The recommended treatment for Anxiety is not just medication but many practical therapeutic approaches. Despite the high prevalence and burden of mental health problems among people, studies have suggested that they infrequently seek professional help either because of unavailability or unwillingness. While many individuals do not seek professional help, self-help approaches are a popular form of relief from psychological and emotional difficulties.
Self-help books for psychological disorders have become increasingly popular. In 2019, the US market saw a rise in the sale of self-help books to 18.6 million. Interesting to know that most self-help books are written by men, while most readers are women. When judging a book by its cover the general population, on average, can be critical consumers of science; however, it demands more research to understand individual-level perceptions of credibility fully.
In 2020, most bound indoors have stacked loads of books to beat time, while fiction reads are entertaining, few self-help and motivational books can be super beneficial to fulfil specific cravings in life. Unfortunately, if you ask me the outcomes, there’s a straightforward solution — and no, it’s not as seeking professional help.
Mental health books come in three flavours:
– MARK MASON –
1. Great understanding and research,
2. Makes you feel less alone and
3. Demands exercises and actions
Whatever is your choice of flavour, here is the list of few exciting selections on anxiety self-help books. These books share understanding, insights and coping skills on living with anxiety and reinforcing that you’re not alone.
Hope and Help for Your Nerves
by Claire Weekes
The bestselling step-by-step guide will show you how to break the cycle of fear and cure your feelings of panic and anxiety.
Face. Accept. Float. Let time pass. That’s the theme of Claire Weekes, the Australian clinician and relatively under-recognized pioneer of modern anxiety treatment.
Weekes coined the term “nervous illness” to modern anxiety.
According to Weekes, the sense of calm can be regained by following the sensations of anxiety and panic, rather than opposing them. Weekes recommends four methods of managing anxiety symptoms: face the signs – do not run away; accept what is taking place – do not fight; float with your feelings – do not tense; let time pass – do not be impatient.
“Hope and Help for Your Nerves,” which walks us through the possible physical symptom of panic and anxiety might sound practically Victorian to our modern ears but worth reading for significant bits of advice even applied today.
Principle of treatment can be summarised as: Facing Accepting Floating Letting time pass
– Claire Weekes
The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook
by Edmund J. Bourne
Living with anxiety, panic disorders, or phobias can make you feel like you aren’t in control of your life. If you’re ready to tackle the fears that hold you back, this book is your go-to guide.
This book is a timely and comprehensive update to a classic resource packed with the most useful skills to assess and treat anxiety with the latest clinical research. Incredibly helpful to both clients and clinicians, Edmund describes symptoms and updated treatment techniques in detail and provides plenty of exercises.
Pro-tip: This is mostly a reference book for professionals, and some clients may find it overwhelming or too long, don’t approach it as a light read as it demands understanding and actions.
It’s hard to evaluate the validity of a belief you’re scarcely aware of—you just accept it as is
– Edmund J. Bourne
The Anxiety Toolkit: Strategies for Fine-Tuning Your Mind and Moving Past Your Stuck
by Alice Boyes
Whether you have an anxiety disorder, or are just anxiety-prone by nature, in this book, 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 evidence-based tools you need to employ and succeed in life and work.
The best aspect of this book is that its very interactive. Simple and full of practical suggestions to help reframe thinking, this book would be an excellent start to deal with anxiety.
Pro-tip: Might be. a slow read, but great CBT tools for worry-prone people.
One of the reasons anxious people fear feedback is that they tend to judge their performance more harshly than others judge them
― Alice Boyes
The Worry Trick: How Your Brain Tricks You Into Expecting the Worst and What You Can Do About It
by David A. Carbonell
Worry convinces us there’s danger, and then tricks us into getting into a fight, flight, or freeze mode—even when there is no danger. The techniques in this book, rather than encouraging you to avoid or try to resist anxiety, shows you how to see the trick that underlies your anxious thoughts, and how avoidance can backfire and make anxiety worse.
The first half focused on explaining what chronic worry is, and the second half focused more on how to combat the concerns to lead a mentally healthy life. Carbonell offers research-supported strategies that the reader can implement to reduce worry and get control of their life again.
Pro-tip: This book is a bit long, and some may find it repetitive with many examples.
When you treat worry as a danger that must be stopped or avoided, you’re fighting fire with gasoline. Your gut instinct is actually pretty much the opposite of what would help. This is what gives the worry trick its power
― David A. Carbonell
When Panic Attacks: The New, Drug-Free Anxiety Therapy That Can Change Your Life
by David D. Burns
When Panic Attacks, Burns takes you by the hand and shows you how to overcome every conceivable kind of anxiety. You will learn how to use more than forty simple, practical techniques, and the moment you put the lie to the distorted thoughts that plague you, your fears will immediately disappear. Burns also shares the latest research on the drugs commonly prescribed for anxiety and depression and explains why they may sometimes do more harm than good.
David Burns who is also a pioneer in the technique of mindfulness-based stress reduction does a great job of keeping even the most scattered brains focused by telling you a series of stories that you may very well relate.
Pro-tip: This is a good book for people with specific phobias. You’ll want to check Burns’ “Feeling Good.”
When you confront the monster you fear the most, you’ll defeat your fears
― David D. Burns
Dare: The New Way to End Anxiety and Stop Panic Attacks Fast (+Bonus Audios)
by Barry McDonagh
If you’ve struggled with formal advice to stop anxiety and panic attacks, you might need a dare. Author Barry McDonagh advocates for facing fears, anxiety, and panic head-on and accepting its presence, a method he says changed his life and can change yours.
The book exercises to implement and help you rewrite your response and change your body’s physiology when panic attacks start. As an adjunct to the book, you can also download the DARE app, to update understanding of the techniques.
The book has good integration of ACT and CBT approaches. Many parts of the book repetitively remind you of Weekes’s “Hope and Help for your Nerves”.
Pro-tip: It’s a good read, but not a one-stop solution to end Anxiety and stop Panic attacks!
Don’t think of yourself as being weak or less courageous than others just because you suffer from anxiety
– Barry McDonagh
How to Be Yourself: Quiet Your Inner Critic and Rise Above Social Anxiety
by Ellen Hendriksen
Weaving together cutting-edge science, concrete tips, and the compelling stories of real people who have risen above their social anxiety, this book proposes a groundbreaking idea: you already have everything you need to succeed in any unfamiliar social situation. As someone who lives with social anxiety, Hendriksen has devoted her career to helping her clients overcome the same obstacles she has.
Hendriksen dives into an explanation of where social anxiety stems from, and how we are all are susceptible to it from time to time and dives into the research psychologists have done to monitor people with high levels of social anxiety vs those with minimal levels in going to say that the difference of those with higher levels of social anxiety mainly stems from negative thought patterns which are fixable and workable.
This book sounds very straightforward and useful advice and tips for dealing with social anxiety.
Pro-tip: Has many anecdotes and a good read for social anxiety, or imposter syndrome
Social anxiety is seeing our true self in a distorted way and believing the distortion to be the truth
― Ellen Hendriksen
Unfortunately, these books make up a small percentage of large self-help books’ market. However, they do offer useful insights catering to diverse readers. Are you looking for a self-help book, perhaps check out these guidelines before shopping.
- Choose self-help books on specific and focussed topics rather than general motivation.
- If your purpose is to understand a topic, look for an author with a fair and academic research background.
- Avoid books that promise one-stop solution or miracles.
- If you’re opting for self-help books with exercises or actions, make sure it ensures monitoring and progress.
Pro-tip: Self-help books don’t treat or promise a solution to any issues, but complement your coping methods. Please contact professional help for treatment, guidance and support.
Learn more about anxiety and break free from from myths.
Medical Disclaimer: StrokesandHopes aims to improve people’s quality of life struggling with substance use or mental health disorder with fact-based content about the nature of behavioural health conditions, treatment options, and their related outcomes. The material published is researched, cited, edited and reviewed by certified Psychotherapist. The information provided is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Durga is a compassionate Counsellor with a diverse experience in Physical Therapy, Counselling and Business management. She believes in the client-centred integrative framework and has proven experience working with the client from a wide variety of demographic and cultural backgrounds. Approaches duties with diligence to support holistic healing as indicated through a strong history of related volunteer work, combined with targeted education.