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Phobia Free
Evans, Published 1986
ead this wonderful book; 90% of you WILL become phobia-free! I have read, and highly recommend, PHOBIA FREE by Harold Levinson, M.D. This book (and its doctor/author) are the BEST!! I bought the book despite my acute skepticism. I'd already tried about skeighty-eight different medical (and not so medical) treatments to try and rid myself of agoraphobia / anxiety disorder / spontaneous panic attack syndrome, etc. Whatever its name, these panic attacks had turned me into a social cripple; I'd suddenly gone from being a vibrant, active, outgoing person (serving on civic committees, owning and operating a professional business, etc.) to a housebound fearful recluse.
I first opened the book with highlighter in hand, thinking I'd mark those few paragraphs that might seem somewhat relevant to me and my particular symptoms. What a surprise. I was turning the entire book yellow! I didn't even wait to finish the book before calling the author's medical office and getting an appointment. As you'll see in reading the book, Dr. Levinson's explanations of the nature and cause of this awful condition are perfectly reasonable, medically credible, scientifically researched, and professionally well-documented. His treatment is completely described in the book, so that YOUR doctor can provide you with the EXACT SAME diagnostic and curative regimens. The treatment is safe, easy, wonderfully effective, and (can you believe it?) completely relieves you of the burden of thinking that you're going crazy, are mentally ill, or psychologically disturbed! Essentially, it all boils down to a simple physical problem of an inner-ear dysfunction, treatable with anti-motion- sickness medications.
I bought the book when it first came out in 1986; it's now 1998 and I've been on the medications for twelve years. There are NO side effects, NO withdrawal symptoms, they're not habit-forming, and have never made me sleepy, dopey, dizzy or moody. From the very beginning, my health-care insurance approved the medical claim forms and they've always sent me the standard 80% payment benefit for the office visits to the doctor and for the prescription medications.
The book is very easy to read; at one and the same time, it's richly endowed with people skills (of warmth, caring, and remarkable understanding of what you're feeling and how this panic is affecting your life) as well as with supporting documents, monologues, research papers, scientific studies, mainstream medical investigation via a bibliography of thirty-eight other authors, representing as many titles in the professional literature.
Thinking to someday share my experiences with others who have this condition, I kept a diary for the first few years of using this book's treatment plan; here are some verbatim excerpts: [1] "...and the book IS wonderful; I finished it in one afternoon. I swallowed it. I sponged it up. It was so right on target, so fit-me-to-a- T, I went to bed that night feeling like Dumbo clutching his black feather." and [2] "The scene in [Dr. Levinson's] waiting room was poignant; there were almost as many suitcases as people. The mood was relaxed and friendly, and soon enough, communal chatter revealed that [my husband] and I were the only 'locals.' Everyone else had flown in for their appointment. Texas, Ohio, Bombay (!) Georgia, etc., etc. I felt incredibly lucky. They no doubt had suffered the tortures of the damned (AIRPLANES) to try this therapeutic modality and here I was, [just twenty minutes from my house] practically in my own back yard!" and [3] "Breakthrough!! Remarkable; in the past two months, I've not only done things which I've diligently avoided for the past ten years, but I've done them quite voluntarily, almost without thinking." [For example:] [A] "Agreed to meet friends at our home right after work; thence to race off to a restaurant for dinner, thence to race off to [the local college campus] for the evening's theatre, thence to return to my house for 'coffee and'. Such a long list of activities, so far from home, in the midst of so many people, crowded into such a small confinement as a car; locked into the great mass of the audience; and having to do it after a full day's work, and then to have to play hostess!!!!! ... Frankly, all of it was a breeze. And I never gave myself one thought, one anxious thought to any of it: most especially never once before or during the evening. AFTER, I thought about it, and pleased as punch I was too!" and [B] "I'm driving on the Highway! I mean, like, far. No forethought, no anxiety, neither before nor during; no fear anticipation for the return trip home; this is heavy stuff, folks." and [C] "Balance appears fully restored in exercise classes, in crossing heavily trafficked streets, climbing twelve-foot ladders, etc." and [2] [My final diary entry for 1990:] "In November, we're flying off to Holland! Good luck to you all. I wish you peace, surcease from sorrow, release from the terrors, the panic and the fears. There really, really, really is a normal life waiting for you. Go for it!"
My book review summary: Buy this book, PHOBIA FREE, by Harold Levinson, M.D. Read this book. For at least 90% of you, it WILL make you phobia-free!
— Review by Carolyn
his fascinating book presents the thesis that, except for realistic phobias and those resulting from unconscious conflict, all phobias originate in inner ear disease. It is written in a persuasive style: "If your balance system — your inner-ear gyroscope — is impaired, it can be further destabilized by heights, bridges, stairs, escalators, wide-open spaces, the dark, and many other phobic triggers (any or all). Although more systemic research is needed. Levinson's position deserves the serious attention of the psychiatric establishment..."
— Review published by Dr. Hagop S. Akiskal,
Editor of the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry as it appeared in the
April 1988, Volume 49(4) issue
hobia Free opens a new door to considering a constitutional component, a cerebellar-vestibular disorder which can be treated, at least in some phobc individuals. It deserves to be explored further.
— Reginald Lourie, M.D.,
Preofessor Emeritus of Child Health, Psychiatry, Development, and
Behavioral Sciences at George Washington University
r. Levinson has obviously drawn on extensive practical experience and a thorough review of relevant basic science and research data in preparation of this book...should give hope to parents of children who have experienced phobias, balance disorders, dysequilibrium and learning disabilities."
— Kenneth M. Grundfast, M.D.,
Chairman, Department of Otolaryngology,
Children's Hospital National Medical Center, Washington, D.C.
fantastic exposition of some down-to-earth, new thinking with regard to the relationship of the inner-ear abnormalities and phobias. Dr. Levinson's concepts and this relationship fit my clinical experience. This book is worth your reading time.
— Wallace Rubin, M.D.,
Clinical Professor of Otorhinolaryngology and Biocommunication,
Louisiana State University of Medicine
ritten in a clear and understandable manner, Phobia Free will be very helpful and thought-provoking to both the general population and professionals involved in the field.
— Howard P. House, M.D.,
Chairman Emeritus, House Ear Institute,
Clinical Professor of Otology,
University of Southern California School of Medicine