Hi, Anxiety - by Kat Kinsman (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Joining the ranks of such acclaimed accounts as Manic, Brain on Fire, and Monkey Mind, a deeply personal, funny, and sometimes painful look at anxiety and its impact from writer and commentator Kat Kinsman.

Feeling anxious? Can't sleep because your brain won't stop recycling thoughts? Unable to make a decision because you're too afraid you'll make the wrong one? You're not alone.

In Hi, Anxiety, beloved food writer, editor, and commentator Kat Kinsman expands on the high profile pieces she wrote for CNN.com about depression, and its wicked cousin, anxiety. Taking us back to her adolescence, when she was diagnosed with depression at fourteen, Kat speaks eloquently with pathos and humor about her skin picking, hand flapping, "nervousness" that made her the recipient of many a harsh taunt. With her mother also gripped by depression and health issues throughout her life, Kat came to live in a constant state of unease--that she would fail, that she would never find love . . . that she would end up just like her mother.

Now, as a successful media personality, Kat still battles anxiety every day. That anxiety manifests in strange, and deeply personal ways. But as she found when she started to write about her struggles, Kat is not alone in feeling like the simple act of leaving the house, or getting a haircut can be crippling. And though periodic medication, counseling, a successful career and a happy marriage have brought her relief, the illness, because that is what anxiety is, remains.

Exploring how millions are affected anxiety, Hi, Anxiety is a clarion call for everyone--but especially women--struggling with this condition. Though she is a strong advocate for seeking medical intervention, Kinsman implores those suffering to come out of the shadows--to talk about their battle openly and honestly. With humor, bravery, and writing that brings bestsellers like Laurie Notaro and Jenny Lawson to mind, Hi, Anxiety tackles a difficult subject with amazing grace.

From the Back Cover

A PRECISE PORTRAIT OF AN ANXIOUS LIFE

Kat Kinsman has been nervous for as long as she can remember. Well, not just nervous, but cripplingly worried, anxious, often depressed--teetering on the terrifying edge of becoming a messy horror show of a person. Most days she can mask her condition pretty well. But not every day. GAD, or generalized anxiety disorder, is the most prominently diagnosed mental illness today. The feral cat to depression's black dog, it affects Kat and millions of others, primarily women. In a journey through the alleyways and burrows of her life, Kat takes us through a landscape of lost love, lost jobs, lost identity, and the struggle to sustain herself when the voice in her head, the beast shrieking for attention, keeps self-confidence and calm at bay.

Hi, Anxiety is a thoughtful, wry, heartbreaking, brave, but ultimately happy story of what life looks like through the lens of anxiety, and will reassure anyone ever held in the clutches of GAD that they are never alone--and the best way to fight back is to say its name loud and clear.

Review Quotes

"An insightful look at an often misunderstood disorder that doesn't have an immediate cure, this book should appeal to anyone who has struggled with anxiety or loves someone who has." -- Library Journal

"With witty humor and an enduring boldness, Kinsman's insightful read will have readers cringing at times, like when her nerves keep her from picking up a pair of designer shoes at the repair shop, but never fails to showcase her inner strength all the same." -- Booklist