Area psychiatrist is leading expert on panic attacks, after having two
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Norfolk/Virginia Beach

His firsthand experience with two full-blown panic attacks became the moving force behind his book "Help! I Think I'm Dying! Panic Attacks and Phobias."

Now, psychiatrists from all over the country who deal with patients suffering from panic attacks and phobias are looking to a Norfolk/Virginia Beach-based expert, Dr. Abbot Lee Granoff, for answers.

Exploring the intensity of panic attacks and phobias, Granoff has been able to break down the ambiguities of anxiety and stress to the point of clear comprehension for the public.

As a board member of the Psychiatric Society of Virginia, the American Association of Private Practice Psychiatrists and president of the Tidewater Academy of Psychiatry, Granoff has seen varying degrees of panic disorder, attacks and phobias that have been misdiagnosed or inadequately treated.

"Part of the stigma of getting treatment is from the old way psychiatry is viewed," said Granoff, 54. "Ninety-eight percent of mental illness has nothing to do with being crazy."

His book was a result of wanting to let patients know that he had been in their shoes.

Granoff, who lives in the Great Neck area of Virginia Beach, has had his office on Newtown Road in Norfolk for 23 years.

"I'm able to provide stability for my patients," said Granoff, who is quoted in the March/April 2000 issue of Healthy Living magazine.