Peace of the Mind

By D.J. Blue

Peace of the Mind is D.J. Blues follow-up to 2005s The Good Life Chronicles. Once again, he covers a wide array of topics, this time including several chapters on Christian spirituality. Included among them: an in-depth analysis of the Bible, covering questions answered as well as questions raised while reading the Bible; the debate between Catholics and Protestants on different spiritual issues is discussed; and Rick Warrens best-selling spiritual book The Purpose Driven Life is also reviewed, including eerie parallels to topics brought up in The Good Life Chronicles. Readers of that preceding book will recognize other familiar topics: the annual Taconite Trophy Classic continues to be immortalized via the written word, as each years golf tournament has been chronicled herein; the fourth installment chapter on women, always popular yet provocative with the female crowd, is included; and a complete Seinfeld episodic list (partially referenced in the previous book) is now given its just duethe entire classic series is reviewed, episode by episode. This is just a sample of the various topics and experiences covered. Peace of the Mind concludes the Thousand Page Trilogy with an overall introspective and occasionally subtle spiritual theme running through many of the chapters, reflecting the accomplishments, the struggles and the aspirations of life itself.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jul 17, 2008
• ISBN: 9781467867290

D.J. Blue

S.K. Black resides in Omaha and has two wonderful daughters. He has been writing informally for over 20 years. This is his first book. D.J. Blue has been writing extensively for over 20 years and is the author of The Good Life Chronicles. A native Minnesotan, he now resides in California.

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© 2008, 2014 D. J. Blue. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse  08/06/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4343-5924-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4343-6668-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4678-6729-0 (e)

Contents

Preface to the 2nd Edition

Acknowledgements

Introduction: Beyond the Good Life

2003 Taconite Trophy Classic

Time to Say Goodbye

2004 Taconite Trophy Classic

One Day in Phoenix

2005 Taconite Trophy Classic

Women—Part 4: A New Beginning

The Ambien Years

2006 Taconite Trophy Classic

A Journey of Spirituality– The Bible: An Analysis

A Journey of Spirituality: America in Prophecy

A Journey of Spirituality: The Good Life/The Purpose Driven Life Connection

A Journey of Spirituality: The Catholic Church

2007 Taconite Trophy Classic

Seinfeld: A Complete Episodic Review of the Series

Passion, Drama, and High Entertainment

A Restful Sleep

Preface to the ²nd Edition

Welcome to the 2nd edition! This is the obligatory preface to the 2nd edition, which is designed to inform the reader of anything of significance that has happened since the 1st edition went to press.

When I first put out this book back in 2008, I had some hesitancy about the spiritual content. Much of this book is on spirituality, as I analyzed and concluded certain aspects of it. I am not a priest or a minister or a religious leader of any kind—who am I to write on these subjects? Shortly before this book went to press, Pope John Paul II died. Being Catholic, I dedicated a paragraph to him at the end of the spirituality section. Shortly after this book was published, I had two dreams featuring Pope John Paul II! The first one took place in Los Angeles. In my dream, the Pope had not died but had retired and was now serving mass in the Los Angeles area—the same church that I went to! When it came time for communion, I received communion from him, and he said my name! He knew who I was! I went back to the pew and I couldn’t believe it—the Pope knew my name! I couldn’t figure out how he knew my name. The second dream occurred a short while later. In the dream, I was in an open courtyard with tall trees, it was daytime and there was a blue sky. There looked to be some sort of arts and crafts festival. As I approached the entrance, a lady was sitting at a table, and as I approached the table, she said to me, There’s a message for you on the table over there. I walked towards the other table, and all there was on it was a piece of paper, or maybe a piece of cardboard. I turned it over, and on the other side was a picture of Pope John Paul II and below the picture it said, Congratulations on your new book! To this day, it remains my most memorable dream, and I would even go so far as to use the word cherished. It meant a lot to me in regards to this book. I would be remiss if I did not mention it.

I would also be remiss if I did not mention one more important item. J.K., who is featured prominently in my write-ups of the golf and air hockey tournaments chronicled in The Good Life Chronicles, Peace of the Mind, and Validation of Existence, recently passed away in May 2014. He was just 47 years old. One of his shining moments was immortalized in this book. In the section titled, Passion, Drama, and High Entertainment, his putt made on the 15th hole in that 2007 golf tournament was one of his shining moments that I will always remember him by. In the final paragraph of the acknowledgement section, I had talked about how 99% of the people mentioned in this book are still alive—it’s best to note that has now decreased to at least 98%. A good friend of mine, as evidenced by his presence in those three books, his unique, classic personality and passion for whatever interested him will be missed. The last few years of his life were turbulent ones; no doubt he has now found a peace that cannot be found on this earth.

D.J.B.

Acknowledgements

First, I’d like to start off with a spiritual acknowledgement. The true strength of a person’s spiritual passion is not always directly related to its presumed proximity to the surface. I’d like to thank God for giving me the gifts to write this and for the fate that allowed it to happen. Also, it’s not too often an author analyzes God with the facts that we have. Hopefully, He’s pleased with the section on Himself. I’m still alive, so that’s a good sign.

I’d like to thank my parents for their support even though I used a fair amount of profanity in the first two books, not so much in this book. I’d like to thank S.K. for his contributions as editorial consultant. Once again, a level of contribution set to a high standard of literary quality. And of course, there is the now traditional initial acknowledgement: I’d like to thank the following people for allowing me to use their initials in this book: S.K., C.M., and J.K.

Finally, I’d like to thank everybody who was a part of this long journey that has been chronicled. It has spanned many years and several cities and numerous people. As of this writing, the odds are that 99% of the people mentioned in these books are still alive and living their lives somewhere. It was simple fate that we met up or had contact with each other for one reason or another. We all have one thing in common….we’re all living at the same time. Key word: life.

D.J.B.

Introduction: Beyond the Good Life

It’s a beautiful day to be alive!

Welcome back! Several years have passed since the massive writing venture was completed, compiled and turned into a book. Since that time, I’ve done some writing on the side, albeit not nearly as proliferative as before. What follows are a collection of those writings. For those who have read The Good Life Chronicles, you’ll see some familiar titles: the annual Taconite Trophy Classic has continued to be played on a yearly basis and subsequently chronicled and immortalized forever; the series on women is continued, chapter 4 being the latest installment; and I’ve included one list, which was partially referred to in T.G.L.C.

Another reason why I’ve written this book is because as time has gone by, there were certain topics mentioned in The Good Life Chronicles that I felt compelled to revise or update. For the most part, I still strongly agree with the majority of opinions expressed in the book. There are a few, however, that, over time, I’ve come to realize are incorrect or need improvising:

—the chapter on religion. Our own spiritual journey is a fluid one, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. It’s been 10 years since I wrote that chapter, and some of my opinions on spirituality have changed since then based on life experiences. As a result, I felt compelled to redefine and revise those views—with thorough analysis—and this is done over the span of several chapters.

—the definition of a real woman. At the time I wrote that chapter, I was enshrouded with the fog of emotion from a particular relationship. Now cleared of that, I realized the definition I gave was subjectively skewed and wrong. A new definition has now been formulated, and is included in the chapter on women.

In life, with time comes knowledge. I am now able to answer one of the questions posed in the previous book. In the very first chapter of The Good Life Chronicles, I philosophized about whether it was better to live long or to die young. I now know the answer to that question: the answer is neither, for it is up to our spiritual mission here on Earth to determine the length. The answer to that philosophical question is spiritual in nature.

Even though the book has been written, The Good Life continues on, a blueprint of the mind, an essence of being, a positive reflection of ourselves and the life we live. Throughout life’s stormy journey, at the end of it all, I think we all strive for that which is above all else in value: peace of the mind.

Journey on….

2003 Taconite Trophy Classic

On a beautiful Northern Minnesota summer day, the 8th Annual Taconite Trophy classic would be held. After a one year absence, C.M. would participate, making it a three man tournament once again. This year’s tourney would be held at the new Giant’s Ridge course called the Quarry. A new course that had just opened a few weeks previous, it was supposedly built around a natural rock quarry, with most of the quarry left intact.

As we drove to the golf course, a discussion was held on some rule changes for the tourney. A few rule changes were voted on and adopted:

Mulligans—the current tourney rule states one mulligan per 9 holes to be used on the tee. We added this: any person who scored a birdie would pick up a bonus mulligan.

Lost balls/o.b. penalty stroke—this rule was brought up again and clarified—you would be penalized for going out of bounds, but there would be no penalty stroke for a lost ball. The combination of these two rules, however, creates a grey area first encountered in the 1997 tourney: what happens if your ball is lost near the border of o.b.? Who’s to say if the ball went out of bounds or stayed in bounds? Based on this grey area, this ruled was clarified: for a person to be penalized on an out of bounds hit, the ball must clearly go out of bounds. The phrase clearly was then defined as the ball being seen as landing out of bounds. If the ball was seen landing in bounds and then headed towards out of bounds territory, the ball must be found and be found out of bounds for there to be a stroke penalty. If the ball is not found, there is no conclusive proof to say the ball went out of bounds; therefore, it subsequently falls under the lost ball rule and consequently no penalty stroke.

Little did we know that both of these rules would come into play on this day in what would turn out to be the most thrilling finish ever.

Each hole description starts with the number of the hole, followed by the name of the hole, (which appears to be names of different mines in the area), yardage and par.

The starter started us. I started things off with a shot o.b. Mulligan time–on the very first hole. C.M. teed off safe. J.K. teed off–banana ball out of bounds. Mulligan time again. My second shot–safe in the fairway–the mulligan was not wasted. J.K. took his second shot–a nubber that made it to the ladies’ tee. That wasn’t a good start. After all this, I remember looking back at the starter who was watching us. He looked unimpressed.

I always seem to play well on the first hole, and that trend continued, as I put it on in 3, C.M. put it on in 4, J.K. was on in 6. I two putted for a bogey 5, C.M. two putted for a 6, J.K. three putted for a 9.

In the trailer that substituted as the clubhouse, we asked the boys working there which hole was the most open off the tee. They said number 2. Hence the second hole would be used for the longest drive contest. I hit one left but just right of the cart path. C.M. hit one to the right. J.K. hit a power tee right down the middle. It would turn out to be no contest–J.K. won it by a considerable distance.

As we got in our carts to get to our balls, the cart girl came up and C.M. decided to get some water. I thought she looked pretty good. J.K. said she was hot. And when J.K. says a woman’s hot, that is significant.

I always tend to suck on the second hole. This trend also continued as I was introduced to the tall thick gnarly grass that was in place in certain areas, particularly around the green. This stuff was just like the grass you see at the British Open. I struggled to get any distance on the ball because of it, which just happened to be on the longest hole of the course. C.M. and J.K. meanwhile both went right into the quarry pit. They also struggled. J.K. complained about the rocks in the pit. By the end of this longest hole, all three of us carded a disaster hole–J.K. was on in 6, but three putted for a 9, I was on in 8 and one putted for a 9, C.M. was on in 8, and two putted for a 10. An all around ugly hole.

The course was not letting up, distance wise. Long and tight was the recurring theme. C.M. would get the best on this hole–on in 3 with a two putt for bogey. I was on in 5 and two putted for a 7. J.K. recorded his third consecutive mini-disaster hole, two putting for a 10.

Even the par 3s are long. I whipped out my 7 wood and put it short. All three of us put it on in two and were putting for par. The putting would separate us on this hole. I one putted for a par, C.M. two putted for a bogey, and J.K. imploded on the fourth consecutive hole, 4 putting for a 6.

On this hole, J.K. came through with his highlight of the day–he hit a power tee, then hit a power approach shot, long and straight, putting it on the green in two–putting for eagle!! C.M. did okay, and was on in 4; I was on in 5. It was on this hole that we had our second consecutive stinging incident. Allegedly. At one point, I heard J.K. yell out. I looked over and he reached down to his leg, then I saw a hornet fly away. He had gotten stung, just like I had the previous year! But when confronted about it, he vehemently denied it, saying he had just noticed it on his leg.

On this hole, the story was J.K. The good news was he was putting for eagle. The bad news was this was a massive green and he was at the wrong end of it. From where he was standing and from where the pin was, a three putt was likely expected. Unfortunately for J.K., he would end up doing one better–he four putted for the second consecutive hole and ended up getting a bogey. He wasn’t too happy with that. C.M. carded a 6, I three putted for an 8, as C.M. took the lead.

This hole stood out because of the island fairway. I put my tee shot out of bounds, C.M. went short into shit, and J.K. nubbed his. Out of all this, J.K. ended up the best. I’ve always said he’s the luckiest bastard I’ve ever seen on a golf course and this hole was a classic example of that: between the tee and the fairway was a valley of shrub shit, with the exception of a thin strip of grass. Somehow his ball landed on that thin strip. But more was to come. C.M. and I were on the green waiting for J.K. to hit his on–C.M. had already pulled the pin–J.K.’s ball sailed way wide of where the pin was but was on perfect line with where C.M. had laid down the pin and his two irons on top of it–J.K.’s ball rolled up, hit the flagstick, hit one of C.M.’s irons, then headed straight for the hole, settling about 5 feet short. Two examples on one hole of how he’s the luckiest bastard I’ve ever seen on a golf course. Despite the nub tee shot and the way wide approach shot, he one putted for a 6. C.M. and I both two putted for a 9. With his trick shot, J.K. gained 3 strokes on both of us.

Awaiting us on the next tee was a colorful hole, indeed. The hole was called Missabe mountain. There would be no fairway on this hole–just a massive quarry mountain of sand and rocks about 20 feet high–not that apparent initially since the tees were elevated. Just short of the green was the more customary bunker and plenty of tall gnarly grass like the kind you see at the British Open. In other words, no fairway. Woe to anyone putting it short. As it would turn out, all three of us put it short.

J.K. nubbed it in the quarry pit. C.M. put it short , at the base of Missabe Mountain. He was about to take a scenic tour of that mountain. I ended up putting it the furthest, past the mountain and into the tall gnarly grass you see at the British Open.

We all went to our separate balls. My lie was nasty, but I recall what the pros did when they were in this situation–I saw a photo once of Colin Montgomerie hitting out of that tall shit, and I saw he had choked up on his iron, gripping it as far down as he possibly could. I made a mental note of that if I ever found myself in similar type of rough. Now here I was. I gripped down on the club as far as I could and swung at it as if I was in the sand. It didn’t come out straight, but it came out and landed on the green, in two.

Now I went down and watched the quarry drama unfold. C.M. addressed his ball, a 20 foot wall of quarry sand—Missabe Mountain—between him and the green. On top of that, he had a sandy lie. He hit his ball–it barely cleared the top of Missabe Mountain. Now he was on top of the mountain–another sandy lie. He hit it fat, and now he was at the bottom of the mountain. Another shot–now he was in the regular bunker. If I counted correctly, that was at least 4 consecutive sand shots he had to take. By the time he put it on, he was lying 8. Meanwhile, I methodically two putted for a bogey. C.M. capped off the sand nightmare with a two putt 10. J.K. three putted for a 6.

The 1 handicap hole–toughest hole on the course. A 455 yard par 4? I replied, That’s fuckin bullshit. It would turn out to be J.K.’s turn for a disaster hole–he went way left, lost his ball and ended up with a 10. C.M. was on in 3, I was on in 5, but C.M. three putted for a 6, I one putted for a 6, as C.M. blew a chance to gain strokes.

Extremely narrow fairway. All three of us were on in 4. C.M. two putted for a 6, J.K. and I three putted for a 7. The lead was 4 at the break.

Reviews for Peace of the Mind

[mh_at_home · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

My Age of Anxiety: Fear, Hope, Dread, and the Search for Peace of Mind is written by Scott Stossel, who lives with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) as well as several phobias. The book looks at his own experience but also contains extensive research on theoretical perspectives on anxiety and how these have evolved over time, the evolution of diagnostic categories, and the history behind various treatment approaches including the development and marketing of anxiolytic drugs. While it offers wide-ranging information, at times it struck me as a bit excessive.Stossel looked at the question of nature versus nurture, both of which play a role. Temperament is thought to be innate, there is certainly evidence of a genetic element to anxiety disorders, and parenting styles are also believed to have an impact. The development of phobias in childhood is a predisposing factor for the development of adult psychopathology. For the author, who has a strong family history, the cause is likely a combination of a heaping helping of all of these. He admits that judges himself for being anxious, and worries that “resorting to drugs to mitigate these problems both proves and intensifies my moral weakness.” He has done many years of psychotherapy, including Freudian-style psychodynamic and cognitive behavioural, and tried various medications, “but none of these treatments have fundamentally reduced the underlying anxiety that seems woven into my soul and hardwired into my body and that at times makes my life a misery.”It was clear from an early age that the author had an anxious temperament, beginning with frequent temper tantrums as a toddler. He experienced significant separation anxiety, which intensified at age 6, coinciding with his mother starting night school. He began experiencing emetophobia (fear of vomiting) around the same time, and this worsened in grade 7 after he overheard a teacher describing vomiting due to food poisoning. Grade 7 was also when he had to attend a new school, which resulted in daily battles and social withdrawal, and at that time he was put on medications (chlorpromazine and imipramine). Stossel’s mother was highly over-protective and over-involved, but he writes that she deliberately withheld affection in the hope that might prevent anxiety similar to what she herself had experienced as a child. She physically dressed him until age 9 or 10, picked out his clothes every night until age 15, ran baths for him while he was in high school, and didn’t allow him to walk anywhere that streets might be too busy to cross or neighbourhoods might be dangerous. As I read the chapter that covered this I freely admit I judged, thinking no wonder this kid had problems.It has been shown that people with IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) and/or panic disorder are more physically reactive to stress and tend to convert emotional distress to physical symptoms. The author describes significant physical symptoms with his anxiety, particularly gastrointestinal symptoms, which then feeds into his emetophobia. As an adult, a therapist had attempted to do exposure therapy using ipecac to make him vomit. The ipecac was ineffective, and the experience only contributed further to the emetophobia.The book covers the history of various types of medications used for anxiety, including opium, barbiturates, and benzodiazepines. When chlordiazepoxide became the first benzodiazepine on the market in the United States in the 1960’s, it quickly became the most prescribed drug in the country. Medication use for anxiety increased even further with the introduction of the SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors). The author observed that “the explosion of SSRI prescriptions has caused a drastic expansion in the definitions of depression and anxiety disorder (as well as more widespread acceptance of using depression and anxiety as excuses for skipping work), which in turn caused the number of people given these diagnoses to increase.”The book covers an array of research studies that have been conducted on anxiety as well as a wide range of relevant theories, from Freud who thought anxiety was the basis of all mental illness to attachment theories to Klein’s false suffocation alarm theory of panic attacks. Societal views on anxiety over time are also discussed, including American General George Patton’s belief in World War II that in order to prevent the contagion of “combat exhaustion” from spreading it should be punishable by death.At 401 pages including footnotes, this book isn’t a quick light read. It took me over three months in fits and starts to read it, in part because my concentration wasn’t always up to it. It’s jam packed full of information, so it’s a lot more to absorb than just a first-person account of mental illness. I think what I appreciated the most about it was how it forced me to reflect on and question my own ideas and judgments. It’s well-researched, and I would say it’s a good choice for anyone who’s looking for a broader historical view to help contextualize their own experience as the author does in this book.

[everfresh1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is both a very personal account of author's struggle with his own clinical anxiety disorder and a survey (historical and scientific) of anxiety, including the changing perception of the disease by society. As is the case of his illness, there is no happy ending. The author does't provide a sure recipes, but rather allows fellow sufferers and just interested readers to make their own conclusion based on his extensive research.

[sullywriter_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Informative, insightful, and interesting. I find the parallels between anxiety disorders and chronic depression fascinating. I'm so glad I do not have Stossel's problems!

[benjaminsiegel-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Interesting that a few of my friends liked this book so much. I didn't particular care for the author's own story, harrowing and sad as it was, and think that there are more compelling treatments of psychopharmaceuticals, attachment theory, etc. Perhaps I've spent too much time with in both genres to have really enjoyed this one.

[coloradogirl14 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Normally with my reviews, I try to objectively look at a book without letting my personal preferences cloud my ultimate goal, which is to explain why readers might enjoy this book, and to match it up with several readalike options. But with this book, it's wrapped extremely closely around my personal life, so it might be hard to remain objective. Consider this a disclaimer of sorts.This is a part memoir/part scientific & philosophical look at the history of anxiety and how it has become a commonly diagnosed psychiatric condition in the last 30+ years. For readers with a casual interest in the history of psychology, this could provide enough information to entice them into reading. The research is very thorough, and the writing is conversational & witty while maintaining a level of academic authority.But for readers (like me) who have been diagnosed with clinical anxiety, or who know someone who suffers from anxiety, this book isn't just an interesting exploration into its history. The author uses his research as a way to make sense of his panic disorder, so he uses a lot of his own personal experiences as examples to back up the history. One review on here didn't think the author did an adequate job of this, but I would argue that the book is written not as an academic exploration, but as a personal journey. And for that, this book is incredibly, incredibly brave.I saw a lot of myself in this book. At several points, I had to put the book down because his experiences mirrored my own so well that it brought me to tears. Scott Stossel provided the words to help me explain aspects of my own panic disorder. And as most anyone with a psychological disorder can attest to, there's a large stigma still attached to mental disorders, so any sort of explanation can be a powerful tool.I skimmed portions of the research-based sections because that wasn't why I picked up the book...knowing the history of antidepressants, while relevant, didn't interest me. But this is still a five-star book. I can take a pretty good guess as to how difficult this book was to write, and I have tremendous respect for anyone who can turn their anxiety into something so vulnerable and graceful and brave. Its biggest audience will be people who have first-hand experience with anxiety disorders, but judging by the reaction the book has received, that should be a large group of people indeed. I'm keeping this book handy almost as a reference tool. I have a feeling I'll be going back to it for a long time.Readalikes:Titles that blend personal experience with scientific & journalistic investigation:A Brief History of Anxiety: Yours and Mine - Patricia PearsonMonkey Mind - Daniel B. SmithThe Noonday Demon - Andrew Solomon (Note: This book is about clinical depression as opposed to clinical anxiety.)

[seasonsoflove_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Every once in a while, a book comes along into your hands right when you need it, and this was one of those books. Exploring not only the historical and scientific backgrounds and changing beliefs regarding anxiety, Stossel also shares his personal stories with his and his family's anxiety disorders. There's a beautiful line in there from one of his therapists that continues to stick with me:"You're more resilient than you know," he says. "You're always saying, 'I can't handle this' or 'I can't handle that'. Yet you handle a lot for someone with anxiety-you handle a lot, period.""Trying is all anyone can ask."

[mscaves · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A good book to read and understand anxiety especially for those who live with someone with this issue. I learned quite a bit about a condition that at times can be very severe and the shame it can bring when expressed to our loved ones and friends. The author has lived with this for years and I consider him to be very brave in exposing his own ongoing issues and in a very big way has helped those who at times cannot totally explain or understand what is happening to them.

[zimbawilson · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a very good overview about all things anxiety related. While Stossel does an excellent job of covering all areas of the malady and is certainly brave for putting his personal life out there, I was ultimately dissapointed at the end. I guess I was hoping for something more concrete that finally worked for him but I came away feeling the best help for those of us that suffer anxiety was booze and Xanax. Tell me something I don't already know.

[bobbieharv · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A very courageous book . Stossel writes so openly and disarmingly about his anxious episodes with, at times, such an amazing sense of humor that I laughed out loud, while at the same time feeling tremendous compassion for him. At times I skimmed the dense sections of research which I imagine were quite calming for him to compile. He's accomplished so much and, as his therapist advises, I hope he has given himself more credit.

[blackrabbit89 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Scott Stossel is an anxious human.He is quite possibly the most anxious human I’ve ever had the good fortune of “meeting,” if you can call it that. Scott has multiple, extreme phobias: in particular, vomiting, flying, and public speaking. He suffers terrible anxiety-induced digestive problems. He has had too many panic attacks to count. And he has been on almost every antidepressant and anti-anxiety medication in existence.My anxiety, much like Scott’s, began when I was a child. However, my anxiety, unlike Scott’s, is not (save a few months here and there) debilitating. I had no idea that one could suffer from anxiety to the degree that Scott does.My Age of Anxiety is, largely, a history and examination of the phenomenon of anxiety. It covers the gamut: famous historical sufferers, medication, phobias, diagnosis, treatment, conjectured physiological and psychological causes. So if you’re not into reading what is essentially a textbook about anxiety, you might not like this. (I found it extremely interesting–and it is incredibly well written.)If you’re on the edge about this book, consider picking it up at least to read the highly detailed anecdotes about Scott’s experiences with anxiety, including the time he overflowed a toilet while staying in a house with the Kennedys, his wedding-induced panic attack at the altar, and his disastrous attempt to conquer his fear of vomiting. They were hilarious–he does a great job of making light of what were clearly terrible, traumatizing situations for him.I enjoyed My Age of Anxiety, and I think anyone with an interest in anxiety or personal experience with it would learn quite a bit from reading this tome.

[courtney.francis · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Stossel’s book discusses his personal affliction with anxiety disorderand the history of treatment from several different psychologists anddoctors. The book has three sections divided into personal experience,history and preventative methods.

[detailmuse · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book had been catching my eye but I had been looking past it, thinking (per the title) it was a memoir of one guy’s experience with anxiety. But when I discovered that the “guy” is editor of The Atlantic magazine, I figured it might be a substantive memoir. And, not too far into it, I realized not only is it substantive but it’s broader than a memoir -- it’s a biography of anxiety.It’s the history of anxiety (as distinguished from fear) -- both of the experience, dating from ancient times and affecting famous names (e.g. Charles Darwin), and the modern-day medicalization of it. It's an exploration of the science, psychology and sociology (particularly the degree of choice in today’s culture) of its causes and treatments. Throughout, Stossel illuminates aspects by folding in examples from his decades-long (and, in his family, generations-long) debility from anxiety.He writes, "{A}nxiety is at once a function of biology and philosophy, body and mind, instinct and reason, personality and culture. {…} In computer terms, it’s both a hardware problem (I’m wired badly) and a software problem (I run faulty logic programs that make me think anxious thoughts)."I'm in healthcare and although I didn’t learn much new, I came away with a more saturated perspective. It’s a very interesting, accessible exploration for the general reader.(Review based on an advance reading copy provided by the publisher.)

[kidzdoc_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Scott Stossel has had a rewarding and successful life on a superficial glance. He graduated from Harvard, wrote a well regarded biography of the politician and JFK aide Sargent Shriver, previously served as the executive editor of The American Prospect, is currently the editor of The Atlantic magazine, and is happily married with two young children. However, this brief summary does not reveal his all encompassing struggle with anxiety disorder, which has been a constantly disturbing and occasionally crippling problem for most of his life. In his search to tame his inner doubts and fears by disclosing them openly, and in an effort to learn more about this malady and how it has affected him and his relatives, he has written a comprehensive history of anxiety disorders, from ancient times to the modern era.In the opening chapter of My Age of Anxiety Stossel provides the reader with some basic facts about the disorder in the US, and the Western world. It is the most common form of mental illness, which affects nearly one in seven Americans (40 million) at any time and has a lifetime prevalence of nearly 25%. It is an affliction of affluent societies, particularly those in which freedom of choice and the potential of upward—or downward—mobility can be liberating to some, but disabling to others. Anxiety disorder and related conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, chronic abdominal pain or headaches, palpitations, shortness of breath and fatigue, are common causes of visits to primary care providers (physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners) and mental health professionals, and trillions of dollars are spent annually on medications to chemically alleviate these symptoms, often with only modest benefit. Anxiety is not limited to humans; numerous studies have demonstrated that higher animals also experience these symptoms, whether they roam independently or are members of hierarchical societies led by alpha males or females.The book provides a detailed history of anxiety as it was understood by Hippocrates and Aristotle, who viewed it as a medical illness; Plato and Spinoza, who believed that it was a philosophical problem with no organic basis; Kierkegaard and Freud, who viewed anxiety as a result of existential uncertainty; and researchers in the middle of the 20th century, who discovered that imbalances in neurotransmitters such as serotonin, glutamate and GABA and their receptors on neurons played a major role in mood disorders and discovered effective medications that allowed millions of the afflicted to lead normal or vastly improved lives. Stossel also discusses the controversies throughout history, including the difficulties in accurately defining anxiety and other mood disorders, the differences of the psychoanalytic, the cognitive-behavioral and the biomedical approaches to the disorders, the pharmaceutical industry's efforts to widen the use of these medications for their own benefit and the associated overuse of these medications by clinicians, and the harms that they have caused, including the deaths of Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, Jimi Hendrix and countless others from barbiturate overdoses.Stossel's book is at its best when he describes his own struggles with anxiety, and how it has affected him and his family, as he traces the roots of the disorder in his family tree. His great grandfather Chester Hanford was the popular Dean of Harvard College for 20 years and a professor at the university for four decades, but his worsening anxiety led to his premature retirement, hospitalizations at the famed McLean Psychiatric Hospital, multiple medication trials and several rounds of electroshock treatments throughout his later years. Sadly, his daughter is demonstrating some of the same anxious behaviors that he had as a child, which correlates with the body of evidence that mood disorders can be inherited.My Age of Anxiety is a valuable contribution to the field of psychiatric disorders, similar to books such as The Noonday Demon: An Atlas Of Depression by Andrew Solomon and An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness by Kay Redfield Jamison, which were also written by authors who suffered from depression and bipolar disorder, respectively. Readers with little interest in the development of pharmaceutical agents for mood disorders or the different treatment models can skip over those sections without missing much, and focus on the far more compelling personal accounts and struggles of the author, who deserves praise and credit for discussing his illness so openly in this book. It is written for a general audience, and I would highly recommend it to everyone.