Poe's Heart and the Mountain Climber: Exploring the Effect of Anxiety on Our Brains and Our Culture

by Richard Restak

Are you bombarded by a constant media feed of global terrorism, war, and rising unemployment rates—and by a mind-numbing array of ads that urge you to “ask your doctor” about the newest anti-anxiety medications? If it sometimes feels as if this country is having a collective anxiety attack, then you won’t be surprised to learn that more than 19 million Americans suffer from some form of acute anxiety.

Poe’s Heart and the Mountain Climber tackles this situation head-on, with a fresh perspective and a straightforward approach to exploring and understanding our anxiety before it paralyzes us.

After interviewing many experts on anxiety, and reflecting on his own many years treating anxious patients (as well as experiencing more than a few anxious moments himself), Dr. Richard Restak has organized this book around one primary the best way to manage anxiety in these anxious times is to learn about it and put that learning to practical use. His message is vital and anxiety is not a mental illness that must require medication, but often a normal, biological response to stress.

Anxiety is part of our genetic makeup. We wouldn’t be alive today if our ancestors had lacked the ability to anticipate dangers and threats. Anxiety is as natural a part of our existence as breathing, eating, or sleeping, and it is closely linked to our powers of reasoning. Unlike any other species, only we are able to envision future possibilities. As a result, we aren’t tethered to the here and now, but can imaginatively anticipate the good things that might happen to us. But we can also envision the bad things and, as a result, experience anxiety. We can’t have one without the other. Anxiety, therefore, isn’t something to be eliminated but, rather, something to be understood. Anxiety is only undesirable when it becomes extreme.

This groundbreaking book teaches us to view anxiety not as a burden, but as a stimulus for greater accomplishment and enhanced self-knowledge. We will function at our best when we stop working to deny our anxiety or trying to escape it and instead learn to accept its presence in our lives and transform it into the positive, creative energy from which it stems.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Science, Brain, Medicine, Neuroscience

256 pages, Hardcover

First published November 23, 2004

About the author

Richard M. Restak M.D. is an award-winning neuroscientist, neuropsychiatrist and writer. The best-selling author of nineteen acclaimed books about the brain, he has also penned dozens of articles for a variety of publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and USA Today. A fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, the American Academy of Neurology, and the American Neuropsychiatric Association, he lives and practices in Washington, D.C.

Reviews

[Simon Cleveland · Rating 3 out of 5]

I should have paid more attention to the small shrift in the title of "Poe's Heart and the Mountain Climber : Exploring the Effect of Anxiety on Our Brains and Our Culture" by Richard Restak. Generally, the book is Neither about Poe Nor about Mountain Climbers. IT IS ABOUT ANXIETY and is heavily geared toward scientific enthusiasts and/or medical students. I seriously believe that if an anxiety suffering patient picks up this book by the time he/she reaches the end, he/she would've experienced an increase in anxiety symptoms.

For me it started unexpectedly with the lengthy exploration of how best to define what anxiety is...page after page, test after test...But I quickly brushed aside any fears of growing anxiety associated specifically with my worries of wasting my time yet again with a bad book and proceeded to read.

More pages followed with more definitions and tests and again the same feelings creped up on me of time wasted again. This time I listened to these feelings and found them to be true especially after the medical terminology kneed me in the groins of my brain with statements like

"... the next time you're feeling anxious, think about the brain circuitry that underlies your anxious responses: the role of the amygdala, the conditioning responses, and, most of all, the power of the frontal lobes to override or at least moderate the ..."

or
"...During the evolution of our brain, the massive growth of the prefrontal cortex resulted in an increase in back-and-forth traffic between that area and the amygdala...."

and also

"...But despite their inability to recall seeing the fearful face, PTSD veterans show an exaggerated amygdala response on íMRI testing, a response that varies directly with the severity of their PTSD symptoms..."

By the time I reached the Epilogue, I was hyperventilating. Thankfully, it proved the most helpful portion of the book and it is in this portion that the author redeems himself from causing my anxiety.

While in his "Mozart's Brain and the Fighter Pilot: Unleashing Your Brain's Potential" mr. Restak give frequent and helpful advices within each chapter of the book, he does this only in the Epilogue of this book. My advice, unless you absolutely need to know how anxiety is linked physiologically with your mind, skip to the Epilogue. My overall impression is that a lot of the information in this book is unnecessary unless you are planning to go to med school or are preparing for a scientific conference on the brain and its imbalances.

[Mary · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book seems useless to anyone but perhaps a psychology student who wants to go into research of the brain processes that cause anxiety. Since it was copyrighted in 2004 I’m assuming it is out of date for even those purposes.

[Colette · Rating 2 out of 5]

The title is very, very misleading. Expect maybe four paragraphs about Poe or mountain climbers. I finished it because I did not have anything else to read. I was not expecting so much about Anxiety. It was interesting, I suppose, but not at all what I was expecting. This might be better labeled as "Self Help" than Science/Psychology.

[Jose · Rating 5 out of 5]

awesome audio book. bought actual book in portland at powell's bookstore. will use in class next semester. interested in reading more by this author

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit dated, this book could use an update with recent breakthroughs in medicine and technology.

However, considering the increase in anxiety due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 coronavirus, it is still relevant. Just replace the mentions of the SARS outbreak with the new one.

[C · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just okay. Unfortunately, neuroscience outdated this book became extremely quickly--and while some sections were livelier than others, I found the stream of animal experiments (and the WEIRD never-ending apologies about animal testing) a little tiresome.

[Brad Mclaws · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book if you are actually Anxious and need help on that front. It is a OK book from the standpoint of the brain science. If you are not at all dealing with the issue of anxiety you might hate the book. It is sort of a balance of theory and practical advice. Like going to the doctor. :)

[Mark]

Restak is a reliable expositor of brain science. Need to get back to this.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

What's the difference between stress, fear and anxiety? Now I know.