On Edge: A Journey Through Anxiety

Andrea Petersen Reporter, Wall Street Journal and author, On Edge: A Journey Through Anxiety 

TWO EVENTS! 

12:00 PM, Loyola University Chicago School of Law, 25 E. Pearson St., Chicago RSVP REQUESTED for LUC event: www.bit.ly.com/FANPetersen 

7:00 PM

New Trier HS/Northfield, Cornog Auditorium, 7 Happ Rd., Northfield Interviewer: Karen Cassiday, Ph.D., ACT Owner and Managing Director, Anxiety and Agoraphobia Treatment Center of Greater Chicago President, Anxiety and Depression Association of America 

Presented by Family Action Network (FAN), in partnership with Family Service Center, Family Service of Glencoe, Glencoe D35, Haven Youth & Family Services, the National Alliance on Mental Illness-Cook County North Suburban, and the New and the New Trier Parents’ Association. 

These events are free and open to the public and the NTHS event will be videotaped. PDs available for educators at both events. 

Suitable for youth 12+. 

Info: www.familyactionnetwork.net

The estimated number of people who will have at least one anxiety disorder during the course of their lives is staggering: one in three Americans. The number is even higher for women—more than 40 percent. In any given year, about 40 million American adults have an anxiety disorder. That number includes Andrea Petersen, a highly regarded reporter for the Wall Street Journal. In her recently-released first book, On Edge: A Journey Through Anxiety, Ms. Petersen harnesses her personal experience and expertise as a health reporter to explore the biological mechanisms of anxiety and the groundbreaking research that might point the way to new treatments.

Ms. Petersen was first diagnosed with an anxiety disorder at the age of twenty. She had spells of breathlessness, a racing heart, and uncontrollable fear that seemingly came out of nowhere. She worried that any twinge of pain was a sign that she was seriously ill or had an undiagnosed disease. She was afraid of driving on highways, touching dirt, using a new tube of toothpaste, and even licking envelopes. Fear, she said, ambushed her. It took over a dozen doctors and almost a year before she was finally diagnosed and treated.

She candidly writes about how anxiety has colored her relationships—with her family, with her women friends, and with boyfriends—from the ones who were supportive to the ones who were overwhelmed and made a beeline for the exit. She writes about the history of how anxiety has been treated, and how anxiety has both bolstered and limited her own career.

Note: At Ms. Petersen’s 7:00 PM event at New Trier HS, she will be interviewed by Karen Cassiday, Ph.D., ACT, Owner and Managing Director, Anxiety and Agoraphobia Treatment Center of Greater Chicago and President, Anxiety and Depression Association of America.