I really enjoy learning about phycological issues generally. I find it so interesting and love the science behind figuring it out. However I did not get that from this book. The information is delivered in an inconcice confusing way.

This is probably an excellent book on the topic from a purely factual perspective. Unfortunately, it does read a bit like a professional textbook rather than a book that the average science-loving reader might read for interest and/or pleasure.

Thank you to NetGalley and Columbia University Press for an advanced electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

"Anxiety is not new. Yet now more than ever, anxiety seems to define our times. Anxiety disorders are the most common psychiatric disorders in the United States, exceeding mood, impulse-control, and substance-use disorders, and they are especially common among younger cohorts. More and more Americans are taking anti-anxiety medications. According to polling data, anxiety is experienced more frequently than other negative emotions. Why have we become so anxious?"

I live with anxiety, and I love to read about it. Sometimes I even read about the science side of psychiatry and how everything works, and find myself caught up in the information, feeling understood. However, that didn't happen here. The information was shared in a way that felt confusing and inaccessible, and I started to feel like I needed to defend and prove that my anxious feelings are real and can be debilitating. It's almost like being gaslit by a book. I feel like this book could be much more beneficial to someone who enjoys scientific text and does not feel invested in the topic of anxiety disorders.

I can relate to the fact anxiety is on the rise. So many changes, so much going on, it never seems to stop! This book does read like a textbook, so I read it sort of in a browsing manner. I think we should all just turn off our tvs, and devises, and chill. Going off grid can actually be as simple as just tuning out the news. Finding some enjoyable activities, or none. Mr. Schnittker's book, was a bit too thick for me, but I'll continue to browse it as it is an important topic.

As 2020 and 2021 continue to blur together and time further distorts around a seemingly endless stream of bad news around the globe, mental health awareness continues to become more and more important as we struggle to make sense of a chaotic world. In this sense, Jason Schnittker's Unnerved may seem expertly timed: a history of how anxiety has progressed medically and culturally throughout the years and has come to define many people's current outlooks. When taken as a purely scientific and fact-based treatise, Unnerved does its job well. It informs, teaches, and provides reason based solutions for an anxiety-filled society to move forward. Where the book may fail to engage a wide audience is in the presentation style. Unnerved reads far more akin to a textbook than a conversational piece, and at times is more of a chore to get through than something to casually sit down and read. Perhaps this impersonal style may work for some looking for facts only, but for myself I found myself skimming more often than not.

**I was given a copy of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Columbia University Press**

I want to start by saying I only managed to read the first chapter and half of the book. I expected it to a be book aimed at the mass market - thus easy to follow. It reads very much like a text book (maybe that’s the intention). I found it very difficult to read casually because it’s very educational and probably not something I would read on a train or plane.

Having said that, the part that I did read was interesting and brought and alternative perspective to anxiety. My background is psychology and so this allowed me to explore a different side to the history of mental health.