Panic: what you should (or shouldn’t) do

Professor Koen Schruers was set on studying schizophrenia after graduation - until he was asked to participate in PhD research on panic. He was fascinated. One in four people will suffer a panic attack at least once in their lives, and one in thirty will develop a panic disorder. The phenomenon can be studied with experiments: just the kind of research method that suits Koen. In his book Paniek en hoe het aan te pakken (Panic and how to tackle it) he offers some practical tips. One of the most important pieces of advice? Schruers: "Breathing into a paper bag does not work." According to Koen Schruers, anyone can get panic disorder - some might just be more prone to it than others. If you're suffering from a panic attack, symptoms can come on suddenly and reach their peak within a minute: there is no such thing as a slow panic attack.