ABSTRACT
Cognitive treatment of panic disorder and agoraphobia: a brief synopsis Beck and Emery (1985) described a model of anxiety in which an ‘emergency response system’ is activated by the organism’s perception of danger. The system evolved to abet survival, in the face of actual physical danger, by preparing the organism for aggression or escape (fight, flight) or inhibiting it from sudden movement (faint, freeze). But the ‘emergency response’ may itself alarm the individual, as it generates disturbing body sensations and transient cognitive dysfunctions that may themselves be perceived as sources of danger: racing heart, feelings of dizziness or weakness, a sense of unreality, other discomforts. When the emergency response is activated, as in a panic attack, fear and anxiety accelerate rapidly, and rational thinking is undermined. The terrifying experience tends to increase apprehensiveness, predisposing the sufferer to experience more symptoms. A vicious spiral of fearful expectations and frightening symptoms is established.
