In 1989 Colin Hammond had a
recurrence of his anxiety problems and was working on a help-line for people
with anxiety disorders via a charity entitled Phobic Action. By 1991 his
condition had worsened to the extent that his agoraphobia had returned and he
and his wife Marion were forced to sell their Fish and Chip shop. Marion was
already unable to work due to a heart condition. They sold the shop in June 1991
and Colin was advised to have 6 months rest, which he duly took. In the November
of that year Marion and Colin wondered what they would do with the rest of their
lives and because Marion was never going to be able to work full-time again and
Colin’s agoraphobia could take some years to overcome they realised that a “normal”
job was out of the question. They decided that they would try and help other
people to overcome their anxiety disorders through self-help using the methods
Colin had been taught when he was first ill. They put an advert in the local
newspaper telling people what they were hoping to do. The idea was to run a
group for people in Shropshire as there was nothing in the county. With the
replies they received they began to help people in the county and because they
were receiving calls from other places in the Midlands they decided to operate a
West Midlands network however, sufferers kept telling other sufferers and soon
the charity was operating on a nation-wide basis. Their first starting point was
the provision of a help-line operating all day and every day and they were
joined by people who had read their article in the Shropshire Star newspaper.
Quite rapidly the charity became well established and recognised and from the
first year of the help-line when it took 253 calls, it now takes some 60,000 + calls
per year. The initial four volunteers has grown to some 95 and the charity now
has a membership of over 3000 located mostly in the U.K. but including quite a
few from other parts of the world who have got to know about the work of No
Panic.
BRIEF BIOGRAPHY Clinical Expertise Research and Teaching Professor
Gournay set up and ran the country's first multidisciplinary Masters
programme for mental health professionals in the area of interventions
for serious mental illness. He has had attachments to the University of
New South Wales in Sydney, in Boulder Colorado, and the University of
Wollongong, New South Wales, where he has taught on the subjects of post
traumatic stress and the management of severe mental illness. He directs
a number of training programmes for mental health professionals
(doctors, psychologists and nurses) and his experience includes teaching
in a number of countries including the USA, Canada, Australia, New
Zealand, the Czech Republic Russia, Eire and several other European
countries. Expert Witness Miscellaneous He has been elected to Fellowships of the Academy of Medical Sciences for his distinguished services to Medical Science, to the Royal College of Psychiatrists for his outstanding contribution to Psychiatry and to the Royal College of Nursing for his contribution to Psychiatric Nursing. He was appointed CBE in the New Year Honours 1998/89. No Panic now offers a full range
of services for people who suffer from Panic Attacks, Phobias and
Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder including, literature, audio and video cassettes,
a membership scheme and “contact” book service wherein members are able to
make Help-line on
(FREE PHONE) 0808
808 0545 or write to : Last updated 30th November 2007 |
