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The Panic Trick; anxiety videos on youtube
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David Carbonell, Ph.D.
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Dec 31, 2008 14:44 PST
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THE ANXIETY COACH®
Helping People Thrive in an Anxious World
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Volume 9, Issue 7
IN THIS ISSUE
Dr. Carbonell announces his new youtube site! And in the main
article, he answers a reader's questions, explaining a key
element in the Panic Trick.
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INDEX
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1. Dave's Note
2. The Panic Trick
3. About The Anxiety Coach®
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Dave's Note
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December 31, 2008
Dear Reader,
First of all, happy new year!
I haven't published this newsletter for several months now.
I had more projects than usual the second half of 2008 and
the time and workload just got away from me.
I now have a youtube site, with two videos about panic, and
more to come in the future. Please take a look, at
http://www.youtube.com/davecarbonell I'll be posting more
videos in early 2009, so please subscribe to the site if you
want to be notified when they go up.
This month's article answers a reader's question about an
essential aspect of the Panic Trick. It's a reprint from 2004.
And my self help workbook, Panic Attacks Workbook: A Guided
Program for Beating the Panic Trick, is available here:
http://www.anxietycoach.com/book.htm
See you next year!
Dave Carbonell
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The Panic Trick
by David A. Carbonell, Ph.D.
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A reader wrote to me about last month's article, and he
asked such good questions that I'm going to answer them
in this month's issue.
Here are his questions.
***********
I saw your article in volume 5 issue 8, "Understanding
Cognitive Behavioral Treatment" and seem to disagree
somewhat.
You said, "They (people who panic while driving) need to
first go driving, and be afraid. Later, after enough
practice, they will get to the point of being unafraid
while driving."
How can someone get over a fear without first understanding
it and working to correct the problem? If someone must
first do the fear but has a bad reaction to it why would
they want to try again? That would only add on to the fear.
***********
This reader puts his finger on some key points about panic
recovery that mislead many, many people.
"How can someone get over a fear without first understanding
it and working to correct the problem?"
You do need to understand something about the fear. You need
to understand if it represents Danger or Discomfort. If it
signals Danger, you better protect yourself. If it signals
Discomfort, you can make the most progress by letting the
symptoms come, and working with them, rather than against
them.
You need to know what kind of problem it is - Danger or
Discomfort - before you can solve it, because the solutions
for Danger are very different from the solutions for
Discomfort.
How do you know if it's Danger or Discomfort?
You can tell by answering this question: What is the worst
thing a panic attack ever did to you?
I don't mean how afraid you got, or how bad you felt, or
even how you started avoiding ordinary activities afterwards.
I mean what did the panic attack do to you, other than make
you afraid? (Not what you think it "almost did", but what it
actually *did* to you).
Make a list of the fears you had at the time - the thoughts
you had about what the panic was about to do to you. People
usually have thoughts of dying, losing control, and going
crazy.
Did any of those happen? If they did, you need to take
that seriously and solve that problem before driving again.
But if you're like the overwhelming majority of people with
panic, they didn't happen. Panic just tricks you into
thinking they will. It's a persuasive trick, certainly. But
it's just a trick. It's Discomfort masquerading as Danger.
The reader also asks: "If someone must first do the fear but
has a bad reaction to it why would they want to try again?"
This is an excellent point. The person *wouldn't* want to do
it again! His or her gut instinct would be to *avoid* doing
it again.
This is how panic tricks you into avoiding situations,
developing phobias, and making your condition worse.
Fighting and resisting a Danger is good, because you can
protect yourself that way. Fighting and resisting a
Discomfort like panic is bad, because it just makes you more
afraid in the long run. It suggests to you that you *always*
have to be "on guard", and that makes you a better candidate
for panic.
Panic is a persistent and devious trick, because it fools
you into thinking and acting in precisely the ways that make
you more likely to panic. This is why so many intelligent
and successful people find it so hard to recover. The reason
isn't that they're too weak or stupid to recover. The reason
is that they're getting tricked.
People commonly get fooled into reacting to panic in these
ways: protecting against the panic; avoiding the panic;
distracting from the panic; resisting the panic; and getting
preoccupied with the question of "why?" they have the panic.
These are understandable reactions, but they tend to make
the panic problem worse rather than better.
Understanding how the panic trick works in your life, and
finding ways to defuse it, is the key to recovery.
++++++++++++++++++++++
THE ANXIETY COACH®
++++++++++++++++++++++
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 several offices in the
Chicago area.
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.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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 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.
++++++++++++++++++++++
CONTACT INFORMATION
++++++++++++++++++++++
David A. Carbonell, Ph.D.
Anxiety Treatment Center, Ltd.
E-mail: dire-@anxietycoach.com
Web: http://www.anxietycoach.com
5105 Tollview Drive
Suite 103
Rolling Meadows, IL 60008
847.481.5251
© 2008, 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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