Dare: The New Way to End Anxiety and Stop Panic Attacks Paperback – 8 May 2015

‘Dare’ is the best thing I have ever read on the topic of anxiety and panic attacks. I’ve spent months doing CBT, learning about anxiety and panic attacks and reading other books only to be left feeling hopeless that I could ever overcome my anxiety problem. Now I’ve finished reading ‘Dare’ I feel hopeful for the first time. It provides a simple, practical exercise that you can implement whenever anxious feelings occur, along with numerous scenarios you can use it in. It also has so many other practical tips scattered throughout (such as imagining your anxiety as a comical creature with a high pitch voice and silly name) which overtime make anxiety not seem so scary anymore. Many times while I read this book I felt like it was written for me, and it’s made me want to challenge myself, leave my safe zone and welcome my anxiety in in order to overcome it. This book is incredibly reassuring, encouraging and compassionate and I couldn’t recommend it more.

If you're struggling with any anxiety disorder/panic attacks/intrusive thoughts, buy and read this book. Please.I've struggled with anxiety, panic attacks, agoraphobia and OCD for 20 years and this is the ONLY thing that actually works to help you recover. I've tried antidepressants, beta-blockers, CBT therapy, hypnotherapy, herbal remedies, other self-help books and programmes, pretty much anything I could try which claims to help, but even though I have got some relief, I still end up in the same place I started, feeling frustrated, scared and depressed about the thought of living this way forever.However, after reading and implementing Dare, I've gone from being pretty much housebound, panicking 24/7, seeing no way out, some days just wanting to go to sleep and not wake up, to now actually seeing a light at the end of the tunnel and believing I can actually recover from this. It took me a while to trust that this method would work, you fellow anxiety suffers will understand how scary and dangerous it feels to try and respond to the thoughts and sensations in any other way than you already do (which is to try as hard as you can to try and stop the thoughts and feelings from coming) but spoiler alert, that unfortunately just makes it worse and is why you are stuck in this anxious cycle. To begin with, the thought of just shrugging off these terrifying thoughts and sitting and allowing the sensations to do whatever they please seems impossible and the complete opposite of what you want to do. But it does work in your favour if you try it. You really have to take a leap of faith with it because you will think it will make things worse but its amazing when you see it does the opposite and you feel you are back in control. You only have to experience how implementing this method affects your anxiety once or twice to start to really trust that it works and fully allow this method to now be your default response to your anxiety.The Dare app is also a great help, as well as the YouTube channel and Facebook groups.Thank you so much to Barry, Michelle and Aida. Also a shout out to the wonderful late Dr Claire Weekes whose books are now a bit outdated but are pretty much the original concept of the dare response. You have all been a light in the darkness when I have felt so alone and desperate, feeling as though I'm drowning in the panic and there is no hope.What if I fall? Oh but darling what if you fly? :)

5 years ago I had my first panic Attack. I tried to recover without Medication but after a 2 months I saw my GP and had beta blocker tablets. I wasn't happy with them I wanted to recover not to be on my tablets all the time. So after a year I bought this book and manage to overcome my anxiety and panic. But as it said in the book after a 3 years my anxiety come back. I dint notice theat it's coming at first. So I didn't use any dare respond. 3 weeks ago anxiety was so strong that I was lost I didn't know what to do. I buy some calm pills, again I was searching what can I use to help me to survive day at work. And last week panic attack started and I was lost. Then it hit me that I still have this book. So I start reading it again and after a week using the technique from book I can say that I am better. I still have anxiety but I know how to approach. Unfortunately I forgot the feeling of it so when It started at first I responded by fear and that was wrong. Now I enjoy my anxiety and when I am relaxed I am calling for it so that I can practice more. I have big social anxiety, fear that I will faint in public or at work, or when I am walking with my now 3 year old child. But I am going to work i am around people and I don't run from any situation. I am smiling and saying funny things to myself. In the bus from home to work I am taking deep breath and say I love myself. This book helped me years ago and I m confident to say it will help me again.

I have suffered crippling anxiety for 10 years, terrified of travelling outside my comfort zone which isn't very far and won't go shopping in town or supermarkets alone and heart palpitations made me think my heart was going to explode. Depressing that's 10 years I cant get back so I decided to really push myself to find a way out of it. I came across Dare on Facebook and heard about the book so decided to order it, two days in and it's finally making sense to me what I've been doing wrong when it came to panic attacks and being 'on edge' ALL the time! I honestly felt better just reading the first couple chapters, for the first time in 10 years I thought of doing certain things (driving over a bridge, doing things by myself etc) which I would NEVER think of doing again before! I'm not saying it'll cure you, but the book certainly gives you hope and look at anxiety/panic attacks in a different way, I definitely feel more relaxed already and I'm determined to work on the DARE response which looks very useful. Instead of running away like I always do, I feel like I'm ready to fight through it to the other side! Well worth it I think!