Road to Recovery: Panic Attacks Workbook

If you struggle with frequent anxiety or panic attacks, you may want to consider this handy resource. I discovered David Carbonell's website last year, and found his counseling approach so reassuring that I later ordered his Panic Attacks Workbook. Though I only worked through the first five chapters, they were immensely helpful. Dr. Carbonell reminds me Mr. Rogers, which puts me in exactly the right frame of mind to relax and learn.

I picked this book up again this weekend and realized that there is a lot more useful material to read! Even if I don't have such severe panic attacks ever again (and I really hope I don't) I would like to work through the rest of this book. And because it is a workbook, it gives the reader the chance to reflect and interact with the information and develop strategies for managing stressful situations and emotions before they get out of control.

This workbook is less than $20 on Amazon, and it is worth several hours of therapy, at least. I should add that it is geared toward treating anxiety, panic disorders, and phobias, but not specifically PTSD. Many of the tools would apply to managing flashbacks as well, however. Carbonell also offers advice regarding when self-help is not enough and what situations would call for other professional help.

Here are a few excerpts I found particularly reassuring when I first started working through the book:

I think we will eventually find out that most people have an inborn tendency to respond to stress and change in one particular way or another. If you have panic attacks, this is yours.

Adults with panic disorder seem to have often grown up in an atmosphere, that for one reason or another, failed to teach them the world is a safe place where they could happily pursue their own enjoyment.... [M]aybe the parents were themselves anxious and overprotective...Or perhaps the child learned to spend too much time and effort taking care of others...

For most people who develop panic attacks, it begins in their twenties or thirties--the years of establishing an independent life for yourself when you are most likely to experience these kinds of changes.

There is no reason to feel guilty or ashamed of having panic attacks.

(from "Why People Develop Panic Attacks and Phobias", page 28)