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

David D. Burns M.D. (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 9, 2006

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? Are you plagued by fears, phobias, or panic attacks?

What you may not realize is that these fears are almost never based on reality. Anxiety is one of the world’s oldest cons. When you’re anxious, you’re actually fooling yourself. You are 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 be 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.

Does that sound impossible? The truth is you can defeat your fears. In When Panic Attacks, Dr. Burns takes you by the hand and shows you how to overcome every conceivable kind of anxiety. In fact, you will learn how to use more than forty simple, effective techniques, and the moment you put the lie to the distorted thoughts that plague you, 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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Few truly great books on psychotherapy have been published, and this is one of them. When Panic Attacks tells you how to deal with all kinds of anxiety and with most other emotional problems. It is clearly and charmingly written.”
—Albert Ellis, Ph.D, founder of the Albert Ellis Institute and bestselling author of A Guide to Rational Living

“Another masterpiece from the author who helped millions help themselves with Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy. Dr. Burns’s elegant writing style, compassion, and humor translate powerful psychotherapy methods into accessible, practical, and helpful tools for the vast number of individuals who struggle with anxiety.”
—Henny Westra, Ph.D., associate professor and director of the York University Anxiety Research Clinic

About the Author

david d. burns, m.d. is an adjunct clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine and has served as Visiting Scholar at Harvard Medical School. He conducts lectures and workshops throughout the United States and Canada for healthcare professionals and for the general public and has received numerous media and research awards. His bestselling book, Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy, has sold more than four million copies worldwide and is the book most often recommended by American and Canadian mental health professionals to patients suffering from anxiety and depression.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Broadway; First Edition edition (May 9, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0767920716
• ISBN-13: 978-0767920711
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.7 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (79 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #300,941 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David D. Burns, M.D., a clinical psychiatrist, conveys his ideas with warmth, compassion, understanding, and humor unmatched by any other writer in the self-help field. His bestselling Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy has sold more than three million copies to date. In a recent national survey of mental health professionals, Feeling Good was rated number one--from a list of more than one thousand--as the most frequently recommended self-help book on depression. His Feeling Good Handbook was rated number two in the same survey.

Dr. Burns's entertaining teaching style has made him a popular lecturer for general audiences and mental health professionals throughout the country as well as a frequent guest on national radio and television programs. He has received numerous awards including the Distinguished Contribution to Psychology Through the Media Award from the Association of Applied and Preventive Psychology. A magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Amherst College, Dr. Burns received his medical degree from the Stanford University School of Medicine. He is currently clinical associate professor of psychiatry at the Stanford University School of Medicine and is certified by the National Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.

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#45 in Books > Self-Help

#64 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting

#68 in Kindle eBooks > Health, Fitness & Dieting

#45 in Books > Self-Help

#64 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting

#68 in Kindle eBooks > Health, Fitness & Dieting

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

292 of 304 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars 20 years later-no new cognitive distortions have been found May 20, 2006

By Self Helper

Format:Hardcover

It probably sounds somewhat dramatic, but I can only recall two self-help books that had a drastic effect on my life-by giving me a reasonable relief from anxiety and depression. The first one, Mind over Mood, by Greenberger and the second one, Feeling Good Workbook by Dr. Burns. Both of these books are based on solid research, reason and practicality.

Almost 20 years since his workbook, Dr. Burns has finally written another book. To my disappointment and relief, it looks like he has nothing major to report. The good news is that after all these years of cognitive therapy evolution, there are still only 10 types of cognitive distortions. The bad news is that it takes only 10 to manage a perfect job to make you miserable.

Cognitive therapy is based on the premise that our own automatic and often unnoticed thoughts WITHIN us, not the events that happen TO US, scare us to death which in turn create a warped reality providing fertile soil for depression, anxiety, self-doubt, loneliness, and procrastination. Virtually everyone who is depressed or anxious is at mercy of these distorted thoughts. To get a relief, each distorted thought must be noticed and dealt with. As you can't relieve your hunger by just reading a cookbook, you must apply it to your own situation for at least 15 minutes a day 5 days a week. Once learned and practiced, the technique will offer you resilience to life's day-to-day challenges, unlike the antidepressants where the relief exists only while you take them.

Burns lists various applications to become aware, challenge and rewire your thought pattern and beliefs about yourself and the world. There is no magic, no parent-blaming, just common sense stuff dealing with the here-and-now....

What is so valuable here is his clear writing, convincing arguments, along with the examples of application that anyone can find an immediate use.

What sets this book apart from other self-help books is that it's packaged into a system one can use in a consistent way. Moreover, the improvements one feels can actually be measured with various tests that Burns provides. Once I saw it worked after many years of doom and suffering, I refocused and dared to feel hopeful. This added to my feeling good.

If I were to find faults with this book, I'd say this: in all honesty, there really was no need for this book at all. True, in this book he struggles to find some new ways to tackle problems to justify the new edition, and true, there is some fine-tuning of the previous methods, however, non-essential ones. In my opinion, Feeling Good Workbook is so effective, it has all you'll ever need, which is enough to make a substantial change.

In the end, each Burn's book can stand on its own, and will do a perfect job to diminish panic, depression and anxiety.

Even though the system sounds simplistic, its power lies in consistency of application-easier said than done for the depressed and unmotivated-but it does become easier if you find it within yourself to stick with it.

If this is pretty much the same book as the one written 20 years ago, why am I giving it 5 stars? It's very simple: If you are a person whose life has been robbed of feeling good for decades, any of Dr. Burns' books = be it this one or the ones published 20 years ago-offers a real tool for change. And this fact alone, deserves all the stars in the skies. Read more ›

113 of 117 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An Outstanding book not just for FEELING BETTER, but GETTING BETTER! February 1, 2007

By Tina Miller

Format:Hardcover

Dr. Burns incorporates the last 25 years of research and clinical developments since writing the best-seller FEELING GOOD (strongly recommended as well.) He has written a book which markedly refines and elaborates on FEELING GOOD, rendering the Cognitive Therapy approach found in FEELING GOOD even more effective for quick and long-term relief from distressing emotional conditions, including depression, anxiety, anger, and low-self esteem.

In case you don't know, the book FEELING GOOD has been clinically proven to relieve major depression JUST FROM READING IT and following its instructions. I am confident that a clinical trial on WHEN PANIC ATTACKS would yield similar results for individuals suffering from anxiety disorders. The new book is very readable and far more versatile, and addresses some of the implicit gaps left from the former book.

WHEN PANIC ATTACKS easily stands on its own, and doesn't just address panic attacks, but rather every conceivable type of anxiety, including chronic worrying, phobias, agoraphobia, shyness, public speaking anxiety, writer's block, procrastination, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Body Dysmorphic Disorder. As far as I am concerned, Dr. Burns should win a Nobel Prize for what he has accomplished here. Beginning with the "Daily Mood Log" --a sophisticated yet elegantly simple worksheet for documenting and combating one's emotional pain-- he has developed a veritable "technology" for overcoming even the most disabling of human emotions.

Why do we suffer? We suffer because we hold onto some core self-defeating beliefs (SDB's) that leave us rather vulnerable to painful mood swings. Accordingly, he identifies 23 common SDB's.... Many of these SDB's (such as Achievement Addiction, Approval Addiction, Fear of Rejection, Conflict Phobia, and Emotophobia) are far more widespread than even the common cold! All of our emotional suffering can be traced back to the SDB's that are always there, lurking somewhat hidden beneath our suffering, until we take the courageous and pro-active step to identify and revise them. He then provides 40 ways to "untwist" your thinking, divided into 15 types of methods. These types of techniques include Uncovering Techniques, Compassion-Based Techniques, Truth-Based Techniques, Semantic Techniques, Logic-Based, Quantitative Techniques, Humor-Based Techniques, Role-Playing Techniques, Spiritual Techniques, Motivational Techniques, Anti-Procrastination Techniques, Classical, Cognitive, and Interpersonal Exposure Techniques, and last but not least, the Hidden Emotion Model.

He additionally shows you how to select the techniques that will work best for YOU, and the whole trial-and-error process is easily recorded onto another handy-dandy worksheet! By encouraging you to "fail as fast as you can" (a brilliant concept in its own right!), he clearly demonstrates how anyone who is serious about their mental health and overall well-being can overcome even deep-seated emotional problems, and thereby attain robust self-esteem. He even provides specific and simple methods for "relapse prevention," because, as he states, EVERYONE relapses! Surely there's a BIG difference between FEELING better and GETTING better.

Because Thoreau was correct when he said, "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation," I think it would be a tragedy to limit this book to those with mental health diagnoses. In fact, I cannot think of a single individual who would not be significantly helped by the information contained in this book. ********** 10 Stars on a scale of 5! Read more ›

69 of 72 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A life saving book October 2, 2007

By Suzanna

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

As someone who struggled with panic attacks for over 25 years, I have read a lot of books about anxiety. I now plan to get rid of all of the others! I read Dr. Burns' Feeling Good at my lowest point last year and it was a lifeline for me. That book focuses more on depression, and while some of the information in it applied to anxiety, I kept wishing he would write a book specifically on anxiety. This book has advice and exercises for every type of anxiety. Whether you have job performance anxiety, social anxiety, fear of riding in elevators or having blood drawn, the tools you need to overcome your fears are in here.

The key is--and Dr. Burns reinforces this point--you have to do the exercises in order to feel better. This means actually writing your answers on paper. It also means, in many cases, facing your fears. His methods combine exposure therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. His words are warm and humorous, and you will feel supported as you break down barriers you may have built up for years.

Dr. Burns has improved my life immeasurably. I, and all of my loved ones who have had to suffer along with me for so many years, are grateful! Buy this book and try the exercises.

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good premise, but a bit tedious February 3, 2011

By Marilyn Morrow

Format:Paperback

I got through the first 100 pages in one day. It starts off well, with definite ideas, interesting information on SSRI drugs, and an overall positive outlook for overcoming panic. However, I started losing interest pretty fast after that. There are literally dozens of different 'techniques' that the author gives for overcoming problems such as anxiety, panic or depression. (By the way, this is NOT a book meant to deal only with panic, but with a range of issues) Some of the techniques are very good, and I'm sure they do help. There are just way too many of them, and they are so similar it seems redundant. And then we have the case studies. Again, the first few were interesting and relevant, but after a while I just couldn't read any more of them. They also make things seem a bit too easy. Anyone who has ever dealt with anxiety or panic knows that you condition yourself into thinking the way you do, and the odds of doing some technique in a book and then "poof"! you are magically cured from panic are slim to none. It just doesn't work that way. The author presents many of the case studies as examples of people who have done a certain technique and then instantly been cured. Anything is possible, but it raised doubts for me.