Phobia Free: Medical Breakthrough Linking 90% of all Phobias and Panic Attack to a Hidden Physical Problem (Paperback)

by Harold N. Levinson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
"A most fascinating book...provides both the professional and the patient with a means to better understand and treat (phobias)." DSHoward P. House, MD. University of Southern California School of Medicine

Product Details

• Paperback: 298 pages
• Publisher: M. Evans and Company, Inc. (January 25, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0871315394
• ISBN-13: 978-0871315397
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #97,486 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read this wonderful book;90% of you WILL become phobia-free!, January 22, 1998

By	Tzviah Eisen (Long Island, NY) - See all my reviews

I have read, and highly recommend, PHOBIA FREE by Harold Levinson, M.D. This book (and its doctor/author) are the BEST !! I bought the book despite my acute skepticism. I'd already tried about skeighty-eight different medical (and not so medical) treatments to try and rid myself of agoraphobia / anxiety disorder / spontaneous panic attack syndrome, etc. Whatever its name, these panic attacks had turned me into a social cripple; I'd suddenly gone from being a vibrant, active, outgoing person (serving on civic committees, owning and operating a professional business, etc.) to a housebound fearful recluse.

I first opened the book with highlighter in hand, thinking I'd mark those few paragraphs that might seem somewhat relevant to me and my particular symptoms. What a surprise. I was turning the entire book yellow! I didn't even wait to finish the book before calling the author's medical office and getting an appointment. As you'll see in reading the book, Dr. Levinson's explanations of the nature and cause of this awful condition are perfectly reasonable, medically credible, scientifically researched, and professionally well-documented. His treatment is completely described in the book, so that YOUR doctor can provide you with the EXACT SAME diagnostic and curative regimens. The treatment is safe, easy, wonderfully effective, and (can you believe it?) completely relieves you of the burden of thinking that you're going crazy, are mentally ill, or psychologically disturbed! Essentially, it all boils down to a simple physical problem of an inner-ear dysfunction, treatable with anti-motion- sickness medications.

I bought the book when it first came out in 1986; it's now 1998 and I've been on the medications for twelve years. There are NO side effects, NO withdrawal symptoms, they're not habit-forming, and have never made me sleepy, dopey, dizzy or moody. From the very beginning, my health-care insurance approved the medical claim forms and they've always sent me the standard 80% payment benefit for the office visits to the doctor and for the prescription medications.

The book is very easy to read; at one and the same time, it's richly endowed with people skills (of warmth, caring, and remarkable understanding of what you're feeling and how this panic is affecting your life) as well as with supporting documents, monologues, research papers, scientific studies, mainstream medical investigation via a bibliography of thirty-eight other authors, representing as many titles in the professional literature.

Thinking to someday share my experiences with others who have this condition, I kept a diary for the first few years of using this book's treatment plan; here are some verbatim excerpts: [1] "...and the book IS wonderful; I finished it in one afternoon. I swallowed it. I sponged it up. It was so right on target, so fit-me-to-a- T, I went to bed that night feeling like Dumbo clutching his black feather." and [2] "The scene in [Dr. Levinson's] waiting room was poignant; there were almost as many suitcases as people. The mood was relaxed and friendly, and soon enough, communal chatter revealed that [my husband] and I were the only 'locals.' Everyone else had flown in for their appointment. Texas, Ohio, Bombay (!) Georgia, etc., etc. I felt incredibly lucky. They no doubt had suffered the tortures of the damned (AIRPLANES) to try this therapeutic modality and here I was, [just twenty minutes from my house] practically in my own back yard!" and [3] "Breakthrough !! Remarkable; in the past two months, I've not only done things which I've diligently avoided for the past ten years, but I've done them quite voluntarily, almost without thinking." [For example:] [A] "Agreed to meet friends at our home right after work; thence to race off to a restaurant for dinner, thence to race off to [the local college campus] for the evening's theatre, thence to return to my house for 'coffee and'. Such a long list of activities, so far from home, in the midst of so many people, crowded into such a small confinement as a car; locked into the great mass of the audience; and having to do it after a full day's work, and then to have to play hostess!!!!! ... Frankly, all of it was a breeze. And I never gave myself one thought, one anxious thought to any of it: most especially never once before or during the evening. AFTER, I thought about it, and pleased as punch I was too!" and [B] "I'm driving on the Highway! I mean, like, far. No forethought, no anxiety, neither before nor during; no fear anticipation for the return trip home; this is heavy stuff, folks." and [C] "Balance appears fully restored in exercise classes, in crossing heavily trafficked streets, climbing twelve-foot ladders, etc." and [2] [My final diary entry for 1990:] "In November, we're flying off to Holland! Good luck to you all. I wish you peace, surcease from sorrow, release from the terrors, the panic and the fears. There really, really, really is a normal life waiting for you. Go for it!"

My book review summary: Buy this book, PHOBIA FREE, by Harold Levinson, M.D. Read this book. For at least 90% of you, it WILL make you phobia-free

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most important book on phobias and their treatment., October 20, 2000

By	D. R. Schryer (Poquoson, VA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

A lot of people suffer -- and I do mean suffer -- from one or more phobias, and a lot of techniques are offered by various therapists to treat phobias. Unfortunately, while some of these treatments may reduce phobic symptoms somewhat, relatively few phobics are actually cured. In this excellent book, Dr. Harold Levinson explains the reasons for this situation. One is that there are three different types of phobias, a fact not generally recognized. About 5% or so of phobias are caused primarily by a neurotic condition of some sort. These phobias often respond to conventional psychotherapy whereas most phobias do not. Another 5% or so of phobias are caused by a severe trauma, such as being bitten by a dog or being in a plane that almost crashes. These phobias are often helped by desensitization therapy. But if phobias that are caused primarily by neurosis or trauma account for only about 10% of all phobias, what is the primary cause of the other 90%? Dr. Levinson's brilliant discovery is that the root cause of most phobias is a disorder of the cerebellar-vestibular sustem, called in lay terminology "the inner ear." Dr. Levinson also found that inner ear disorders are the primary cause of dyslexia and that there is a very high correlation between dyslexia and phobias. About 90% of people who are phobic or dyslexic are both phobic and dylexic. Fortunately, Dr. Levinson has found that about 80% of cases of both phobias and dyslexia respond to at least one of the inner ear medications currently available, including dramamine, scopolamine, and Benadryl. Inner ear disorders are relatively easy for trained audiologists to detect and verify by the battery of tests available to them, but they seldom are detected by routine examinations made by general practitioners or even ear, nose, and throat specialists. If you suffer from phobias and/or dyslexia -- as I do -- please read this book with an open mind. It may literally change your life for the better. In my case, thorough audiological testing -- as described in this book -- revealed that I do indeed have an inner ear disorder which was not detected by routine examinations. Based on this finding, my physician tried the inner ear medications listed by Dr. Levinson and found one that has given me significant relief. Therefore, I am recommending this book from personal experience.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for those suffering from OCD and Phobias, July 15, 1998

By A Customer

This is beneficial information for those suffering from OCD. Dr. Levinson's theory has led to my complete recovery. His theory attributes the disorder to a "medical" condition of the inner-ear called a cerebellar-vestibular dysfunction and is easily treated and corrected with a combination of antihistamines, antimotion-sickness, and antianxiety medications that he prescribes. Soon after starting the medication, the disorder was gone. Calmness and total control were shortly established. Prior to this were many months of unsuccessful behavioral therapy treatment with no relief occuring. Dr. Levinson's treatment doesn't just give some relief from OCD, it rids it! His book "Phobia Free" is extremely helpful and describes in depth how the cv-dysfunction is related to all anxiety. It describes why obsessive thoughts occur and how they are thoughts that are just not being properly filtered. The title of this book, "Phobia Free," is truly ! ! a perfect description of how an OCD sufferer feels after being treated by Dr. Levinson for this "medical" condition called the cv-dysfunction.