The Anxiety Disease: New Hope for the Millions Who Suffer from Anxiety

by David Sheehan

Book Overview

Anxiety is not always psychological but rather a disease that can now be controlled. The symptoms are devastating: sudden unprovoked attacks of anxiety-accompanied by skipping and racing of the heart,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553272454
• Release Date: May 1986
• Publisher: Bantam
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.27 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 0.5" x 4.2"

Customer Reviews

Excellent Book so Informative

This book was so informative of all anxieties and why or what causes them. From medical depression, helped me from having a serious medical illness causing my anxiety to traumas and chemical imbalances. Dr Sheehan takes all aspects into consideration of the causes including the imbalance of the chemical in the brain Gabba which in some cases people lack. I was so thankful and blessed to know Dr Sheehan personally and to be a part of this book in its writings as names have been changed to protect the privacy of patients. But as you read on in chapters I am called Maria, it taught me so much about anxiety and not to be ashamed, not to judge others who maybe suffering and to me how Dr Sheehan was an expert with his dear father also a Dr who saved so many lives with their expertise, knowledge on the disease How himself explained to patients all he could of why you have anxiety which has become so widely in the world today I was and felt so honored when the book was given and honored to me thanking me in my book for our work together in helping others understand so in my eyes God Bless Dr. Sheehan, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for saving me to live a normal life fulfilled with marrying having 3 beautiful children and now 4 precious grandchildren and happy to say still keep in touch with the most knowledgeable Dr of his expertise as not just a Dr but my friend too and I highly recommend this book to all who suffer or family, friends who do or to educate them on a life of anxiety. Good luck and bless all.

Excellent introductory book about anxiety

An excellent book about panic attacks which approaches the disease from a biological perspective. Sheehan covers the seven progressive stages of the disease, causes, treatment and recovery, using case histories as examples. The book also contains an anxiety scale to help you determine whether the level of your anxiety is excessive.

The beginning of the end of fear

This book was the first step in changing my life and ending anxiety's control over it. This book should be read by those *who feel they suffer alone; *who feel they have a personality flaw that causes their anxiety; *who discourage themselves because they mistakenly believe that their anixety can be overcome by 'pulling themselves together' like 'other people do'; *are afraid to take medicines for anxietySheehan's book breaks the taboo that 'its all in your mind', but rather demonstrates how the "anxiety disease" has a biological base and thus can be treated ... completely managed by proper medication.Though dated (many new medicines have come to the market since Sheehan's book), this book explains to the lay person the new paradigm of modern psychopharmacology. (It should be required reading for every psychiatrist!)

LIFE SAFER

This book is the most phenomenal writing on panic & anxiety disorder that I have read...and I have read almost all of them. Before being diagnosed with panic disorder I was in absolute turmoil. Every book, article & pamphlet that I had picked up only ever told of the MOST COMMON symptoms of the disorder, leaving me feeling alone and helpless. My symptoms went far beyond the most commonly observed ones. I had no idea what was wrong with me. I literally thought that I was going crazy! It wasn't until after one more exhausting day living with the fear that I would never be the same again that I stumbled upon Dr. Sheehan's book at the University of South Florida's campus library. Despite the fact that my eyes seemed as if they were completely dialated and my hands and feet were shaking uncontrollably I could not put this book down. This was the first time in my several months of suffering that I finally thought that I was going to be ok. Dr. Sheehan had simply told accounts of other people's bouts with panic in detail. It was these stories that made me realize that I was not alone. There were other people in the world going through the same thing as me. It was because of the information in this book that I decided to contact Dr. Sheehan to see if he could help me too. To my complete amazement I found that he was working in the clinical psychology department at the University of South Florida. He has been my doctor ever since. His many years of study involving panic and anxiety disorders has left him with an incredibly vast knowledge of the subject. I would reccomend it to anyone suffering from panic and anxiety disorder as well as anyone else who would like a broader understanding of this debilitating disease that is affecting more and more people everyday. At the risk of sounding overly dramatic I would like to conclude in saying that this book literally saved my life.

Impowering! It's the beginning to the end.

The book is well organized and extremely accurate. The book impowers you by explaining the evolution of anxieties and how to find relief. It's the beginning to the end!

Great medical information as well as personally encouraging

Excellent writing, lists, charts & more help this book remain not only interesting but also easy to read & informative from the first chapter to the last. Sheehan helps those who suffer from all forms of anxiety & panic disorders as well as those who live with them, to understand the biological basis of their disease & to find ways to obtain relief. Far from a stale medical book, The Anxiety Disease not only contains excellent background information but also symptom lists, information about medications & their side affects, suggestions about treatment & encouragement for each step of the process. First recommended to me by a Psychiatrist friend, I now recommend it myself & use this book in on-line workshop groups for those with anxiety & phobias under the auspices of the The Life Challenges Empowerment Action Project (LEAP)