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A Brief History of Anxiety —
Yours & Mine
The millions of North 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.
What people are saying about A Brief History...
"A genre-busting page turner: a portrait of Pearson's lifelong struggle with anxiety, melded with a journalistic investigation of what ails her, and me and us." — Salon
"Pearson is a daredevil on the page; her prose somersaults and vaults, does splits and juggles, keeping the reader entertained by her wit and amazed by her dexterity as an investigative journalist." — Newsday
"Pearson examine[s] modern civilization and its discontents, as well as her own miseries, thoughtfully and incisively. Major points for wit and flair." — New York Times
"Exhilarating. Finely crafted. Pearson makes plenty of intriguing and arguable observations. If you're anxious all the time and you think about that anxiety a lot, this collection will provide you some companionable relief." — Slate
"[Pearson] offers readers a learned hand through the fraught world of anxiety politics...this book offers the anxious reader a recipe, one that is sure to quiet." — Miami Herald
"Pithy, revealing, often funny, and highly intelligent...hothouse flowers like me will find themselves nodding vehemently, underlining passages, reading parts aloud to loved ones, even finding comfort and calm in Pearson’s deeply penetrating view into our version of the human condition." — Elle magazine
Pre-publication reviews of A Brief History...
"If only more psychology were written with the literate intelligence of this book. It is a weaving of stories that accomplishes a great deal: cultural analysis, psychological insight, and personal reflection. You will enjoy it and learn from it. If you are ever afraid of the dark, crowds of people, heights, and the insanity of your fellow humans, as I am, you may find comfort here."
— Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul and A Life's Work
"In this meditation on anxiety, shot through with bright insights and shafts of illumination, Pearson has subtly interwoven her personal story
with the history of anxiety in a manner that left me revisiting both the book and my memories of it long after I had finished. A Brief History deftly conveys a sense of where we have come to, offers succour to anyone afflicted with nerves, and may yet take a place beside some of the cultural landmarks in the field."
— Dr. David Healy, author of Let Them Eat Prozac and The Anti-Depressant Era
"A beautifully sustained riff on the link between our beliefs and our symptoms. The world is inscribing us with anxiety and Pearson—sensitive, eloquent, and very funny—is the perfect palimpsest. Captivating, thought-provoking and filled with original scholarship."
— Jeff Warren, author of The Head Trip: Adventures on the Wheel of Consciousness
"A bubble bath of a book to lift your spirits and
make you laugh. Pearson's wry and illuminating
insights into this modern state of mind are better
medicine than Effexor."
— Marni Jackson, author of The Mother Zone and Pain: The Science and Culture of Why we Hurt
A Brief History of Anxiety is published by Random House in Canada and Bloomsbury in the US.
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