Anxiety UK Review of 'Prone To Panic'

A Book Review of ‘Prone To Panic’

‘Prone To Panic’ is written by Evelyn Gaughan, who is a sufferer of anxiety and has been diagnosed with Social Anxiety. Within her book she illustrates her experiences with anxiety, and also how she overcame and learned to manage this distressing affliction. It is refreshing to read a book regarding anxiety which has been written from a sufferer’s perspective, and not just from a clinical and detached viewpoint. The book is not a daunting size and the chapters are broken down in to small, manageable chunks so as not to overwhelm the reader.

‘Prone To Panic’ is the perfect self-help book for someone who has only just found themselves struggling with their anxiety, and really needs some help and direction. The author takes the reader through the options of help and treatment available, and provides simple explanations regarding the physical and psychological symptoms anxiety can cause. This book also suggests other reading material regarding anxiety, which is useful for someone who is new to literature regarding the condition.

However, this book is probably only beneficial to someone who is searching for information regarding anxiety, and needs some direction on the best way forward. Although the author suffers from Social Anxiety, the book only covers anxiety from a general perspective and does not focus on specific disorders (only a brief summary in Chapter 3: The science bit). Therefore, sufferers who have lived with anxiety for a long period of time, and have already learnt a great deal from other forms of self help material and therapy, may find that this book merely covers the basic first steps and does not offer any psychological or cognitive behavioural techniques.

‘Prone To Panic’ states within the introduction that the author’s aim is to create a book for anxiety sufferers that is ‘open, honest, and full of empathy, offering hope and support to those who feel isolated by fear’. This book offers a helpful reminder of the simple advice that is often forgotten by many sufferers (particularly Chapter 7: Setbacks) and more importantly ‘that you are not alone’.


http://www.anxietyuk.org.uk/