Review of "Wish I Could Be There"
By Allen ShawnPenguin, 2007
Review by Leo Uzych, J.D., M.P.H. on Jan 8th 2008
Wish I Could Be There is the beautifully crafted handiwork of composer of music and writer Allen Shawn. As traversed in incomplete autobiographic detail in the book, the path of Shawn's life has been strewn copiously with phobic concerns, prominently including agoraphobia, which have unpleasantly fomented intense personal anguish. These psychological inner demons, in mesmerizing fashion, are conjured up for the reader through the medium of Shawn's brilliant writing ability.
As written, the book has a dual identity. Shawn drifts back and forth between absorbingly recounting, in memoir like style, autobiographic bits and pieces of his phobic tormented life, while also making intellectually gritty attempts at plumbing some of the profundities of phobias with relatively esoteric, academic style discourses.
But phobias are immensely complex psychological phenomena, and particular critics may opine that Shawn is far more a masterful writer and source of knowledge regarding the details of his own life than an adept at probing the daunting complexities of phobias with academic type tools. And indeed, for some at least, the book may have been even more engaging of readers' interest if Shawn had focused more sharply on an autobiographic account of his psychological quirks, rather than hybridizing the book with extended musings, which may be perceived by some as being technically arid in nature and, at times, meandering in direction.
All persons intrigued by human psychology, however, will likely be raptly attentive to this fascinating book. At the least, the autobiographic as well as technical directed information presented should be assistive to efforts to gingerly examine the prickly surface of phobias in search of better understanding of their psychologically highly nettlesome nature.
Twelve chapters comprise the structural mainstays of the book. The chapters are bookended by a "foreword" and an "introduction" on one side, and by an "epilogue" and "selected readings" on the other. In the foreword, Shawn explains that the book is not comprehensively a memoir. And, in the introduction, the reader is informed that Shawn is (or has been) afflicted with a multitude of phobias. As described by Shawn, a scroll written up with the phobias of Shawn, if unfolded, might stretch all the way to China. In the chapters that follow, Shawn parcels out a number of autobiographic morsels which certainly should be adequate in amount to whet the appetite of readers hungry for real life information about phobias, albeit perhaps not enough to fully satiate the intellectual hunger of ravenously curious readers.
As the various chapters unwind, the reader is informed of particular incidents in the life of Shawn connected to his phobic concerns.
The variant of phobia known as agoraphobia is especially of concern to Shawn. The task of fleshing out the bones of his agoraphobic concern starts in the book's introduction, where Shawn pithily describes an incident in which a seemingly innocuous car drive to a friend's house is truncated unhappily by the psychologically punishing sword of agoraphobia.
Over the course of the book, Shawn also reveals a good amount of information regarding persons attached importantly to his life. In Chapter Two, for instance, Shawn exposes details relating to phobic quirks which infected the psyche of his father. In Chapter Six, Shawn delves into his childhood, notably encompassing introspective comment with regard to his mentally impaired twin sister as well as his brother, mother and father. Shawn returns to a discussion of his twin sister in Chapter Ten, where he describes his twin sister's departure from the family home, and the resultant emotional turmoil which engulfed him. The subject of Shawn's twin sister is sewn further into the fabric of concluding Chapter Twelve, where Shawn movingly describes a visit to his twin sister, and a meeting with her psychiatrist (who explains to Shawn that his twin sister is autistic).
In the discussions which are bound to the autobiographic fragments populating the book, Shawn goes into theoretical details. In his determined efforts to instructively dissect the very complicated psychological anatomy of phobias, Shawn further displays a rather strong penchant for drawing on pertinent psychological insights contributed by Freud. An intellectual attraction to Freud is actually embedded fairly deeply in the book. The scientific work of Darwin likewise garners the attention of Shawn. Particularly, in Chapter Three, Shawn endeavors to add edifying perspective to behavioral phenomena by retracing some of the limbs of such phenomena to their roots. This quest takes Shawn along an intellectual trail leading to Darwin's scientific work.
Scientific research is ongoing, regarding phobias. To Shawn's very considerable credit, his informative and insightful account of how phobias have sorely and persistently tugged and pulled at his emotions and behaviors may be helpfully conducive to moving such research in a forward direction. Psychologists, psychiatrists, neurologists, behavioral therapists, and neurophysiologists are among the professional groups who may be engrossed by Shawn's animating descriptions of his phobic malaise.
© 2008 Leo Uzych
Leo Uzych (based in Wallingford, PA) earned a law degree, from Temple University; and a master of public health degree, from Columbia University. His area of special professional interest is healthcare.
Resources
-
Articles
- What is Anxiety?
-
The Biopsychosocial Model of Anxiety
- The Biopsychosocial Model: Causes of Pathological Anxiety
- Biological Explanations of Anxiety Disorders
- Biological Explanations of Anxiety: Part II
- Biological Explanations of Anxiety: Part III
- Biological Explanations of Anxiety: Part IV
- Psychological Explanations of Anxiety Disorders
- Psychological Explanations: Part II
- Social Explanations of Anxiety Disorders
- Development & Maintenance of Anxiety Disorders
-
Classification & Diagnosis of Anxiety Disorders
- The Classification and Diagnosis of Anxiety Disorders
- Panic Attacks: A Classic Symptom of Several Anxiety Disorders
- Panic Disorder
- Separation Anxiety Disorder
- Selective Mutism
- Agoraphobia
- Specific Phobias and Social Anxiety Disorder (Social Phobia)
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
- Other Anxiety-Related Disorders
- Anxiety and Other Psychiatric Disorders
-
Anxiety Disorder Theories and Therapies
- Anxiety Disorders: Theories and Therapies
- Behavioral Learning Theory and Associated Therapies
- Operant Conditioning
- Operant Conditioning and Avoidance Learning
- Contemporary Views of Behavioral Learning Theory
- Behavioral Therapies for Anxiety Disorders
- Cognitive Theory and Associated Therapies
- Cognitive Therapy
- Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
- Adjunct Therapies
- Pharmacologic Treatments (Medication)
-
Treatment of Anxiety Disorders
- Treatment for Separation Anxiety Disorder
- Treatment for Selective Mutism
- Treatment for Panic Disorder
- Treatment for Specific Phobias and Treatment for Social Anxiety Disorder (Social Phobia)
- Treatment for Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
- Treatment for Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders (OCSDs)
- Conclusion
- Anxiety Disorder References & Additonal Resources
-
News
-
Questions and Answers
- Anxious About Opinions
- Possible OCD and Anxiety issues
- Fear
- Stay in Therapy Because I Like it?
- Is My Anxiety a Normal Reaction?
- What am I Supposed to do With a Hypochondriac Step Daughter?
- Need Help
- Husband Continually Annoyed/Angry With Me
- How Can I Overcome my Debilitating Shyness and Fear of Life?
- Really Desperate..Please Help
-
111 more
- OCD and Trauma?
- Depression
- I Don't Care For Anything, I Feel as Though I'm Wasting my Life.
- Unwanted Thoughts
- Anxiety Has Taken Over My Life...
- CBT Therapy and Transference
- Transference II
- OCD
- 19 Yr Old Naive Daughter
- Fear of Choking
- Help
- Should I be Worried?
- Too Much Time doing Homework
- Falling Apart
- Can't Stand Noise
- What Is Intimacy, Exactly?
- Is She Ill?
- Social Anxiety, Depression and More...
- Do I Have Just Social Anxiety or Other Diagnoses Combined with SA?
- Need To Ask Someone
- False Memories
- Help! Please!
- Two Year Old Son Wandered
- Infections and The Brain
- Are Personality Disorders For Life?
- I am Terrified of Death.
- Anhedonia
- Our 23 Year Old Son Refuses to Get Help for His Anxiety Attacks and Depression.
- Anxiety
- Anxiety Disorder vs. Personality Disorder: Differences?
- Restroom Phobia
- I'm Afraid I'm Going Crazy
- Post Brain Surgery Mental Problems
- Would Medication Help?
- obsessive strange thoughts about life and existentialism
- Am I Crazy?
- Is it Anxiety? Is it Normal to Be Like That?
- Depressed 19 year old college student
- Depression helps to contribute to my unemployment! - Paula
- Relationship Anxiety
- Disconnected
- I'm Scared
- Please help fix my mom. - Kenny
- OCD?
- Saving my Son
- Scary thoughts, dark feelings, help?
- Swallowing fear
- Is there something wrong with me?
- I have PTSD and I feel nothing
- OCD Cure
- Repressed Memory
- I have OCD. Will this increase my child's chance of developing Autism?
- Crazy Thoughts
- 20 Year Old Female: no friends, depressed, what should I do?
- unwanted thoughts!
- crazy thoughts... all the time
- A very low threshold for stress tolerance
- Why can't I get gross images out of my head?
- fear of expiration
- SPECIFIC PHOBIA
- anxiety or going crazy?
- OCB
- visions of what could have been
- about depersonalization
- obsessive compulsive disorder
- OCD/ANXIETY while pregnant
- Amnesia
- Social Phobia
- Constant Counting Disorder
- Anxiety
- Is this OCD?
- Worried about my therapist
- No Friends
- Teenager...angst vs. mental health issue
- phobia regarding uncertainty
- Obsessed with running out of things
- Do I Have OCD?
- Do environmental factors hold a person back?
- Never Had a Relationship
- Shy Rural Student
- Nursing Student's Anxiety
- I'm Afraid They Are Judging Me
- Part Time Work and Stress
- Anxiety
- Panic
- Bathroom Phobia
- Anxiety?
- Mastery Of Anxiety And Panic
- Very Determined Panicker In The South
- Panicking Boyfriend
- Alternatives For Anxiety Treatment
- Is Anxiety A Hereditary Factor?
- Unable To Keep Eye Contact
- Is It Really Panic? And How Do We Get Help
- A Cure For Claustrophobia?
- Panic Attacks
- Shyness And The Post Partum Blues
- Klonopin
- Alternative Treatment
- Can't Afford Therapy
- Driving Phobia
- Indecisive
- Agoraphobia?
- Social Fear
- A Cure For Anxiety?
- Panic Attacks
- Fear of Driving
- Shy Guy
- Anxiety?
- Social Anxiety
- Linda writes:
-
Book & Media Reviews
- 8 Keys to Stress Management
- A Brief History of Anxiety
- Anxiety
- Anxiety
- Anxiety Disorders
- Anxiety, Phobias, and Panic
- Been There, Done That? DO THIS!
- Calm Beneath the Waves
- Elsewhere
- Exercise for Mood and Anxiety
-
31 more
- Getting Control
- Helping Students Overcome Depression and Anxiety
- Just Checking
- Mind-Body Workbook for Anxiety
- Monkey Mind
- My Age of Anxiety
- Overcoming School Anxiety
- Panic Disorder
- Passing for Normal
- Phobic and Anxiety Disorders in Children and Adolescents
- Repressed Spaces
- Self-Coaching
- Stress
- Stress Survival Guide
- Textbook of Anxiety Disorders
- The 10 Best Anxiety Busters
- The Age of Anxiety
- The Anxieties of Affluence
- The Dutiful Worrier
- The Emotional Eater's Repair Manual
- The Male Stress Survival Guide
- The Places That Scare You
- The Stress Cure
- The SuperStress Solution
- Treating Affect Phobia
- Under Pressure and Overwhelmed
- Viniyoga Therapy for Anxiety
- When Words Are Not Enough
- Wish I Could Be There
- Yoga for Anxiety
- Yoga Journal's Yoga for Stress
-
Self-Help Groups
-
Links
-
Videos
- How to Manage ADHD and Anxiety
- What You Need to Know about Students with ADHD and Anxiety
- How To Make Room For Gratitude In An Anxious Brain
- How to Stay Calm When You Know You'll Be Stressed
- Anxiety and Teen Girls with Lisa Damour, PhD
- Is it Anxiety or a Heart Condition?
- Identifying and Treating Anxiety in Kids and Teens
- Child Anxiety, It’s Real
- Helping Children Cope with Anxiety
- Anxiety, Trauma and How Prolonged Exposure Therapy Works For PTSD
-
26 more
- OCD, Phobias and Anxiety
- How Weighted Blankets May Lift Anxiety
- Controlling Anxiety
- Too Scared: Social Anxiety Disorder
- Panic Disorders Video
- Phobias Video
- Treating Anxiety Disorders: A Unified Protocol
- Treating Youth Anxiety and Social Phobia
- Overcoming Anxiety in Children and Teens
- Treating Anxiety in Children and Teens with ASD
- Back-to-School Anxiety
- No More Shame: My life with Anxiety and Depression
- Adolescent Depression and Anxiety
- What is Social Anxiety Disorder?
- Living Without Fear
- What is Generalized Anxiety Disorder?
- What is Generalized Anxiety Disorder?
- School Anxiety! Activities To Help Kids and Teens Manage It
- Recognizing and Treating Problematic Fear and Anxiety in Children
- How To Stop Overthinking When You Have Anxiety
- My Anxiety Is Making Me Anxious!
- Evidence-Based Treatment Planning for Generalized Anxiety Disorder Video
- Managing Anxiety in Youth: More Action Than Talk
- Treatment of Social Anxiety Disorder
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety
- Recent Advances in Anxiety - Children/Adolescents
-
More Information
- Wise Counsel Interview Transcript: An Interview with David Barlow, Ph.D. on the Nature and Treatment of Anxiety and Panic Disorders
- Wise Counsel Interview Transcript: An Interview with Dr. Michelle Craske on Anxiety Disorders Research and Treatment
- Wise Counsel Interview Transcript: An Interview with Richard Heimberg, Ph.D. on Anxiety Research and Treatment
Topics
-
Related Topic Centers
-
Addictions
-
Aging & Elder Care
-
Assessments & Interventions
-
Career & Workplace
-
Emotional Well-Being
-
Life Issues
-
Parenting & Child Care
-
Abuse
-
ADHD: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
-
Adoption
-
Autism
-
Child & Adolescent Development: Overview
-
Child & Adolescent Development: Puberty
-
Child Development & Parenting: Early (3-7)
-
Child Development & Parenting: Infants (0-2)
-
Child Development & Parenting: Middle (8-11)
-
Child Development & Parenting:Adolescence (12-24)
-
Child Development Theory: Adolescence (12-24)
-
Child Development Theory: Middle Childhood (8-11)
-
Childhood Mental Disorders and Illnesses
-
Childhood Special Education
-
Divorce
-
Family & Relationship Issues
-
Intellectual Disabilities
-
Learning Disorders
-
Oppositional Defiant Disorder
-
Parenting
-
Self Esteem
-
-
Psychological Disorders
-
Anxiety Disorders
-
Bipolar Disorder
-
Conversion Disorders
-
Depression: Depression & Related Conditions
-
Dissociative Disorders
-
Domestic Violence and Rape
-
Eating Disorders
-
Impulse Control Disorders
-
Intellectual Disabilities
-
Mental Disorders
-
Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders
-
Personality Disorders
-
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
-
Schizophrenia
-
Sexual Disorders
-
Somatic Symptom and Related Disorders
-
Suicide
-
Tourettes and other Tic Disorders
-