If you're an anxiety super hero (or just love one - and really, what's not to love) I encourage you to check out these two websites.
anxieties.com
This is R. Reid Wilson's site (author of "Don't Panic"). I would recommend first signing up for his "Free Anxieties Update & E-zine". You'll receive great information & the article that accompanies your first message is fantastic -- "The Anxiety Disorders Game". If you're a therapist, this article has fantastic ideas that might inspire your treatment groups. If you're a client (or maybe wear both hats), I love the message about approaching anxiety with a welcoming attitude. It's worth the time, I promise.
Reid Wilson also has a thorough "free self help" section (scroll down menu's). I especially like the sections on use of paradox & attitude. His center is in North Carolina & you can sign up for one of his weekend treatment groups - one for Panic disorder and one for OCD.
anxietycoach.com
This site belongs to Dave Carbonell & is my other favorite anxiety site. I first found out about Dr. Carbonell when I read an article he wrote called "Float or Swim". I instantly liked his style & felt like he knew something about anxiety that I needed to know. I poured through his website, which has fantastic, very readable articles and even bought his workbook called, "Panic Attacks Workbook - a guided program for beating the panic trick". This workbook, along with a KD Edstrom CD helped me fly to from coast to coast by myself (without drugs because I was pregnant. I did warn my seatmates that I might cry the entire flight & made friends with a spanish speaking nun, but I actually felt great once we got up in the air!) But I digress.
Check out the section called "Panic Disorder & Agoraphobia". Also, he has an archive of articles which is hard to find on the site, but here's the link. Great writing, nice laid back style. I once saw him work with an anxious flyer on a TV talk show. He was sitting next to the anxious woman and as the plane took off she began getting visibly nervous & started to cry. He was like a midwife - he validated & supported her and said something like, "Hmmm. I guess that had to happen." No big deal. He clearly wasn't taken aback by her panic or worried about her running amok on the plane. I frequently think about what he said & the calming, normalizing message of his body language. If you live in Chicago, he has an anxiety treatment center - Or, you can contact him for phone consultations individually or as part of a workbook study group.
What other sites have you found to be helpful?
3 comments:
I live in North Carolina and have attended one of Reid Wilson's weekend workshops. It was great!!!!! His approach to facing panic is to actually provoke your anxiety and ask for more symptoms. Very paradoxical and the complete opposite of what I have been doing for most of my life. He has you actually go out and do the things that give you panic attacks with a score card and makes a game out of it.
It was very uncomfortable doing this but I actually could not get more anxious when I tried, I actually got less anxious, go figure. It has been three months since I attended his workshop and I am still practicing the provoking technique.
I also checked out the site for Dr. Carbonell and I agree with you totally. It is a great resource for people like us and very easy to navigate.
Thanks again for your Post, I look forward to your next one. You have really helped me and I am grateful that you take the time to talk about things most people keep secret.
Thanks Dan! I've been eyeing those weekend groups for a while now & hope to attend at some point with some friends. Was it hands on exposure during the weekend or did he send you home with the score cards for homework?
It was a weekend group Saturday and Sunday all day long. It was hands
on exposure all the time even during lunch you were required to do
exercises and provoke your anxious feelings. I left the first night
and went to a strange restaurant, rode as a passenger in the car, and
then went to a store to hyperventilate and have a panic attack.
Sounds like fun huh!!! Dr. Wilson is very funny and won't let anyone
slide. He will call you out and make you face your fears head on.
There was one man in the group who had not eaten a hamburger in 15
years because he was afraid he would die from germs and Ecoli bacteria
and this man ate a hamburger for lunch that day. I think he is still
alive but don't know for sure. Thanks for writing me back, it was
good to hear from you.
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