Publisher's Synopsis
This memoir was written by a man in his mid-eighties describing his lifelong experience with mental illness and how he was able to find his own path to wellness. His illness became apparent wirh symptoms in his mid-twenties-panic attacks that led to agoraphobia-but it was rooted in severe separation anxiety that went unrecognized and untreated when he was a child. In his memoir, he writes about how he was able to cope while plagued with crippling chronic anxiety and deep depressession that went unnoticed by people around him. In spite of severe agoraphobia-the morbid fear of leaving the safety of one's home-he daily faced his worst fears by meeting them head-on as he engaged them in the normal activities of daily life of work and marriage. Anti-anxiety drugs and antidepressants never provided him any relief from his symptoms so he remains critical of claims of their effectiveness. Psychologists and the field of psychology fare worse in his opinion. Talk-therapies such as psychoanalysis and other kinds of psychotherapies were ineffective and only served to prolong his suffering. During his lifetime, he encountered many close to him afflicted with various illnesses or disorders related to the brain-brain cancer, stroke, dementia, progressive supranuclear palsy or PSP, suicide, gambling addition, and sex addiction-people with broken brains. The author's journey covered the period of a lifetime and was not unlike the spiritual ones taken by many. It takes courage to face one's fears and to find acceptance of oneself. People suffering from panic disorder, especially those compounded with agoraphobia, understand the courage it takes to open the door of your home and step outside into the world. Wellness requires both understanding of the nature of the illness and change to not let it be a problem. Both can take a lifetime. His story is about the things that worked for him so that others troubled with similar problems may find hope in their life. The author now lives happily, mostly free from debilitating anxiety.
