Customer Reviews

Social Anxiety

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The reason this book is the best of all anxiety books is because it's scientifically referenced. That means it's readable for students, patients, professors, and medical doctors. And there is some very interesting information in here. For example, blue-eyed people have more anxiety than green- or brown-eyed people, and this may be from a difference in neurotransmitters that help determine eye color! Hard to believe, isn't it. The reason why I didn't give this book 5 stars is because of their recommendations on pharmacology treatment of anxiety, or should I say, lack of recommendations. Throughout the whole book they have tried to be objective, stating that many different psychologists fight over the "proper" treatments for different anxious conditions, and that the authors want to give all sides equal time in the book. What they were not objective about is the fact that up to 50% of all anxious people will not be cured by psychotherapy alone, and do need (either temporarily or permanently) anxiolytic medication. And when they finally do mention anti-anxiety drugs, they mention some of the worst ones, including MAO inhibitors (NEVER TAKE THEM), and beta-blockers (can cause respiratory depression and severe low blood pressure). And when they mention benzodiazepines (valium-type sedatives), they say that the only side effects from them are sedation. Benzodiazepines are very important in the treatment of many different anxiety conditions, but the readers need to be warned that they can cause physical dependence---a truly important side effect. Finally, even though the book was published in 1995, they don't even mention SSRI's like Prozac and Zoloft at all. I can't believe they would recommend an MAO inhibitor and not an SSRI. SSRI's are just as effective for anxiety as MAOI's, but do not have any potentially lethal side effects. How does someone know if they need a benzodiazepine, and antidepressant, or both for their anxiety? The book The Failures of American Medicine details what anxiolytic drugs are appropriate for the various anxiety conditions, and is available here at Amazon.com.

Rather than being a book on social anxiety from the clinical perspective, this compendium looks at the condition primarily from the social psychological perspective. In doing so, it covers the interpersonal basis of social anxiety and looks at how self-presentation, expectancies, self-efficacy, interpersonal behavior, and motivation contribute to the subjective aspects of social anxiety - physiology, cognition, and emotion. While it addresses the experience and treatment of this condition, it should not be thought of as a therapeutic workbook or guide to treatment. Instead, it is a thorough, thoughtful, and informative review of the theory of and research literature on the causes of this pervasive and painful problem.

I bought this book for purposes of continuing education. It is very well done from a scientific viewpoint and I believe many people can learn a lot from it. The limiting factor of this book, in my opinion, is its 1995 publication date. In this field 8 years does make a difference in research and application information available. I would really like to see this book updated by the excellent authors, especially the last chapter which is entitled "Chasing Away the Butterflies". This chapter essentially deals with treatment.