Understanding Panic Attacks - a life-changing experience
28 March 2011
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A new book by BU's Professor Roger Baker on the subject of panic attacks has just been published by Lion Hudson. |
An estimated one in 10 people in the UK each year experience panic attacks with 1-3.5% of the population experiencing problems so severe that they seriously interfere with their lives. The most vulnerable are aged 15-30 but just what causes a panic attack and, more importantly, how can the be overcome?
Help is at hand from Roger Baker, Professor of Clinical Psychology at Bournemouth University, whose book ‘Understanding Panic Attacks and Overcoming Fear’ has just been published (Lion Hudson, ISBN 0745955452).
Professor Baker’s 40-plus years in research and clinical practice are reflected in the book which describes a psychological self-help programme for panic sufferers. Professor Baker draws on recent research in emotional processing and the latest developments in cognitive behavioural therapy and new techniques for managing anxiety.
Evidence drawn from the case studies of patients who Professor Baker has helped over the years help to focus the book on five key areas:
- a basic explanation of panic;
- mistaken ideas people have about panic;
- how to identify the causes for panic;
- how to test what really happens in panic using personal experiments, and;
- helping the sufferer discover the truth about panic through their own personal experience.
“Panic attacks can be explained by normal psychological processes occurring in a normal mind,” says Professor Baker, a Consultant Clinical Psychologist with the Dorset HealthCare NHS University Foundation Trust and a member of the BU’s Psychology Research Centre. “They can be explained with reference to the unhealthy way people have learned to cope with life’s stresses, their lack of knowledge and misunderstanding of what is going on in their bodies, and their fear of what might happen to them.
“For the sufferer, panics appear completely bewildering and illogical, but once they begin to understand the fear reaction it all makes sense,” he continues. “There is much suffering involved in panic; the panic sufferer’s life revolves around panic and fear. It is possible to overcome this and return from that terrifying orbit around fear to being able to concentrate on normal everyday life, but when this happens the person will have some catching up to do.”
Understanding Panic Attacks and Overcoming Fear is published by Lion Hudson plus, rrp £7.99.
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