Video Interview with Little Panic Author Amanda Stern

Two Gen Xers Share a Facebook Live Chat and Live to Tell The Tale

Yesterday afternoon I had the pleasure of meeting and talking to Amanda Stern, author of Little Panic: Dispatches from an Anxious Life on in a Beautiful Voyager Facebook live chat. It was such a joy to get to find out from Amanda herself, whose book I loved, about how the book came to be, and what it feels like to talk about her panic disorder publically. It's a long interview (1 hour!) so I wanted to break down different areas so that you can forward to the area that interests you.

2:20 The interview really begins (the first two minutes are warm up).

4:45 How it feels to be talking about panic disorder in real life.

6:30 Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade's suicides affected this public moment.

8:38 Jenny Slate would play Amanda Stern if there were a movie version of this book.

11:38 How writing is almost like doing EMDR on yourself.

13:49 How the fear of not being educated enough may have held her back.

19:15 Panic disorder wasn't in the vocabulary, therefore people didn't spot it.

14:40 The difference between gut (trust the gut) and the feeling of doom (don't trust it).

28:04 The last panicked experience Amanda had. What happened, and what it felt like.

36:45 Amanda and I both talk about how amazing the book The Worry Cure is.

38:45 My very personal take on why Scott Stossel's book is the result of a stigmatized culture.

45:53 Amanda's next voyage may be: intelligence testing.

50:19 Amanda's advice for parents who may be dealing with anxiety disorders in their children.

54:30 What Amanda and I are worried about right now.

57:13 Amanda is going to be in San Francisco and we are going to meet up. Come see her read from her book and say hello to me too!