Overcoming the Fear of Fear: How to Reduce Anxiety Sensitivity

Anxiety isn't all in your head. When you feel nervous, symptoms such as chills, sweating, heart palpitations, and shaking can affect your whole body. If you worry that others notice these anxiety symptoms or fear that they could be harmful to your health, you may have anxiety sensitivity. Anxiety sensitivity is the fear of anxiety-related sensations, a condition that affects approximately 16 percent of the population. People with high anxiety sensitivity often fear these bodily sensations even more than the situation that caused their anxiety in the first place. This fear of fear can lead them to avoid activities that might trigger their symptoms, and can cause other mental and physical problems down the road.

Overcoming the Fear of Fear provides you with all the tools you need to stop fearing your anxiety symptoms for good. You'll learn to use cognitive behavioral techniques that have been proven effective for people with anxiety sensitivity. These techniques can help you reduce your anxiety sensitivity, prevent recurrence of panic attacks, and start living without fear.

Sherry H. Stewart, PhD, is a Killam research professor in the Departments of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Community Health and Epidemiology at Dalhousie University in Halifax, NS, Canada. She is a licensed psychologist in the province of Nova Scotia. Her research focuses on risk factors for anxiety and the overlap of anxiety and addictive behaviors. She has received research funding from such agencies as the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the National Institutes of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and the Alcoholic Beverage Medical Research Foundation.

Steven Taylor, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and Professor of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Taylor received early career awards from the Canadian Psychological Association, Anxiety Disorders Association of America, and Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies. He is the author of over 200 papers and books, including Anxiety Sensitivity: Theory, Research, and Treatment of the Fear of Anxiety (Erlbaum 1999). He is actively involved in clinical research, teaching, and supervision of students. Dr. Taylor maintains a private practice in Vancouver, BC.

Margo C. Watt, PhD, is associate professor of psychology at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, NS, Canada, and adjunct professor of psychology at Dalhousie University in Halifax, NS, Canada. She is a licensed clinical psychologist in the province of Nova Scotia, where she maintains a limited private practice, and has training and experience in clinical, health, and forensic psychology. Her research is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation.