Review of "Anxiety"
By S. RachmanPsychology Press, 2004
Review by Leo Uzych, J.D., M.P.H. on Feb 16th 2006
Anxiety is an accomplished member of the family of books, called, collectively: "Clinical Psychology: A Modular Course". The books comprising the family are intended, broadly, to form, in integrated fashion, a comprehensive resource in clinical psychology. S. Rachman, the author of Anxiety, is a researcher in the area of anxiety disorders, who is anchored, academically, to the University of British Columbia, Canada. Rachman's cardinal purpose in penning Anxiety is to inform readers regarding surging advances, pertinent to understanding and treating anxiety disorders.
Rachman's primary focus is on anxiety as a psychological phenomenon. The book at heart is a very well crafted, psychologically rooted examination of anxiety. Although Rachman's sharp focus is on a psychological analysis, heavily biologically-tinged threads may also contribute vitally to the weaving of the tapestry, of anxiety. Indeed, an important lesson to be learned from the book is that theories purporting to explicate particular anxiety disorders may oftentimes be enmeshed by prominent cognitive as well as biological strands, which may become entangled in knotty, scientific uncertainty.
Medical scientific knowledge of many aspects of anxiety remains, lamentably, threadbare. Rachman's book may, hopefully, galvanize renewed scientific enthusiasm for further research concerning anxiety, and perhaps provide some structure for fruitful investigative forays, into this somewhat amorphous realm. Certainly, the need to collect far more evidence, regarding this fascinating, and still rather fallow, field of research endeavor, is compelling. And, it may be added, appropriately, that this need importantly extends to the developing of effectual treatments, for particular anxiety disorders.
Rachman writes with a finely honed academic pen, which has been wielded superbly to create a valuable contribution to the academic literature enveloping clinical psychology. A clearly discernible, didactic type current flows prominently through the text's pages, which may delectably provide abundant food for intellectual digestion, by mental health researchers and academics; there are, as well, numerous morsels, which may stimulate, if not sate, the professional appetites of clinicians bound, in some capacity, to the region of mental health. The book, however, in style and substance, is tilted steeply, away from lay readers.
Structurally, the body of the book is composed of ten, analytically hewed chapters. Adjoining the textual body are listings, of selected books ("Suggested reading"), and multitudinous academic references, fused to anxiety, which may gladden those seeking further immersion in the academically choppy and turbid waters of anxiety. The respective chapters are structured to include a succinct "Summary". Further contributing to the excellence of the text are well-designed "tables" and "figures", and, also, a goodly number of anecdotal snippets, grafted interestingly into the textual corpus.
At least in a generalized way, the psychological focused analysis, of anxiety, undertaken very capably by Rachman, may contribute helpfully to spirited discussion concerning anxiety. The academically thorny field of anxiety research contains a thicket of theories; and experimental and clinical data, of a germane nature, continue to accumulate. A full elucidation of many of the profundities of anxiety, and the possible bridging, or at least narrowing, of the formidable chasm, separating biological and psychological explanations of anxiety disorders, remain unfinished academic tasks. Plainly, much remains unexplained, regarding anxiety disorders; and much remains to be learned.
To his considerable credit, Rachman succeeds commendably in analytically traversing, in highly competent fashion, the expansive length and breadth of extant research data, tied to anxiety. Overall, Rachman does a very good job of identifying important strengths and weaknesses, of some of the multitude of fractious theories entwined with research efforts glued to anxiety.
In chapter one, Rachman artfully etches the lineaments giving form to the nature of "anxiety", and further delineates, adroitly, the contours bounding the core nature of "fear". A laconic explanation, of multifarious factors impinging, potentially, on anxiety, comprises the essence of the substantive content, of chapter two. The author, in chapter three, familiarizes the reader, albeit in a rudimentary way, with sundry schools of theoretical thought interjoined with anxiety, encompassing, notably: possible interlinkages, joining anxiety and cognitive concepts; the arguable impacting of psychoanalytic theory, on anxiety; and, not least, biological theories which may, possibly, be explanatory with respect to anxiety. The cynosure of the next (fourth) chapter is a highly adept dissection and examination of the conditioning theory of fear. Brief discussion of specific phobias is also enfolded into the chapter's contents.
An unraveling of the enigmatic nature of panic is the crux of chapter five, with a dichotomous focus on a cognitive theory of panic, in contradistinction to a biological explanation ascribed to panic disorder. Agoraphobia, in chapter six, tersely garners Rachman's rapt attention, while careful scrutiny of puzzling aspects of compulsive behavior and obsessions is at the heart of chapter seven. The variant of anxiety known as "social anxiety" is given centerstage attention, in chapter eight, with discussion being rooted deeply in a cognitive theoretical analysis of social anxiety. The text's penultimate (ninth) chapter expounds, instructively, on the contentious concept of generalized anxiety disorder. In the concluding (tenth) chapter, Rachman, in his characteristic workaday way, digs into the terrain of post-traumatic stress disorder, striving ardently, and gingerly, to unearth some of its psychological perplexities. The toilsome spadework, of Rachman, does, in fact, unearth deposits, of psychological import, reaching to: emotional processing, of traumatic events; a cognitive entrenched theory; and a dual representation model, of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Rachman's illumining book shows provides a revealing snapshot, of current anxiety related research. Experimental reports on anxiety are released continually. With this principal caveat, persons involved professionally with mental health work, especially those with some research nexus to this enthralling field, should be absorbingly edified, by the book's instructive contents.
© 2006 Leo Uzych
Leo Uzych (based in Wallingford, PA) earned a law degree, from Temple University; and a master of public health degree, from Columbia University. His area of special professional interest is healthcare.
Resources
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Articles
- What is Anxiety?
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The Biopsychosocial Model of Anxiety
- The Biopsychosocial Model: Causes of Pathological Anxiety
- Biological Explanations of Anxiety Disorders
- Biological Explanations of Anxiety: Part II
- Biological Explanations of Anxiety: Part III
- Biological Explanations of Anxiety: Part IV
- Psychological Explanations of Anxiety Disorders
- Psychological Explanations: Part II
- Social Explanations of Anxiety Disorders
- Development & Maintenance of Anxiety Disorders
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Classification & Diagnosis of Anxiety Disorders
- The Classification and Diagnosis of Anxiety Disorders
- Panic Attacks: A Classic Symptom of Several Anxiety Disorders
- Panic Disorder
- Separation Anxiety Disorder
- Selective Mutism
- Agoraphobia
- Specific Phobias and Social Anxiety Disorder (Social Phobia)
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
- Other Anxiety-Related Disorders
- Anxiety and Other Psychiatric Disorders
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Anxiety Disorder Theories and Therapies
- Anxiety Disorders: Theories and Therapies
- Behavioral Learning Theory and Associated Therapies
- Operant Conditioning
- Operant Conditioning and Avoidance Learning
- Contemporary Views of Behavioral Learning Theory
- Behavioral Therapies for Anxiety Disorders
- Cognitive Theory and Associated Therapies
- Cognitive Therapy
- Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
- Adjunct Therapies
- Pharmacologic Treatments (Medication)
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Treatment of Anxiety Disorders
- Treatment for Separation Anxiety Disorder
- Treatment for Selective Mutism
- Treatment for Panic Disorder
- Treatment for Specific Phobias and Treatment for Social Anxiety Disorder (Social Phobia)
- Treatment for Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
- Treatment for Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders (OCSDs)
- Conclusion
- Anxiety Disorder References & Additonal Resources
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News
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Questions and Answers
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- Is My Anxiety a Normal Reaction?
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- Help
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- Too Much Time doing Homework
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- Is She Ill?
- Social Anxiety, Depression and More...
- Do I Have Just Social Anxiety or Other Diagnoses Combined with SA?
- Need To Ask Someone
- False Memories
- Help! Please!
- Two Year Old Son Wandered
- Infections and The Brain
- Are Personality Disorders For Life?
- I am Terrified of Death.
- Anhedonia
- Our 23 Year Old Son Refuses to Get Help for His Anxiety Attacks and Depression.
- Anxiety
- Anxiety Disorder vs. Personality Disorder: Differences?
- Restroom Phobia
- I'm Afraid I'm Going Crazy
- Post Brain Surgery Mental Problems
- Would Medication Help?
- obsessive strange thoughts about life and existentialism
- Am I Crazy?
- Is it Anxiety? Is it Normal to Be Like That?
- Depressed 19 year old college student
- Depression helps to contribute to my unemployment! - Paula
- Relationship Anxiety
- Disconnected
- I'm Scared
- Please help fix my mom. - Kenny
- OCD?
- Saving my Son
- Scary thoughts, dark feelings, help?
- Swallowing fear
- Is there something wrong with me?
- I have PTSD and I feel nothing
- OCD Cure
- Repressed Memory
- I have OCD. Will this increase my child's chance of developing Autism?
- Crazy Thoughts
- 20 Year Old Female: no friends, depressed, what should I do?
- unwanted thoughts!
- crazy thoughts... all the time
- A very low threshold for stress tolerance
- Why can't I get gross images out of my head?
- fear of expiration
- SPECIFIC PHOBIA
- anxiety or going crazy?
- OCB
- visions of what could have been
- about depersonalization
- obsessive compulsive disorder
- OCD/ANXIETY while pregnant
- Amnesia
- Social Phobia
- Constant Counting Disorder
- Anxiety
- Is this OCD?
- Worried about my therapist
- No Friends
- Teenager...angst vs. mental health issue
- phobia regarding uncertainty
- Obsessed with running out of things
- Do I Have OCD?
- Do environmental factors hold a person back?
- Never Had a Relationship
- Shy Rural Student
- Nursing Student's Anxiety
- I'm Afraid They Are Judging Me
- Part Time Work and Stress
- Anxiety
- Panic
- Bathroom Phobia
- Anxiety?
- Mastery Of Anxiety And Panic
- Very Determined Panicker In The South
- Panicking Boyfriend
- Alternatives For Anxiety Treatment
- Is Anxiety A Hereditary Factor?
- Unable To Keep Eye Contact
- Is It Really Panic? And How Do We Get Help
- A Cure For Claustrophobia?
- Panic Attacks
- Shyness And The Post Partum Blues
- Klonopin
- Alternative Treatment
- Can't Afford Therapy
- Driving Phobia
- Indecisive
- Agoraphobia?
- Social Fear
- A Cure For Anxiety?
- Panic Attacks
- Fear of Driving
- Shy Guy
- Anxiety?
- Social Anxiety
- Linda writes:
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Book & Media Reviews
- 8 Keys to Stress Management
- A Brief History of Anxiety
- Anxiety
- Anxiety
- Anxiety Disorders
- Anxiety, Phobias, and Panic
- Been There, Done That? DO THIS!
- Calm Beneath the Waves
- Elsewhere
- Exercise for Mood and Anxiety
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31 more
- Getting Control
- Helping Students Overcome Depression and Anxiety
- Just Checking
- Mind-Body Workbook for Anxiety
- Monkey Mind
- My Age of Anxiety
- Overcoming School Anxiety
- Panic Disorder
- Passing for Normal
- Phobic and Anxiety Disorders in Children and Adolescents
- Repressed Spaces
- Self-Coaching
- Stress
- Stress Survival Guide
- Textbook of Anxiety Disorders
- The 10 Best Anxiety Busters
- The Age of Anxiety
- The Anxieties of Affluence
- The Dutiful Worrier
- The Emotional Eater's Repair Manual
- The Male Stress Survival Guide
- The Places That Scare You
- The Stress Cure
- The SuperStress Solution
- Treating Affect Phobia
- Under Pressure and Overwhelmed
- Viniyoga Therapy for Anxiety
- When Words Are Not Enough
- Wish I Could Be There
- Yoga for Anxiety
- Yoga Journal's Yoga for Stress
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Self-Help Groups
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Links
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Videos
- How to Manage ADHD and Anxiety
- What You Need to Know about Students with ADHD and Anxiety
- How To Make Room For Gratitude In An Anxious Brain
- How to Stay Calm When You Know You'll Be Stressed
- Anxiety and Teen Girls with Lisa Damour, PhD
- Is it Anxiety or a Heart Condition?
- Identifying and Treating Anxiety in Kids and Teens
- Child Anxiety, It’s Real
- Helping Children Cope with Anxiety
- Anxiety, Trauma and How Prolonged Exposure Therapy Works For PTSD
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26 more
- OCD, Phobias and Anxiety
- How Weighted Blankets May Lift Anxiety
- Controlling Anxiety
- Too Scared: Social Anxiety Disorder
- Panic Disorders Video
- Phobias Video
- Treating Anxiety Disorders: A Unified Protocol
- Treating Youth Anxiety and Social Phobia
- Overcoming Anxiety in Children and Teens
- Treating Anxiety in Children and Teens with ASD
- Back-to-School Anxiety
- No More Shame: My life with Anxiety and Depression
- Adolescent Depression and Anxiety
- What is Social Anxiety Disorder?
- Living Without Fear
- What is Generalized Anxiety Disorder?
- What is Generalized Anxiety Disorder?
- School Anxiety! Activities To Help Kids and Teens Manage It
- Recognizing and Treating Problematic Fear and Anxiety in Children
- How To Stop Overthinking When You Have Anxiety
- My Anxiety Is Making Me Anxious!
- Evidence-Based Treatment Planning for Generalized Anxiety Disorder Video
- Managing Anxiety in Youth: More Action Than Talk
- Treatment of Social Anxiety Disorder
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety
- Recent Advances in Anxiety - Children/Adolescents
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More Information
- Wise Counsel Interview Transcript: An Interview with David Barlow, Ph.D. on the Nature and Treatment of Anxiety and Panic Disorders
- Wise Counsel Interview Transcript: An Interview with Dr. Michelle Craske on Anxiety Disorders Research and Treatment
- Wise Counsel Interview Transcript: An Interview with Richard Heimberg, Ph.D. on Anxiety Research and Treatment
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