Book

May, Rollo, author.

The meaning of anxiety / Rollo May.

Revised edition.

New York : W. W. Norton & Company, 2015.

©1977

xxii, 432 pages ; 21 cm

"In this revised edition of his classic work--the first modern book on anxiety following Freud and Kierkegaard--psychologist Rollo May brings order and lucidity to the subject of anxiety. Rollo May challenges the idea that "mental health is living without anxiety," believing it is essential to being human. He explores how it can relieve boredom, sharpen sensibilities, and produce the tension necessary to preserve human existence. May sees a link extending from anxiety to intelligence, creativity, and originality, and guides the reader away from destructive ways to positive ways of dealing with anxiety. He convincingly proposes that anxiety can impel personal change, as it is only by confronting and coping with it that self-realization can occur." -- Back cover.

From the Publisher: When this important work was originally published in 1950-the first book in this country on anxiety-it was hailed as a work ahead of its time. In the revised edition of this now-classic study, the distinguished author of Love and Will deepens his exploration into anxiety theory. Dr. May challenges the idea that mental health means living without anxiety, and he explores anxiety's potential for self-realization as well as ways to avoid its destructive aspects.

Anxiety.

Anxiety.

Self-help publications.

Self-help publications.

Revised edition originally published in 1977.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [411]-420) and index.

Foreword to the first edition -- Foreword to the revised edition -- Acknowledgments -- pt. I. Modern interpretations of anxiety -- 1. Anxiety in mid-twentieth century -- In literature -- In social studies -- In the political scene -- In philosophy and theology -- In psychology -- Purpose of this book -- 2. Philosophical interpreters of anxiety -- Spinoza : reason overcoming fear -- Pascal : the inadequacy of reason -- Kierkegaard : anxiety in the nineteenth century -- 3. Anxiety interpreted biologically -- The startle pattern -- Anxiety and the catastrophic reaction -- Anxiety and the loss of the world -- Origins of anxiety and fear as seen by Goldstein -- The capacity to bear anxiety -- Numerological and physiological aspects of anxiety -- Perception of danger -- Balance in the autonomic system -- Voodoo death -- Psychosomatic aspects of anxiety -- An example : gastric functions -- The case of Tom -- Culture and the meaning of disease -- 4. Anxiety interpreted psychologically -- Do animals have anxiety? -- The study of children's fears -- Maturation in anxiety and fears -- Fears masking anxiety -- A note on the stress and anxiety -- Recent research on anxiety -- Anxiety and learning theory -- Personal comments -- 5. Anxiety interpreted by the psychotherapists -- Freud's evolving theories of anxiety -- Anxiety and repression -- Origins of anxiety as seen by Freud -- Trends in Freud's theories of anxiety -- Rank : anxiety and individuation -- Adler : anxiety and inferiority feelings -- Jung : anxiety and the threat of the irrational -- Horney : anxiety and hostility -- Sullivan : anxiety as apprehension of disapproval -- 6. Anxiety interpreted culturally -- The importance of the historical dimension -- Individualism in the Renaissance -- Competitive individualism in work and wealth -- Fromm : individual isolation in modern culture -- Anxiety and the market place -- Mechanisms of escape -- Kardiner : Western man's growth pattern -- 7. Summary and synthesis of theories of anxiety -- The nature of anxiety -- Normal and neurotic anxiety -- Origins of anxiety -- Maturation of the capacity for anxiety -- Anxiety and fear -- Anxiety and conflict -- Anxiety and hostility -- Culture and community.

pt. II. Clinical analysis of anxiety -- 8. Case studies demonstrating anxiety -- What we seek to discover -- Harold Brown : conflict underlying servere anxiety -- Conclusions -- 9. The study of unmarried mothers -- Methods used -- Helen : intellectualizing as a defense against anxiety -- Nancy : expectations at war with reality -- Agnes : anxiety related to hostility and aggression -- Louise : rejection by mother without anxiety -- Bessie : rejection by parents without anxiety -- Dolores : anxiety panic while under severe threat -- Phyllis : absence of anxiety in an impoverished personality -- Frances : constriction versus the creative impulse -- Charlotte : psychotic developments as an escape from anxiety -- Hester : anxiety, defiance, and rebellion -- Sarah and Ada : absence and presence of anxiety in two black women -- Irene : anxiety, overconscientiousness, and shyness -- 10. Gleanings from the case studies -- Anxiety underlying fear -- Conflict : source of anxiety -- Rejection by parents and anxiety -- Cleavage between expectations and reality -- Neurotic anxiety and the middle class -- pt. III. The management of anxiety-- 11. Methods of dealing with anxiety -- In extreme situations -- Destructive ways -- Constructive ways -- 12. Anxiety and the development of the self -- Anxiety and the impoverishment of personality -- Creativity, intelligence, and anxiety -- The realization of the self -- Appendices -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.

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880566232

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BF575.A6 M35 2015

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