Anxiety for Beginners offers a vivid insight into the crippling impact of anxiety disorder, a condition that is often invisible and frequently misunderstood.

A powerful and beautifully written account of Morgan's experiences with anxiety and depression, and a rigorously researched examination of why they happen and how they can be managed. As well as speaking to fellow sufferers, Morgan consults psychiatrists, psychologists, OCD specialists, gastroenterologists and nutritionists, and bones up on Kierkegaard, Freud and Hippocrates (the latter was the first to describe a patient with social anxiety).It is with a mixture of humanity and clear-sightedness that she analyses genetic and environmental influences, trauma, hormones, fertility, parenthood, medication, social stigma and language, all the while linking back to her own stories and those of fellow sufferers.In assuming the dual role of memoirist and investigative journalist, Morgan gradually comes to terms with her own anxiety disorder. She offers no firm answers or miracle cures, and is careful to remind us that, when it comes to mental illness, no two cases are the same. Her willingness to share what so many others strive to keep hidden, to thoroughly demystify her condition, is courageous and compelling The Guardian This fusion of memoir and scientific investigation is very accessible... with a generous dollop of humanity Irish Times

Eleanor Morgan has written and interviewed extensively for the Guardian, the Observer, The Times, the Independent, GQ, Harper's Bazaar, Vogue and the Believer. She worked as Senior Editor at VICE UK, where she helped to manage the output of an ever-expanding editorial team at one of the fastest-moving media organizations in the world, and has become one of the sharpest, best connected young voices in today's media landscape.

* Unit - PART ONE: SOMETHING'S WRONG* Chapter - 1: A Tornado in a Toilet Cubicle* Chapter - 2: 'Two Litres of Pus'* Chapter - 3: Taking Root* Chapter - 4: Cracking* Chapter - 5: Paddling* Chapter - 6: A Mind on Fire* Chapter - 7: 'A Total F***er'* Unit - PART TWO: WHAT IS ANXIETY* Chapter - 8: A Price Tag on Freedom* Chapter - 9: Appropriate Responses* Chapter - 10: Computers in Skin Suits* Chapter - 11: 'Flavour'* Chapter - 12: More Than a (Gut) Feeling* Chapter - 13: Diagnosis: Shame* Chapter - 14: Giving the Beast a Name* Unit - PART THREE: WHY DOES ANXIETY HAPPEN?* Chapter - 15: Blame, Time and Place* Chapter - 16: Betty* Chapter - 17: Grey Matters* Chapter - 18: Grey Matters* Chapter - 19: Female Hormones: A Bloody Mess* Chapter - 20: Calming the Tide* Chapter - 21: Needles, Eggs and Freezers* Chapter - 22: Blue Curtains* Chapter - 23: Stigma, Language and How We Codify Things* Chapter - 24: Words and Pictures: How the Media Feeds Our Heads* Chapter - 25: Faces and Names* Chapter - 26: Thinking About What Other People Think* Unit - PART FOUR: WHAT CAN WE DO?* Chapter - 27: Drugs, DSM, Dilemmas* Chapter - 28: Asking For Help: What Do We Get?* Chapter - 29: Helping Ourselves: Where Do We Start?* Chapter - 30: Mindfulness: A Mindblowing Industry?* Chapter - 31: Exercise, Trees and Hippocampi* Chapter - 32: Pamela* Chapter - 33: Helping Someone With Anxiety* Chapter - 34: Future Treatment** Acknowledgements - i: Acknowledgements* Section - ii: Bibliography* Index - iii: Index