The Anxiety Club: How to Survive Modern Life

by Frédéric Fanget, Pauline Aubry (Illustrator), Catherine Meyer

An illustrated guide to help identify, understand, and manage anxiety.

In The Anxiety Club we are introduced to three characters, each with a different form of anxiety. After hearing their stories, we follow them into the therapy room, where they discover the behavioral, cognitive, and emotional tools to help free themselves from anxious thinking. Many people believe that there is no treatment for they try to soothe their inner suffering with medication, alcohol, drugs, or binge eating. However, there are healthy ways to manage such negative thoughts and feelings.

This self-help handbook, written by leading anxiety expert and psychiatrist Dr. Frédéric Fanget and editor Catherine Meyer and drawn by Pauline Aubry, helps the reader to identify, understand, and find freedom from anxiety.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Mental Health, Nonfiction, Health, Graphic Novels Comics

128 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2024

Reviews

[Carter Olendzenski · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one would’ve gotten a higher rating if they didn’t shit on medication so much. Some people need it to function, plain and simple. But overall a really good read

[Niina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ihan mielenkiintoinen tietosarjakuva ahdistuksesta. Tässä keskityttiin erityisesti kahteen tapausesimerkkiin, joiden oirekuvaus ei ollut yhtenevä itseni kanssa (toisen ollessa helikopterivanhempi). Olisikin ollut kiinnostavampaa, jos keskiössä olisi ollut sosiaalinen ahdistus, silloin tästä olisi voinut saada jotain enemmän irti.

[Gideon Berry · Rating 2 out of 5]

I understand that the coauthor is a psychotherapist/psychiatrist, but it's clear that the author does not have lived experienced with anxiety.

Imagine if every portrayal of anxiety or a anxious person was portrayed by Edvard Munch's "the Scream." That's what this book feels like. They're not people, but caricatures. It feels insulting as someone is all to familiar with the patronizing medical system that this book perpetuates. As such, there is nothing nuanced about the portrayal of what it is like to live with anxiety.

I'm only giving it a 2/5 as it wasn't painful enough that I could not get through the whole thing. Maybe this can be helpful for children's book as graphic nature may be more consumable than other self-help books, but it's nothing special whatsoever.

[Christiana Robey · Rating 4 out of 5]

My graphic novel journey continues as my anxiety is making it hard to concentrate on other books - lol! This one was short and to the point, but definitely had some good tips and tricks for those who struggle with anxiety. Although I believe this book was best suited for late high school/ young adults, I thought the information was very accessible and worthwhile even if you have a pretty good understanding of the different types of anxiety and basic coping mechanisms.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't expect anything too deep from this graphic novel, but Fanget does provide a great overview of anxiety...what it is, how it makes you feel, etc. If you suffer from anxiety, you can read this to feel seen. Or suggest that others read it to gain some basic understanding of what you might be going through. It also champions therapy, and talks a little bit about anxiety medication. One thing it doesn't do—replace actual therapy or diagnosis, of course.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m participating in a challenge to visit 15 of my local libraries and this book was featured in the young adult comic section at one of them. As a middle school counselor, this is excellent depiction of how anxiety functions in the body. It also provides tips on how to mitigate the intense feelings to make anxiety more manageable.

[Bethany · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd give this book 3.5 stars if for adults.

Per the publisher, the audience (for the US version, at least) is 14-17 . . . this book is unlikely to be relatable or engaging for that demographic.

[The_J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite a trek trying to sell Anxiety cures to Gen Z.

[Petra Jayne Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being an anxiety sufferer myself I found this book to be an enjoyable relatable comfort read.

[Richard Wade · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot of useful information throughout this book. It opens your mind to getting help if you need it.

[sweetpotatocat · Rating 2 out of 5]

meh. advice is quite clinical (as expected), depictions felt very… caricature-ish? informative but not like… mind-blowing ig. it didn’t hit very deep for me personally.

also i was NOT a fan of the (albeit brief) depiction of obsessive-compulsive-type anxiety (ocd? unsure if author meant ocd or obsessive-compulsive traits generally) as a “micromanager.” this was a small detail in the first chapter introducing “types of anxiety” but it left a bad taste and i like couldn’t shake it off when reading the rest of the book.