Customer Reviews

From Panic to Power: Proven Techniques to Calm Your Anxieties, Conquer Your Fears, and Put You in Control of Your Life

5 star:		(78)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

This is without a doubt the best book written on the anxiety disorders. It is NOT written from a clinical standpoint, with scary and hard-to-understand language. Rather, it comes from the author's personal experiences (not some therapist's theory). The book lets you in on Ms. Bassett's life as a former panic sufferer and takes you on her personal road to recovery (It's possible!!). She offers everything from why people develop anxiety, how to conquer it, and encouragement every step of the way. She also has a wonderful audio program that you can get info on in this book. If you are suffering from anxiety, as I was when I found this book, I encourage you to read it. It's possibly the BEST self-help book on the market today. It truly changed my life.

Several months ago, I started having panic attacks and overwhelming anxiety on an everyday basis, and I didn't know where to turn. Finally, in desperation, I bought this book...and well, this book literally changed my life! It made me realize that I was 100% in control of my anxiety and panic attacks, and only through changing my thoughts could I conquer my fears. Now I haven't felt overly anxious or had a panic attack in over 6 months, and my life has been so much better!! I also loaned this book to a close friend of mine who suffered from anxiety and panic attacks, and the next day, after reading almost the whole book in one night, she gave me a big hug and thanked me profusely for recommending it to her, because she now knows that she, too, can recover!!!! I can't say enough good things about this book!! If you have anxiety and/or panic attacks, buy this book! Buy this book! Buy this book!

While I'm sure Lucinda has found a niche with this book and helped others, I would warn those in a deep depression or those struggling with severe anxiety to pass this by.

The book, to me, did not bring the results I had hoped for - it actually made me more aware of the difference between mild and serious anxiety/depression. If you have been treated for, or feel you have, severe depression there is a chance you may become more discouraged.

Lucinda dealt with anxiety about getting on a plane and speaking in front of people, among other things. I agree with some posters above that the emphasis is on her experience which held little more than her TV commercials contain.

The skills she suggest, basically positive thinking techniques, were nothing new. They can be found in other books and magazines. There were no insights.

Lucinda does not have a PhD and admits to only sharing her experience.

With so much hype about her books, a seriously depressed or person with a serious social anxiety disorder might just compare their pain with Lucinda and find they have have nothing in common and end up sinking lower.

When it comes to panic attacks, no one knows what they are talking about unless they have lived through it. The examples Bassett gives of her own panic in this book are frightenly similiar to my own. This book has helped me to break down the symptoms in my life that have lead me to panic attacks. Being newly aware of these symptoms, I am now using Bassett's plan of attack for overcoming low self esteem, guilt, anticipatory anxiety, body symptoms and negative self talk. This book didn't save my life, it helped ME to save my OWN life. Give it a try, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

on stress and anxiety. I liked Lucinda's book because it was the first that gave me hope as a sufferer of anxiety disorder/agoraphobia. I saw there was someone who suffered through agoraphobia and had actually recovered completely.

I'd spent years in psychotherapy with doctors who treated me more as an object than a patient. My therapists really didn't do much to help me to recover, because most didn't understand what it was like to have anxiety disorder. Talking about problems regarding anxiety can only do so much if you don't have the skills to recover. And drug therapy, as beneficial as it is, is not always the solution to long-term recovery. I've known people who have been on a variety of anxiety-reducing medications for decades at a time.

Lucinda's book initially helped me to return to graduate school. This was big for someone who had panic attacks every three to four minutes, and who couldn't even read a novel, watch t.v., or go out places without a panic attack. But I admit I relapsed. But, it's only because I stopped using the techniques she outlines in the book. (When I had moved, I left her book at home.) Funnily enough, I relapsed after I started going to therapy at school believing that this would help me recover. My anxiety problems only grew worse and I became agoraphobic. For a few years afterward, I hated going inside grocery stores at all -- but, since I was alone -- I drove to them at an early hour to avoid as many people as possible. I also avoided shopping. I was homebound in my house for several years as well. I rediscovered Lucinda's book this year and purchased her tape series.

Lucinda's approach is cognitive/behavioral therapy in psychojargon. I'm not sure you'd get that from this book, but on the tapes she does so. She has users keep a written record of all their negative thoughts and then has them write replacement, positive thoughts. She also suggest relaxation, nutrition therapy, and exposure therapy. Her book isn't perfect, however. Her tape series is much better. I agree with some that the advice is too general in this book. I think she saves most of her better advice for her tape series. You might find some of the techniques she outlines in Edmund Bourne's "The Anxiety and Panic Attack Work book" which I liked. It has a more specific list of treatments, meditation, etc;. You'll probably have to use supplemental books like Shad Helmstetter's "Self Talk solution" and other books to learn how to restructure negative thinking.

The most helpful notion in Lucinda's book is that I'm responsible, in part, for creating my anxiety. It's not to assign blame, or to say that I'm a bad person. It just means that I'm prone to/addicted to negative thinking. It just helps me see that I have some control over how I respond in certain situations. I did not believe this in the past -- but, just by doing my own exposure therapy (keeping a record of what negative expectations I had prior to going, fears, etc; and then going to those places with a friend or someone for a few minutes, then writing down the experiences helped immensely along with drug treatment.

I'm drug-free now, however. I am doing things I didn't do in the past -- I drive on the highway, I shop in crowded stores at different times of the day, and I'm looking for full-time employment. I still have fears from time to time and symptoms. She says that negative thinking is an addiction and it takes time to recover from its effects...and like any addiction, it's a day to day struggle. I still feel that I've made more progress in my life using the methods that Lucinda Bassett outlines in her tapes and her books than I have without them.

ETA UPDATE: It's 4 years later, and now I am doing 1500 percent better thanks Ms. Bassett. I have held full-time employment as a reporter/writer for the past four years - covering stories and interviewing people off and on camera. I still suffer from anxiety, but I'm managing it 75 percent better. For me, as a former agoraphobic, just thinking about a full-time job would have been impossible. I also shop! There are still problem spots I have (mainly clothes stores, movie theaters and restaurants), but even these are proving to be less challenging. I have no more panic attacks while watching t.v. and reading, or even doing grocery shopping. For me, this is miraculous. Thanks Ms. Bassett.

I read "Panic to Power" about 4 years ago.....I couldn't believe that others were going through the same things that I was...I thought I was going nuts!!! Believing that I was going to pass-out-----have a heart-attack or just plain lose control..... I think what makes this book unique is Lucinda's honesty....allowing us to see her own weakness and life experiences)......She says........WE can control our own thoughts, weaknesses, strengths, and ultimately our own destiny..... And she doesn't push throwing a pill down your throat...... I still feel panic trying to take control of my mind and body at times, as if its' a separate entity, but I take control and scream >>>>No WAy!!!! I have passed "Panic to Power" on to many others.....It's pages are now highlighted and well used..... And I know that the fingerprints on her pages have grown into individuals who have finally taken CONTROL over their unwelcome anxiety....... FREEDOM IS BEAUTIFUL!

lucindas book is really inspiring, passionate and healing read. She writes from true personal experience and is not afraid to share it with us, in the hopes that her own tried and true methods will help and heal. She is a compassionate soul, as most of us are who suffer with panic, she is also very intelligent, sensitive and analytical, all common traits that could be used against us or for us. lucinda puts them to good use in creating a truly inspired and intutive read. From panic to power is the only way to truly free your self from obssessive thoughts, life halting fears, and mind numbing phobias. In the process of reading this book and subsequently applying the knowledge and methods to my life, I have found my true strengths and faced and accepted my weaknesses, mainly my thinking patterns: all of which I have changed and thus changed my life. I am a happy, loving ( of self and others) spiritual woman who credits Lucinda and myself with the wisdom and strength to find the truth and the path within my pain. God bless. suffered for 24 yrs

I lived with panic attacks for four years before reading "From Panic to Power. My doctor told me there was no medical knowledge as to why panic attacks occurred and that this was a condition I would have to live with for the rest of my life. I was also told the only hope I had for relief from panic attacks was a lifetime of medication. I lived with this depressing diagnosis until I discovered Lucinda Basset on the Oprah Winfrey Show. She's not a doctor, rather someone who lived with panic attacks and learned how to recover through educating herself and having the courage to face her fears. In "From Panic to Power", Lucinda talks about her own journey from daily panic attacks to complete recovery. She also shares techniques that the reader can begin using immediately to reduce the severity and duration of panic attacks and eventually stop them altogether. After reading this book and practicing the techniques Lucinda teaches, I have fully recovered from panic attacks and I am no longer on any medication. I never thought this was possible and if I can do it anyone can. This book honestly changed my life forever.

I just finished reading this book and I'm so glad I bought it! I read these reviews before buying it just like you're doing now. Please ignore the few negative comments about it and buy it anyway! I was having a lot of anxiety leaving my house, driving, shopping, flying, etc and I can honestly say that my anxiety is gone and I'm driving around town now! Yay! And I feel good doing it! I haven't had an adrenaline rush in days. I feel so free. I haven't flown yet but hopefully I'll be able to cope with that when the time comes. Agoraphobia really IS all in our minds and Lucinda shows you how to recognize it, unlock it and get rid of it in this very readable, down to earth book.

I had a major cry by page 9. I found wonderful insight by page 20. I had a huge revalation by page 49... and by the end of the book I felt balanced, cleansed and ready to resume my regular old life. The line that made me cry was "afraid to live and afraid to die". That was me - stuck in the middle - but not anymore. I highly reccommend this book to anyone that really wants to change and be free of agoraphobia. I'd give it 10 stars if I could.

I have suffered from anxiety/panic attacks for almost a year now. I am currently on Xanax, but am hoping -- with the help of Lucinda's advise -- to learn her techniques to deal with the real issues for my anxiety and get off taking medication forever. I appreciate the fact that she's been where we are all trying to go -- THE ROAD TO RECOVERY! When I first started experiencing these horrible symptoms, I truly thought something was horribly wrong with me. No one around me, not even my husband or close family members, understood the horror that was going on. The pounding heart, the tight chest, the lump in the throat, the dizzyness, the feelings of doom, the terror that came crashing in on me out of the blue -- finally, someone has described and truly knows what we are going through. Like Lucinda, I too, feel like my prayer was answered by God when I asked for some sort of sign to lead me to the right path to heal myself. I went to the bookstore and almost instantly spotted Lucinda's book. To anyone who knows what extreme fear from these attacks feels like -- please, do your heart, your life and your soul a favor -- BUY THIS BOOK or borrow it from someone you know. I'm on the last chapter. Already I'm using the positive self-talk techniques Lucinda talks about in her book and it really works! My prayers are to all those who continue to suffer. There is a way to heal the cause of these attacks, not simply medicate the symptoms!