Nerve is an interesting blend of nonfiction scientific exploration, and memoir. Eva Holland suffers from phobias, and the first part of the book discusses her own experiences with terror, and the traumas that generated them. The middle part was her own efforts at treating the phobias. The final part delved into how fear affects the body, how terror leads to irrational reactions, and the emotion steam fueling responses.

This is a fascinating book on one person taking control back from their phobias. I applaud the bravery that goes into that. I did something similar long ago, developing and carrying out my own phobia treatment for a fear of needles (actually anticipated pain) and spiders. The final tasks involved donating blood, getting a tattoo, and keeping a pet tarantula. Ironically, I'd had several scorpions as pets and no fear of them. Today, I suffer from demophobia, as a direct result of losing an eye at age 20. I urge anyone who knows someone with phobias to read this book. It will help you understand them better. Holland does a magnificent job of describing what a panic attack feels like. Once irrationality is triggered, logic goes out the door.

This exploration of fear was quite enjoyable. I especially liked how the author used her own experiences to explore fear. Looking forward to Ms. Holland's next book!

I felt for Holland's phobic struggles. Her personal narrative interspersed with scientific findings were enlightening. - Still can't imagine getting over my fear of those particular horrifying insects that I shall not mention.

Nerve is an interesting book which is something of a hybrid between non-fiction science and memoir by Eva Holland. Released 14th April 2020 by The Experiment, it's 256 pages and available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats.

The book is split into three interwoven and related parts. The first part is a moving personal account of the author's experiences with situational phobias in her own life and how it was inextricably tied to emotional trauma. She has a sure and deft voice and she expresses it with a touching vulnerability and strength. The second part of the book is an account of her journey toward grabbing her own fear of falling, of heights, of loss of physical control, and taking control of it and learning to minimize its effects on her life by doing the exact things of which she was most afraid. The third part of the book (and the one which completely sucked me in) is the layman accessible examination of the physiological science behind fear and fear reactions. I learnt quite a lot from these chapters about the body's response to fear (both rational and irrational) and the emotional responses to the physiological reactions.

There are some parts of the book which I found almost excruciating to read. The author is quite gifted at realistically depicting the terror of a full blown panic attack and it makes for both enlightening and difficult reading. The author has provided a superb bibliography and reading list with annotations for each chapter for readers who are interested in further exploration of the subject.

This is not a how-to-fix-your-fears handbook; the author has not provided medical advice. It is, however, a compelling and interesting look at the author's experiences with her own phobia in her own life.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

The fear of heights is something I always deal with.I totally relate to the author’s fears and applaud the steps she took to overcome them.Part memoir part therapy this was an excellent read.A book on dealing with the death of her mother her life’s challenges a very interesting read.#ecw #netgalley

My biggest fear is failure, and letting people down. I was really hoping this book would help me through some of those struggles and give me some exercises to help me. Instead, and please forgive me for being insensitive, but it really felt like the author was just complaining about their life and the results of fear that took place because of the occurrences in her life. Perhaps I misunderstood what the book was to be about.

Which comes first, the feeling of fear or the physical expression of it? Surprisingly, in Nerve: Adventures in the Science of Fear, the author presents scientific studies showing that the physical symptoms are interpreted by our brain into the feelings—rather than the other way around.

The author of this book uses current neurological and psychological theories to attempt to quiet her own phobias. Phobias are the “feared that need not be feared” or irrational fears. The author’s phobias are of heights, driving (after a series of car accidents), and losing her loved ones (after her mother’s recent death).

For heights, she tries skydiving to shock herself out of her fear. When that doesn’t work, she tries rock climbing to do some do-it-herself exposure therapy with slightly better results. However, the best success story is how she completely removes her fear of driving using the most modern of treatments.

For anyone who has phobias, fears, or past traumas, Nerve: Adventures in the Science of Fear is an engrossing and informative look into both past and modern treatment options. The section on Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) treatment for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) was particularly enlightening. 4.5 stars rounded up to 5 stars!

Thanks to The Experiment and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

I wasn’t expecting this book to be a memoir. It was interesting and written strongly, but I was hoping for more of a scientific approach to understanding and examining fear.

I've always been fascinated by the study of fear - how our brains react when we're afraid and how we can get past the things we're terrified by. Eva Holland's new book is an interesting take on this subject. The reader follows along on her journey to work on her own personal phobias (of heights, driving, the death of a loved one) as she simultaneously researches the science behind fear. I thought it was a brave choice for Holland to mine her own experiences for research topics, but I guess I wasn't expecting this book to have as much of a memoir-style to it. I found myself more drawn to the actual scientific and psychology-based research she cited and then trying to speed past her personal recollections. I did find the sections where she explored treatment options for anxiety-based disorders (including EMDR and exposure therapy) to be the most interesting aspect of this book. Holland is clearly a very talented journalist who has a knack for educating the reader on topics they might not know about. However, the book might have benefitted from a slightly heavier focus on research and additional personal accounts from other subjects to give it a more well-rounded feel.