Review: The Anxiety Code: Deciphering the Purposes of Neurotic Anxiety

The Anxiety Code: Deciphering the Purposes of Neurotic Anxiety by Roger Di Pietro
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This work is more descriptive than prescriptive; it explores more the what and why of the neurologically anxious rather that explains how to resolve it.

...neurotically anxious individuals have three distinct and revealing convictions that I’ve nicknamed the Anxiety Code: the need to be good, perfect, right, the need to be driven, and the need to be in control.

This book is primarily based on Adlerian theory and practice, wherein people are comprehended as active, resourceful, goal-oriented persons functioning within a social field. Adlerian theory and treatment is influential, incorporating individual, genetic, familial, and environmental factors in understanding and treating psychopathology.

Overall, the book is much too long and often reads like assembled notes for a presentation rather than an edited, focuses book-length treatment. I see the book in two parts, first a concise description of high anxiety and its motivation that could just be the book then hundreds of pages of what may be sockdologizing under the microscope as the author details, often redundantly, scheming of the anxious including long dialogue from mock therapy sessions.

I mostly appreciate the advice to look past the distracting symptoms and search for the motivation behind the anxiety; this person has some goal. See things from their point of view!

...people — and their symptoms — are much more comprehensible once you factor in how their desires shape their movement.

Those with generalized anxiety may develop symptoms and use excuses to do things that enable socially-beneficial goals.

What if anxiety symptoms aren’t merely the effect of some cause, but also personality-based and purposeful means to achieve goals?

People can focus on whatever is necessary to generate specific emotions that energize movement in any direction, or immobilize them from taking action, to reach a goal.

Throughout each life stage an individual needs to cooperate and be interdependent to address life’s challenges.

Those with generalized anxiety believe that they must be good, perfect, right. This can apply to one area or many. An intense or absolute tenacity to this conviction is related to symptom generation.

Neuroses reveal inadequacies in life preparation.

Neurotic individuals may seek attention, the prerequisite to acceptance, in accord with their life style convictions and in a way that validates their worldview.

Also valuable is advising against unhelpful techniques such as literalism and universalism:

Literalism can frustrate all involved. For those who detest a gray world, the stringent use of language can provide predictability, simplification, and clarity. In addition, literalism can elevate neurotic persons as they’re right in the absolutist sense, while prompting those proven wrong to make amends or engage in some other conciliatory behavior.

...problems arise when people act reflexively without thoroughly investigating what’s said. Unfortunately, unexamined statements may be taken as universal truths and applied to an entire population equally. While simple, easy, and common, uncritically using shortcuts and applying blanket terms neglects to take into account variations and exceptions to the rule.

Finally, I believe we are all on some continuum of anxiety so that some advice here is broadly applicable:

...they may gravitate toward simplistic shortcuts and neat explanations, which are economical but may be inaccurate or counterproductive as they make decisions with insufficient information.

...individuals may confirm what they believe (even if it’s unsupported, incorrect, or bizarre) rather than look for alternative hypotheses and change their perspectives and understanding. It’s easier for people to accept something that’s in accord with their perspective than for them to challenge their understanding.

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