Joni E Johnston PsyD - Idiots Guides: Overcoming Anxiety

No one likes a know-it-all. Most of us realize theres no such thinghow could there be? The world is far too complicated for someone to understand everything there is to know. So when you come across a know-it-all, you smile to yourself as they ramble on because you know better.

You understand that the quest for knowledge is a never-ending one, and youre okay with that. You have no desire to know everything, just the next thing. You know what you dont know, youre confident enough to admit it, and youre motivated to do something about it.

At Idiots Guides, we, too, know what we dont know, and we make it our business to find out. We find really smart people who are experts in their fields and then we roll up our sleeves and get to work, asking lots of questions and thinking long and hard about how best to pass along their knowledge to you in the easiest, most-accessible way possible.

After all, thats our promiseto make whatever you want to learn As Easy as It Gets. That means giving you a well-organized design that seamlessly and effortlessly guides you from page to page, topic to topic. It means controlling the pace youre asked to absorb new informationnot too much at once but just what you need to know right now. It means giving you a clear progression from easy to more difficult. It means giving you more instructional steps wherever necessary to really explain the details. And it means giving you fewer words and more illustrations wherever its better to show rather than tell.

So here you are, at the start of something new. The next chapter in your quest. It can be an intimidating place to be, but youve been here before and so have we. Clear your mind and turn the page. By the end of this book, you wont be a know-it-all, but your world will be a little less complicated than it was before. And well be sure your journey is as easy as it gets.

Mike Sanders
Publisher, Idiots Guides

ALPHA BOOKS

Published by Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

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IDIOTS GUIDES and Design are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

International Standard Book Number: 978-1-61564-634-0
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 214938375

16 15 14 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Interpretation of the printing code: The rightmost number of the first series of numbers is the year of the books printing; the rightmost number of the second series of numbers is the number of the books printing. For example, a printing code of 14-1 shows that the first printing occurred in 2014.

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Note: This publication contains the opinions and ideas of its author. It is intended to provide helpful and informative material on the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the author and publisher are not engaged in rendering professional services in the book. If the reader requires personal assistance or advice, a competent professional should be consulted. The author and publisher specifically disclaim any responsibility for any liability, loss, or risk, personal or otherwise, which is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents of this book.

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Publisher:Mike Sanders

Executive Managing Editor:Billy Fields

Executive Acquisitions Editor:Lori Cates Hand

Development Editor:John Etchison

Senior strong Editor:Janette Lynn

Cover Designer:Laura Merriman

Book Designer:William Thomas

Indexer:Tonya Heard

Layout:Ayanna Lacey

Proofreader:Gene Redding

Introduction

At 12:11 A.M. on January 1, 1995, I welcomed my first-born into the world after 22 hours of labor and a C-section. On January 3, I experienced my first panic attack. Just home from the hospital, I had easily fallen asleep, only to be awakened out of a dead slumber a few hours later, gasping for breath and heart racing.

I had no idea what was happening. I remember jumping out of bed, stumbling down the stairs, and throwing the door open. The cold January air seemed to snap me back to reality and help me regain control of my breathing. I spent the next few hours terrified of going back to sleep, afraid of the dark, and wondering if I was experiencing some weird reaction to the anesthesia or if I was losing my mind. Over the next six weeks, as the panic attacks recurred, I began to believe the latter.

Theres an irony here. With a family history of depression, I was not unaware of the risk of postpartum complications. I had read up on postpartum depression and was ready to deal with any baby blues that might linger longer than usual. But postpartum panic? During all my years of clinical training, postpartum anxiety was something I had never heard of.

After I got better, I realized that there had been warning signs during my pregnancy. I had always enjoyed flying; during my nine months of pregnancy, I dreaded boarding any airplane, and the slightest turbulence would have me gripping the arm of the unlucky stranger who happened to sit next to me. When an elevator door got stuck for a few minutes when I was about five months along, I felt so claustrophobic and panicked I wanted to scream. There were enough little scares during my pregnancy that I came to feel as if I were receiving random electric shocks; just as I was relaxing into expectant motherhood, another worry would jolt me back into a state of alarm.