A Brief History of Anxiety

 

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Award winning journalist and married mother of two, Patricia Pearson draws on her personal experience of clinical anxiety to illustrate a remarkable study of psychological disorders.

According to Kirkus Reviews, “[Pearson] insightfully probes one of the oldest and least-understood psychological conditions…[a] well-constructed book…lively. [Pearson] employs a pleasing blend of personal anecdote and historical context. Despite her often playful tone and poetic, evocative language, Pearson provides countless intriguing historical examples, backed by an extensive notes section, including discussions of ancient philosophy, medicine and theology. A wholly satisfying mix of memoir, cultural history and investigative journalism.”
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patriciap.jpg In a recent interview, when questioned about the remedy for anxiety, Pearson was direct and constructive. “Fear is the remedy for anxiety. What I mean by that is that dealing with a clear and present danger will displace the more paralyzing and helpless sensation that is anxiety. Since I wrote my book, a family member has grown very ill. No time to be anxious. Time, instead, to be working the phones, finding cutting-edge treatments, battling doctors. This is what Virginia Woolf called ‘extreme reality.’ Anxiety is more about what T.S. Eliot wrote: “What shall we do now, what shall we do? Pressing lidless eyes and waiting for a knock upon the door.”
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In the same interview, Pearson explained her motivation. “This book is driven by the narrative arc of my experience. So is William Styron’s self-portrait of depression, Darkness Visible, and Kay Redfield Jamison’s account of her bipolar illness: An Unquiet Mind. I don’t think it’s self-indulgent to offer up one’s own tale as a basis for conversation about an overarching human conundrum. What is self-indulgent is drinking too much Port.”

For more insight, check into:
- New York Times review
- BlogWonks interview
- Amazon

This entry was posted on Sun 23 Mar 2008 at 12:58 am and is filed under ................What's New?, Books. Tagged: , , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “A Brief History of Anxiety”

  1. eyegillian Says:
    Sat 12 Apr 2008 at 11:25 am

    Looks like an intriguing book. I’m reminded of a radio interview I caught recently, where a psychologist was talking about someone who displaces their anxiety onto a random object or situation — in this particular case, regular garden peas — and develops a major phobia around that object or situation. Being scared of flying and heights are relatively normal phobias, but it’s interesting to realize that they are likely a displaced anxiety, a fear of death. Perhaps that’s an oversimplification or perhaps not; could a fear of death be at the root of most of our anxieties?

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