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Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 152.46
EAN num: 9781596912984
ISBN number: 1596912987
Label: Bloomsbury USA
Manufacturer: Bloomsbury USA
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 192
Printing Date: March 04, 2008
Publishing house: Bloomsbury USA
Release Date: March 04, 2008
Sale Popularity Level: 190638
Studio: Bloomsbury USA
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
A bold new view of anxiety from an unerringly smart and funny writer who has suffered from it her whole life.
The millions of Americans who silently cope with anxiety at last have a witty, articulate champion in Patricia Pearson, who shows that the anxious are hardly “nervous nellies” with “weak characters” who just need medicine and a pat on the head. Instead, Pearson questions what it is about twenty-first century American culture that is making people anxious, and offers some surprising answers—as well as some inspiring solutions based on her own fierce battle to drive the beast away.
Drawing on personal episodes of incapacitating dread as a vivid, often hilarious guide to her quest to understand this most ancient of human emotions, Pearson delves into the history and geography of anxiety. Why are North Americans so much more likely to suffer than Latin Americans? Why did Darwin treat hypochondria with sprays from a hose? Why have we forgotten the insights of some of our greatest philosophers, theologians, and psychologists in favor of prescribing addictive drugs? In this blend of fascinating reportage and poignant memoir, Pearson ends with her struggle to withdraw from antidepressants and to find more self-aware and philosophically grounded ways to strengthen the soul.
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Rated by buyers 
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I flopped onto the couch with this book and didn't emerge until I'd finished it. As always with Pearson's engaging prose style, it was a pleasure to read. But more, I emerged with new views of anxiety - both tools to deal with my own anxiety and to better understand its source. The blend of anecdote with social research makes for a fascinating read.
Rated by buyers -
Pearson is an author who writes how she thinks. That is, her sentence structure and narrative techniques can get a little confusing because she's literally writing in the way that her anxiety-filled mind operates. Her writing style has almost more to say about her anxiety than her words. Because of that you'll either appreciate or resent the book.
Ultimately I think what she has to say about WHY Americans are so anxious is very insightful. And her sense of humour is present throughout. The middle gets a little muddled (that's where the book actually does become a history of anxiety as opposed to quirky stories and self-reflections), but it picks back up. I enjoyed it thoroughly and recommend it to anyone who gets lost in their anxiety from time to time.
Rated by buyers 
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I really liked that this book covered many aspects of anxiety, and I know that "History" was in the title, but I was hoping that the author would go a little into how she deals with her own anxiety. I guess I should have read the reviews better and got a better understanding of what the book was exactly about before I purchased it.
Rated by buyers -
The book started out with a bang, grabbed my attention, thought we were "kindred spirits". Then it fizzled. She suggests many things about our culture/society, why we are so anxious and what can help anxiety (meaning, community) but never comes right out and says what she thinks (except about medication). I liked hearing about her personal struggles with anxiety, and I found the very first two chapters the best. I think she lost track of her purpose in writing the book at different times and I lost interest. Her negative views on medication are justified AND medication has also helped many people with mental illness.
Rated by buyers -
About: Pearson describes her struggle with bouts of anxiety and its treatment as well as provides a history of anxiety (and its treatments).
Pros: Short, not poorly written. Sources cited
Cons: Nothing Earth-shattering. Pearson provides some poor examples; i.e. Melinda Doolittle from American Idol when discussing personality, and who's going to remember her in a few years' time? Leading me to think this book will not survive the test of the ages. Discusses a poem by Auden and doesn't share the text. While sources are cited, they are solely in the back matter in a "sentence...source" format, where citation-sequence (superscript numbers) would have been easier to look up what sources she cites and where.
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