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The Panic Narrative
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David Carbonell, Ph.D.
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Nov 29, 2005 21:27 PST
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THE ANXIETY COACH®
Helping People Thrive in an Anxious World
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Volume 6, Issue 11
IN THIS ISSUE
Dr. Carbonell writes about how a single panic attack can
make enormous changes in your life, and suggests a way to
start undoing the damage.
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INDEX
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1. Dave's Note
2. The Panic Narrative
3. About The Anxiety Coach®
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Dave's Note
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November 30, 2005
Dear Reader,
I'll be in Kansas and Missouri in January to present my
workshop on the treatment of panic disorder for professional
therapists. For information, visit this link:
http://www.pesihealthcare.com.
My self help book, Panic Attacks Workbook, has sold out the
first printing, and a second printing is underway. That's
the good news! But Amazon and most other sites are out of
stock, and won't get more copies until early next year.
If you'd like to buy one now, send a check for $16 ($12 plus
$4 for shipping and handling to U.S. addresses), payable to
Anxiety Treatment Center, to: Anxiety Treatment Center,
1340-D Remington Road, Schaumburg, IL 60173. Be sure to
include your name and delivery address. Or you can send us
the payment via Paypal, making a payment of $16 to
dcarb-@anxietycoach.com.
Are you doing some Christmas shopping at Amazon.com? Do me
a favor and use the link below to go there. Amazon will give
Anxiety Coach® a small percentage of your purchases. You can
help fund our free website and newsletter, and it won't cost
you anything!
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1569754152/anxietycoach-20/102-8479779-0379307>
See you next month!
Dave Carbonell
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The Panic Narrative
by
David A. Carbonell, Ph.D.
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When people describe the way a first panic attack affected
them, they often say something like this: "It divided my
life into two parts, like night and day. My life after that
first panic attack is completely different than before."
How can a single event have such an impact on one's life?
Consider what happens in a first panic attack. You're going
through a typical day. Maybe you're walking into a crowded
grocery. Maybe you're driving on a divided highway, or
riding a train to the office. Maybe you're at the airport.
Suddenly you feel a blizzard of powerful physical
sensations. You feel warm; your heart races; you can't seem
to get enough air; your chest hurts, and your arm tingles.
You feel very afraid.
You look around and see no reason for the fear. Nothing
threatens you. But here you are, feeling terribly afraid.
People don't like to be afraid for no reason. It doesn't
seem to make sense. So you do what most people would do.
You guess!
And, if you're like most people who experience a panic
attack, you guess that you're dying, or losing your mind,
or fainting, or losing control of yourself in some
terrible way. Given the powerful physical sensations you
experience, it's a reasonable guess.
It's just wrong.
This single mistaken explanation creates a new narrative
for your life. In this new narrative, you see yourself as
constantly at risk. You are always on guard, trying to
protect yourself from a horrible fate. And so you avoid all
kinds of otherwise ordinary situations; you bring your cell
phone, your water bottle, and your support person with you;
you wear your lucky shirt, sing a happy song, and try to
distract yourself from thoughts of anxiety. You might drink
too much as well, trying to calm yourself.
And in the process, you become more phobic and fearful.
One of the most striking statistics about panic disorder has
been that, historically, it takes an average of eight years
for a person to get an accurate diagnosis of their problem.
For eight years, on average, people suffered without knowing
what the problem was.
Recent findings suggest that the time it takes to get an
accurate diagnosis has gotten shorter over the years. People
who experience a first panic attack today will find out much
more quickly what the problem is, and how to solve it.
Imagine how much easier it is to solve the problem when you
find out right away what the problem is!
If you had a first panic attack years ago, and have struggled
with fears and phobias ever since, you can't go back in time
and get rid of that first panic attack. It's now part of
your history. But you can go back and make an inventory of
all the changes you made, all the ways the second part of
your life differs from the first.
You can take an inventory of all the ways you have sought to
protect yourself. And you can gradually, one at a time, learn
to let them go.
You could start right now. No need to wait for your new
year's resolution. When you finish reading this, switch over
to your word processor and start your inventory of all the
ways in which you seek to protect yourself from panic.
Once you've got a list, pick one way you protect yourself
from panic, and let it go. Pick a small one, if you like.
Pick the easiest one on the list. The point isn't to do
something terribly difficult at first. The point is just
to get started.
It doesn't matter how fast you go, as long as you're headed
in the right direction!
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THE ANXIETY COACH®
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The Anxiety Coach® is a publication of the Anxiety
Treatment Center, Ltd. The Center is a small group of
clinical psychologists who specialize in the treatment of
anxiety problems. The Center has offices in Chicago and
several nearby suburbs.
Dr. Carbonell, a licensed psychologist, is the founder and
director of the Anxiety Treatment Center.
The information contained in this publication is not a
substitute for consultation with healthcare professionals.
Each individual's health concerns should be evaluated by a
qualified professional.
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SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
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If you received this copy from a friend or colleague and
want your own (free) subscription, you can subscribe at
http://www.anxietycoach.com. If you prefer, you can
request a subscription by sending a blank e-mail to:
subsc-@anxietycoach.com.
If you would like to see past issues of our newsletter,
you will find them in the archive at:
http://www.topica.com/lists/anxietycoach/read.
To unsubscribe, follow the link at the very end of this
newsletter.
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CONTACT INFORMATION
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David A. Carbonell, Ph.D.
Anxiety Treatment Center, Ltd.
E-mail: dire-@anxietycoach.com
Web: http://www.anxietycoach.com
1340 Remington Road, Suite D
Schaumburg, IL 60173
847.605.0453
© 2005, Anxiety Treatment Center, Ltd.
All rights reserved.
Anxiety Coach® is a registered mark of Anxiety Treatment
Center, Ltd.
Distribution Rights: The above material is copyrighted,
but you may retransmit or distribute it to whomever you
wish as long as not a single word is changed, added or
deleted, including the contact information. However, you
may not copy it to a web site without prior permission.
Reprint permission will be freely granted, upon request,
to periodicals and non-profit educational and service
organizations.
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