Anxiety for Beginners: A Personal Investigation - Softcover

Críticas

This fusion of memoir and scientific investigation is very accessible. . . with a generous dollop of humanity * Irish Times * A powerful and beautifully written account of Morgan's experiences with anxiety and depression, and a rigorously researched examination of why they happen and how they can be managed. As well as speaking to fellow sufferers, Morgan consults psychiatrists, psychologists, OCD specialists, gastroenterologists and nutritionists, and bones up on Kierkegaard, Freud and Hippocrates (the latter was the first to describe a patient with social anxiety).It is with a mixture of humanity and clear-sightedness that she analyses genetic and environmental influences, trauma, hormones, fertility, parenthood, medication, social stigma and language, all the while linking back to her own stories and those of fellow sufferers.In assuming the dual role of memoirist and investigative journalist, Morgan gradually comes to terms with her own anxiety disorder. She offers no firm answers or miracle cures, and is careful to remind us that, when it comes to mental illness, no two cases are the same. Her willingness to share what so many others strive to keep hidden, to thoroughly demystify her condition, is courageous and compelling * The Guardian *

Contraportada

A vivid insight into the often crippling impact of disordered anxiety, a condition that is often invisible, shrouded in shame and frequently misunderstood

It was a sticky summer afternoon, somewhere in that liminal haze between lunch and the last bell. Double biology. Leaning across the science lab bench marked with the compass carvings of bored hands, I saw the blackboard starting to blur. It fizzed like TV static. I felt tired – way too tired for not having done any PE that day. The teacher was talking about mitochondria. ‘They’re the powerhouses of cells!’ she may or may not have said.

Something weird was happening in my guts. Shit, I thought. I’m going to puke. I knew I shouldn’t have had two sausage rolls. The prickling sensation you get behind your ears when you’re about to vomit spread all over my head. I didn’t recognize it at all. Quickly it became very frightening. Within seconds I was convinced I was about to detonate there on my wooden stool.

This was possession, pure and simple.

Anxiety for Beginners serves as a guide for those who live with anxiety disorders and those who live with them by proxy. Combining her own experiences (rendered in emotive detail) with extensive research from experts (neuroscientists, psychiatrists, psychologists and fellow sufferers – including Matt Haig, Jon Ronson and other familiar faces), Eleanor Morgan explores not just the roots of her own anxiety, but also investigates what might be contributing to so many suffering around the world. She discovers the ways in which people can live a life that is not just manageable but enjoyable, learning to accept anxiety as part of who they are rather than spending a life fighting and being ashamed of it.

Eleanor Morgan has written and interviewed extensively for the Guardian, the Observer, The Times, the Independent, GQ, Harper’s Bazaar, ELLE and the Believer and worked as Senior Editor at VICE UK. Eleanor published a first-person account of her own struggles with anxiety as part of ‘The VICE Guide to Mental Health’, which was read by millions of people around the world. She has begun retraining as a psychologist, studying for her MSc in Psychology at the University of Westminster.