No Time to Panic: How I Curbed My Anxiety and Conquered a Lifetime of Panic Attacks

By ABC News's chief national correspondent, an unflinching look at panic attacks by a reporter whose career was nearly derailed by them, offering readers a guide to making a truce with their warring minds

"Brave, reassuring, and practical...A balm for anyone who has ever suffered panic attacks and who longs to be released from their grip." --Dr. Nicole LePera, #1 New York Times bestselling author of How to Do the Work

"Seamlessly weaves page-turning personal experiences with scientific discoveries...A tour de force." --Ethan Kross, bestselling author of Chatter

Matt Gutman can tell you the precise moment when his life was upended. Reporting live on a huge story in January 2020, he found himself in the throes of an on-air panic attack--and not for the first time. The truth is that Gutman had been enduring panic attacks in secret for twenty years: soul-bruising episodes that left his vision constricted, his body damp, his nerves shot. Despite the challenges, he had carved out a formidable career, reporting from war zones and natural disasters before millions of viewers on Good Morning America, World News Tonight, and 20/20. His nerves typically "punched through" to TV audiences, making his appearances kinetic and often unforgettable.

But his January 2020 broadcast was unusual for all the wrong reasons. Mid-panic, Gutman misstated the facts of a story, a blunder that led to a monthlong suspension, not to mention public shame and personal regret.

It was a reckoning. Gutman's panic attacks had become too much for him to bear in secret. He needed help.

So begins a personal journey into the science and treatment of panic attacks. Gutman would talk to the world's foremost scholars on panic and anxiety, who showed him that his mind wasn't broken; it's our perception of panic that needs recalibration. He would consult therapists and shamans, trying everything from group treatment and cognitive behavioral therapy to ayahuasca and psilocybin. And he would take a hard look at the trauma reverberating inside him--from his childhood, but also from his years as a conflict reporter.

Unsparing, perceptive, and often funny, this is the story of a panic sufferer who took on the monster within. Filled with wisdom and actionable insights, it's at once an inspirational journey and a road map--if not toward a singular cure, then to something even more worthy: peace of mind.

Author: Matt Gutman
Publisher: Doubleday Books
Published: 09/12/2023
Pages: 256
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.90lbs
Size: 8.40h x 5.70w x 1.20d
ISBN: 9780385549059

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 07/10/2023
Kirkus Reviews 07/15/2023

About the Author
MATT GUTMAN is ABC News' chief national correspondent. A multi-award winning reporter, Gutman contributes regularly to "World News Tonight with David Muir," "20/20," "Good Morning America" and "Nightline." He has reported from 50 countries across the globe and is the author of The Boys in the Cave: Deep Inside the Impossible Rescue in Thailand. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children.