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Recommended Website:
www.agoraphobiahelp.com
This
site might be the most comprehensive resource for agoraphobia sufferers on the
internet. The site was started by a recovered agoraphobic
with a background in psychology. It offers free videos
introducing self-help techniques, and free articles for
learning about agoraphobia and its treatment options. It
also offers a step-by-step self-help program with audios and
videos.
Recommended Books:
1. Anxiety and Panic
Attacks; Their Cause and Cure by Robert Handly with Pauline
Neff (1985)
This book, written by
a sufferer of panic disorder, is an excellent book to help
people with agoraphobia get their lives back. This book
introduces the idea of reprogramming your subconscious mind
(“sending new messages to your boss” as Handly puts it),
using affirming statements and visualizations while in the
Alpha state of consciousness. In fact, this book contains a
relaxation script to help you enter the Alpha state, a state
of mental relaxation in which the mind is open to
reprogramming. It also has helpful sections on goal-setting
and inspires readers to set goals beyond just avoiding panic
attacks to gain stronger motivation for recovery.
2.
Don’t Panic; Taking Control of Anxiety Attacks (Revised
Edition) by Dr. R Reid Wilson (1996)
This
is the revised version of a book, written about a decade
earlier by a prominent psychologist who teaches at the
University of North Carolina School of Medicine, that will
also help you recover from agoraphobia. Two strategies
shared by Dr. Wilson that are especially helpful are
becoming an “observer” and using the principle of
non-resistance to overcome panic attacks. Using Dr. Wilson’s
strategy for becoming an observer, you can learn to get
outside of yourself, take an objective viewpoint, and think
more rationally in situations that cause panic. In using the
principle of non-resistance, you will learn the great
paradox, that by giving up the inward struggle against panic
attacks and just giving them permission to happen, you won't
panic as often.
3.
Freedom from Agoraphobia by Dr. Mark Eisenstadt (2003)
Unlike most self-help books that cover panic attacks and
anxiety in general, this book addresses agoraphobia
directly. As a psychiatrist of more than 30 years, Dr.
Eisenstadt really knows how to speak to someone with
agoraphobia and writes in clear language that everyone can
understand. Each chapter has practical homework assignments
at the end to help you toward recovery.
One of the most helpful ideas found in this book is the
concept of “life traps,” perceived or real, as a root cause
of agoraphobia and panic attacks.
“We
develop panic attacks when we’re trapped in our lives,”
writes Dr. Eisenstadt. “We stop having panic attacks when we
escape from those traps. We go in and out of periods of
having panic attacks as we go in and out of periods of being
trapped in our lives.” Dr. Eisenstadt describes life traps
as “any situation that we don’t want to be in but from which
we can see no acceptable escape.”
4.
Anxiety, Phobias, and Panic; A Step-by-Step Program for
Regaining Control of Your Life by Reneau Peurifoy (1995)
If
you want it all the information you will ever need on
anxiety, phobias, and panic in one book, then this is the
book for you. You will likely find this book to be the most,
thorough, comprehensive, exhaustive book on anxiety
disorders. Since this 363-page book seems to contain
in-depth coverage of every possible topic related to panic
disorder and agoraphobia, you can use it as a reference book
when you need to gain a deeper insight into any subject
related to anxiety, panic, or agoraphobia. In particular,
this book contains a highly systematic coverage of the
different forms of distorted thinking behind agoraphobia and
panic attacks. Its doubtful that anyone could find a topic
related to agoraphobia that Peurifoy doesn’t cover.
5.
From Panic to Power by Lucinda Bassett (1995)
Lucinda Bassett is highly motivational as a writer and a
speaker. She is the Norman Vincent Peale of self-help for
anxiety and teaches from her own experience in a way that
anyone can relate to. Her books makes you feel as if a real
person is talking to you from its pages and reaching out to
hold your hand and guide you through the storms of panic and
fear.
This
book promotes the concept that people who suffer from panic
attacks and agoraphobia are gifted people with a dynamic
personality. It also assures readers that panic is not a
sickness, but a condition we cause by scaring ourselves with
our own negative and irrational thoughts.
6.
How to Help Your Loved One Recover From Agoraphobia by Karen
P. Williams (1993)
This
book is truly one of a kind. It is a book about how to be a
good support person for someone with agoraphobia – written
by a recovered agoraphobic. If someone you love has
agoraphobia and you are having trouble understanding what
they are going through, the insights in this book are
endless.
This
book describes the characteristics and actions of a good
support person, tells how to help someone with agoraphobia
practice desensitization, how to develop good communication,
and what to do if you are with someone during a panic
attack. This book is literally support for the support
person.
Although Williams writes with the caretaker in mind, her
insight would also help anyone suffering from agoraphobia.
She covers many highly practical topics like the importance
of finding a reason to get well, how to choose a good
treatment program, what to look for in a therapist, and how
to know if your treatment for agoraphobia is working.
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