The Fear Talking: The True Story of a Young Man and Anxiety

Chris Westobys THE FEAR TALKING is truly important, beautifully written, and urgently needed. This book will save livesespecially the lives of young people, one of our most vulnerable and underserved populations when it comes to mental and behavioral health. Please give it to some anxious person you love (maybe that anxious person is you). - Clancy Martin, author of How not to Kill Yourself

A self-help memoir that takes an unflinching look at a young man's undiagnosed anxiety disorder and OCD.

Chris Westoby takes us inside his past self, a teenager from a small English town. He's trying to be a good friend, student, son and boyfriend, but he struggles to be in company without wanting to hide. And things only get worse: it's nearly impossible to take the bus to college without catching the next bus home. His obsessive germaphobia begins to destroy his life. How can one boy overcome all this? Chris gives an unflinching, raw account of his troubles and offers what he's learnt.

Some Expert Reactions

Read this book, and you will never forget it. As a narrative it's fascinating. As the memoir of a life lived with anxiety, it's incomparable.  Peter Draper, professor emeritus of Nursing Education, University of Hull

Anxiety is the most common form of mental distress and of course overlaps with normal human emotion. Yet it can be overwhelming and disabling and a gateway to other mental ill health notably depression and self-medication with alcohol and other substances. This engaging account throws a spotlight on how anxiety impacts on everyday life and relationships.  Patrick McGorry, Professor of Youth Mental Health, University of Melbourne

In The Fear Talking, Chris Westoby achieves the well-nigh impossible, giving us a fully immersive account of adolescent anxiety, allowing the reader to feel and experience with the narrator. If one of the main aims of the memoir form is to induce empathy in readers, Westoby's memoir succeeds brilliantly. The reader comes away with a new and profound understanding of what mental illness feels like from within.  Jonathan Taylor, Associate Professor Creative Writing, University of Leicester