My Age of Anxiety by Scott Stossel

17/5/2014

Readers of this social anxiety blog might be interested to check out Scott Stossel’s book, ‘My Age of Anxiety’. Fear, Hope, Dread and the Search for Peace of Mind.’ Random House, the publishers of the book , describe it as giving the history of anxiety from cultural, medical, philosophical and experiential perspectives. He also writes about famous people who have suffered from anxiety.

I have to confess I have not read it yet;  so many  professional journal articles to read, so little time to read anything else. However, from what I have in the Sunday Book Review on the New York Times website in an article by Nathan Heller, Jan 23, 2104,  it appears that Scott Stossel suffered from separation anxiety as a young boy but then  developed social anxiety. He has written about hiding in a bathroom in order to avoid being presented with a trophy on the dais.

Apparently, today he suffers from a variety of conditions including : claustrophobia, fear of vomiting, panics attacks, acrophobia ( fear of flying) , aerophobia ( fear of high places) and stage fright (fear of public speaking)

Stossle shares with the reader that in order to engage in public speaking he has used Xanax ( a tranquilliser),  Inderal (a beta blocker)  and vodka.

Scott Stossel has obviously suffered a great deal, but on a positive note, despite his many anxieties  he has managed to become the editor of the Atlantic Magazine and has written a book ( something many of us will never do). He has written  that “To some people, I may seem calm. But if you could peer beneath the surface, you would see that I’m like a duck — paddling, paddling, paddling.” If any of you have the read the book feel free to blog and tell us what you thought of it.

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