Product Description

Panic. Almost everyone has experienced it at one time or another, but in the form of a panic attack, it can be incapacitating. In Don't Panic, a leading expert offers an accessible and practical self-help program for reducing and eliminating these attacks. With insight and compassion, he explains how attacks occur, provides a detailed 5-step strategy for controlling the moment of panic and shows how to use breathing exercises, focused thinking and mental imagery to elicit the body's natural "Calming Response." Packed with useful information that can begin reducing the power of these attacks immediately, this perennial seller is an invaluable tool for the millions of Americans coping with this crippling condition.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #24187 in Books
• Published on: 1996-08-28
• Released on: 1996-07-19
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

From Library Journal
This excellent guide offers help to those who suffer from panic anxiety. Part 1 discusses panic-like symptoms and their relation to both physiological and psychological disorders, while Part 2 recommends ways to eliminate or reduce those symptoms. As the book explains, psychological panic disorder is the body's emergency response, inappropriately triggered by a faulty belief system, to a situation perceived as threatening. Sufferers are given the tools to restore calm, including the means to develop an internal "supportive observer" that can assess the situation more accurately, provide alternative courses of action, and draw attention away from negative, self-defeating thoughts. For therapists as well as their clients. Bonnie Hoffman, C.S.W., North Fork Counseling Service, Mattituck, N.Y.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author
Psychologist R. Reid Wilson is on the Board of Directors of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, and is co-author of Stop Obsessing!: How to Overcome Your Obsessions and Compulsions. He is in private practice in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, UNC School of Medicine.

Customer Reviews

Ehhhh...you be the judge. Everyone's different.
I had my first big panic attack recently and then was terrified of having another one! I kept thinking about it and kept feeling "panicky"...on trains, in waiting rooms, and even stores. I met with a therapist who put me on medication but bought this book to "take control of anxiety attacks". I'm not a pill person and want to get off them quickly. Honestly, I couldn't relate to the first few sections of the book. The second parts are more beneficial. Overall, a good buy if you want to learn how anxiety is and how it affects your body etc. Plus, there are great tips on how to control yourself. Like I said, everyone's different but overall it seems that most people found this book helpful. It's worth the thirteen bucks. :)

Don't Read If You Have Health Anxiety!
I have panic disorder which has caused heart anxiety. The very first pages of this book are SCARY. They talk about real and fatal physical problems that can cause symptoms like Panic Disorder before they even talk about Panic Disorder.

They do nothing to reassure readers that if they have had a diagnoses of Panic Disorder that the symptoms truly are just nervous symptoms. In fact, this book even goes so far as to talk about the amount of people that have had severe heart problems that are misdiagnosed with Panic Disorder! Now why in the world would you do that to a group of people that are well known for having a health anxiety?

If you are agoraphobic and do not have health anxiety issues then maybe this book might be okay but then again,I suspect that if you didn't have health anxiety before you read it, that you may have health anxiety by the time you reach the end of chapter one.

I wish I had never bought it!

Great book, a must for anyone from panic and anxiety
I have been dealing with anxiety and panic on and off for the past 7 years or so. My undertsanding is that this is partly because of my genetic makeup and also some pretty nasty hormonal changes which is the root of the casue. During the past 7 years I have done a lot of research and reading in relation to anxitey and panic. i have to say that this book, is the first of many I have read that has been tremendous help and has put me on a path to recovery. You need to use this book in conjunction with a good doctor who you trust and good therapist who you trust who specialises in anxiety disorders, so you can have someone check up on your progress. I cant stress enough how important it is to find a good doctor/therapist and stick with them, so that they can follow your progress and know your history.

This book is an excellent tool in explaining anxiety and if you practice the techniques, importantly relaxation and your breathing, you will find yourself with the power over panic back in your hands. All you need to do is desensitise your brain.