Fear is a powerful emotion and a formidable spur to action, a source of worry and - when it is manipulated - a source of injustice. Manufacturing Phobias demonstrates how economic and political elites mobilize fears of terrorism, crime, migration, invasion, and infection to twist political and social policy and advance their own agendas. The contributors to the collection, experts in criminology, law, sociology, and politics, explain how and why social phobias are created by pundits, politicians, and the media, and how they target the most vulnerable in our society. Emphasizing how social phobias reflect the interests of those with political, economic, and cultural power, this work challenges the idea that society's anxieties are merely expressions of individual psychology. Manufacturing Phobias will be a clarion call for anyone concerned about the disturbing consequences of our culture of fear.

Combining popular appeal with accessibly written entries suitable for research projects, this fascinating encyclopedia provides a thorough introduction to the psychological and scientific aspects of phobias. Many people have irrational fears. Phobias affect about 19 million Americans each year. So is fear "normal"? At what point do fears become clinical phobias? Phobias: The Psychology of Irrational Fear is the definitive volume on a broad range of topics related to fears and phobias. After an introduction to the subject of fear and phobias, the encyclopedia presents approximately 200 A–Z, cross-referenced entries that address phobias from a variety of angles-types of fears, root causes, physiological and psychological effects, classification, and treatments. The work presents accurate, authoritative, and up-to-date information based on scientific evidence. The majority of the numerous contributors are anxiety disorder researchers and clinicians who possess cutting-edge knowledge of their areas of expertise. Ideal for both high school students and general audiences, readers will be engaged by high-interest content that not only details and explains various phobias but enables them to trace the history, theories, and practices associated with the study and treatment of phobias.

The English-language debut of Hiroko Oyamada—one of the most powerfully strange young voices in Japan The English-language debut of one of Japan's most exciting new writers, The Factory follows three workers at a sprawling industrial factory. Each worker focuses intently on the specific task they've been assigned: one shreds paper, one proofreads documents, and another studies the moss growing all over the expansive grounds. But their lives slowly become governed by their work—days take on a strange logic and momentum, and little by little, the margins of reality seem to be dissolving: Where does the factory end and the rest of the world begin? What's going on with the strange animals here? And after a while—it could be weeks or years—the three workers struggle to answer the most basic question: What am I doing here? With hints of Kafka and unexpected moments of creeping humor, The Factory casts a vivid—and sometimes surreal—portrait of the absurdity and meaninglessness of the modern workplace.

While television has always played a role in recording and curating history, shaping cultural memory, and influencing public sentiment, the changing nature of the medium in the post-network era finds viewers experiencing and participating in this process in new ways. They skim through commercials, live tweet press conferences and award shows, and tune into reality shows to escape reality. This new era, defined by the heightened anxiety and fear ushered in by 9/11, has been documented by our media consumption, production, and reaction. In Small Screen, Big Feels, Melissa Ames asserts that TV has been instrumental in cultivating a shared memory of emotionally charged events unfolding in the United States since September 11, 2001. She analyzes specific shows and genres to illustrate the ways in which cultural fears are embedded into our entertainment in series such as The Walking Dead and Lost or critiqued through programs like The Daily Show. In the final section of the book, Ames provides three audience studies that showcase how viewers consume and circulate emotions in the post-network era: analyses of live tweets from Shonda Rhimes's drama, How to Get Away with Murder (2010–2020), ABC's reality franchises, The Bachelor (2002–present) and The Bachelorette (2003–present), and political coverage of the 2016 Presidential Debates. Though film has been closely studied through the lens of affect theory, little research has been done to apply the same methods to television. Engaging an impressively wide range of texts, genres, media, and formats, Ames offers a trenchant analysis of how televisual programming in the United States responded to and reinforced a cultural climate grounded in fear and anxiety.

Origins of Phobias and Anxiety Disorders

The National Institute of Mental Health calls anxiety disorders the most common mental health problem in America. They are also among the most treatable. Yet tens of millions of people struggle with hidden fears and restricted lives because they have not received proper diagnosis and treatment. Triumph Over Fear combines Jerilyn Ross's firsthand account of overcoming her own disabling phobia with inspiring case histories of recovery from other forms of anxiety, including panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder; an post-traumatic stress disorder. State-of-the-art information is combined with powerful self-help techniques, together with clear indications of when to seek additional professional help and/or medication. Also included is the latest research on anxiety disorders in children, plus advice for dealing with family members and employers.

Everyone knows what it is to be afraid. But phobias take the normal (and even helpful!) human emotion of fear to a much more visceral, even primal, place. For some people, it’s a spider that does it. For others it’s a clown, or a trans-Atlantic flight, or even just a puddle of water. It’s the thing that stops us in our tracks, sets our hearts racing, and stands our hairs on end. Scared Stiff takes readers on a journey through these experiences—using biology, psychology, and history (not to mention pop culture) to explain where our phobias came from, how they affect us, and how we might eventually overcome them.