How to Fail by Elizabeth Day. (2019)
Description: This is a book for anyone who has ever failed. Which means it’s a book for everyone. If I have learned one thing from this shockingly beautiful venture called life, it is this: failure has taught me lessons I would never otherwise have understood. I have evolved more as a result of things going wrong than when everything seemed to be going right. Out of crisis has come clarity, and sometimes even catharsis. Part memoir, part manifesto, and including chapters on dating, work, sport, babies, families, anger and friendship, it is based on the simple premise that understanding why we fail ultimately makes us stronger. It’s a book about learning from our mistakes and about not being afraid. Uplifting, Inspiring and rich in stories from Elizabeth’s own life, How to Fail reveals that failure is not what defines us; rather it is how we respond to it that shapes us as individuals. Because learning how to fail is actually learning how to succeed better. And everyone needs a bit of that.
Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig. (2019)
Description: The world is messing with our minds. What if there was something we could do about it? Looking at sleep, news, social media, addiction, work and play, Matt Haig invites us to feel calmer, happier and to question the habits of the digital age. This book might even change the way you spend your precious time on earth.
The Anxiety Solution: A Quieter Mind, a Calmer You by Chloe Brotheridge. (2017)
Description: This is a book for anyone experiencing anxiety, guiding you through simple ways to ease panic, dread and fear in the uncertainty of modern life. The Anxiety Solution is a simple and inspiring guide to reducing anxiety from former sufferer and qualified clinical hypnotherapist, and host of The Calmer You podcast, Chloe Brotheridge. Chloe will help you understand why we feel anxious and will equip you with techniques to help manage the symptoms and start living a happier, more confident life. Based on the latest scientific research and her unique program which has already helped hundreds of clients, The Anxiety Solution will show you how to regain control of your life. ‘I know what it’s like to be stuck in a cycle of anxiety. I used to feel as though fear and worry were a permanent part of who I was . . . but I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t have to be this way. The truth is, your natural state is one of calmness and confidence – and I’m going to teach you how to get there.’ If you want to spend less time worrying, this book is the solution for you. You’ll be surprised how quickly you can be back in control and able to enjoy your life once again.
The Comparison Cure by Lucy Sheridan. (2020)
Description: Lucy Sheridan, the world’s first and only comparison coach, has helped thousands of people go from compare and despair to #comparisonfree, and now she has condensed all of that liberating knowledge into The Comparison Cure. With a three-step tried and tested methodology to help you improve your self-worth and self-confidence (#1 recognize the symptoms; #2 start practicing the remedies; and #3 keep your good new habits going), you will soon be able to let go of procrastination and start living a comparison-free life. Packed full of tips, examples and exercises to help you take back control of who you are and what you want, this positive and empowering book is the timely and necessary antidote we all need to the toxic comparison culture we’re living in.
We’re All Mad Here: The No-Nonsense Guide to Living with Social Anxiety by Claire Eastham. (2016)
Description: Anxiety is a crafty shapeshifter that can take on many forms: the tiger that sinks its claws in with physical symptoms and distressing thoughts, the cruel and belittling bully creating insecurity and self-doubt and, worst of all, the frenemy rewarding avoidance of social situations with no physical symptoms, no cruel thoughts… and no life beyond your sofa! This no-nonsense guide to beating social anxiety covers everything from surviving university and the workplace, through to social media and making it through parties and dates (whilst actually enjoying them!) With honest insights about her own social anxiety and a healthy dose of humor, award-winning blogger Claire Eastham describes what social anxiety is, why it happens, and how you can lessen its effects with lifestyle choices, talking therapies or even a hug from your favorite canine friend!
My Age of Anxiety: Fear, Hope, Dread, and the Search for Peace of Mind by Scott Stossel. (2015)
Description: Drawing on his own experience with anxiety, Scott Stossel presents a moving and revelatory account of a condition that affects some 40 million Americans. Stossel offers an intimate and authoritative history. We discover the well-known who have struggled with the condition, as well as the afflicted generations of Stossel’s own family. Revealing anxiety’s myriad manifestations and the anguish it causes, he also surveys the countless psychotherapies, medications, and often outlandish treatments that have been developed to relieve it. Stossel vividly depicts anxiety’s human toll—its crippling impact, its devastating power to paralyze. He also explores how individual sufferers—including himself— have managed and controlled symptoms. By turns erudite and compassionate, amusing and inspirational, My Age of Anxiety is the essential account of a pervasive affliction.
First, We Make the Beast Beautiful: A New Journey Through Anxiety by Sarah Wilson. (2018)
Description: If you have anxiety, this book is for you. If you love someone who is anxious, this book is for you. I Quit Sugar founder and New York Times bestselling author Sarah Wilson has lived through high anxiety – including bipolar, OCD and several suicide attempts – her whole life. Perhaps like you, she grew tired of seeing anxiety as a disease that must be medicated into submission. Could anxiety be re-sewn, she asked, into a thing of beauty? So began a seven-year journey to find a more meaningful and helpful take on anxiety. Living out of two suitcases, Sarah traveled the world, meeting with His Holiness The Dalai Lama, with Oprah’s life coach, with major mental health organizations and hundreds of others in a quest to unravel the knotted ball of wool that is the anxious condition. She emerged with the very best philosophy, science and hacks for thriving with the beast. First, We Make the Beast Beautiful is a book with a big heart, paving the way for richer, kinder and wiser conversations about anxiety.
On Edge: A Journey Through Anxiety by Andrea Petersen. (2018)
Description: A celebrated science and health reporter offers a wry, bracingly honest account of living with anxiety. A racing heart. Difficulty breathing. Overwhelming dread. Andrea Petersen was first diagnosed with an anxiety disorder at the age of twenty, but she later realized that she had been experiencing panic attacks since childhood. With time her symptoms multiplied. She agonized over every odd physical sensation. She developed fears of driving on highways, going to movie theaters, even licking envelopes. Although having a name for her condition was an enormous relief, it was only the beginning of a journey to understand and master it–one that took her from psychiatrists’ offices to yoga retreats to the Appalachian Trail. Woven into Petersen’s personal story is a fascinating look at the biology of anxiety and the groundbreaking research that might point the way to new treatments. She compares psychoactive drugs to non-drug treatments, including biofeedback and exposure therapy. And she explores the role that genetics and the environment play in mental illness, visiting top neuroscientists and tracing her family history–from her grandmother, who, plagued by paranoia, once tried to burn down her own house, to her young daughter, in whom Petersen sees shades of herself. Brave and empowering, this is essential reading for anyone who knows what it means to live on edge.
The Meaning of Anxiety by Rollo May. (2015-Revised)
Description: Rollo May challenges the idea that “mental health is living without anxiety,” believing it is essential to being human. He explores how it can relieve boredom, sharpen sensibilities, and produce the tension necessary to preserve human existence. May sees a link extending from anxiety to intelligence, creativity, and originality, and guides the reader away from destructive ways to positive ways of dealing with anxiety. He convincingly proposes that anxiety can impel personal change, as it is only by confronting and coping with it that self-realization can occur.
Must Try Harder: Adventures in Anxiety by Paula McGuire. (2018)
Description: Paula McGuire’s world was shrinking. Bullied as a child and plagued by excessive social anxiety, she had become a recluse. Unable to even go into a shop on her own, Paula’s life was effectively over before she hit 30. But then something changed. She isn’t even quite sure what. But after years of running away from life, Paula decided to grab it by the balls…She didn’t do anything too difficult to start with – just learning all 17 Commonwealth Games sports! After that, she threw herself into life modeling and astronaut training. Next, Paula plans to swim around the entirety of the United Kingdom. At the time of writing, Paula can’t swim … somehow that isn’t discouraging her one bit! Must Try Harder tells the remarkable story of a life transformed by facing up to fear. Paula’s funny, heartfelt, and above all, inspiring story shows us that we each have the power to do amazing things.
Discomfort Zone by Farrah Storr. (2018)
Description: While it is human nature to shy away from things that are outside of our comfort zone, it is only by spending time in our discomfort zone that we can grow, and improve, and realize our full potential. Whether it’s putting yourself forward for a new challenge, asking for difficult feedback, nailing a presentation or getting a dream job, in this book Farrah Storr shows how you have to push through what she calls “brief moments of discomfort” in order to get to where you need to be. Farrah describes these brief moments of discomfort as “like HIIT training for your life” – and shows how the more you force yourself into them, the easier it will get. This book is full of advice, practical exercises and examples both from Farrah’s own life and career and from all sorts of other successful people, from athletes to entrepreneurs. By adopting the brief moments of discomfort, or BMD method, you will soon understand that nothing in life is an insurmountable challenge, only a series of small, uncomfortable tests that can easily be overcome. Once you have used Farrah’s techniques to transform your fear into bite-size, manageable pieces, you’ll be able to take on anything. In fact, in time, you’ll even begin to enjoy these moments. When you explore your discomfort zone, you’ll find that anything is possible.
Anxiety: Panicking about Panic: A powerful, self-help guide for those suffering from an Anxiety or Panic Disorder by Joshua Fletcher. (2014)
Description: Anxiety Panicking about Panic is a revolutionary, self-help book for people who suffer from the various symptoms of anxiety. The book acts as an informative guide and draws from the experiences of author and counselor, Joshua Fletcher, who lived with anxiety disorder for years before successfully overcoming the condition. The book is tailored for people who are: experiencing panic attacks, feeling abnormally anxious, ruminating about health, anticipating further panic attacks and questioning why anxiety is present in the first place. Anxiety Panicking about Panic provides quick, easy to access advice and practical strategies, which aim to educate the reader to simplify their world of anxiety in order to successfully tackle it. This book is particularly tailored for people who can associate with the conditions of: – Anxiety- Anxiety Disorder- Generalized Anxiety- Panic Disorder- Agoraphobia- Health Anxiety- Panicking for no reason- Panic Attacks (and anxiety about them happening again).
The Stress-Proof Brain (Master Your Emotional Response to Stress Using Mindfulness and Neuroplasticity) by Melanie Greenberg. (2017)
Description: Modern times are stressful—and it’s killing us. Unfortunately, we can’t avoid the things that stress us out, but we can change how we respond to them. In this breakthrough book, a clinical psychologist and neuroscience expert offers an original approach to help readers harness the power of positive emotions and overcome stress for good. Stress is, unfortunately, a natural part of life— especially in our busy and hectic modern times. But you don’t have to let it get in the way of your health and happiness. Studies show that the key to coping with stress is simpler than you think—it’s all about how you respond to the situations and things that stress you out or threaten to overwhelm you. The Stress-Proof Brain offers powerful, comprehensive tools based in mindfulness, neuroscience, and positive psychology to help you put a stop to unhealthy responses to stress—such as avoidance, tunnel vision, negative thinking, self-criticism, fixed mindset, and fear. Instead, you’ll discover unique exercises that provide a recipe for resilience, empowering you to master your emotional responses, overcome negative thinking, and create a more tolerant, stress-proof brain. This book will help you develop an original and effective program for mastering your emotional brain’s response to stress by harnessing the power of neuroplasticity. By creating a more stress tolerant, resilient brain, you’ll learn to shrug off the small stuff, deal with the big stuff, and live a happier, healthier life.
The Anxiety Toolkit: Strategies for Fine-Tuning Your Mind and Moving Past Your Stuck Points by Alice Boyes. (2015)
Description: Do you overthink before taking action? Are you prone to making negative predictions? Do you worry about the worst that could happen? Do you take negative feedback very hard? Are you self critical? Does anything less than perfect performance feel like failure? If any of these issues resonate with you, you’re probably suffering from some degree of anxiety, and you’re not alone. The good news: while reducing your anxiety level to zero isn’t possible or useful (anxiety can actually be helpful!), you can learn to successfully manage symptoms – such as excessive rumination, hesitation, fear of criticism and paralyzing perfection. In The Anxiety Toolkit, Dr. Alice Boyes translates powerful, evidence-based tools used in therapy clinics into tips and tricks you can employ in everyday life. Whether you have an anxiety disorder, or are just anxiety-prone by nature, you’ll discover how anxiety works, strategies to help you cope with common anxiety ‘stuck’ points and a confidence that – anxious or not – you have all the tools you need to succeed in life and work.
Dare: The New Way to End Anxiety and Stop Panic Attacks. Barry McDonagh. (2015) The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You by Elaine N. Aron. (1997)
Description: Do you have a keen imagination and vivid dreams? Is time alone each day as essential to you as food and water? Are you “too shy” or “too sensitive” according to others? Do noise and confusion quickly overwhelm you? If your answers are yes, you may be a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP). Most of us feel overstimulated every once in a while, but for the highly sensitive person, it’s a way of life. In this groundbreaking book, Dr. Elaine Aron, a highly sensitive person herself, shows you how to identify this trait in yourself and make the most of it in everyday situations. In The Highly Sensitive Person, you will discover: • Self-assessment tests to help you identify your particular sensitivities • Ways to reframe your past experiences in a positive light and gain greater self-esteem in the process • Insight into how high sensitivity affects both work and personal relationships • Tips on how to deal with over-arousal • Information on medications and when to seek help • Techniques to enrich the soul and spirit. Drawing on many years of research and hundreds on interviews, The Highly Sensitive Person will change the way you see yourself—and the world around you.
Articles
Anxious About What’s Next? Here’s How to Cope
https://hbr.org/2020/08/anxious-about-whats-next-heres-how-to-cope
Description: Times of significant transition or “liminal periods” — at the boundary of a new state or experience — can make us feel untethered and disoriented. But at the same time, they have great potential to spur self-reflection and growth. The challenge is that our brains are wired to try to think through and solve uncertainty in times of crisis, but this only leads to greater rumination and worry. We need to train ourselves to rewire our default psychology and research has shown that we can do this with greater self-awareness. By creating small rituals that refocus attention, being “present” with others, and intentionally using our senses to appreciate our surroundings, we can gain this self-awareness even in just a short time.
How Anxiety Traps Us, and How We Can Break Free
https://hbr.org/2020/01/how anxiety-traps-us-and-how-we-can-break-free
Description: It’s normal to occasionally experience anxiety — when we’re faced with a high-stakes meeting, a stressed-out boss, or a conflict with a colleague. When we’re anxious, we tend to trap ourselves in false or limited ways of thinking. These thought patterns create a debilitating negative spiral that can take over our lives by convincing us of impending doom and further exacerbating our sense of helplessness. But there are strategies you can take to overcome these thinking traps. First, consciously change your activities to divert your attention away from your stressor. Next, give it a name, so you better understand the type of anxiety you’re dealing with. Then, separate your uncertainties from the facts, and consider what stories you’re telling yourself about the situations — and if there are other angles to consider. Finally, step outside your own head by thinking about what you would tell someone else if they were faced with the same scenario.
10 Things You Might Be Doing Due To Social Anxiety
https://thoughtcatalog.com/kayla-rivera/2020/02/10-things-you-might-bedoing-due-to-social-anxiety/
Description: Social anxiety is a common mental health disorder that studies say have affected around 7% of the world’s population. That’s over half a billion people. Often, people feel like they may have some form of it but aren’t sure how or why they may be able to relate. These are common traits found within people who have social anxiety. See if you can relate to any of them.
How to Deal with Anxiety: Habits That Can Help
https://www.psycom.net/ease-anxiety tips
Description: When that alarm system in your brain is stuck, whether it’s from a temporary situation like the coronavirus, or something ongoing, here are some expert strategies on how to reboot.
When Anxiety Reveals itself in the form of Self-doubt
https://thoughtcatalog.com/kirsten-corley/2021/01/when-anxiety-revealsitself-in-the-form-of-self-doubt/
Description: Sometimes my most anxious moments feel like it’s a boxing match of me vs. my mind and when I allow myself to go down the rabbit hole of negative thoughts, what happens is self-doubt.
The Benefits of Anxiety and Nervousness
https://www.verywellmind.com/benefits-of-anxiety-2584134
Description: We often hear about the negative aspects of anxiety, but could there be any advantages or benefits that come from living with anxiety? Anxiety is a feeling that is often characterized by intense fear, worry, and apprehension. Many individuals with anxiety describe it as a feeling of nervousness and dread that can be distracting at best and all-consuming at worst. Anxiety is typically experienced on many levels, affecting one’s emotions, leading to uncomfortable physical sensations, and contributing to negative thoughts.
What Anxiety Actually Is, Because It’s More Than ‘Just Worrying’
Description: Anxiety is the restless nights of sleep, as you toss and turn. It’s your brain never being able to shut off. It’s the thoughts you over-think before bedtime and all of your worst fears become a reality in dreams and nightmares.
Effects of Anxiety on the Body
https://www.healthline.com/health/anxiety/effects-on body#The-effects-of-anxiety-on-the-body
Description: Living with chronic anxiety can cause physical stress on your body, especially to your nervous, cardiovascular, digestive, immune, and respiratory systems. Everyone has anxiety from time to time, but chronic anxiety can interfere with your quality of life. While perhaps most recognized for behavioral changes, anxiety can also have serious consequences on your physical health.
What’s the Difference Between a Panic Attack and an Anxiety Attack?
https://www.healthline.com/health/panic-attack-vs-anxiety-attack#symptoms
Description: An anxiety attack tends to occur in response to certain stressors and may build gradually while panic attacks can occur unexpectedly and abruptly. Both may indicate an underlying health condition. You might hear people talking about panic attacks and anxiety attacks like they’re the same thing. But they’re different conditions. Read on to find out more about the differences between panic attacks and anxiety.
What Triggers Anxiety? 11 Causes That May Surprise You
https://www.healthline.com/ health/anxiety/anxiety-triggers#1
Description: Anxiety is a mental health condition that can cause feelings of worry, fear, or tension. For some people, anxiety can also cause panic attacks and physical symptoms like chest pain. Anxiety disorders are incredibly common. They affect an estimated 40 million people in the United States, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. What causes anxiety and anxiety disorders can be complicated. It’s likely that a combination of factors, including genetics and environmental reasons, play a role. However, it’s clear that some events, emotions, or experiences may cause symptoms of anxiety to begin or may make them worse. These elements are called triggers. Anxiety triggers can be different for each person, but many triggers are common among people with these conditions. Most people find they have multiple triggers. But for some people, anxiety attacks can be triggered for no reason at all. For that reason, it’s important to discover any anxiety triggers that you may have. Identifying your triggers is an important step in managing them. Keep reading to learn about these anxiety triggers and what you can do to manage your anxiety.
Research Reveals a Surprising Solution for Anxiety: How compassion can help you relieve stress
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/your-personal-renaissance/201908/ research-reveals-surprising-solution-anxiety
Description: A surprising solution to all this stress and anxiety is compassion, “an open-hearted way of relating to the world that responds to the suffering of others with care, kindness, and helpful action” (Neff & Seppala, 2016, p. 189). Compassion also includes self-compassion, being kind to ourselves, especially when we make mistakes, treating ourselves as we would treat a dear friend (Neff, 2011).
We Don’t Have to Be Anxious About Anxiety
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/more-feeling/202102/we-donthave-be-anxious-about-anxiety
Description: Key Points: A common response to anxiety is to try to suppress or escape it, but doing so can make it more troublesome in the long run. Reframing anxiety as an ally rather than an enemy could help change our relationship with it for the better.
How Distorted Thinking Increases Stress and Anxiety: These 10 cognitive distortions make things worse for us.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/turning-straw-gold/201409/how-distorted-thinking-increasesstress-and-anxiety?collection=1070769
Description: Of course, before you can counter distorted thinking, you have to become aware that you’re engaging in it. To this end, it might be beneficial to make a list of the 10 distortions and then look it over every few days. Or, you could write down some of your stressful and anxious thoughts and then look to see which of the 10 distortions they fall under. In my examples, I’ll focus on distortions that the chronically ill are prone to, but those of you who are in good health can substitute a word or two and I’m confident you’ll recognize yourself in these examples.
How Do Anger and Anxiety Interact?
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/ overcoming-destructive-anger/202004/how-do-anger-and-anxietyinteract
Description: While anger and anxiety are two distinct emotions, like all emotions they provide us with information about ourselves—if only we can take time to listen to them. And, while distinct, they can interact in a variety of ways that may exacerbate anxiety, anger, or both.
Soothing Anxiety and Stress: Advice From the Year in Well
https://www.nytimes.com/ 2020/12/28/well/mind/stress-anxiety-advice.html
Description: For many of us, 2020 was an exceptionally stressful year, dominated by fears about the coronavirus pandemic. Even with the vaccine on the horizon, we’re likely to need some stress management strategies to carry us into 2021. There’s lots of advice in this guide by Tara Parker Pope, How to Be Better at Stress. Stress doesn’t have to get you down, she writes: “Approach it the right way, and it won’t rule your life — it can even be good for you. Here are ways to deal with stress, reduce its harm and even use your daily stress to make you stronger.” Following are more tips from the past year’s stories by Well writers.
