Shyness only begins to cover the range of social anxieties and social phobias covered by Schneier, assistant director of the Anxiety Disorders Clinic at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, and Welkowitz, a research psychologist also at the institute. There are fears of eating in public and of public bathrooms as well as fears of public speaking, dating, talking to the boss. There's probably more here than the average shy person looking for help wants, as about two thirds of the book is about the factors underlying shyness: biology, evolution, socialization, culture, sociology, psychology and so forth. There is also a chapter composed of tests that, while of excellent provenance, strangely make no distinctions between different sorts of social anxiety. The practical chapters that follow are worthwhile, especially when they stick to solid medical advice or therapy; social advice such as encouraging the wallflower to use "seemingly corny" openers?for example, "Have I seen you somewhere before?" and "Come here often?"?is less so. In a system that prods readers to set specific, realistic goals each week and plot out how to attain them, the authors encourage exposure to unnerving situations and the developing of positive responses to replace (usually unacknowledged) negative ones. Also helpful is concrete advice to parents of shy children and a rundown of the effects and side effects of beta-blockers, benzodiazepines (e.g., Valium), SSRIs (e.g., Prozac) and MAOIs (e.g., Nardil).
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Deliciously terrifying short short tales and creepy illustrations by an exceptional collection of writers and illustrators.
Nadia Aguiar, M.T. Anderson, Katherine Applegate, Margaret Atwood, Avi, Holly Black, Pseudonymous Bosch, Libba Bray, Lisa Brown, Michael Connelly, Mark Crilley, Joseph Delaney, Dan Ehrenhaft, Carson Ellis, Neil Gaiman, Jack Gantos, Tom Genrich, Stacey Godiner, Carol Gorman, Alan Gratz, Josh Greenhut, Adele Griffin, Dan Gutman, Brett Helquist, Erin Hunter, Angela Johnson, Aliza Kellerman, Faye Kellerman, M. E. Kerr, Jon Klassen, Alice Kuipers, Jonathan Lethem, Gail Carson Levine, Lesley Livingston, Dean Lorey, Gregory Maguire, Stephen Marche, Melissa Marr, Alison McGhee, Brad Meltzer, Sienna Mercer, Lauren Myracle, Jenny Nimmo, Joyce Carol Oates, Ken Oppel, James Patterson, MichÈle Perry, Yvonne Prinz, Francine Prose, Vladimir Radunsky, Chris Raschka, Aaron Renier, Adam Rex, David Rich, Richard Sala, Jon Scieszka, Brian Selznick, Arthur Slade, Abi Slone, Lane Smith, Lemony Snicket, Sonya Sones, Jerry Spinelli, David Stahler Jr., R. L. Stine, Allan Stratton, Tui T. Sutherland, Mariko Tamaki, Sarah L. Thomson, Frank Viva, Ayelet Waldman, Sarah Weeks, Gloria Whelan, Barry Yourgrau
