Book Review: Little Panic:  Dispatches from an Anxious Life

“Everyone is ahead of me; I’m always trying to catch up, but I never do. I’m always the littlest and the last to understand. I picture their brains with long legs racing down the block, but my brain has little-kid legs, too short to keep up,” writes Amanda Stern. In her vivid memoir, Little Panic: Dispatches from an Anxious Life, Stern offers a poignant account of a life full of anxiety and yet teeming with strength, raw honesty, and the enduring desire to feel safe. Early on, Amanda recognizes that she, unlike other children, does not feel safe. She writes, “One day, I’ll have to live on the street side of life. On the garden side we look after one another, making sure all the children are here, that no one is missing or lost. We have each other’s backs….If only this were the entire world. If only the garden could hold us all.” And yet what Stern soon realizes is that the world is constantly changing and no amount of assurance can change that. She writes, “Rules always change on me when they aren’t supposed to because I’m right about the world — the things people say won’t happen do happen. Nothing stays the same. It feels like every time I try to get past my worries, my tries get erased.” Relationships for Stern are also fraught as she begins to realize that her anxiety has distorted her perception. “I want something I can’t ever remember having — a family I can trust to stay. I am trying to return to a place I can’t recall and ...
Source: Psych Central - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Tags: Anxiety Book Reviews Disorders General Memory and Perception Motivation and Inspiration Personal Stories Psychology Relationships & Love A Memoir Honesty Little Panic Source Type: news