A Novel About the Anxiety Condition

The End of Fear by John van de Mheten is a highly disturbing novel. In a nutshell, it’s a story about a father who owns a used car lot, finds an item of interest, buys it, and then immediately gets nervous when his wife walks into the store with another man. The novel paints an ugly picture of how the act of buying something can trigger fear and anxiety in us, making us feel terribly threatened and anxious. The End of Fear goes much further into explaining just why we become so fearful and anxious in the face of danger…

In The End of Fear, Van De Mheten describes the way in which normal, healthy human beings process information and choose what’s important. In essence, they use “self-awareness” to determine how they should respond to a situation. Those who lack self-awareness, or the ability to “think clearly,” are prone to panic attacks and other types of anxiety disorders. The End of Fear describes how those who lack self-awareness react to even the smallest incidents of danger with intense fear and anxiety.

The problem with The End of Fear isn’t the message itself, though. It’s the message itself. In my opinion, it’s not very accurate in the way it portrays the fear and anxiety. Most of us know that fear and anxiety are two sides of the same coin, each paired with a corresponding emotion: anger, fear, and anxiety. The book’s message is that those who experience fear and vulnerability at a high level also have a low capacity for self-awareness or self-esteem, leaving them open to accepting whatever comes their way psychologically – whether it’s a threat or favor.