Reddit reviews My Age of Anxiety: Fear, Hope, Dread, and the Search for Peace of Mind

Some of them, the high functioning ones, can be pretty damn good at masking their anxiety. I've been reading this book, My Age of Anxiety by Scott Stossel. He is the editor of Atlantic magazine but holy crap is he messed up. I only have mild anxiety issues but reading about his life long struggle with severe anxiety problems...Jeez.

Here's an article he wrote as a sample of what the book is like: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/01/surviving_anxiety/355741/

It's super fascinating and I'm really enjoying the book. I'm just amazed that a man with his kind of debilitating problems has managed to be so successful in life. He has multiple straight up phobias -- enclosed spaces (claustrophobia); heights (acrophobia); fainting (asthenophobia); being trapped far from home (a species of agoraphobia); germs (bacillophobia); cheese (turophobia); flying (aerophobia); vomiting (emetophobia); and, naturally, vomiting while flying (aeronausiphobia).

He's been on meds and therapy for a long time and so much of life just fills him with constant dread. That's what living with severe anxiety is like. You can then extrapolate what it's like to have milder forms of anxiety.

I have mild anxiety -- I can sometimes be crippled with worry about my marks at school; I berate myself hours later or days later about "stupid" things I've said to people (even though in reality they've probably forgotten about it or didn't notice it); I remember a lot of "stupid" things I've done in the past at random times, things that might have happened 10 years ago; I get anxious making phone calls sometimes, especially when calling places like banks or institutions where I need a service; I procrastinate on doing things (sometimes months and months, even years) when I've managed to convince myself only the worst case scenario will happen (and when I finally get around to doing the thing, nothing bad actually happens); and so on.

I used to have social anxiety but I managed to "beat" it and now I just have mild generalized anxiety. My social anxiety though used to cause me to avoid going to parties or social events because I was constantly worried about making an ass of myself; I was convinced nobody liked me or that no one could like me; I felt I didn't have anything to contribute to conversations and I was too weird; I could have panic attacks and run away to a quiet place to get away from people for a moment (I have literally RUN out of a room mid-conversation before, and tried to find my shoes and get out of the house); I was scared to talk to people; and just had poor self-esteem in general.

But I got over it...by realizing people like me and wanted to be my friend. They weren't just faking it to be polite or to uphold basic social niceties. They really genuinely liked me. I also HAD to talk to people at work or school. You can't hide from everyone. It really built up my confidence and it took years to get to where I am now.

I worry a lot more than average about shit that normal people are relaxed about. That's basically what anxiety is like. Most people would NEVER guess I have anxiety issues. They think I'm normal but I'm pretty high-functioning when it comes to my anxiety and depression problems.

This book has a chapter dedicated to Darwin's anxiety issues. It's worth checking out. http://www.amazon.com/My-Age-Anxiety-Dread-Search/dp/0307269876

If you want a book that is part memoir part science look at "My Age of Anxiety: Fear, Hope, Dread, and the Search for Peace of Mind" by Scott Stossel the editor in chief of The Atlantic magazine. Some parts he described were so familiar i couldn't help but laugh.

http://www.amazon.com/My-Age-Anxiety-Dread-Search/dp/0307269876

Cara, eu sofri bastante com isso que você tá vivendo e eu diria que é um dos motivos de eu ter passado tantos anos depressivo, mas com o tempo eu aprendi a lidar com a famigerada social anxiety e o overthinking (usei termos em inglês, pois eu os acho mais completos). Hoje eu sou uma pessoa sociável, consigo sentar e conversar numa boa sem me sentir desconfortável, ainda tenho um longo caminho pela frente, mas essa pequena melhora já me rendeu bons frutos.

Eu não usei nenhum material muito específico e se eu fosse escrever várias dicas o post ficaria gigantesco, então vou te dar os first steps de por onde começar, e lembre-se É TUDO COISA DA SUA CABEÇA, SEMPRE.

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My Age of Anxiety: Fear, Hope, Dread, and the Search for Peace of Mind by Scott Stossel