THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT PANIC, ANXIETY, AND PHOBIAS

by ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1989

Gold (The Good News About Depression) contends that anxiety, panic attacks, phobias, obsessive-compulsive behavior, etc. are frequently tied to inherited dysfunctions in body/brain biochemistry. As with depression, he treats these with medications and psychotherapy. Panic attacks--triggered by the impact of sodium lactate on the brain's fear center--can be alleviated by tricyclic antidepressants or moamine oxidase inhibitors. Full-blown phobias call for betablockers such as Tonoramin. Obsessive-compulsive disorders--related to abnormal energy patterns in the primitive-brain area that in animals causes instinctive repetitive grooming or nesting--responds to clomipramine. In addition to pharmacology, Gold employs behavior-modification therapy: for self-helpers with moderate anxiety disorders, he includes a brief, somewhat unsatisfactory, chapter on how to adapt his techniques. These involve relaxation via various methods, mental visioning of the anxiety source followed by positive images to defuse its power, diet modifications and exercise, etc. For all the pill-popping, much interesting layperson-oriented info on the genetic-neurobiological connection.

Pub Date: March 1, 1989

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Villard/Random House

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1989

Categories: NONFICTION