Book - Facing Panic by R. Reid Wilson
At only 86 pages long, this book (booklet?) offers a 7-step guide to confronting panic and taking back your life. Written by an expert in OCD, anxiety, and depression, this book is packed with wisdom drawn from his years of clinical experience. Wilson offers a concise model that most people could successfully work through on their own or with just a little help from a professional.
A few years ago a client asked if I’d be willing to read a book with him that he’d found helpful in addressing his panic and anxiety. This was Dr. Reid Wilson’s more famous book, Stopping the Noise in Your Head: The New Way to Overcome Anxiety and Worry. At first I was skeptical and even a little annoyed by the tone of the book, I think because I was expecting a stuffy, heady book translating clinical theory into practice and not the conversational even casual feel. Dr. Wilson’s writes for a more normal audience, and specifically a normal audience struggling with symptoms of OCD, anxiety, and panic disorder. My client and I enjoyed reading this together as it gave us a helpful framework for talking about anxiety and it gave him guidance for taking control of his mental health.
More recently he brought another Reid Wilson book to my attention: Facing Panic. This one, even more concise, deals specifically with panic attacks. While there are several things about this book I like, one important feature is that it isn’t just useful for people with panic disorder. It is also useful for people who love people with panic disorder. If you have someone in your life who struggles, you know how powerless and useless you can end up feeling. The book’s concise and clear message, makes it a helpful educational tool for parents, teachers, siblings, partners - anyone who is trying to understand how to help break the hold that panic disorder can have on a person. It is important to know at the outset, the book involves techniques that seem paradoxical. Instead of trying to cure people of anxiety, it actually encourages you to learn to provoke anxiety, but in doing so to learn to live in the presence of intense anxiety.
Here are a few more reasons why I like it:
First, again, it is concise. You could realistically read this book in under two hours and its length makes it easy to flip back through and revisit the useful and relevant portions. Instead of being structured around chapters it is structured around his 7-step approach to facing panic and learning to live in the presence of anxiety.
Second, the book offers an easy-to-understand explanation of the biology and psychology of panic cycles, which I’ve found useful as a clinician because it helps me explain it better to clients.
Third, Wilson doesn’t get caught up in pathologizing panic or offer unrealistic promises of eventually living a panic free life. You don’t need to officially have a diagnosis of panic disorder or meet every criteria to identify with his description of panic. Instead, he offers an understanding for why we get anxious, how our strategies to control anxiety can backfire, and how learning to live in the presence of anxiety can interrupt a painful cycle of panic.
Fourth, I like the equation the book presents for the calculus of panic (page 41 in the book): Worry about panic = (“How likely is it to happen?” + “How soon will it happen” + “How bad will it be?”) / “How will I cope with it?” By paying attention to our assumed answers to these questions and our understanding of panic, we can change the outcome the calculation produces.
Finally, Wilson offers very specific strategies to build up your capacity to tolerate anxiety and break the panic cycle. While these strategies are specific, they still require work, and he sets up the reader with realistic expectations regarding progress and charts to track that progress.
As a clinician I appreciate what Dr. Wilson has made available to me and to my clients through this resource. My plan is to always have a copy on my shelf to lend to clients interested in learning and doing more as they develop their ability to face panic.
Here are his seven steps:
Step 1: Recognize the Cycle of Your Panic
Step 2: Learn about Conditioning and the Body’s Special Emergency Response
Step 3: Practice the Calming Skills
Step 4: Adopt a New Self-Help Strategy -
Seek out opportunities to get anxious
Once you’re anxious, change your attitude: want those feelings
During this time, stop worrying and start supporting yourself
Let go of your safety crutches
Do this over and over, in all your fearful situations
Step 5: Purposely Create Your Symptoms
Step 6; Take Your Skills Out Into Your World
Step 7: Now, Greet Panic in Your Daily Life
Quote:
“When anxiety hits, your instincts tell you to fight it or get away from it. It’s the American way: “Don’t just stand there, do something!” Take the opposite stance: stand there and wait it out. Your body and mind need prolonged time, again and again, to unlearn the panic reaction.” (Pg. 40)
Important Links:
