Looking for the best books on managing anxiety
May 7, 2019 7:24 PM Subscribe
My doctor: “We actually know a lot about anxiety now. You should do some reading.” Great! So, hit me up with some recommendations?
Lifelong anxiety habit worsened once I had a child :-) It’s being dealt with, but on the premise of knowledge is power, I’d love some suggestions. What specifically do they know ‘now’ that they didn’t before? What are the best ways to jumpstart an anxious mindset toward being less anxious? What are, in general, the best reads on the subject of anxiety?
Lifelong anxiety habit worsened once I had a child :-) It’s being dealt with, but on the premise of knowledge is power, I’d love some suggestions. What specifically do they know ‘now’ that they didn’t before? What are the best ways to jumpstart an anxious mindset toward being less anxious? What are, in general, the best reads on the subject of anxiety?
Scott Stossel’s My Age of Anxiety helped me through a particularly bad bout of anxiety a few years ago. If I remember correctly, it’s a lot about the science behind anxiety but also how different cultures/thinkers have understood it throughout history. The author also writes a lot about his own experiences with pretty severe anxiety. It seems like it would be a bit of a downer to read but I found it oddly comforting.
posted by aaadddaaa at 8:27 AM on May 8, 2019
posted by aaadddaaa at 8:27 AM on May 8, 2019
Peter Levine, In An Unspoken Voice. It's basically his magnum opus of a lifetime of trauma studies. Personally I've found it very helpful to deal with my anxiety through the lens of it as a maladaptive response to trauma.
His work is clear and concise and extremely helpful. It changed my life a lot this year. FYI - if you get recommended Waking the Tiger by him, I'm sure that's good too, but from what I could tell IAUV was the updated and further synthesized version of his core thoughts on trauma.
posted by seemoorglass at 9:11 AM on May 8, 2019
His work is clear and concise and extremely helpful. It changed my life a lot this year. FYI - if you get recommended Waking the Tiger by him, I'm sure that's good too, but from what I could tell IAUV was the updated and further synthesized version of his core thoughts on trauma.
posted by seemoorglass at 9:11 AM on May 8, 2019
Strongly recommend Things Might Go Terribly Horribly Wrong by Kelly Wilson for an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) approach to anxiety. ACT is related to CBT and incorporates a lot of mindfulness practices.
posted by jasper411 at 11:17 AM on May 8, 2019
posted by jasper411 at 11:17 AM on May 8, 2019
This is great: Little Ways to Keep Calm and Carry On is science-based and approved by some sort of mental health professional editorial board. Really digestible, readable and practical, with some ideas that helped me instantly.
posted by Miko at 1:54 PM on May 8, 2019
posted by Miko at 1:54 PM on May 8, 2019
I would recommend you research in the direction of gut health. Just this morning I read an article about a scientific study in Denmark that asserts that eating disorders may be linked to viruses and the attendant antibiotic use. I read another article that asserts that anxiety can be tied to a chemical imbalance caused by a magnesium deficiency.
My own feeling is that good mental health is not a pill away, but that it is complex and that gut health can be one factor in taking us out of and bringing us back into balance.
posted by vignettist at 4:59 PM on May 8, 2019
My own feeling is that good mental health is not a pill away, but that it is complex and that gut health can be one factor in taking us out of and bringing us back into balance.
posted by vignettist at 4:59 PM on May 8, 2019
Feeling Good - David D. Burns
Mindfulness in Plain English - Henepola Gunaratana
Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst - Robert Sapolsky
posted by BusyBusyBusy at 4:19 AM on May 9, 2019
Mindfulness in Plain English - Henepola Gunaratana
Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst - Robert Sapolsky
posted by BusyBusyBusy at 4:19 AM on May 9, 2019
Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life, Stephen Hayes, PhD. It's not specific to anxiety, but it's based in acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) that's not uncommonly used to address anxiety. It's a workbook, not just a tome of reading, so it's active and reflective.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 11:25 AM on May 9, 2019
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 11:25 AM on May 9, 2019
I'm an ACT therapist, so I'll own my bias there: but I'll second "Get Out of Your Mind..." and the "Mindfulness and Acceptance Workbook for Anxiety."
I'll also add "The Happiness Trap" for a very readable introduction to how ACT processes might help.
Also, if you want a cool summary of what's "new" relative to what used to be done with anxiety I quite like the first half of the first episode of Invisibilia, called "The Secret History of Thoughts." They give a pretty decent introduction to the evolving ways therapeutic approaches have dealt with anxious thoughts.
posted by soonertbone at 2:00 PM on May 9, 2019
I'll also add "The Happiness Trap" for a very readable introduction to how ACT processes might help.
Also, if you want a cool summary of what's "new" relative to what used to be done with anxiety I quite like the first half of the first episode of Invisibilia, called "The Secret History of Thoughts." They give a pretty decent introduction to the evolving ways therapeutic approaches have dealt with anxious thoughts.
posted by soonertbone at 2:00 PM on May 9, 2019
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posted by fleecy socks at 7:57 PM on May 7, 2019 [2 favorites]