When Panic Attacks: The New, Drug-Free Anxiety Therapy That Can Change Your Life - Paperback

by David D. Burns (Author)

The truth is that you can defeat your fears. With more than forty simple, effective techniques, you'll learn how to overcome every conceivable kind of anxiety without medication.

Are you plagued by fears, phobias, or panic attacks? Do you toss and turn at night with a knot in your stomach, worrying about your job, your family, work, your health, or relationships? Do you suffer from crippling shyness, obsessive doubts, or feelings of insecurity? What you may not realize is that these fears are almost never based on reality. When you're anxious, you're actually fooling yourself, telling yourself things that simply aren't true. See if you can recognize yourself in any of these distortions:

All-or-Nothing Thinking: "My mind will go blank when I give my presentation at work, and everyone will think I'm an idiot."
Fortune Telling: "I just know I'll freeze up and blow it when I take my test."
Mind Reading "Everyone at this party can see how nervous I am."
Magnification: "Flying is so dangerous. I think this plane is going to crash "
Should Statements: "I shouldn't be so anxious and insecure. Other people don't feel this way."
Emotional Reasoning: "I feel like I'm on the verge of cracking up "
Self-Blame: "What's wrong with me? I'm such a loser "
Mental Filter: "Why can't I get anything done? My life seems like one long procrastination."

Now imagine what it would feel like to live a life that's free of worries and self-doubt; to go to sleep at night feeling peaceful and relaxed; to overcome your shyness and have fun with other people; to give dynamic presentations without worrying yourself sick ahead of time; to enjoy greater creativity, productivity and self-confidence. With these forty techniques, you'll be able to put the lie to the distorted thoughts that plague you and your fears will immediately disappear. Dr. Burns also shares the latest research on the drugs commonly prescribed for anxiety and depression and explains why they may sometimes do more harm than good.

This is not pop psychology but proven, fast-acting techniques that have been shown to be more effective than medications. When Panic Attacks is an indispensable handbook for anyone who's worried sick and sick of worrying.

Front Jacket

One in four Americans has unhealthy anxiety--that's over 73 million people. What have we turned to? Pills. Have they helped? The numbers say no. David Burns, M.D., knows what nobody else does: traditional therapy and drugs don't cure anxiety. But revolutionary new cognitive behavior therapies do, and Burns has developed clinically proven techniques. The road to a cure begins with discovering the stories we tell ourselves that make us worry--"If I'm late for the meeting I'll be fired and never find another job"; "
"There's no way on earth this plane can stay in the air." Burns provides an arsenal of techniques for exposing the lies and proving them wrong. Here you'll find:
-Methods for uncovering the sophisticated lies we tell ourselves that make us worry
-A cost/benefit analysis, for figuring out what you get--good and bad--out of hanging on to hangups and phobias
-Playful ways to test the lie that's making you afraid
The good news is that the techniques in his Anxiety Toolkit take 60 seconds to work. This is an indispensable guide for anyone who's spent sleepless nights imagining a workplace disaster, dreading a plane trip or public speaking engagement, or fretting about the safety of a loved one.

Author Biography

DAVID D. BURNS, MD, is an adjunct clinical professor of psychiatry emeritus in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine, and has served as Visiting Scholar at Harvard Medical School. His bestselling book, Feeling Good, has sold over four million copies.