Rating: 
Summary: Helps you when therapists don't
Review: I have seen so many professionals about my people phobia. Each one of them looked at my condition differently and gave it a different name. One even told me I did not really fear people that I was only introverted. It has been confusing and frustrating. Until I read this book I thought there was no hope at all. Now I can see that I really am anxious in social situations as well as the sorts of things I am trying to avoid and why. I hope I can find a psychotherapist who understands and treats this condition. But even if I cannot I know I can help myself improve using this excellent book.
Rating:
Summary: Love this book!
Review: This book is so good that if I had the money I would buy cases of it and give the books to my family, friends, boss, work associates, doctor, and teachers, then hand them out on the street corner. Social anxiety is so common but so hidden. Everyone needs to be clued in so this suffering can be understood and addressed. This book is a great way to do it.
Rating:
Summary: Three Cheers For This Book
Review: Since I was a kid I have been trying to be perfect so no one could see me as a failure and reject me. I had a long list of great people like Steven Spielberg I wanted to be like because if I reached their high standard I would be beyond reproach. For years I struggled with if onlys and felt approval and acceptance by others was impossible. I avoided people so they could not disapprove of me. But this book has shown me how my perfectionism is creating the problem rather than solving it. It has shown me why I have felt so bad about myself and what I can do about it. It is not easy to erase years of fear but I am doing it thanks to Diagonally Parked.
Rating:
Summary: Exceptional
Review: Comprehensive in its coverage of every aspect of social anxiety disorder, this book is written with style, wit and delicious humour which make its serious subject all the more understandable and identifiable. Dr. Dayhoff's stories about her own experiences with social anxiety range from the poignant to the outrageously funny. I cannot think of her embarrassing incident with the police officer without chuckling out loud. This is an exceptional social anxiety self-help book and I heartily recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: This book is a welcomed whack to the back of the head
Review: What an unexpected and wonderful surprise! I couldn't believe this book was really talking about me but there I was page after page with my whole fearful avoidant life revealed. Dr. Dayhoff really knows social phobics inside and out and lets you in on the secret. I want to shout from the rooftops to other social phobics how unburdening it is to have someone really understand what you are going through and tell them that they can feel that too if they read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Personal touch makes all the difference
Review: Even though this book has important facts and information and resources galore, it is at its heart a very personal book. Dr. Dayhoff shares many of her own experiences with social anxiety - the good, the bad and the ugly - to create a real bond with the reader. I came away feeling as if I knew the author as a person and fellow sufferer, not simply as an expert, educator and author. This is the only book on social anxiety that I have found that established a personal connection with me.
Rating:
Summary: Very supportive and caring
Review: As I read this book, I feel as if someone who really cares about me is talking directly to me. The author seems to anticipate all my questions and answers them. This makes me feel as if she is listening to me too. It is like having a knowledgeable and supportive mentor at your side guiding you.
Rating:
Summary: I'm very impressed!
Review: Everything you need is here. I especially like the detailed stories that let me into the minds of others with social anxiety. This is something you don't generally get to experience. Dr. Dayhoff peels back the layers and puts into words what it's really like to live with this. You can get into it and relate because you've been there and she's been there.
Rating:
Summary: You won't find a better book on SAD than this
Review: After reading the book, I am convinced that Dr Dayhoff knows more than what my family, friends and well-wishers put together know about me. The book is absolutely incredible in the sense the author knows the problem and the people who suffer from Social Anxiety in and out. I knew that I have some strange problem and was trying to figure it out since the past 10 years. And finally after reading this book I not only can define the problem but have got a working solution for it.
Rating:
Summary: Worth its Weight in Gold
Review: My social anxiety started in the second grade when the teacher would not recognize my raised arm for wanting bathroom privileges. Frantically I waved the two-finger signal but even though she was looking right at me, she continued to ignore me until it was too late. I soaked my pants, the chair and floor beneath me, and it ran into my rain boots. The other children giggled as the teacher, now livid, berated me for what she called my "born-in-a barn" behavior. After that I did all I could to keep from going back to school where I was the object of derision and rejection by students and teacher alike. Ever since I have been petrified of embarrassing myself in public and have lived in a straitjacket of contortions to avoid humiliation.That is, until I recently discovered Diagonally Parked in a Parallel Universe. This book has shown me that there is a way out of my torment. Day by day it is showing me how to deal with not only the present but also the past and future. I love that Dr. Dayhoff has been through the same things and shares her sometimes sad, wickedly funny, and illuminating experiences. This book is my ticket out.
| 
