Sarosh’s Blog

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Sarosh Motivala, PhD

Hi all, here is a collection of writings on fear, anxiety and OCD. I know there is a considerable about of good stuff out there on these topics, but this is my humble contribution.

So I did a deep dive into panic disorder this past month and the results are a trilogy of long reads on conceptualizing what exactly are panic attacks, treating panic attacks and a quick stroll through the recent history of diagnosing panic in our profession.

A primer on panic dives into what constitutes a panic attack as well as addressing the most common symptom of panic - which is an intense, unrelenting thoughts about losing control.

The next long read, Treating panic: Why it all started in the 80s covers the how CBT approaches for treating panic evolved and specifically goes over the cognitive model pioneered by David M. Clark and the learning based/alarm model pioneered by David Barlow.

Lastly, how exactly did “panic” get its name? In A History of Panic Disorder I cover some of the ideas that clinicians and scientists developed about panic, especially the curious notion of “the vapors” and how the diagnosis of panic disorder didn’t come together until, you guessed it, the 80’s.