Book Review: Getting Old Without Getting Anxious by Peter V. Rabins, MD

This is one of the hardest book reviews I’ve ever written. Not because the book was bad — on the contrary, it was interesting and very informative. No, I’m having a hard time with this review because of my family. You see, many older members of my family suffer from anxiety disorders, and it would be perfect, really, to tie that in with this review of Getting Old Without Getting Anxious, a book about anxiety disorders in the elderly. Except for one thing. My family sucks, and me pretending to overflow with compassionate concern would be downright dishonest, and I prefer to keep my writing sincere.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Vietnam vet guy? That would be my stepfather: racist, sexist, slovenly, loudmouth drunkard, to whom I wouldn’t give a Valium even if I were crapping bottles of them. Then there’s my neglectful, abusive mother who suffers from what she calls “the nerves”, which I suspect is a kind of generalised anxiety disorder. I love her, but it has taken me around 25 years to make peace with the past and move into a comfortable relationship with her, and that comfort-zone does not include me attempting any kind of intervention with her psychiatric problems. Just getting through a phone call is often hard enough.

The book, Getting Old Without Getting Anxious by geriatric psychiatrist Peter V Rabins, is subtitled, A Book for Seniors, Loved Ones, and Caregivers, in other words, a book for seniors, people who give a damn, and people who are paid to give a damn. I suppose Dr. Rabins wrote this book for familes that are a little more functional than mine, and those families will find a wealth of helpful information and advice within its pages.

Getting Old Without Getting Anxious is divided into three parts. Part One deals with the underlying causes of anxiety and the complexities of diagnosing anxiety disorders in elderly patients, and also some advice for the caring child of an anxious parent on how to talk to a parent about anxiety, and how to engage with an anxious parent in a compassionate way.

Part Two is a more in-depth look at the various anxiety disorders — depression, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, panic, and phobias. Each chapter covers symptoms (physiological, behavioral, and cognitive), causes, and treatments of the disorder portrayed. These chapters were not written for the purpose of self-diagnosis, but more for gaining a better understanding of each of these potentially debilitating diseases.

Article Author: Che

Mild mannered cartomancer by day, grouchy and reclusive artist and writer by night. Friendly neighborhood voodou-gnostic on good days, wild-eyed tattooed hillbilly witch/bitch on bad days; be-furred, femur-chewing, hell-broth addicted were-thingy on weird days. …

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