Triumph Over Fear: A Book of Help and Hope for People with Anxiety, Panic Attacks, and Phobias

by Jerilyn Ross

Book Overview

The National Institute of Mental Health calls anxiety disorders the most common mental health problem in America. They are also among the most treatable. Yet tens of millions of people struggle with... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553374443
• ISBN13: 9780553374445
• Release Date: May 1995
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.3" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Covers all the bases

Having "been there, done that" (anxiety), I've read a lot of books about the subject and I can highly recommend Triumph Over Fear. It's an inspiring, motivating book that covers all the bases.I'd been a professional speaker for many years, traveling throughout the country giving presentations and teaching classes, then I was in a car accident and became agoraphobic. I told myself that I'd give myself all the time that I needed to heal; I'd concentrate on my writing and not travel for a while. Giving myself time to heal was a great start--I had another book published during those years (and even had a "brush" with an Oprah producer who pitched the idea of having me on the show)--but it had become easier and easier to stay home. I needed to do more. I had to "work" the ideas in Jerilyn's book so I could get back in my car and drive to the mall and go to the movies and, finally, travel again.Jerilyn shares her own experience with having had anxiety and having recovered from it, then addresses the various anxiety disorders-agoraphobia, obsessive-compulsive, panic, post-traumatic stress, social phobia, and generalized anxiety-and gives case studies that illustrate each of them. She also discusses treatment options and shares good solid expertise, common sense, and proven exercises.Being a writer myself, I loved her suggestion to keep a diary. I also liked the idea of labeling the anxiety and paying careful attention to the thoughts and behaviors that trigger it. I worked the program myself rather than with a therapist, although I did attend a peer support group for a while. And yes, it was a challenge to drive to those meetings, but they were so helpful and necessary! At one time my anxiety had become so pervasive that I found myself wondering who I'd be without it. Jerilyn even addresses that issue in the chapter, "Becoming Acquainted with the New You."Today I'm feeling better than I have in years. Read Triumph Over Fear for a clearer understanding of anxiety and for the proven, practical guidelines for getting on with your life. - Kathleen Hawkins, president of winningspirit.com and author of Spirit Incorporated: How to Follow Your Spiritual Path from 9 to 5

From a woman who's been there.

I've read a lot of books on anxiety, and this is the best. Ross once suffered from an anxiety disorder herself and tried to find treatment, only to be told it was in her head. A lot has been learned about anxiety disorders even in the last ten years, and Ross knows all about it. She not only tells you about the treatment available through therapists (with contact information and resources at the back of the book) but if you want to do it yourself, the book is full of practical advice. I'm the author of the book, Self-Help Stuff That Works, and I can tell you without any hesitation that Triumph Over Fear is self-help stuff at its best. I highly recommend this book. Buy one for yourself and share one with a friend or family member who may suffer without realizing help is available.

More helpful than years of therapy!

Jerilyn Ross's book, Triumph over Fear, combines convential wisdom with creative, scientifically accurate and practical advice that enabled me to make the kind of changes in my life that six and a half years of therapy couldn't do. I had reached a point where, although I was fairly successful in business and have a wonderful family, my panic attacks and fear of the attacks were ruling my life and I was getting to the end of my rope. I was losing interest in things, barely sleeping and finding every day a struggle. A friend suggested I read this book and, although I resisted at first, thinking nothing could really help me, I can now look back and say that reading (and re-reading) it was a turning point in my life. Most helpful were some of the simplist things, such as the breathing re-training techniques, the concept of labelling my anxiety, and learning how to identify and modify the triggering thoughts and behaviors that were keeping me stuck. I recently accepted a promotion at work that I never could have handled without the help and inspiration I received from reading this book. Ms. Ross has a real gift and I encourage anyone suffering from an anxiety problem to get her book and follow her steps towards recovery. For me, they were more helpful than anything I learned in therapy.

Extremely well-written, practical and inspiring

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Triumph Over Fear and have since passed it on to several people in my anxiety disorders support group. All have agreed that this is one of the best books on the supject because it combines solid-information, common sense, inspirational patient stories and practical self-help exercises. The reader is left with a strong understanding of the problem and a road map to getting the right kind of help. It is often so confusing to figure out which direction to go in and Jerilyn Ross uses her personal and professional experiences to help sort out the best way of dealing with specific problems, ie. how to talk to family members about panic attacks, what to do when one is experiencing anticipatory anxiety or a setback and how to choose whether therapy or medication or a combination is best for you. I found a lot of answers to a lot of questions and owe a good deal of my own recovery to the information I gathered from reading this book.

A superb book - informative, compassionate, very practical

Triumph Over Fear is written with the compassion, knowledge and inspiration that only someone who has been on both sides of the problem could deliver. Having overcome her own anxiety disorder and worked as a therapist and patient advocate for many years before writing this book, Jerilyn Ross brings the kind of knowledge to the reader that I have not found in any other book on this subject. In addition to the comprehensive information about the nature of anxiety disorders and the latest treatment approaches, Ms. Ross gives the reader very specific tools, techniques and guidelines to follow as one moves towards recovery - all of which she has either practiced herself or taught to (or, as she states, learned from) her patients. After giving a thorough overview of the various anxiety disorders, including a good deal of scientifically based information that is presented in a very readable format, Ms. Ross presents several real case studies. Each case seems to have been carefully chosen to represent a different anxiety disorder,(ie. social phobia, panic disorder, generalized anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress) and the different diagnostic and treatment approaches used with each disorder. I found a little of myself in several of the people described in the stories and found that to be incredibly reassuring and comforting. The last part of the book is a supurb, easy to follow self-help section - the best I've seen - mainly because of it's practical, common sense, no-nonsense approach. I have had agoraphobia for almost sixteen years and, after diligently following Ms. Ross' instructions (even though at first I resisted keeping a diary), I am now doing things I never thought I would do again (ie. taking my daughter shopping in the mall, driving on the highway to get to work, going out to lunch with colleagues). I actually brought this book to my therapist and we used many of the techniques Ms. Ross described, such as the excellent re-breathing training exercises and "what if" challenges. Triumph Over Fear is a real gem and I was thrilled to see it on your list. THANKS