To David Dresner with thanks for all your input into www.mindtrainingclinic.co.uk

Dr Sandi Mann is Director of The MindTraining Clinic in Manchester, which specializes in helping people overcome panic attacks, phobias and other anxiety conditions. She is also Senior Psychology Lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire and has written several self-help books for Hodder and Stoughton, including Manage Your Anger (2012). She is a regular contributor in the media as a psychology expert on issues such as phobias and anxiety conditions, and publishes in various academic journals on emotional issues.

Overcome Phobias and Panic Attacks

Sandi Mann

Contents

      How to use this book

      Introduction

1    Introduction to phobias

What are phobias?

Symptoms of phobias

Does your phobia need treating?

Who gets phobias?

What causes phobias?

What help is available for phobia sufferers?

2    Introduction to panic attacks

What are panic attacks?

Symptoms of panic attacks

Are all panic attacks the same?

Why do panic attacks occur?

Panic attacks and other conditions

Why do some people get panic attacks and others don’t?

Do your panic attacks need treating?

What help is available for panic attack sufferers?

3    Anxiety

What is anxiety?

How much anxiety is excessive?

What are the treatment options?

Techniques to reduce anxiety

4    Dealing with phobias

Treating your phobia

Barriers to effective treatment

Flooding

5    Dealing with panic attacks

Combating panic attacks

Coping with nocturnal panic attacks

Panic attacks and ‘stage fright’

6    Complex phobias

Agoraphobia

Social phobia

7    Specific phobias

Arachnophobia

Acrophobia

Cynophobia

Astraphobia

Trypanophobia

Pteromerhanophobia/aviophobia

Mysophobia

Emetophobia

Dental phobia

Lift/elevator phobia

8    Anxiety conditions in children

How do you know if your child’s fear and anxieties are normal for their age?

Common childhood phobias/anxieties

9    Obsessive–compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder

What is obsessive–compulsive disorder?

What is post-traumatic stress disorder?

10  Depression

Anxiety–depression link

Depression

Core beliefs

Self-esteem

      Further reading

How to use this book

The Teach Yourself Breakthrough series has a number of features to help you get the most out of reading this book. Overcome Phobias and Panic Attacks includes the following boxed features:

Assess yourself at the start of each chapter.

Case studies provide a more in-depth introduction to a particular example.

Key idea boxes distil the most important ideas and thoughts.

Remember this boxes help you to take away what really matters.

Mythbuster boxes provide interesting facts and challenge some widely-held beliefs.

Focus points at the end of each chapter help you to hone in on the core message of each chapter.

Introduction

It is estimated that between three and ten per cent of the population suffer from phobias, most of which are also associated with some form of panic attack. So, if you are reading this because you suffer from a phobia or from panic attacks, you are most certainly not alone. These severe anxiety conditions do not discriminate and can strike anyone, whatever their background. Phobias and panic attacks are not, however, the only form that anxiety disorders can take and some people may have obsessive–compulsive disorder alongside their panic. Sometimes, people can develop a severe anxiety disorder incorporating some or all of these conditions, in response to a traumatic event; this is termed post-traumatic stress disorder.

All of these conditions can be treated and this book guides you through the cognitive behavioural techniques that can be applied using exercises, diaries, self-diagnostic quizzes and other interactive strategies. All the techniques in this book are those that I use with my own clients at my private phobia and panic attack clinic (www.mindtrainingclinic.co.uk) in Manchester, UK. Please note that the diagnostic quizzes should not be used instead of professional diagnosis and also that, in many cases, professional input might be advised (more on this in the first two chapters).

This book is designed to be used in either of two ways depending on your needs. Some readers will prefer to read from cover to cover, while others might feel they only need a few of the chapters. The material is presented in a format to meet both needs, with the aim of making the information accessible to those reading only selected parts, but in a manner that is not too repetitive for readers wanting to engage with the whole book. To this end, where sections are relevant to more than one chapter, rather than repeat them, the reader is given clear cross-references. Sometimes the material is reproduced in more than one chapter for ease, but this is usually for tables or diagrams (which are easily skipped if you are already familiar with them). Sometimes material is presented in more than one chapter, but tailored differently, e.g. ‘unhelpful thinking styles’ – this key material is used several times in the book, such as within the section on anxiety conditions in Chapter 3, for social phobia in Chapter 6 and depression in Chapter 10. The material is presented with different emphasis each time, so merely referring the reader back to a generic description of unhelpful thinking styles would not have been as useful.

Whichever way you use this book (and ‘use’ is probably the right word here, as it is designed as a practical book to be worked through rather than just read), you should find all you need to learn more about what causes your anxiety condition and how to go about treating it or accessing the right professional help. To get the most out of the book, try the suggested exercises, workplans etc. so that you can tailor the material for your own needs.

Overcoming phobias, panic attacks and other anxiety conditions is possible, even if you have lived with the condition for many years. The methods in this book have been tried and tested at my clinic, and I have not had any failures yet; they only ‘don’t work’ on the rare occasion when a client decides not to follow the suggested strategies. The strategies are designed to enable you to go at your own, graduated pace and should ensure that you are never facing situations which are too stressful for you.

So, good luck, stay with the programme and look forward to a new life. I’d love to hear your success stories; you can contact me via my website (www.mindtrainingclinic.co.uk).