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I don't follow Aaron Gillies (@TechnicallyRon) on Twitter, though I occasionally see entertaining things retweeted into my timeline; T, on the other hand, does follow him, and on seeing that he'd written a book about anxiety entitled How to Survive the End of the World (when it's in your own head) thought it would be an ideal book to buy someone who has spent a considerable amount of the last couple of years trying to swim upstream against a tidal surge of fear of apocalypse (nuclear war, climate change, meteor impact, fascist dystopia - the possibilities are endless, and my brain delights in running through the list at 4am. I hate my brain).
Unfortunately, while the book is a very good resource for understanding and managing anxiety across a wide range of everyday situations (work, relationships, socialising, relaxing - and it is good to know that I'm not the only person who ends up in an anxious frenzy in the run-up to the relaxing holiday I so desperately need) and tackles a serious subject in a readable and humorous way (though it is a bit sweary and has a lot of references to alcohol and drinking whch I wasn't completely comfortable with), the one thing it doesn't actually address is how to deal with an overwhelming fear of the actual end of the world; instead, the title actually references the way that anxiety can make everything *feel* like the end of the world. However, although I already knew most of the suggested techniques for dealing with anxiety in everyday life, and although I think the book is really aimed at a slightly younger audience (at one point Gillies mentions MySpace and then adds 'for those of you too young to remember MySpace', whereas I think I'm too old to really remember MySpace - it was definitely a thing younger people than me did) it is always nice to read something that reflects the reality of the way I experience the world (and it strikes me that most of the books I've read about mental health have been about depression, rather than anxiety, and although they are frequently found together* they are different experiences and it was nice to read something specifically focused on anxiety), and I did learn some new things (such as the fact that there is an actual word for biting the skin of your fingers, and that it's a recognised anxiety symptom and not just a horrible habit I can't seem to lose). I'd say it's definitely worth reading if you suffer from anxiety, or are close to someone who suffers from anxiety, and want to know more about it, assuming you are OK with the chatty young-bloke style and the drinking references.
*Gillies' account of the chemical processes of anxiety in the brain, and particularly the fact that when the brain goes into fight-or-flight mode serotonin production is suspended, suddenly made sense of the anxiety-depression cycle I go through again and again; I struggle with anxiety, eventually slide into depression, claw my way out, and then the anxiety starts up again...
Unfortunately, while the book is a very good resource for understanding and managing anxiety across a wide range of everyday situations (work, relationships, socialising, relaxing - and it is good to know that I'm not the only person who ends up in an anxious frenzy in the run-up to the relaxing holiday I so desperately need) and tackles a serious subject in a readable and humorous way (though it is a bit sweary and has a lot of references to alcohol and drinking whch I wasn't completely comfortable with), the one thing it doesn't actually address is how to deal with an overwhelming fear of the actual end of the world; instead, the title actually references the way that anxiety can make everything *feel* like the end of the world. However, although I already knew most of the suggested techniques for dealing with anxiety in everyday life, and although I think the book is really aimed at a slightly younger audience (at one point Gillies mentions MySpace and then adds 'for those of you too young to remember MySpace', whereas I think I'm too old to really remember MySpace - it was definitely a thing younger people than me did) it is always nice to read something that reflects the reality of the way I experience the world (and it strikes me that most of the books I've read about mental health have been about depression, rather than anxiety, and although they are frequently found together* they are different experiences and it was nice to read something specifically focused on anxiety), and I did learn some new things (such as the fact that there is an actual word for biting the skin of your fingers, and that it's a recognised anxiety symptom and not just a horrible habit I can't seem to lose). I'd say it's definitely worth reading if you suffer from anxiety, or are close to someone who suffers from anxiety, and want to know more about it, assuming you are OK with the chatty young-bloke style and the drinking references.
*Gillies' account of the chemical processes of anxiety in the brain, and particularly the fact that when the brain goes into fight-or-flight mode serotonin production is suspended, suddenly made sense of the anxiety-depression cycle I go through again and again; I struggle with anxiety, eventually slide into depression, claw my way out, and then the anxiety starts up again...
