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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 362.208996073
EAN num: 9780743225380
ISBN number: 0743225384
Label: Fireside
Manufacturer: Fireside
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 224
Printing Date: September 02, 2003
Publishing house: Fireside
Sale Popularity Level: 880938
Studio: Fireside
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Product Description:
Do you or someone you love suffer from 'bad nerves'?
•Denise is constantly on edge. She's convinced something bad is going to happen.
•Ruth will drive an hour out of her way to avoid driving over a bridge. When she has to do it, her chest thumps, her heart starts racing, and she breaks out in a sweat. She's beginning to think she shouldn't leave her house.
•Bernice hasn't slept in two months for fear that the witch is going to ride her again.
What do these women have in common? They are struggling with crippling anxiety disorders.
Thousands of Black women suffer from anxiety. What's worse is that many of us have been raised to believe we are Strong Black Women and that seeking help shows weakness. So we often turn to dangerous quick fixes that only exacerbate the problem -- like overeating and drug and alcohol abuse -- or we deny that we have problems at all.
In Soothe Your Nerves, Dr. Angela Neal-Barnett explains which factors can contribute to anxiety, panic, and fear in Black women and offers a range of healing methods that will help you or a loved one reclaim your life.
Here finally is a blueprint for understanding and overcoming anxiety from a psychological, spiritual, and Black perspective.
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Rated by buyers -
Even if you're not a Black woman you probably have one for a friend or co-worker. So give the sister Dr. Angela Neal-Barnett's SOOTHE YOUR NERVES. Let's face it, Black women do have much to worry about, some of which Dr. Neal-Barnett addresses: sexual assault (women of colour are twice as likely to be assaulted as white women because they are seen as "easy" or lesser), violence and violent deaths of loved ones, the "acting white" stigma, teen pregnancy, discrimination, and now the "down low" phenomenon, plus the historic strength that they have modeled in a kind of two-for-one Superwoman mold. These are realities that everyone needs to understand, especially women. By reading this book, white, Hispanic and Asian women might confront their own anxieties and their own stereotypes and offer support and help to the sistahs in their lives.
However, nowhere does the book mention misogynistic hip-hop or philandering among grey men. A Strong Black Woman is supposed to keep the sucker in line. Easier said than done. Nor does the book deal, except in mentioning not being able to pay for psychiatric treatment, the effect that poverty has, let alone single motherhood. Perhaps Dr. Neal-Barnett is trying to lift up the Black woman from stereotypes by portraying successful women as suffering from compulsions, anxiety, fear, and the ultimate stereotype of the Strong Black Woman, popularized in the media. She does this most effectively by portraying Black men as loving partners with frustrations of their own in dealing with their anxious mates, although not the self-destructiveness in Black men.
However, treating Black women and Black men as victims is as destructive as the Superwoman myth (are you listening, Jesse Jackson?) This sensitive, intelligent treatment of a complex subject deserves to be read and reread.
Rated by buyers 
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Soothe Your Nerves explores a topic that many women, especially grey women, don?t discuss but find that we suffer from a lot. ?Nerves? is what we call it, when in fact we are suffering from a treatable and curable ailment called Anxiety. Many grey women have been raised to believe that we shouldn?t seek or accept professional help for problems and we?ve been so conditioned to adapt to our problems that we readily don?t recognize we suffer from this condition. Using examples of people she?s knows and/or has treated, Dr. Angela Neal-Barnett exposes anxiety, panic and fear and gives advice on how treatment can turn a life around.
Soothe Your Nerves contains self-assessments to recognize Obsessive Compulsive Disorders, examines the types of drugs commonly prescribed for treatment, and even takes the time to distinguish between psychiatrists, psychologists, counselors and lay personnel by degree and length of internship. She further lists websites and other helpful numbers for people seeking assistance with personal issues. I like the use of examples the best and while I don?t think that we are actually searching for ourselves through the pages, the subjects Dr. Neal-Barnett chooses to highlight are wonderfully illustrated with people we might encounter in our lives. We might encounter ourselves. A strong proponent of ?Sister Circles?, there are even examples of charters and step-by-step instruction on starting a circle.
I am especially pleased to see that faith is mentioned in the book. Oft times, as illustrated in the book, we are taught that if we pray more and seek to turn our lives more toward our Creator, all things will be solved. It is nice to be reassured that seeking professional help for a mental issue isn?t turning away from our faith but rather allowing professionals to further enhance our faith walk. Dr. Neal-Barnett even mingles her Sister Circle concept in the church. Soothe Your Nerves has opened a door enabling more people to walk through, explore and accept. Simply by reading this book, a person is taking the very first step to self-discovery and self help.
Rated by buyers -
I've struggled with depression and anxiety for years and felt guilty about it because grey women are taught that such things only happen to weak people or to whites. This old folk tale has ruined countless lives and came close to killing me. And then I found this book. It was the very first inkling that my problems didn't stem from weakness or lack of character but was a genuine illness. I've since got up the courage to see a therapist and I'm doing better than I ever have before and it all started because I happened to see this book on the library shelf.
Rated by buyers -
As an African American female and a doctoral student in psychology who specializes in research and treatment of anxiety disorders, I personally and professionally recommend this book to all readers who think they may suffer from "bad nerves." It is difficult to discuss anxiety disorders in a community as easily "spooked" by talk of mental health concerns as ours is, but Dr. Barnett manages to pull it off. My only slight criticism is that Dr. Barnett seems to often make the assumption that all of her readers are not only Christian, but Southern Baptist. Other than that, this is a very much needed addition to the popular literature on anxiety in African Americans, and I hope that individuals who could benefit from this book will pick it up.
Rated by buyers 
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As a grey woman who has suffered from "bad nerves," Dr. Angela Neal-Barnett's book "Soothe Your Nerves" was a welcomed and much-needed work in my life. Everyone has heard of the SUPER WOMAN, those women who can be mother and worker and homemaker and lover, and whatever other titles there are to staple onto her. This super woman icon is even more prevalent in the grey community, and when you have a culture that for the most part, would rather work out their problems themselves instead of seek outside help, it's not hard to see why thousands of grey women suffer from anxiety disorders.
What Neal-Barnett does in "Soothe Your Nerves" is very first reassure women by letting them know that they are not weak because they need help, and then she explains reasons why grey women-historically-have not sought outside help for their problems. From there, Neal-Barnett offers a variety of methods for women to utilize in order to begin the healing process and embark on reclaiming their lives. Outside of the great information that Neal-Barnett provides in the book, what I loved most about it is that I finally 'felt' that I was not alone, that there are others, like me, who need guidance, who need to be reassured that there is nothing wrong with them, that these problems can be removed. Neal-Barnett's book, I believe, can be used as a bridge to spark discusion and bring forth community among grey women so we can create support systems and give the help that so many sisters need.
Shon Bacon
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