The Agoraphobia Workbook: A Comprehensive Program to End Your Fear of Symptom Attacks [Paperback]

Some quick thoughts between classes on the book "The Agoraphobia Workbook" (by Pollard and Zuercher-White). Note: I'd recommend buying it new or like new--as a previous owner MAY have written in it.

I've had agoraphobia for awhile. I've gotten a degree in psychology, seen therapists, psychiatrists, taken many prescribed drugs (ativan, klonopin, prozac--and now paxil and xanax), tried hypnosis, acupuncture, meditation, and read over 20 books on panic attacks and agoraphobia.

HOWEVER, this is the first book that really appreciates the significance of internal symptoms (feared sensations) and the fear of symptom attacks (anticipatory fear). Other books mention anticipatory anxiety and catastrophizing and so on, but NONE address it this well.

This book also thoroughly explains WHY my agoraphobia HASN'T gone away even though I KNOW it's irrational and then describes how to beat it by developing structure, finding discipline to follow it (time, motivation and effort) AND doing things that will at times be uncomfortable.

What I have been doing--waiting it out and trying to push on
with back-up--HASN'T WORKED. It's been two years with varied success--ups and downs--but now it's time to get well. Having read so many other panic/agoraphobia books, I wasn't very hopeful; but after 4 chapters I'm convinced that this workbook is MUCH more relevant to my issues than other "panic" books AND much more likely to actually change my behavior.

The book explains the 4 components of agoraphobic fear:
(1) external signals--feared situations/ places/ activities like being far from home, driving over bridges and physical exertion...
(2) internal signals--feared sensations like heart beating fast/ hard, dizziness/ light-headedness/ faint-like feelings and feeling dissociated/ detached/ outside of oneself...which leads to...
(3) symptom attacks--panic, etc., though, like most of us, I've never experienced the actual...
(4) catastrophe I fear (gone insane, permanently lost control, fainted and crashed while driving, lost my job, etc.).

Usually by the time I'm four chapters in, I've begun to realize that the book I'm reading is saying the same thing as all the others, and my sense of hope for a cure slowly dissipates. For whatever reason--clear explanations, alternate foci/ emphasis, etc.--this book is different. I'm reading it and still very hopeful, and even more so, I'm actually confident that it's going to help. We'll see (I'll update).

(A NOTE TO THE MAGNESIUM-CURE TROLL: I appreciate your enthusiam for the curative effects Magnesium had on you. I'm sure many of us, like me, have even done research (based on your comments--thank you) AND maybe some, like me, even went out and bought and started taking magnesium supplements. However, I'd like to suggest a few things. One, stop posting your fake "review" and pushing the book--it's out there (on here) enough. Go back and edit your posts to just say, "I apologize for the non-review, but please do a bit of research on using magnesium (specify what kind--not oxide) to help with panic disorder/agoraphobia; it worked for me and there are books on it as well as websites about it."

That way you won't be seen as a "troll" so much as someone who wants to help. Most of us are hesitant to take anything that might mess with how we feel and most of us have TRIED many "cures" that didn't work for us (BOTH are reasons why we're looking for new books with new suggestions). Your magnesium non-reviews just make a lot of people mad, which I know isn't what you want.)

As a psychologist specializing in treating anxiety, I found this book very useful for my clients. There are other great books on agoraphobia such as the classic by Dr Claire Weekes "Simple, effective treatment of agoraphobia." However, I believe The agoraphobia Workbook's strength is in its simple easy to follow format. It is written for the general public so avoids academic jargon. There are regular exercises to be completed in certain time-frames so it gives you a great structure for developing a goals list. Agoraphobia is a crippling condition to live with and I truly feel for anyone who suffers from it. If you suffer from agoraphobia then I recommend you read all you can on topic and, even though you've probably heard it before, then face your fear in small gradual and realistic steps. Often the avoidance is worse than actually facing your fear.
Anthony Gunn
Psychologist and author of Fear Is Power: Turn Your Fears Into Success
Raising Confident, Happy Children: 40 Ways to Help Your Child Succeed
Fix Your Phobia in 90 Minutes
Walking Tall: Overcoming Life's Little Challenges

This book is by two of the top people in the field of anxiety disorders. The book contains state of the art information about agoraphobia and proven ways to overcome it. It is well written and easy to understand and also well organized, and it is in the form of a self-help workbook which can be utilzed by people to actually overcome their agoraphobia. This book is currently the best self-help book available for people suffering from agoraphobia.

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