Chapter 10 introduces us to anxiety and all things related. Back in the 1990s, anxiety was stated as being the number one health problem in Americans, and it is probably still a major concern today (thanks in part to the plague of 2020). To handle anxiety, we must first identify what about the thing making us so anxious makes us so terrified. Once we identify our fear, we then just need to try to find a way to get over it. Seeing a mental health professional can sometimes help, if they are good at their job. A great therapist will be able to ask the right questions and point you towards what you need to explore in order to help you find the answers. A psychiatrist would not find it worth their time or yours to talk to you, they would just immediately prescribe you a sedative medication. There were a lot of really good patient stories in this chapter that give examples of therapy gone right and therapy gone wrong.
The next chapter goes into the various drugs that are used to treat anxiety and anxiety disorders (panic attacks, phobias, obsessive compulsive disorders). These drugs are called minor tranquilizers, because that is what they do, they depress the central nervous system to help relax the individual. And dissimilar to almost all the other drugs mentioned in this book, people want these. Even though people with mental health issues will sometimes seek out a mental health professional specifically to get a prescription for these types of drugs, sometimes even asking for them by brand name, they are more problematic with the issues of patient overdose, addiction, withdrawal, illegal sale, and accidental or purposeful death from combining with other sedatives. Xanax, previously Valium, is the super star of these minor tranquilizers. If you have been considering going to visit a psychiatrist in the hopes of getting an antianxiety drug, consider reading this chapter before you go to learn about all the risks.
Nonfiction and Nonsense 