Anxiety disorders and panic attacks can be successfully treated through a good self-help program. There are a some conditions under which the self-help approach is not recommended. (See page on “when not to use the self-help approach“). Otherwise a good self-help approach can be considered and the likelihood of success is quite high.
Several good books are around which you can consider. “Overcoming Anxiety For Dummies” is one such book that should find its way onto your list. A very popular program on the Internet which should also get onto to your list is Panicaway and your can read a brief review of it on my web site on the panicaway review page. This program has had a lot of success and testimonials and comments from users of the program seems to indicate that it is comprehensible and can be applied by most people without too much difficulty. So if you are going to go the self-help route initially in treating your anxiety then I would include it on my list of possible candidates.
Remember, whatever program you use, look for those that allow you to integrate both the feeling and thinking components of anxiety into your anxiety symptom management program.
The three components of anxiety management are:
- Feelings of anxiety, tension and fear that accompany the physical symptoms of anxiety
- The thoughts and thinking that feed into the anxiety
- Physical symptoms of anxiety