Praise for Panic Free
“Tom Bunn uses his decades of flying experience and advanced education in clinical social work to provide an all-encompassing approach to panic. Bunn’s holistic approach precisely addresses the biological factors involved in the panic response and provides tools to regulate the intensity of feelings and overcome their effects. This is a must-read!”
— Donald Arthur, MD, vice admiral, US Navy (retired), and 35th Navy surgeon general
“A treasured gift for sufferers of anxiety and panic, with detailed techniques supported by proven science, Panic Free takes readers by the hand to help them successfully triumph over feelings of anxiety and panic.”
— Athena Carr, school psychologist
“Tom Bunn’s program is remarkably effective and liberates anyone suffering with panic and anxiety. His versatile ten-day program is anchored in physiological and psychological research and can be applied to any of life’s panic- and anxiety-inducing events.”
— Walter A. Figiel, MBA, SOAR program graduate
“I am both a fearful flyer and a practicing psychotherapist, and I have found Panic Free to be extremely helpful in both arenas. As a psychotherapist, I recommend the book for my patients with anxiety of any kind, and we practice the techniques during therapy sessions with highly effective results. I especially appreciate that Panic Free is based on the latest brain research and understanding of how the human mind works. My patients and I both thank you, Tom Bunn!”
— David Lundin, MA, LLP, LPC
“Thanks to Tom Bunn’s teaching, I can control my panic anxiety without medication for the first time. . . . Bunn’s clear and vivid explanation of how our brains, hormones, and conditioning create panic and how we can use vagal braking to control panic provides clear steps for positive change.”
— Morra Aarons-Mele, author of Hiding in the Bathroom and founder of Women Online
“Allows everyone to embrace their full potential with specific, focused, clearly explained, and practical steps to break free from panic attacks. Hurry, buy the book and transform your life.”
— Marla Friedman, PsyD, PC, licensed psychologist and Badge of Life board chairman
“Provides a method for overcoming even extreme anxiety that works. I know from personal experience.”
— Carole, whose story about going through tunnels is included in Panic Free
“Captain Tom’s unique capacity to use clinical examples and simple analogies allows him to render even the most complex neuroscientific information in a way that is both comprehensible and fun to read.”
— Judith Pearson, PhD, director, International Masterson Institute
“A reader-friendly guide to becoming anxiety free using an innovative, scientifically sound, and experience-tested method. Moreover, this approach is very simple to implement. I have used this technique both in my clinical practice and personally, and found it very useful and effective. Anyone who is suffering from anxiety should read this book.”
— Olga Savina, PhD, psychotherapist
“Through Captain Tom’s fear-of-flying program, I was able to overcome my phobia of flying, which I had for forty-one years. Captain Tom’s book Panic Free expands upon his proven technique to help others with a variety of anxiety-producing fears and panic.”
— Wanda Dougherty, SOAR program graduate
Also by Tom Bunn
SOAR: The Breakthrough Treatment for Fear of Flying
New World Library
14 Pamaron Way
Novato, California 94949
Copyright © 2019 by Tom Bunn
All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical, or other — without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.
The material in this book is intended for education. It is not meant to take the place of diagnosis and treatment by a qualified medical practitioner or therapist. No expressed or implied guarantee of the effects of the use of the recommendations can be given or liability taken.
Text design by Tona Pearce Myers
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Bunn, Tom, author.
Title: Panic free : the ten-day program to end panic, anxiety, and claustrophobia / Tom Bunn, LCSW.
Description: Novato, California : New World Library, [2019] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018046216 (print) | LCCN 2018046739 (ebook) | ISBN 9781608686063 (ebook) | ISBN 9781608686056 (print : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Panic disorders--Popular works. | Panic disorders--Treatment.
Classification: LCC RC535 (ebook) | LCC RC535 .B86 2019 (print) | DDC 616.85/223--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018046216
First printing, April 2019
ISBN 978-1-60868-605-6
Ebook ISBN 978-1-60868-606-3
Printed in the United States on 50% postconsumer-waste recycled paper
New World Library is proud to be a Gold Certified Environmentally Responsible Publisher. Publisher certification awarded by Green Press Initiative.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To the many panic sufferers who,
despite expecting that nothing would work,
had the courage to try one more time
Contents
Part I. Your Introduction to Automatic Control
CHAPTER 1. A Future Free of Panic and Claustrophobia
CHAPTER 2. The Panic-Proof Part of Your Brain
Part II. Situational Control of Panic and Claustrophobia