This self-help books begins by describing the devastating reality of 7the condition of anxiety through the words of anxiety-sufferers themselves as well as through the writings of clinicians and scholars, and ends by presenting a treatment method. The positive message is that anxiety-sufferers who commit themselves to the treatment process will be cured. An important feature of the book is its feminist commentary on the cause of severe anxiety in women. It argues that women today exist in an "Age of Anxiety", and that those who are predisposed to the development of severe (neurotic) anxiety due to defensive patterns set up in childhood, will almost certainly be confronted with experiences that will destroy their defences and allow anxiety to break through and overwhelm them. Women who are anxiety-sufferers should find this book immediately helpful, discovering that their condition is not caused by some inherent weakness on their part, and that the first step on the road to overcoming it is to stop blaming themselves and then, to stop fighting it. Family members and friends of anxiety-sufferers will also find the book helpful, as will psychotherapists, psychologists, doctors and psychiatrists who are called upon regularly to help.