I preface this with that I suffer from panic disorder which is why I wanted to read this book.

I found Matt Gutman's book easy to read, fascinating and it took me on a literal journey around the world. It was interesting to learn all the different paths and journeys people will endure to rid themselves of this debilitating disease.

With that being said, some of the treatments he went through are not necessarily available to everyday folks and seemed (to us regular sufferers) to be far-fetched. However, it was still a super interesting read.

This is a must read for anyone who suffers from anxiety.Matt Gutman tried everything to control his anxiety attacks.He shares his attacks as a reporter when he is about to go on tv.He is open honest a brave book that will help others.#netgalley #doubleday

3.5, rounded up. I wasn't familiar with Matt Gutman and his on-air panic attacks, but as a person with anxiety who's had panic attacks, I was certainly curious about the author's journey. The author tried, if not everything, then close to it, and it's made pretty clear that not everything worked for him, not everything will work for everyone, and not everything is accessible to everyone who is seeking a reprieve from panic. There's a lot of info in this one that will help people understand panic, and a lot of ideas to consider and evaluate in one's own journey.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

Matt Gutman, ABC News Chief National Correspondent, has suffered from panic attacks for over twenty years. He details how these panic attacks affected him physically and have even affected his career, almost to his detriment, particularly when he provided inaccurate information related to a tragic helicopter crash in January 2020. This event was the catalyst for Gutman to explore the different ways in which he could try to "cure" his panic attacks and anxiety, asking psychologists, psychiatrists, and shamans about their practices in either maintaining or "purging" anxiety and panic.

When I found out earlier this year that this book was being released in September, I knew I had to pick this up. Luckily for me, it was a book on NetGalley of which I was able to obtain an advanced copy and review. I appreciated the vulnerability that Gutman exhibited throughout this book. I've seen him numerous times on ABC News, and we tend to look at our reporters as these celebrities if you will. You don't really know what they're dealing with, but it really turns out that we all have something that we're dealing with in our lives; it's just a matter of how we deal with it. Gutman really showed how in a situation that could have potentially ended his career, he made lemons into lemonade to essentially ease his mental maladies.

While I most certainly would never take psychedelics (it's just not for me), the book was great in showing the different ways to treat mental illness, particularly panic, whether it's a purge of one's toxins, CBT, or otherwise. (Of course, treatment is always on a case-by-case basis and consulting professionals is key). I never knew the evolutionary piece of anxiety, and it was interesting to find out.

I'm someone who also suffers from anxiety and depression, and the fact that I could relate to the symptoms he faces made it feel as if I was reading a friend's book. This book is a great example of and contributes to the conversation in order to break the stigma surrounding discussing mental illness and mental health. Whether you suffer from mental illness or otherwise, Gutman's openness will keep you engaged in his continuing journey.

I’ve read alot of books about panic, and this one is one of my favorites… really. The author tries everything I’ve ever wanted to try myself and it was fascinating hearing about his experiences with ketamine, mushrooms, common medications (which he named, a rare thing for people to do), etc. I’ll definitely read this again in future and talk to my own network about trying some of these options. Very good investigative reporting and written in a language I could understand and appreciate.

I requested this book because I've dealt with anxiety my entire life, honestly, I cannot recall a time in my life that I wasn't dealing with my anxiety and my OCD. While I appreciate all the work that went into this book, I found it slow moving and sometimes little redundant. Yes, I do know all the research that's been done on SSRIs but I didn't appreciate the author going into a diatribe about them and then at the end retracting it at the putting them on the list. Many thanks for the opportunity to read this book.
2.5*