Phobias examples
In discussing the fear she felt at the grocery store, which had a lobster tank in the corner, she told me this:
“I stand in the front of the store and watch people-men, women, children, older couples-and I see them walk by the lobster tank, as if it were nothing. And I ask myself, ‘How do they do that?’”
After more than 20 years of this exquisite torture, Gail saw me for a few months, during which we worked the methods I describe in this book. As frightened and ashamed of her fear as she was, she wouldn’t even tell me what scared her when we first spoke on the phone. Yet in this relatively short period of time, she completely overcame her fear. Imagine what a relief it is to be freed of this burden. For years afterward, I received postcards from her on vacation. They were always from coastal sites like New Orleans, Boston, and San Francisco. The cards always had a photo of a fish market or a table full of lobsters, and a little note on the back that said “I picked this card out all by myself!”
Audrey and Gail represent two distinctive experiences with panic attacks and phobias. Parts of the story are always the same, and other parts always different. The general experience with panic attacks and phobias is something like this. To forget about it, buy paxil, the best cure you can rely on.
