WHY WOMEN WORRY. . .AND HOW TO STOP

by Jane & Robert Handly with Pauline Neff Handly ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 27, 1990

An examination of why--according to at least one study--women are two to three times more prone to chronic worry than men, and how they can get off the ""worry-go-round."" Chronic anxiety, say the Handlys (creators of the Life-Plus workshops), is rooted in low self-esteem, lack of confidence, or indecisiveness produced by psychosocial, societal, instinctive, and physiological factors unique to women. Upbringing, they argue, programs many females to turn decision-making over to males. Modern societal expectations require many women to juggle work and motherhood with an inadequate child-care infrastructure and inflexible work places. Then there's the powerful maternal instinct that makes women feel responsible for--and worry about--the welfare of children, aging parents, and so on. Lastly, the Handlys say, the hormonal swings of female physiology cause considerable stress, and even the female brain, with more neural connections between hemispheres than the ""tunnel vision"" male brain, may produce greater simultaneous input--and more things to worry about. The self-help section here, which basically retreads and expands on previous Handly works, is designed to overcome chronic worry via much pencil-work (to pinpoint the causes of worry, analyze the alternatives and draft a program for change, etc.), along with relaxation techniques to unleash unconscious mental imagery, brainstorming, and affirmative mental messages. Presumably all this will help readers break the cycle of anxiety. Insightful, but the self-help section, filled with the usual rah-rah, is standard fare.

Pub Date: Oct. 27, 1990

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Prentice Hall

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1990

Categories: NONFICTION