Drawing on vivid examples, Renata Salecl argues that what really produces
anxiety is the attempt to get rid of it. Erudite and compelling - essential
reading for anyone interested in philosophy, psychology and the cultural
phenomenon of anxiety.We frequently hear that we live in an age of anxiety, from 'therapy
culture', the Atkins diet and child anti-depressants to gun culture and weapons
of mass destruction. While Hollywood regularly cashes in on teenage anxiety
through its Scream franchise, pharmaceutical companies churn out new drugs such
as Paxil to combat newly diagnosed anxieties. On Anxiety takes a fascinating,
psychological plunge behind the scenes of our panic stricken culture and into
anxious minds, asking who and what is responsible. Putting anxiety on the
couch, Renata Salecl asks some much-needed questions: Is anxiety about the
absence of authority or too much of it? Do the media report anxiety or create
it? Are drugs a cure for anxiety or its cause? Is anxiety about being yourself
or someone else, and is anxiety really the ultimate obstacle to happiness?
Drawing on vivid examples from film such as the X Files and Cyrano de Bergerac
, drugs used on soldiers to combat anxiety, the anxieties of love and
motherhood, and fake Holocaust memoirs, Renata Salecl argues that what really
produces anxiety is the attempt to get rid of it.; Erudite and compelling, On Anxiety is essential reading for anyone
interested in philosophy, psychology and the cultural phenomenon of anxiety
today.
