Anxious Geographies

Anxious Geographies offers a unique perspective on social anxiety, framing it as both a social and spatial phenomenon. Through a meticulous exploration using online questionnaires and interviews, the book provides a crucial examination of the intricacies of anxious lives.

Louise E. Boyle is an honorary research fellow in the School of Geographical and Earth Sciences at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. She has published in Social Science and Medicine and co-edited the forthcoming Routledge Handbook on Spaces of Mental Health and Well-Being (2024).

Chapter 1 Introduction Introduction Motivation and aims A note on terminology Researching social anxiety Structure of this book Chapter 2 The medicalisation of anxious distress Introduction A 'neglected disorder' Social underpinnings of social anxiety Concluding remarks Chapter 3: Situating social anxiety Introduction Geographies of health and wellbeing Spatialities Temporalities Restrictive and disruptive temporalities Layered temporalities Embodiments Embodied meaning Embodied practices Concluding remarks Chapter 4: Temporal intensities: ruminations and anticipations Introduction Retroactivity Anticipations Ruminations Concluding remarks Chapter 5: Making sense of anxious experiences: self-diagnosis, diagnosis, and help-seeking Introduction Diagnosing the self Barriers to diagnosis and support Seeking formal diagnosis Affirmative experiences of diagnosis Negative encounters Medical and therapeutic spaces Concluding remarks Chapter 6: Spatialities of anxious experience I: Home and workplaces Introduction Home Fragmented home spaces Domestic routines Anticipatory objects Housing conditions Workspaces Concluding remarks Chapter 7: Spatialities of social anxiety II: Diminishing social worlds Introduction Friendships and family relations Difficulty and uncertainty Fewer opportunities Emotional work Loneliness and social isolation Third places Consumer spaces Public transport Concluding remarks Chapter 8: The (un)habitual geographies of social anxiety Introduction Habit The disruption of everyday life (Un)habitual geographies of social anxiety Managing time and space Spatial routes Spatial screens Moments of escape Concluding remarks Acknowledgment Chapter 9: Towards anxious geographies Reimagining social anxiety Anxious spatialities Anxious temporalities Anxious embodiments Avenues for future research Recommendations for policy and practice Unsung impacts