10 Helpful Books to Unlock Anxiety Management Techniques
If you worry too much and you’re looking for anxiety management strategies I urge you to read these books. The ideas they offer may surprise you, but as Albert Einstein said “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
Anxiety is a complex problem and you’ll be better off hearing from different points of views until you find the one that resonates with you. Get excited for a curated list of awesome books, packet with tips for worry and anxiety management.
Enjoy!
Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself
“Stop Beating Yourself Up and Leave Insecurity Behind”
The Power of Vulnerability: Teachings of Authenticity, Connection, and Courage
“Dismiss the cultural myth that vulnerability is weakness and reveals that it is, in truth, our most accurate measure of courage.”
“Describes the mechanisms of habit and addiction formation, then explains how the practice of mindfulness can interrupt these habits”
“Explores issues such as: why our brains feel so taxed, and how to maximize our mental resources and why it’s so hard to focus, and how to better manage distractions”
“This science-based workbook offers a step-by-step approach to breaking free of harsh self-judgments and impossible standards in order to cultivate emotional well-being”
“You’ll learn to stop seeing uncertainty as threatening – which will in turn, reduce your anxiety and instill a sense of calm.”
“Offers a comprehensive program to help you confront your fears and become actively involved in the world.”
The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion: Freeing Yourself from Destructive Thoughts and Emotions
“Dr. Christopher Germer has learned a paradoxical lesson: We all want to avoid pain, but letting it in and responding compassionately to our own imperfections are essential steps on the path to healing”
Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness
“Reduce anxiety and feelings of panic, and improve overall quality of life”
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success
“Reveals how almost every area of human endeavor can be dramatically influenced by how we approach our goals”
Do you want to know more? Here I listed more details on each one of the books
Here I’ll share my honest review on each one of these books. I hope it helps you to understand what to expect and how they could help you to uncover life beyond anxiety and create the life you want.
Kristin Neff is like this sweet, gentle and wise aunt to me. Her book is full of relatable advice on how to reduce self-criticism and its negative effects. Her narrative will enable you to achieve your highest potential.
In this book she turns away from an emphasis on self-esteem and moves toward self-compassion as a more sustainable alternative. Dr. Neff’s book offers exercises and action plans for dealing with everyday struggles like parenting, weight loss and others.
Nowadays it’s impossible to talk about guilt and vulnerability without thinking of Brene Brown. She makes me laugh every time. In my view she’s an awesome mix between a researcher and stand up comedian. If you are looking for a lighthearted, funny and easy to read book (or listen as this is an audiobook) this is it. Here you’ll learn to show up and let yourself be seen.
Brené Brown challenges us with a simple question: Is vulnerability the same as weakness? She teaches “we associate vulnerability with emotions we want to avoid such as fear, shame, and uncertainty. Yet we too often lose sight of the fact that vulnerability is also the birthplace of joy, belonging, creativity, authenticity, and love.”
On The Power of Vulnerability, Dr. Brown offers an invitation to dare to feel vulnerable. You’ll find as you cultivate vulnerability, that’ll be the key to developing a sense of worth and belonging.
Embracing vulnerability is important to overcome anxiety.
This book provides answers to important questions about habits. Why are bad habits so hard to overcome? Is there a key to conquering the cravings we know are unhealthy for us?
Dr. Judson is a neuroscientist and pioneer in the study of mindfulness explains addictions and how we can learn to conquer them. His hypothesis is anxiety is an addictive behaviour and if we learn to stop behavioral habit loops, we can also stop anxiety.
In this book you’ll discover the science behind human behavior. The author tapped into mindfulness practice as a path for moving beyond our cravings, reducing stress, and ultimately living a fuller life.
I read this book twice because it was so easy to read and useful. David Rock uses two personas Emily and Paul to illustrate all the techniques he wants to share with his audience. The book it’s not explicitly related with anxiety, but as you read it you’ll find out a lot of the techniques the book offers are useful to manage stress.
Rock shows how it’s possible for Emily and Paul, and thus the reader, not only to survive in today’s overwhelming work environment but succeed in it and still feel energized and accomplished at the end of the day.
The highlights of the book – you’ll learn how to maximize your chance of finding insights that can solve seemingly insurmountable problems, how to collaborate more effectively with others and more.
This is one of the many useful and easy to use mental health workbooks in the market. MSC workbook is a way to learn and practice the foundations of self compassion. Expect to challenge yourself with questions like: are you kinder to others than you are to yourself?
This workbook is based on the authors’ Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) program, which has helped people worldwide to find kindness. You’ll find guided meditations (with audio downloads); exercises; and stories of people using the techniques to address relationship stress, weight and body image issues, health concerns, anxiety, and other common problems.
You’ll discover the seed of self-compassion within you and learn how you can transform your life.
Another workbook based in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). This book offers basic knowledge and exercises to guide you on your beginner stages to manage anxiety. The book focuses on the fear of uncertainty and offers practical exercises and strategies to help soothe your worst worries, fears, and panic.
If you get diagnosed with GAD, this book will remind you’re not alone. GAD is one of the most commonly diagnosed mental health issues facing our society today. So, in this book the authors will show you how you can take charge of your anxiety before it takes over your life.
You could use this book with your therapist or on your own.
Here you’ll learn there’s nothing wrong with being shy. But if shyness or social anxiety keeps you from building meaningful relationships with others, or simply living your best life, this workbook offers a program to help you confront your fears.
I like how this workbook dives deep on techniques to help you to be actively involved in the social world. Similarly, to others workbooks you’ll find exercise and basic concepts to manage anxiety but with specific examples of social anxiety.
As I disclaimer I like to let you know I didn’t use this book for myself, as I don’t particularly struggle with social anxiety, but a friend of mine used it and he found it useful.
A book full of examples and practices to help you accept difficulty rather than avoid it. The premise of the book is the following: If you hear a self-critical voice when you’re anxious what would happen if instead of fighting it you accept it. Christopher Germer has years of experience as a therapist and mindfulness meditation practitioner.
With his guidance you’ll learn practical techniques for living more fully in the present moment- and for being kind to yourself when you need it the most.
Originally published in the 90’s this book is a classic of mindfulness. It introduces the idea of the mind-body relationship. For me it was a difficult read, his writing style is formal and dense so it wasn’t too easy to understand.
Nevertheless, Jon Kabat-Zinn’s is famous for his mindfulness-based stress-reduction program. He deserved to be in this list as he was one of the first to talk about how to use natural, medically proven methods to soothe and heal your body, mind, and spirit.
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success By Carol S. Dweck (Author)
Mindset is another classic. Carol Dweck researched the achievement of people and documented the power of our mindset.
She explains how people with a fixed mindset—those who believe that abilities are fixed—are far less likely to flourish than those with a growth mindset—those who believe that abilities can be developed through hard work, good strategies, and mentorship.
I included this book because I think to overcome anxiety it is important to have a growth mindset. You need to believe you can learn and improve beyond your current difficulties.
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If you like or dislike any of the books I listed I’ll love to hear from you