If This Doesn’t Turn Into a Catastrophe, I’ll Imagine One Instead

This thesis explores the author’s struggles and experiences with anxiety disorders and phobias throughout her life, particularly as she transitioned into adulthood. Many of these essays reflect on the ways in which comorbid disorders can become especially disabling and blur the lines between nature and nurture. Using examples from her own life, the author starts to beg the question; would her anxiety have been so severe if she hadn’t grown up in such an unstable world? Blending memoir with psychological research, the author starts to parse out the contributors to her anxiety, the foundations of her phobias, and the path to improvement.