Social Phobia: From Shyness to Stage Fright by John R. Marshall

Product Details

Synopsis

Everyone feels shy or nervous occasionally, but for millions of Americans even signing a check or eating a sandwich in public evokes enormous anxiety, often leading these people to withdraw entirely from social contact. Long neglected by psychologists, social phobia has now been dubbed the ”disorder of the decade.” This important book, with its moving case histories, proves that this cruel condition need not doom a person to a life sentence of loneliness and despair. In his ten years of practice in anxiety disorders clinic, John R. Marshall has been a pioneer in recognizing and treating social phobia. Now he presents a vivid portrait of the disorder in all its many manifestations, from a paralyzing fear of eye contact to fear of shopping.

Library Journal

General psychiatrist Marshall began counseling anxiety disorder patients in the mid-1980s. At that time, anxiety disorders were emerging as psychiatric conditions in their own right rather than symptoms of other disorders. Marshall's particular interest here is in social phobics (i.e., those whose lives are controlled by intense and abiding fears of social interaction). Combining theory, research findings, and clinical expertise with examples from the lives of socially phobic people, Marshall presents a very readable overview of the topic. He explains a wide spectrum of social phobias, including the fear of eating in public and imagined body ugliness. The appendix discusses other anxiety disorders. Recommended for public and academic libraries.-Carol R. Nelson, Ball State Univ. Lib., Muncie, Ind.

Biography

John R. Marshall, M.D., is professor of psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and director of the Anxiety Disorders Clinic there.