St Louis Author Defeats Depression: Amerishop.biz Deals

HEADLINE: Saint Louis Teen Conquers Anxiety

SUBHEAD: Writes Book that Helps Thousands

BYLINE: Lee McCain

IMAGES THAT ACCOMPANY THIS ARTICLE:

1. Elmashhady_author_pic CAPTION: Eighteen-year-old Hady Elmashhady from Florissant, MO, recently wrote a book on conquering anxiety and depression. The Saint Louis University philosophy and pre-med student is very happy that his book is helping people.

2. NTF_book_cover CAPTION: The cover of Hady Elmashhady's book. Published by Bellwether Press, Nothing to Fear: Seven Simple Steps to Transcend Anxiety is available worldwide and of course can be purchased at amazon.com.

NOTE: THIS STORY FEATURES A SIDEBAR WITH A PHOTO

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We've all heard about them: the genius kids who accomplish more before they are finished with Clearasil than us grownups do in our entire lives. Well, the Saint Louis suburb of Florissant has their very own version in the form of eighteen-year-old Hady Elmashhady, a lad who is currently attending Saint Louis University studying philosophy and pre-med. Okay, fair enough. But in addition to a college workload that would make the eyes of a fourth-year student fall out, Elmashhady spends every spare moment perfecting his passion and talent for the martial art known as Muay Thai, an extremely intense form of boxing that is the national sport of Thailand. Oh, and his book was published over the summer and is now available in every developed country on the planet.

"I definitely want to continue to write while being a doctor," the lightweight but muscular teen said, "and if I could bring something new to the medical community or help people in some other way, that would be awesome," Elmashhady declared.

But let's back up a second. Did he write a book? Was published internationally before his seventeenth birthday?

"I'm not surprised in the least," said publishing executive, Joachim Alexander during a telephone interview from his home near Portland, Oregon. "This fellow is amazing, both as a writer and as a human being, and I'm not surprised that he has the college goals that he has. In my opinion, he'll not only reach them, but he'll also surpass them somehow."

Alexander, a native of Denmark who has been in the publishing field for over 30 years, said he recognized the teen author's talent as a writer, "from the first draft I read. On top of that, his personality led the way with our staff. We found ourselves wanting to help him in any way we could, especially because of the subject matter of his book."

The result of the many months of collaboration between Elmashhady and his publishing team was Nothing to Fear: Seven Simple Steps to Transcend Anxiety which was released worldwide over the summer. "In fact," Alexander recalled, "Hady was in Egypt visiting family when the book really started rolling. When he came home he was amazed to see that it was with Barnes & Noble, Borders, and about thirty or forty booksellers around the world from Russia to India, and as far away as Australia and New Zealand." An internet search on the title brought up

dozens of hits, which to the young author means more to him than the possibility of future royalty checks.

"To me, it means that people are getting some help finding relief from what is a very unforgiving disorder," Elmashhady said.

Anxiety and Depression

As a youngster and during his subsequent teen years, Hady Elmashhady—who was born in Bahrain but moved with his family to the United States when he was three—suffered from Anxiety Disorder, something that affects millions of people worldwide. This acute anxiety consumed his entire quality of life, but true to form Elmashhady faced it head-on, and in his book, he documents what he did to overcome the fear, panic, and sometimes hopeless despair that overshadowed his life. From his own experiences, he designed what he calls his seven steps to regain life "on your own terms."

"We all have certain beliefs that specific things in the world are scary," Elmashhady explained. "Certain things must be intimidating or frightening to us, and this happens because we were raised with those beliefs or developed them through our experiences. There is a belief behind every fear that you have."

He wondered, while in the throes of an anxiety attack, why a particular fear bothered him in the first place.

"I decided that whenever I came across a fear, I would start breaking it down," Elmashhady said. "And once I did that, I was on the road to transcending anxiety forever."

Readers can find Hady Elmashhady's boo