“Ask Dr Neuman” Advice Column
The treatment of panic disorder is not easy, but it is straightforward. The affected individual has to learn not only to deal with the phobic situations that are almost always a consequence of a panic disorder, but also how to deal with the panic attack itself. This...
Feelings, even very unpleasant feelings such as fear, serve a purpose (See my blog post, “The Purpose of Feelings.”) They are a goad to action. For example, someone who is being treated rudely—or frustrated in any other way—is supposed to get angry. The...
A matter of not knowing enough, rather than too much Health worriers (sufferers from Health Anxiety) tend to imagine the worst possible illness that would explain the physical symptoms they have. These are often the symptoms of anxiety: headache, stomachache,...
A car memoir I developed agoraphobia and panic disorder when I was in college. There was nothing unusual about my symptoms. I had panic attacks in classrooms and in the school library and worried initially as everyone does when they develop that condition about the...
What are people really afraid of? The Anxiety and Phobia Center of White Plains Hospital has been running a “fear of flying” clinic for many years along with programs to treat the other anxiety disorders, including social phobia and health anxiety. It is the only...
Exposure and response prevention. There is an old joke about doctors: “Doc, it hurts when I do this.” “So, don’t do that.” A version I hear frequently: “Doc, I get upset when I read about all the side-effects of these drugs.” “So, don’t read about the side-effects.”...
The advantages of fiction (I have followed my usual practice in this post of disguising the patient) There was a time a number of years ago when I had the occasion to treat just the sort of patient therapists like to work with, that is, she was intelligent, attractive...
It is possible to have too much of a good thing Individuals who suffer from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) tend to see things in black or white. There is the proper way to do something—and there is everything else. So, some patients with this condition struggle...
Confrontation is the best way to deal with fear Agoraphobia and the panic disorder that provokes it is the most common and most severe phobia. Affected individuals are not so much afraid of particular circumstances, as they are afraid of their own feelings. They...
Only two things need to be learned Doctors do not like to talk about cure. Too many illnesses are remitting and relapsing—that is, they seem to go away only to return again at a future time. Psychiatric conditions in particular tend to be chronic. Besides, they...
Confronting fears is critical–as it is in the treatment of the other anxiety disorders. It is easy to set down in a few sentences the principles underlying the treatment of health anxiety, but implementing these principles in a practical program of treatment is not...
The particular incident I want to tell about took place in the first month of my psychiatric residency, a very long time ago. But in order to make my reaction understandable, I have to go back even further, to the time when I was in college. I developed a panic...