Best books for anxiety (List)
By
OptimistMinds
As a BetterHelp affiliate, we may receive compensation from BetterHelp if you purchase products or services through the links provided.
Author bio
The Optimistminds editorial team is made up of psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health professionals. Each article is written by a team member with exposure to and experience in the subject matter. The article then gets reviewed by a more senior editorial member. This is someone with extensive knowledge of the subject matter and highly cited published material.
Best books for anxiety – A complete guide to identifying the best books for a person suffering from anxiety.
In this guide, we are going to analyze the best book for a person with anxiety.
Best books for anxiety
We live in a society where having anxiety seems to be normal.
Any situation or person can lead to someone generating anxiety.
Having anxiety is normal at low levels since this works as an alarm system and helps the person identify a near danger or motivate them to work harder and give a good result.
Anxiety becomes a problem when levels are high and interfere negatively with the person’s life.
A person who has high levels of anxiety will not feel happy or active.
You will live in a state of fear, ignoring what can happen to you.
Live with a perspective that something negative will happen.
When a person does not control their anxiety levels, they are likely to develop other physical and mental illnesses such as depression.
The person with anxiety may feel that he has no control over things and may feel sad about it.
The positive thing about this situation is that there are various treatments that a person can access to reduce anxiety levels and resume their lifestyle.
When a person comes to identify that he suffers from anxiety, it must know more thoroughly about the disease and what it can cause.
Some people do not know that they suffer from anxiety and can confuse the symptoms with some other disease, causing their situation to get worse.
Fortunately, there are several resources, apart from medical treatments, which the person can access to learn more about anxiety and its symptoms.
This article frames a series of the best books for anxiety.
These best books for anxiety is intended to inform about anxiety.
Each book expresses in different ways how anxiety manifests.
While it is true that there are certain characteristic symptoms of this condition, each person can manifest it in certain ways.
Books are that accessible tool that allows people to know and strategies to treat some or other condition they suffer, in this case, it is anxiety.
Having some of the best books for anxiety on hand can not only help you, but they will also give you information about how to recognize the disease and how to help someone close to you.
Knowing about a disorder or disease allows the person to create awareness and help others.
When choosing a book about anxiety, it is important to know what the disorder is about.
While it is true that the books explain it, inquiring from other sources can help broaden your knowledge and manage certain terms that some of these books may have.
What is anxiety?
Anxiety is the body’s natural response to some stimulus that generates stress.
It is that call of alert that makes the person aware of possible danger or motivated to work hard.
Situations such as the first day of school or entering a new job are those that cause anxiety in people.
Anxiety has a positive function in the body when its levels are low.
It helps the person to remain active, but when these levels increase it can cause adverse effects on the person’s overall health and well-being.
It is possible that if the person reaches high levels of anxiety and they remain for a prolonged period, the person may develop an anxiety disorder.
Anxiety disorders are the excessive concern that a person develops in a situation.
There are several types of anxiety disorders such as panic disorder, phobia, social anxiety, obsessive-compulsive and post-traumatic stress, just to name a few.
Each of these types of anxiety disorders will develop according to the interpretation and experience of a person.
Someone who has experienced a traumatic event such as a traffic accident can develop a post-traumatic stress disorder, where the person develops fear and excessive worry that something bad could happen to him.
Feel afraid to go out or meet people or the place that reminds the accident.
A person who has a phobia will experience an intense fear of something.
An example would be agoraphobia, which is the fear of feeling trapped.
The person fears to be in places like a bus or an elevator.
For the form and reasons in how anxiety manifests there are various disorders.
Although it is true that according to the type of anxiety disorder people will manifest different symptoms, some symptoms are normally present before any type of anxiety that occurs.
Symptoms of anxiety
The person who has high levels of anxiety manifests a series of symptoms which may vary according to the person, but some symptoms are common and are present in most people who have an anxiety attack or another type of disorder. anxiety.
Some of the most common symptoms are:
- Fear
- Anguish
- Excessive concern
- Dry mouth
- Short of breath
- Feeling of weakness
- Shaking chills
- Numbness or tingling
- Perspiration
Some of the best books for anxiety
Many books have been written about anxiety for years, to be able to show and educate from different perspectives about anxiety and how to treat it.
Through different searches, we have selected some of the best books for anxiety for those who suffer from anxiety and how they can decrease their levels.
Also, these books will be useful for those who want to know more about anxiety and how to recognize their symptoms.
While it is true that anxiety is a condition that must be treated by a healthcare professional, having some of the best books for anxiety on hand can serve as a complementary treatment and contribute to faster improvement.
Be Calm: Proven Techniques to Stop Anxiety Now – Jill Weber, PhD
Dr Weber, who is a clinical psychologist, tops his book in this list of the best books for anxiety.
This book delves into the science behind anxiety, emotions and physical ramifications to the body.
In her book, the doctor teaches how to deal with accelerated thoughts.
The techniques described in his book are methods that include cognitive behavioural therapy, which is widely used to treat cases of anxiety, depression and other types of mental disorders.
Research even suggests that therapist supplemented bibliotherapy could provide an efficacious treatment option for families isolated from traditional treatment services. Here, we have listed some of the best CBT books you can use to improve anxiety.
Among the features shown in the book, this could be a good book about anxiety.
Knowing how this process occurs helps the person have a clear idea of how anxiety occurs.
Dare: The New Way to End Anxiety and Stop Panic Attacks – Barry Mcdonagh
This book describes a new method to eliminate anxiety attacks and panic disorders.
This book can be considered as one of the best books for anxiety because it tries to integrate new techniques for the work of anxiety.
The author talks about acceptance, of accepting when anxiety and panic make a presence in the person’s life.
The book stands out as one of the techniques to rewrite the person’s response to the stimulus that causes anxiety.
The book has an app called DARE so that people can access to different techniques.
The Anxiety Toolkit – Alice Boyes, PhD
Another of the books considered as the best books for anxiety is this.
This book helps people who tend to overanalyze things and expect the worst in every situation.
The book highlights the use of strategies such as meditation, which, although it is very common in many books and other sources, does not mean that this book deserves to be read.
The author notes that because something does not sound complex does not mean that it is not powerful, that is, in this book through simple techniques she seeks to give a good result and a person with anxiety does not want to face things that are complicated but simpler and we believe that this book meets those conditions.
Better tan Perfect – Dr Elizabeth Lombardo
This book is considered in this list as one of the best books for anxiety because it focuses on one of the reasons why people feel anxiety.
A person with anxiety wants to have everything ready and perfect and if he does not get it, his anxiety levels are shot through the air.
This book seeks to teach that happiness is the main thing and that it does not have to be based on being perfect.
It is based on living a life based on the present and not focusing on what might happen.
The Relaxation & Stress Reduction Workbook – Martha Davis, PhD; Elizabeth Robbins Eshelman, MSW; Matthew McKay, PhD.
Considered one of the best books for anxiety due to the variety of techniques that can be used to work anxiety.
The book was awarded “The Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Self-Help Seal of Merit”.
An acknowledgement of this kind invites you to read the book and discover some of the wonderful techniques they present to reduce anxiety and face your fears.
Side Note: I have tried and tested various products and services to help with my anxiety and depression. See my top recommendations here, as well as a full list of all products and services our team has tested for various mental health conditions and general wellness.
What we recommend for curbing Anxiety
Below are some of the services and products we recommend for anxiety
Online Therapy
- Online therapy is another thing we should all try. We highly recommend Online therapy with a provider who not only provides therapy but a complete mental health toolbox to help your wellness.
Anxiety Weighted Blankets
- Anxiety Weighted Blankets are by far the number 1 thing every person who suffers from anxiety should at least try. Anxiety Blankets may improve your sleep, allow you to fall asleep faster and you can even carry them around when chilling at home.
Light Therapy
- Amber light therapy from Amber lights could increase the melatonin production in your body and help you sleep better at night. An Amber light lamp helps reduce the amount of time it takes you to fall asleep and increases overall sleep quality.
FAQs about best books for anxiety
Is a book enough to treat my anxiety?
The book can serve as a complement to the treatment of anxiety.
Why the book has strategies that help you does not mean that it is a substitute for a treatment provided by a mental health professional.
Would it be impolite to give a person with anxiety a book to reduce its levels?
It would not be impolite, but everything lies in the way you express yourself when you deliver the gift.
Do it with tact and be cordial at all times.
Is it normal for you to feel anxiety at all times?
Anxiety is normal to some extent.
A new situation may cause you anxiety, but only for a moment.
When these levels are maintained and interfere negatively with your activities, it would not be convenient there.
How to help a friend who has anxiety?
You can help by supporting him on the reasons he has anxiety.
Help him change the negative perceptions he has and encourage him to seek professional medical help if he feels he can no longer deal with the situation.
What happens if I don’t control my high anxiety levels?
If the anxiety is not controlled, the levels will keep rising and you may feel worse.
You will have more fear and greater concern and you will begin to feel physical symptoms, which you can confuse with another mental or physical illness.
Conclusion
Having some of the best books for anxiety on hand will help the person have a useful and quick tool to eliminate the symptoms caused by the condition.
A book is not a substitute for a treatment given by a mental health professional, but a guide for the person to know the reasons why they have anxiety and how to start working on it.
Having anxiety is normal, but it becomes a problem when it interferes negatively in a person’s life.
Recommended links
- Free Yourself From Anxiety: A self-help guide to overcoming anxiety disorders
- Overcoming anxiety
- Dare: The New Way to End Anxiety and Stop Panic Attacks
References
Take Control of Your Anxiety Today: Personalized Counseling with BetterHelp
