WOMEN AND ANXIETY

by ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1979

Dr. DeRosis, a practicing psychiatrist and co-author of The Book of Hope: How Women Can Overcome Depression (1976), presents a judicious approach to anxiety management based on establishing a sense of compassionate self-awareness; and, though her language and case studies refer to women, her insights apply equally well to men. Anxiety, a feeling of dread characterized by physical symptoms (agitation, trembling, excessive perspiration) and troubled feelings, is a reaction to frustration, stress, and unresolved anger which indicates the presence of an unconscious emotional conflict. This ""self-made message,"" Dr. DeRosis argues, can be used as a positive force both in initiating a re-assessment process and in providing a restless energy useful for personal growth. In this connection, she is attentive to the problems of women fighting the constraints of both traditional role values (passivity, self-sacrifice) and radical feminism (aggression, rebelliousness). The book's second half offers a 20-step program for attenuating anxiety: select and define a single issue to explore; decide why previous efforts at solution have failed; enumerate potential gains or losses accompanying change; choose a possible solution, enact it, and evaluate results. The emphasis is on committing energy to planning and doing something specific; no immediate or dramatic results are promised. A potentially beneficial book for serious self-helpers.

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1979

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Delacorte

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1979

Categories: NONFICTION