Unfuck Your Stress: Using Science to Cope With Distress and Embrace Excitement

by Faith G. Harper

Stressed? Yeah, you are. Capitalism pretty much demands it. But you don't deserve to feel like you're constantly being chased by your monstrous, growing list of responsibilities, or, worse, like you have to say no to positive opportunities because you just can't take another thing. Dr. Faith offers here a brief intervention, explaining what stress actually is, how it isn't necessarily bad for you, and what exactly happens to your body when it gets out of hand. Symptoms of chronic stress and adrenal fatigue are paired with advice for talking with your doctor about what is going on with you. She follows this with some practical exercises for understanding and managing your own stress response, so that you can get yourself out of the quagmire of constant, mounting distress and feel excited and engaged with your life again.

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction

192 pages, Paperback

Published October 10, 2023

About the author

Faith G. Harper, PhD, LPC-S, ACS, ACN is a bad-ass, funny lady with a PhD. She’s a licensed professional counselor, board supervisor, certified sexologist, and applied clinical nutritionist with a private practice and consulting business in San Antonio, TX. She has been an adjunct professor and a TEDx presenter, and proudly identifies as a woman of color and uppity intersectional feminist. She is the author of the book Unf*ck Your Brain and many other popular zines and books on subjects such as anxiety, depression, and grief. She is available as a public speaker and for corporate and clinical trainings.

Reviews

[Marta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interessante la prima parte riguardante le basi scientifiche e biologiche dello stress; per il resto è una lunga carrellata di tecniche per superare i momenti "no" che potrebbero rivelarsi utili informazioni per qualcuno, ma nel mio caso ha reso la lettura noiosa perché sono tutte cose che avevo già letto e riletto.

[Beezers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly good book on stress, trauma, PTSD, and anxiety. Solid, quick read that covers the physiological and psychological nature of stress and shares some tips for management.

[Ebby · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid self-help read to start the year.

I’ve been reading this for just 10 minutes every day, and breaking it up into chunks definitely helped - some of these are big ideas about stress ideology, and then there’s also plenty of long lists of copy strategies that are at once overwhelming and inspiring.

I plan on going back to this book, journaling about some of the tactics I might actually try, and having it be more of a “reference” over time.

My only complaint was at times it felt a bit disorganized, and I wasn’t sure where the offer was going, but there’s some solid advice in here, so you can overlook it.