Panic Attacks Are Not Harmful

Abstract

Abstract This chapter highlights the importance of providing the client with information about panic attacks. Overall, the informational model of panic attacks builds on the previous chapters in providing an alternative conceptual framework that is nonthreatening and contributes to a personal scientist perspective, whereby clients can gain an objective understanding of their panic and anxiety. The program presents a panic attack as a learned fear of internal sensations. Crucial to the model of panic attacks is the role of anxiety about the recurrence of panic. Because the panic attack itself is feared as a dangerous event, it makes sense to anticipate the next time it will occur and to be very vigilant for signals of its next occurrence, which is the process of anxiety. Understanding the connections between different sensations experienced, their physiological basis, and their survival value engenders a greater sense of safety. It reassures clients that their sensations are not all imagined.