in the analysis are ordinal, and thus non-parametric, the test is ideal when comparing two related samples, to assess whether their population mean ranks differ. It is comparable to a Student’s t-test, but used when the population cannot be assumed to be normally distributed.

Results

The mean pre- and post-treatment scores for participants in the study were 18.28 and 2.84 respectively. This indicates that a large percentage of participants had severe anxiety problems before entering the treatment programme. In contrast, post-treatment results indicate, that for the majority of participants, anxiety no longer presented as a major issue in their day-to-day life.
Below charts of the frequency distribution pre- and post treatment.

 

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Figure 1. Distribution of participants Pre-Therapy
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Figure 2. Distribution of participants Post-Therapy

 

From the frequency distributions above, it is interesting to note, that a large proportion of participants pre-treatment, had a score on the GAD-7 inventory >18, corresponding to severe anxiety, whereas post-treatment a large proportion of participants fell in the category of minimal anxiety problems (score <5).

A Wilcoxon signed-rank test showed, that adhering to the Linden Method programme for anxiety elimination, resulted in a highly significant change in the self-reported level of anxiety distress, when levels were compared pre- and post treatment, with the post-treatment group reporting less anxiety symptoms (Z= -6.802, p < .001).

Discussion

The Linden Method is designed to help anxiety sufferers completely eliminate their symptoms, and go on to live healthy and productive lives. The current study set out to assess, whether using the structured anxiety elimination programme offered by the Linden Method, would result in a significant improvement in the quality of life for the affected individuals.

The prediction of the study was, that following The Linden Method, would result in significant reduction in anxiety distress, corresponding to a decrease in the total score on the GAD-7. This hypothesis was confirmed. Participants, many of whom reported severe anxiety symptoms pre-treatment, improved significantly using the Linden Method programme for anxiety elimination. A word of caution. The results do not indicate, that people are cured of their anxiety disorder per se. Rather, participants have returned to a baseline or an appropriate level of anxiety, not unlike the normal population. Therefore, based on the data, The Linden Method appears to be a viable, relevant and recommendable alternative to other therapies used for treating severe and at times disabling anxiety conditions.

Limitations of the study

As indicated above, the data were collected retrospectively. It could be speculated, if this might have influenced the accuracy with which participants judged their symptoms pre-treatment. Another limitation of the study is the method of inclusion of participants. One possible criticism of the recruitment approach could be, that participants were not selected randomly to take part. However, in this particular instance, it could be suggested, that the criteria of randomness is difficult to adhere to. The success of The Linden Method in treating anxiety disorders rests on a fundamental principle of compliance with its structure, rules and processes. As such, non-compliant participants would only serve to compromise the results.

A similarity can be made to drug experiments, where results and conclusions also rely on adherence to the treatment protocol. Further, questionnaires were not anonymized, which perhaps could increase the demand characteristics of the situation. In particular, it is possible but not definite, that by not being ensured anonymity, participants were more positive in their ratings, than they would have been if anonymous. Finally, the GAD-7 is a self-report measure and not to be substituted for a clinical assessment. Ideally, any future studies would include a clinical assessment by a qualified psychologist, pre- as well as post treatment.

References:

Spitzer R.L., Kroenke K., Williams J.B. and Löwe, B. (2006). A brief measure for assessing generalized anxiety disorder: the GAD-7. Archives of Internal Medicine, 22 (10), pp. 1092-1097.

*The GAD-7 score is an internationally recognized scale for determining the severity of an anxiety disorder. It ranges from 1 to 21. A score of below 5 is ‘normal’, a score of 5 or above represents presence of an anxiety disorder.

A selection of trial participants’ comments

Names protected under privacy laws.

To have a programme like this available on the NHS is needed badly. And if committed to, works extremely well. I honestly believe that the programme will work for everyone who uses it if they follow it fully. It changed my life. I hope this method spreads world wide to allow all people to be healed from anxiety problems. Even the quality of life will change to better go ahead and please continue helping people.
This should be available to everyone. It’s benefits are massive and it is reassuring. Understanding my condition and it’s manifestations were made clear to me via the Linden Method. I cannot recommend highly enough the relief and support I have received. Every sufferer should receive this. This would save the health service millions in drug costs, GP visits counselling and other related costs – for example paying benefits to people unable to work due to anxiety related conditions . More importantly this method gives people their lives back – anxiety is the most unpleasant and debilitating experience I have ever experienced. This method works if you are prepared to follow it – believe me I tried many different things and none worked until I used this method
The Linden Method is one of the best things that has happened to me in my life. I finally have my life back. If you are on the fence about it or doubting that it will work, just think of how many things you have tried that didn’t work. I promise you it will work. Just listen and do the program and you will be on your way to recovery. It is such a wonderful feeling. For insurance and government services I would rather do this then to be on any medications any day of my life. I would think you would want the same. God Bless Charles and his team. I have no doubt in my mind that this would be a viable and effective treatment to offer on the NHS and have no qualms about recommending it. You can ask my family & friends, but it should be enough to ask me, I am completely transformed! I have an amazing GP, and was given CBT counselling through the NHS, (I also paid for it privately!) and although this helped me ‘manage’ my anxiety& OCD it did not lesson it. The Linden Method seriously has ‘cured’ me. I worry a normal amount about ‘normal & real things’ (in fact I would say I probably worry a little less than those around me- which is just amazing!)!! I will say however that I don’t believe that Linden will work unless the client/patient does it 100%! But then neither do anti-biotics!
I truly hope The Linden Method becomes available on the NHS- I work, and pay taxes, and would be very happy to think that my taxes go towards a way to cure people from this debilitating and misunderstood disorder.
The only thing that scares me these days is the fact that there are people out there going through what I went through that are not aware that this method exists/works. No one should have to live with anxiety. This could save the thousands of lives being wasted. Once you master it (and know one said it will be easy) it will become like a walk in the park! Honestly – everything makes so much sense, just read, read and read away. Why would you want to become dependant on medication which only puts a hold on your troubles, when you can cure yourself with out medication!
I would firstly like to say a very big thank you to Charles and Beth. I must admit I have not done all of the pillars as I was meant to, but I can say this, I now have a huge understanding over anxiety and know what to do when feeling anxious, before I was lost and did not have a clue what was happening, this was for 14 years, indeed 14 years of feeling terrified. The Dr sent me to see a Psychiatrist and he sent me for different sessions of CBT and Psychotherapy, none of which worked, in fact a total waste of time and made me worse. I have been on doses of up to 50mg per day of Diazepam, 60mg Citalopram and 1mg Klonopin (Most addictive benzo)….I am sure the drugs made me worse after many years and now have a lot of memory loss and weight gain, but thanks to the method I am almost off all my medication and can now go out for drives, walk my dogs, go shopping all the things I could not do as I was housebound for many many years. I am slowly getting my friends back as I deserted all of them and starting to live again. I would not recommend anything for anxiety apart from the Linden Method, all these other therapies do not work, fact! Kind regards, Paul B*****. I only went on my retreat in January and I still have hurdles and struggle on certain days if I am tired or not complying to the pillars. But from where I was nearly house bond with years of CBT and medication under my belt I am a different person not been to the doctors once since I returned from retreat and stopped all medication I am now job hunting again something I never saw me doing after giving up my last job to anxiety I am a new me. TLM works it makes sense and with out it I would be still riddled with anxiety. Now I am in control and it’s changed my life I now enjoy doing out with my children husband family and friends
This method change my life I hope all people could learn this method because their life will change to better Even non anxious people Please try your best to spread this method as you can and please try to translated to arabic Because we have a lot of cases and I am welling to help in any way. Thank you It is the best money you’ll ever spend, if it is the money that is putting you off. It saved my life and I am now studying Holistic Therapy and Stress Management. My anxiety started 3 and a half years ago when I was 21, after having been involved in a bad car accident. Luckily I found the Linden Method having only had anxiety for 1 year. But it was 1 year too long! Although looking at it now, it is the best journey I’ve ever been through! I feel amazing now!
I arrived at the residential programme feeling extremely negative and was convinced that it would not work. CBT and medication had both failed. Four days later and I left feeling more positive than I have felt in 30 years. I can honestly say that since completing the residential programme I can now look forward to each day without the stomach churning and awful feeling of impending doom.I would recommend The Linden Method wholeheartedly and would be happy to provide further information should it be required. Before the linden method I wasn’t able to eat for fear of swallowing, i lost tonnes of weight and my mum was worried id end up hospitalised. I also suffered from daily panic attacks and high anxiety, I couldnt switch my brain off. I would skip meals out with friends and i just wanted to hide away in my room. I didnt know how to get my life back, i tried councelling but it only improved things slightly. I still believed there was something physically wrong with me and I couldnt get these negative thoughts out of my head. I was at my lowest point in life when I came across the linden method and im glad I did. It didnt take long before the panic attacks stopped and I started feeling myself again. Now I go out for meals with friends and family and am enjoying my life again. I have also been approached by others suffering from high anxiety and panic attacks and have recommended this method to them. It really does work!
Hi everyone… this is the cure for anxiety disorder .I am talking from my personal experience. I went to many doctors but no use at all. They have wrong treatment.this treatment is the one which cures anxiety disorders completely and it is simple process. God bless u mr.charles linden The Linden Method gave me hope, motivation to get well, an understanding of myself and literally saved my life. I can’t praise Charles, Beth and his team enough.
I never visited any GP’s or anything, I was always to embarassed to reveal my feelings and thoughts, I just internet searched and Thankfully Gave the linden Method a shot and It worked or works! really well for me, I implement it in my behaviour daily, and have a wonderful knowledge of the Behaviour related to anxiety conditions now thanks too charles. I also use what I have learnt to help all my young children through stressful periods or change! If I had of had the Linden Method available to me 15 years ago it would have saved 15 years of quite frankly misery! I tried every treatment out there on the NHS and every other weird and wonderful therapies but nothing worked until I found the Linden Method. I even lost my colon and developed alopecia because of the stress. The method is the only program that is curative as it forces the curative process to happen, rather than handing out pointless coping strategies and medication that don’t work. Couldn’t rate this program any higher. Complete life saver. Must be able to access this on the NHS and save so many peoples needless suffering.
Having suffered from anxiety since the age of 15, having been to see my GP on too numerous occasions to count, having had every blood test under the sun, having been prescribed propranolol, having been to see a CBT counsellor of my own accord the only treatment that actually cured my anxiety was The Linden Method. I attended the residential course suffering from daily if not hourly panic attacks and can hand on heart state I have not had one panic attack since completion of course 4 years ago. This method is simple, drug free, highly effective and in my opinion should definitely be an option for NHS patients. I have to thank god and Charles about this method, before i was not able to walk out of my house i had that horrible sensation that i could not breath and i will die i took me almost 4 weeks to understand how every thing works!! It was hard but i did it! Thank you charles now i am 100% cured!! The mind is the most powerful thing in earth!!!
I just followed the program and within a month or so I was no longer having the anxiety. Thank you for your program. I was really scared and when you said it was not a mental illness that did more to calm me than anything. My mother was in a mental institution all my life and I was always afraid I would be like her. When the anxiety came, I attached more danger than normal and I created my anxiety to worsen. I did the Linden Method and I no longer fear that I will be like my mother. The staff at the linden method have bee. My guardian angels! They have helped me so much, with their ongoing support, calming effects, they really helped put me on the right path, they simply have been amazing! And I thank them all from the bottom of my heart! They explain whats going on with you, which helps you to understand, and with understanding there is less anxiety. I would highly recommend to anyone with anxiety issues.
This is the ONLY method that worked for me – I tried CBT, counselling, mindfulness, hypnosis, acupuncture, homeopathic medicines and nothing helped me/my symptoms of anxiety. I would recommend TLM to Sny ody suffering with anxiety. I wished I had discovered this earlier It has made such a difference to my Life,everyone with an anxiety problem Would be amazed with the linden method, It just would save years of endless Searching and getting the wrong advice. If my doctor had acces to linden method It would have been a life saver.
was an absolute wreck all the way through the 10 – 15 years that i suffered with anxiety & severe panic, even on medication! dont get me wrong, medication helped me relax & block it out the odd time but always came back with evengance, I found out about linden method online & ordered it & i can honestly say its the best ever well spent money in my entire life… now, i didnt even follow the whole thing through but only read what i needed to, to make me understand!I am now medication free.. enjoying life the way i never though i would be able to do eve again, I do still the odd time have a bit of trouble with health worry anxiety but no panic at all. The only panic / anxiety cure is, by far… The Linden Method. I would like to thank the Linden Method I suffered with Anxiety for 25 years and I honestly thought that there was no way out. I had been in the Priory on several occasions and although some of the techniques I learned helped lessen the anxiety for a month or two it would always come back. This may have been as all we talked about was how our day/week had been and how anxious we all were. TLM has worked for me. This method really works and I would urge others to use it, it gave me my life back