The Sky is Falling: Understanding and Coping with Phobias, Panic and Obsessive-compulsive Disorders Book

What do Lady Macbeth, Sigmund Freud, Howard Hughes, J. Edgar Hoover, Shirley Jackson, and Carly Simon have in common? They all--along with 14-20 million people in the United States--have suffered at one time from an anxiety disorder. This book gives an extraordinary account of the lives, thoughts, and struggles of people like them who suffer from phobias, panic attacks, and obsessive-compulsive disorders. Gracie hasn't left her house in thirty years out of fear she'll be contaminated. Jerry spent hours each day picking up debris on the subway platform. Norm's bridge phobia led him into alcoholism. David bright, young, ambitious feared he'd lose his job because he so dreaded giving sales presentations. These are some of the case studies exemplary of the approximately fourteen to twenty million people who suffer from anxiety disorders in this country that are found in this riveting and instructive book. Raeann Dumont lays bare the features of obsessive-compulsive disorder, phobias, and panic. Utilizing cognitive therapy and self-help techniques, she helps readers recognize anxiety-producing thoughts and shows how, through reality testing and assessing anxiety situations, these compulsions can be managed. Read More