My Age Of Anxiety: Fear, Hope, Dread, And The Search For Peace Of Mind

The New York Times bestseller and shortlisted for the Wellcome Book Prize 2015.

As recently as thirty-five years ago, anxiety did not exist as a diagnostic category. Today, it is the most common form of officially classified mental illness. Scott Stossel guides us across the terrain of an affliction that is pervasive yet often misunderstood.

Drawing on his own long-standing battle with anxiety, Stossel presents a history of the efforts to understand anxiety from medical, cultural, philosophical, and experiential perspectives. He explores medical reports from Galen and Hippocrates, observations by Robert Burton and Søren Kierkegaard, investigations by scientists like Charles Darwin, William James, and Sigmund Freud, and the latest research by neuroscientists and geneticists. The book includes stories of famous individuals who struggled with anxiety, and discusses various treatments including psychotherapies and medications.

It depicts the human toll of anxiety, its impact, and how sufferers manage and control it. The book offers insight into the biological, cultural, and environmental factors contributing to anxiety.