Description

Tim Clare has suffered from anxiety and panic attacks for over a decade. At their worst, his attacks would see him curled on the floor, screaming to his wife for help. When they became more than he and his family could manage, Tim made a promise to himself – he would try everything he could to get better, every method and medicine.

In Coward, Tim Clare explores all the possible treatments for anxiety, from SSRIs to hypnosis, running to extreme diets. He interviews experts and becomes a guinea pig, testing their methods on himself. At the end of a year of many ups and downs, Tim discovers what helps him (and what doesn’t), and what might help others. Most of all, he comes to rethink anxiety and encourages all of us to do the same.

Publisher Review

Funny, fascinating, brilliant and brave, Coward isn't a self-help guide to beating anxiety - it's far more valuable than that -- MELISSA HARRISON Such a tonic. Funny, honest, moving - meticulously researched. I'm learning loads. I think it will help a lot of people -- NATHAN FILER Fascinating, thought-provoking, vulnerable and generous, Coward is an important book. I wish everyone would read it -- CATHY RENTZENBRINK In a space crowded with arrogant, dogmatic self-help, this is a story which actually delivers something useful. It's a meditation on the science and purpose of anxiety, its function and the disability it causes. It's reassuring and funny in equal measure -- DR CHRIS VAN TULLEKEN Tim Clare may call himself a coward but this brave and beautiful memoir proves he's anything but. This isn't a manifesto or self-help book - instead Coward is a darkly comic, deftly researched and devastatingly moving meditation on the pain and self-loathing of anxiety and the redemptive power of love to help us change our minds. This is a must-read for all of us trying to stay sane in an increasingly distressing world -- SUSANNAH CAHALAN