Monkey Mind: A Memoir of Anxiety

by Daniel Smith

For years, Daniel Smith suffered from bouts of acute anxiety, extended episodes without any apparent cause that seized control of his body and mind, leaving him an emotional wreck. Sleep was impossible and headaches and nausea haunted his days. Anxiety threatened his sanity and jeopardized his relationships. He had a prestigious job, a comfortable apartment, and caring friends-but, according to his therapists, nothing seemed to be wrong.

Now in paperback, Monkey Mindis the story of how one man finally learned to live with-and laugh at-his own anxiety issues. Smith shares his own hilarious and heart-wrenching story from his first severe episode at age sixteen to his discovery of the author Philip Roth, who made anxiety seem noble, to his first job, which nearly drove him to distraction, to his struggle to give up the endless cycle of hand-wringing angst in order to keep the love of his life.

Through medication, endless psychoanalysis, self-imposed isolation, and meditation, Smith finally makes peace with his restless mind and becomes the husband and father he longs to be.

Whether you suffer from clinical anxiety or an overdose of modern life in our "Age of Anxiety," Monkey Mind's combination of wit, candour, and serious advice will help you live in the moment instead of inside your own head.

• ISBN10: 1439177317
• ISBN13: 9781439177310
• Publish Date: 4 July 2013 (first published 3 July 2012)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 224
• Language: English

Reviews

[lisacee]

I wanted to like this book, but in the end I just couldn't care about it. I tried to keep going, but when I kept putting off reading those last 30 pages for over a week I realized it wasn't worth my time to finish.

First, this book wasn't very well written. I had to re-read multiple sentences just to figure out what he meant. If an author can find a flow, I can get over clunky writing but this book never found its voice for me. There was no real story progression and absolutely no medical expertise or even education on the authors part. The author self-diagnosed himself as anxious but blamed things like his first sexual experience or Mommy issued for his disease. And, at least not before the last 30 pages, the author never made a sincere effort at getting treatment.

I'd keep writing this review, but frankly I've already dedicated too much time to this book. Critics may have loved this book, but as someone who has lived with anxiety this book missed an opportunity to tell people what it's really like.