Question:
I am not familiar with that program, but I am suspicious of infomercials in
general. I just wanted to tell you some things I do that help. (check with
the shrinks on these if you want)
One thing is to treat the "anxious feelings" as something to look into,
instead of to get away from. If you want to set a broken bone, you want to
do an X-ray, to see where the pieces are. If you want to put together a
jigsaw puzzle, it helps to go through all the pieces and find the edges
first. To solve this anxiety riddle, you need as much information as
possible. Treat every anxious feeling as a chance to study this monster
and try to find its weaknesses. It is amazing how much it helps to, instead
of saying to your self "oh no, it's anxiety again!" you say to yourself,
"aha! here's that anxiety again!"
I also tell people I am around often that I have agoraphobia. It helps to
know that they know, you know?
Answer:
What you have to lose is a lot of $$. Although Lucinda Bassett's Attacking
Anxiety Program, which is really a watered down version of basic CBT, has
helped some people, the same amount of help or more can be obtained from one
of the better do-it-yourself CBT manuals like Bourne's or Barlow's for a lot
less, even for free if you can find one in your local library. Panic attacks and depression are different than anxious feelings. There
is usually a chemical imbalance in the brain that needs to be addressed
with a good psych. doctor. This makes it a physical problem, not a
mental one. If you have a chemical imbalance all the positive talk,
praying, etc. is not going to cure it no more than if you had a broken
leg. There are good meds out there to balance the brain chemicals.
It's finding the right combination that is sometimes frustrating. But
it can be done if you have patience and willingness to keep trying.
Agoraphobia is the fear of having a panic attack while away from a safe
place. It often is an offshoot of PD and depression.
