online conference transcript

Bronwyn Fox, a leading authority on Panic and Anxiety Disorders in Australia, and author of the book and video series Power Over Panic.

David: HealthyPlace.com moderator.

The people in blue are audience members.

David: Good Evening. I'm David Roberts. I'm the moderator for tonight's conference and I want to welcome everyone to HealthyPlace.com. Our topic tonight is "POWER OVER PANIC". Our guest is Bronwyn Fox, the founder of Panic Anxiety Education Management Services.

Bronwyn is based in Australia. She is very well-known in that country for her work with panic and anxiety sufferers. For a long time, Bronwyn suffered from panic disorder and agoraphobia herself. She eventually made a significant recovery and from her experiences she developed the "Power Over Panic" series of books, videos and seminars. She also co-founded a consumer group and lobbied the state and federal governments in Australia to fund research and treatment programs for the approximately 2 million Australians who suffer from anxiety and panic disorders.

Good Evening Bronwyn and welcome to HealthyPlace.com . We appreciate you being here tonight. So our audience members get to know a bit more about you, can you tell us about your struggle with panic disorder and agoraphobia? How it started, how old you were at the time, and what it was like for you?

Bronwyn Fox: Thank you for inviting me. I was 30 years old when I had a life threatening illness and panic attacks started at the same time. Once they got the illness under control, I was left with panic disorder and agoraphobia. I couldn't leave my bedroom for almost 2 years. Then I learned to control my thinking through meditation and I recovered. That was 15 years ago.

David: What was it that got you into the recovery mode?

Bronwyn Fox: Learning to be aware of my thinking and learning to control this thinking.

David: Did you ever take any types of anti-anxiety medications or enter into long-term therapy to cope with your panic disorder and agoraphobia?

Bronwyn Fox: Initially, I did take tranquilizers and I did see a psychiatrist for 12 months. Then my doctor left psychiatry and I didn't see anyone for 3 years.

As part of my recovery, I had to then go through withdrawl from the tranquilizers. It became very difficult so I went back to see the same psychiatrist. He helped me with the withdrawls and I eventually recovered. I've been medication-free for 15 years. Sometimes, I still have panic attacks when I'm tired or stressed, but they last only about 30 seconds.

David: And just so everyone knows Bronwyn, have you made a "complete" symptomless recovery, or do you still experience some symptoms today?

Bronwyn Fox: I have no anxiety, but occasionally once every 9 to 12 months I may have a panic attack when I'm tired or stressed. But now I don't care if I have one or not.

David: Here are some audience questions before we get into how you made the recovery and sustained it all this time.

DottieCom1: Did you have depression along with panic and phobias?

Bronwyn Fox: Yes I did. Many people will develop major depression in reaction to their anxiety disorder. Part of the reason is because we feel powerless and our lives become so restricted as a result of the disorder. Recovery means learning to take back our own power from the disorder.

vero: How do you change your thinking?

Bronwyn Fox: We do things a bit different than normal cognitive behavioral therapy. We use meditation to help us relax and then use a mindfulness technique. This technique teaches us to become aware of the intimate relationship between our thoughts and the body's response, which are our anxiety symptoms. Once we are aware and can see the relationship very clearly, we can then begin to lose the fear and begin to realize we have a choice in our thinking.

Redrav: Did the panic ever turn into a fear of fear? If so, how did you overcome that?

Bronwyn Fox: The fear of fear is what it is for all of us. I overcame it by learning to change the way of thinking that was causing the fear of the fear.

friend: How did you get strong enough to leave the house?

Bronwyn Fox: By learning to relax through meditation and learning to take back the power from my thoughts. Not having the power, or control, over my thoughts is what were causing it all.

Suz on LI: Will I ever be able to have a normal life again?

Bronwyn Fox: If you are prepared to really work at it, do the hard yards work with your thinking, and challenge your fear, you can have a normal life again. I have and so have thousands of us.