Freaking Out: Real-life Stories About Anxiety

When anxiety has you in its grip, it can seem impossible to rationalize your way out of it.

That sweaty, gut-clenching, suffocating, racing-heart feeling. That dull, never-ending sense that something's wrong. Anxiety affects millions of young adults. From phobias to compulsiveness to post traumatic stress disorder, Freaking Out chronicles the many guises of excessive anxiety in teens' lives and the havoc it can wreak.

These 13 true stories span the anxiety spectrum, from heightened adolescent angst to full-blown disorders. The triggers for the teens in this book range from the stress of getting into college, to the loss of a parent, to day-to-day social encounters. Their stories explore the different ways each learned to unshackle themselves from the weight of overwhelming worry.

In "Nowhere to Hide," Caroline suffers debilitating panic attacks brought on in part by extreme shyness. In "Exiled," Alana's treatment at the hand of bullies makes her anxiety even worse. In "The Enemy Next Door" Noah grapples with the paralyzing, unexplained fear of dogs that has caused him anxiety since childhood. And in "War Story," Hamid, alone in a new country, must confront his post traumatic stress disorder.

Including an afterword written by psychologist Stacie Isenberg of The Ross Center in Washington, D.C., Freaking Out offers young people a vivid understanding of what anxiety feels like, positive tools to minimize its effects, and the reassurance that they can live a full and rewarding life even if they find themselves in its grip.