Anxiety use to be something that l feared. It was like a disease that l felt l had no cure for, and would have to live with for the rest of my life. I constantly felt trapped and scared that at any moment, l would have a panic attack and spiral out of control. It was a scary idea to wake up to every morning, and to fall asleep to every night. My last two college years were not as enjoyable as l wanted it to be, because l kept letting my anxiety get in the way of my life. I feared social groups and settings, l feared being in a classroom for too long, l feared traveling, and l even feared eating. At this point in my life, l feared that at any moment, l would have a panic attack and feel completely helpless. In addition, l had convinced myself …show more content…
The reason that l chose this book, was because l wanted to give a self-help book a try. However, when it came to choosing a specific self-help book, l knew that the one issue that l would like to be able to focus on, is how to control my anxiety. This book seemed as straightforward as l hoped it would be, and the situations that were presented as examples in the book, were situations that l had personally gone through. I was able to relate deeply to the author, because he was also a person who had let anxiety control his everyday life. If there was one point in the book that l felt as though the author and I had a lot in common, it was when he explained his very first panic attack and the aftermath of it. Barry McDonagh, author of the novel, described his first panic attack occurring in a church, when he was giving a presentation. McDonagh had been so frightened that he walked out of the church and convinced himself that he might have been having a heart attack, however, as much as he wanted to ask for help, the words could not escape him. Instead, he decided to try and go for a walk, and it was only then that he was able to