My Age of Anxiety : Fear, Hope, Dread, and the Search for Peace of Mind

A riveting, revelatory, and moving account of the author's struggles with anxiety, and of the history of efforts by scientists, philosophers, and writers to understand the condition As recently as thirty-five years ago, anxiety did not exist as a diagnostic category. Today, it is the most common form of officially classified mental illness. Scott Stossel gracefully guides us across the terrain of an affliction that is pervasive yet too often misunderstood. Drawing on his own long-standing battle with anxiety, Stossel presents an astonishing history, at once intimate and authoritative, of the efforts to understand the condition from medical, cultural, philosophical, and experiential perspectives. He ranges from the earliest medical reports of Galen and Hippocrates, through later observations by Robert Burton and Sren Kierkegaard, to the investigations by great nineteenth-century scientists, such as Charles Darwin, William James, and Sigmund Freud, as they began to explore its sources and causes, to the latest research by neuroscientists and geneticists. Stossel reports on famous individuals who struggled with anxiety, as well as on the afflicted generations of his own family. His portrait of anxiety reveals not only the emotion's myriad manifestations and the anguish anxiety produces but also the countless psychotherapies, medications, and other (often outlandish) treatments that have been developed to counteract it. Stossel vividly depicts anxiety's human toll'its crippling impact, its devastating power to paralyze'while at the same time exploring how those who suffer from it find ways to manage and control it. My Age of Anxiety is learned and empathetic, humorous and inspirational, offering the reader great insight into the biological, cultural, and environmental factors that contribute to the affliction;The nature of anxiety -- What do we talk about when we talk about anxiety -- A rumbling in the belly -- Performance anxiety -- A sack of enzymes -- A brief history of panic, or, how drugs created a new disorder -- Medication and the meaning of anxiety -- Separation anxiety -- Warriors & worriers, the genetics of anxiety -- Redemption -- Ages of anxiety, shame, resilience, and the human condition. A riveting, revelatory, and moving account of the author’s struggles with anxiety, and of the history of efforts by scientists, philosophers, and writers to understand the condition As recently as thirty-five years ago, anxiety did not exist as a diagnostic category. Today, it is the most common form of officially classified mental illness. Scott Stossel gracefully guides us across the terrain of an affliction that is pervasive yet too often misunderstood. Drawing on his own long-standing battle with anxiety, Stossel presents an astonishing history, at once intimate and authoritative, of the efforts to understand the condition from medical, cultural, philosophical, and experiential perspectives. He ranges from the earliest medical reports of Galen and Hippocrates, through later observations by Robert Burton and Søren Kierkegaard, to the investigations by great nineteenth-century scientists, such as Charles Darwin, William James, and Sigmund Freud, as they began to explore its sources and causes, to the latest research by neuroscientists and geneticists. Stossel reports on famous individuals who struggled with anxiety, as well as on the afflicted generations of his own family. His portrait of anxiety reveals not only the emotion’s myriad manifestations and the anguish anxiety produces but also the countless psychotherapies, medications, and other (often outlandish) treatments that have been developed to counteract it. Stossel vividly depicts anxiety’s human toll—its crippling impact, its devastating power to paralyze—while at the same time exploring how those who suffer from it find ways to manage and control it. My Age of Anxiety is learned and empathetic, humorous and inspirational, offering the reader great insight into the biological, cultural, and environmental factors that contribute to the affliction. The author recounts his lifelong battle with anxiety, showing the many manifestations of the disorder as well as the countless treatments that have been developed to counteract it, and provides a history of the efforts of scientists, philosophers, and writers to understand this common form of mental illness. He reports on famous individuals who struggled with anxiety, as well as on the afflicted generations of his own family. This portrait of anxiety reveals the anguish it produces, and describes anxiety's human toll, it's crippling impact, its devastating power to paralyze, while at the same time exploring how those who suffer from it find ways to manage and control it. Here the author guides us across the terrain of an affliction that is pervasive (it is the most common form of officially classified mental illness), yet too often misunderstood. -- From book jacket The Author Recounts His Lifelong Battle With Anxiety, Showing The Many Manifestations Of The Disorder As Well As The Countless Treatments That Have Been Developed To Counteract It, And Provides A History Of The Efforts To Understand This Common Form Of Mental Illness. The Riddle Of Anxiety -- The Nature Of Anxiety -- What Do We Talk About When We Talk About Anxiety? -- A History Of My Nervous Stomach -- A Rumbling In The Belly -- Performance Anxiety -- Drugs -- A Sack Of Enzymes -- A Brief History Of Panic; Or, How Drugs Created A New Disorder -- Medication And The Meaning Of Anxiety -- Nurture Versus Nature -- Separation Anxiety -- Worriers And Warriors, The Genetics Of Anxiety -- Ages Of Anxiety -- Redemption And Resilience -- Redemption -- Resilience. Scott Stossel. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 365-383) And Index.