Meier Clinics therapist offers anxiety sufferers Power Over Panic

In our fast-paced society, many are overwhelmed by terrorism and fear, and medical experts indicate that anxiety disorders are on the rise. Most people either know someone who is plagued by an anxiety disorder or face this problem themselves. With so many afflicted, there is a great need for a self-improvement resource that incorporates both love and empowerment. In Power Over Panic, licensed mental health counselor and Meier Clinics therapist Carol Christensen offers advice on how to conquer the demons of anxiety disorders through the use of self-control.

Power Over Panic (Cook Communications, February 2003) examines anxiety awareness, anxiety management, and the anxiety sufferer’s need for a loving community of relationships. At the beginning of each chapter, Christensen provides a self-discovery tool to encourage the reader and point out the differences between six major anxiety disorders: Post-Traumatic Stress, Obsessive Compulsive, Specific Phobia, Panic, Social Phobia, and Generalized Anxiety Disorders. Accompanying these disorders are often overwhelming physical symptoms that may include pounding or racing heart, tingling sensations, difficulty breathing, numbness, and perspiration. Through subsequent chapters, the reader is introduced to characters that portray the elements of each disorder. Along with these stories, Christensen offers a personal anecdote of how anxiety has pervaded her life throughout the years.

In Power Over Panic, Christensen directly explores the responses of fear, anxiety and panic. They mean different things clinically compared to what we may commonly think. Fear is the normal healthy response to a crisis. Anxiety is an unhealthy response to stress or trauma that begins to impair a major area of a person’s life. One of the key ingredients of an anxiety disorder is avoidance. In contrast, panic is a specific kind of anxiety disorder that has extreme physical symptoms. These severe physical symptoms may include a feeling of the room closing in or spinning, choking, difficulty breathing, and chest pains that can mimic heart problems. Each year, these physical symptoms send desperate people calling 9-1-1 and others to the emergency room to learn they’ve been diagnosed with panic.

Throughout her book, Christensen supplies the reader with four “power tools.” The “Power Padlock” reflects the negative attitude a victim of anxiety would feel, while the “Power Principle” is the positive rebuttal. The “Power Passage” contains scriptures from the Bible that help reinforce the use of self-control. Finally, the “Power Question” digs beneath the surface to uncover the underlying roots of anxiety.

Offering clinical advice through Christian love, Christensen desires for victims of panic and anxiety to find peace and calm through self-empowerment. By allowing Christ into the battle against anxiety, one can learn to manage that anxiety and regain Power Over Panic.