Reading Claire Weeks book made me realize something.

Claire Weekes wrote that book in 1969, over 50 years ago, so her language is quite old-fashioned. For example, back then, if someone had severe anxiety and suffered from disabling panic attacks to the extent they required professional care, we would say they had a "nervous breakdown". This is a phrase that is definitely no longer used!

So when she refers to "nerves", she is really talking about anxiety. Today, the word "nerves" is strictly a technical neuroscientific term in the study and treatment of the brain and the central nervous system.

I'm going to say that when Claire Weekes talks about sensitive nerves, today we refer to "highly sensitive" individuals. This is a description that applies to most, if not 100% of us, who have what we call TMS.

We've often discussed the relationship of TMS and OCD before - I think that individuals with OCD as one of their symptoms are probably quite high on the "highly-sensitive" scale.

 

Yes, when she said "Nerves", today we say Anxiety.