No Panic
| Date | 01 March 2006 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/13619322200600007 |
| Published date | 01 March 2006 |
| Pages | 31-33 |
| Author | Margaret Hawkins |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care |
No Panic
Margaret Hawkins
Chairperson, No Panic
Focus on…
oPanic, the National Organisation for
Phobias, Anxiety Neuroses, Information and Care, is
an evocative name for a charity that deals with
sufferers whose memories and feelings are interwoven
with their anxiety symptoms. Agoraphobia, panic
attacks, social phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder,
hyperventilation, monophobia, claustrophobia: you
name it, we have the ability to help alleviate the
debilitating effects of these illnesses. How did it all
start? In 1988 Colin Hammond was working on a
helpline for people with anxiety problems when he
had a recurrence of his own illness, which gradually
worsened and he became severely agoraphobic.
Two years later he and his wife, Marion, were
forced to sell their business. Marion was unable to
work due to a heartcondition and Colin was advised to
rest for six months. Marion was never going to be able
to work full-time again and Colin’sagoraphobia was
such that it was likely to take some years to overcome.
This caused a dilemma for the couple and they began
to wonder what they would do for the rest of their
lives. A ‘normal’ job for Colin was out of the question
so, after much thought, they decided that they would
try and help other people with anxiety disorders
through self-help, using methods Colin had learned
when he first became ill. No Panic was established in
1990.
The original idea was to run a group for people in
Shropshire, so they put an advertisement in the local
newspaper. Within a short time their work had
expanded to cover the West Midlands, sufferers told
other sufferers of the help they were getting and soon
the charity was operating nationwide. The starting
point was the provision of the helpline, open to callers
all day and every day, and quite rapidly, with other
people offering help, the charity became established
and recognised. During that first year the helpline
received 253 calls; now it takes over 65,000 calls per
year and the figure is growing annually. There is no
doubt that this service is much needed by people who
Nare unable to cope with their anxiety problems. The
range of disablement is vast, from minor social
inadequacy to total incapacity to perform ‘normal’
everyday functions, due to symptoms that terrify and
completely overwhelm.
No Panic has always recommended that a caller to
the helpline should see their doctor to make sure that
there is no underlying medical cause for their
symptoms. How many times have I heard callers say
that they thought they were having a heart attack?
How many anxiety sufferers are sent to hospital to
have their heartmonitored, when in fact the pain and
erratic beating of their heart is due to their anxiety.
This is not at all unusual, for the symptoms of anxiety
can be horrendous and misleading. So it is extremely
important that a patient gets reassurance from the
medical profession that they arephysically well.
Unfortunately,time is a huge stumbling block. The
general practitioner is already overworked and has
little time to give to someone who may need, in
addition to specialist knowledge, constant support
which may not be available. At best he or she may
prescribe some form of medication to alleviate the
anxiety symptoms but the problem still remains,
quietened but still smouldering. Sometimes a patient
has the ‘luck’ to be referred to a psychiatrist or a
psychologist, though this can be a mixed blessing. The
psychiatrist will probably offer more or different
medication which in some cases can be the beginning
of another problem. The medication may not be habit-
forming, as it often was in the old days, but by the
very nature of the illness, reliance on pills becomes a
difficulty and another obstacle to face. A clinical
psychologist is preferable to a psychiatrist as sufferers
are not presenting with a psychosis but a neurosis.
Whatdoes No Panic provide?
Having taken all the above into consideration what
can No Panic provide? Initially the helpline, which is
The Mental Health Review Volume 11 Issue 1 March 2006 ©Pavilion Publishing (Brighton) 2006 31
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