On Edge

A Journey Through Anxiety

This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
Buy on Amazon Buy on BN.com Buy on Bookshop.org
*This page contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app

1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date 16 May 2017 | Archive Date 16 Aug 2017

Description

A celebrated science and health reporter offers a wry, bracingly honest account of living with anxiety.
 
A racing heart. Difficulty breathing. Overwhelming dread. Andrea Petersen was first diagnosed with an anxiety disorder at the age of twenty, but she later realized that she had been experiencing panic attacks since childhood. With time her symptoms multiplied. She agonized over every odd physical sensation. She developed fears of driving on highways, going to movie theaters, even licking envelopes. Although having a name for her condition was an enormous relief, it was only the beginning of a journey to understand and master it—one that took her from psychiatrists’ offices to yoga retreats to the Appalachian Trail.
 
Woven into Petersen’s personal story is a fascinating look at the biology of anxiety and the groundbreaking research that might point the way to new treatments. She compares psychoactive drugs to non-drug treatments, including biofeedback and exposure therapy. And she explores the role that genetics and the environment play in mental illness, visiting top neuroscientists and tracing her family history—from her grandmother, who, plagued by paranoia, once tried to burn down her own house, to her young daughter, in whom Petersen sees shades of herself.
 
Brave and empowering, this is essential reading for anyone who knows what it means to live on edge.
A celebrated science and health reporter offers a wry, bracingly honest account of living with anxiety.
 
A racing heart. Difficulty breathing. Overwhelming dread. Andrea Petersen was first diagnosed...

Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9780553418576
PRICE $27.00 (USD)
PAGES 320

Average rating from 83 members


Readers who liked this book also liked: