Overcoming Panic
What is Panic?
- Do you experience levels of anxiety so severe and persistent that they restrict the way you live your life?
- Do you suffer from periods of sudden overwhelming anxiety, known as "panic attacks", with physical symptoms so intense you feel like you are having a heart attack, or losing your mind?
- If the answer to either or both is yes, then you are one of many who are affected by these debilitating conditions.
Avoiding certain situations in order to avoid such attacks only serves to make things worse. You may avoid going to the supermarket, using public transport, or even leaving your own home. This behaviour is symptomatic of agoraphobia.
About the Authors
Derrick Silove & Vijaya Manicavasagar are authors of the Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) guide Overcoming Panic. Derrick is a practising clinical psychiatrist and Director of the Psychiatry Research and Teaching Unit, School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales. Vijaya is a senior clinical psychologist and is Director of Psychological Services at the University's Black Dog Institute.
Overcoming Panic, a classic self-help guide, now recommended as part of the NHS Books On Prescription scheme, can help you overcome panic attacks and associated agoraphobia step by step using techniques of CBT.
As an alternative, those suffering from panic attacks might find it useful to begin by reading An Introduction to Coping With Panic, written by Charles Young. Part of a small series of CBT booklets presented in an easy-to-read A4 format, it is often used by mental health therapists as part of a course of guided self-help treatment, and can make a very good first step to recovery.