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Thursday 4 June 2009

Panic and Anxiety Programs Review

A large number of people experience panic attacks or severe anxiety at some point in their life. However sufferers often seek to hide their experiences from others because of shame or not wanting to appear inadequate or incompetent (this applies particularly to people who experience feelings of panic when making presentations in a job setting).

Quite often, hiding your anxiety can actually make it worse - because it increases your fear of other people finding out. Actually what can help with anxiety is to try to accept what is happening almost as if you were observing yourself from outside like a scientist, because this decreases the fear and the 'fight or flight' response which is fuelling your panic and anxiety and which gets worse if you try to fight the anxiety.

This is easier said than done - and if you experience panic attacks you may think I'm crazy in suggesting it! To help you start to come to terms with your anxiety and therefore reduce the level of panic, there are specific techniques which you can use such as distraction and breathing or relaxation techniques.

There are a number of panic or anxiety non medical treatment programs or methods which cover some of these different techniques and can be helpful in addressing them. Here is a short review of the two online panic and anxiety attack programs that I would most recommend, namely:

1. Jon Mercer's Easy Calm downloadable videos which you can find out more about at:
and

2. Joe Barry's Panic Away eBook which you can find out more about at:

Which one of these 2 approaches for dealing with panic attacks and anxiety do I think is better? That's quite difficult to answer as I think both are good. I think which is better for you may well depend on your personal learning style - the Panic Away program is an eBook, so if following written instructions and ideas suits your learning style then this may be for you. It is also a little cheaper than the Easy Calm program (neither is cheap but compared to the cost of individualised coaching sessions they both offer good value in my view).

The Panic Away Program also offers Joe Barry's famous One Move Technique for eliminating panic attacks quickly. This is a virtue if you are able to master the technique because then you may get a quick and helpful solution to panic attacks. The downside is that if you are unable to do so, then you could be disappointed.

The Easy Calm videos by contrast offer a more incremental approach - building up skills to beat panic attacks step by step by a series of exercises and ideas. Also the instruction is given on downloadable videos and you hear Jon Mercer's voice speaking (there is a sample of the first video on his site at the link to it at the foot of this blog entry so you can see what it is like). Therefore, the Easy Calm Videos do not offer such a quick solution as the Panic Away eBook but they have good helpful ideas and a patient supportive approach.

The Easy Calm videos would get my vote, but it's very much a matter of personal preference and some of you may prefer the Panic Away eBook.
Alternative Approach Using CBT
An alternative approach to tackling anxiety and panic which you might consider and which is cheaper than either the Easy Calm or the Panic Away programs is my own downloadable ebook program for dealing with anxiety.

You can find information about that by clicking on the link below:

Blog Post Written by Life Coach David
For Information about David's Telephone Coaching visit: Life Coaching


3 comments:

  1. This is a very helpful review and I shall certainly look into the two options.Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) is worth a try if panic/anxiety is having a detrimental effect on your life. The AAMET website has listings of practitioners in your area. It can be even be done by phone. For more info on EFT take a look at www.emofree.com

    Best regards
    Pam Daniels
    AKUTAQ Coaching Services

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for providing that information. Panic attacks are horrible to experience.

    ReplyDelete