與焦慮和解：克服過度完美主義、拖延症、害怕批評，從自我檢測中找回生活平衡的實用指南

by Alice Boyes, 劉佳澐 (Translator)

如果這些問題中有任何一個讓你產生共鳴，你可能有一定程度的焦慮。
但是，你並不孤單。
雖然不可能將焦慮減少到零，但我們可以透過學習，成功駕馭焦慮的症狀──
過度反芻思考、猶豫不決、懼怕批評，完美注意、逃避或拖延。

撇除一般自救書要人積極開心或是放輕鬆，卻無法解決問題的套路，
作者愛麗絲．博耶斯博士將臨床治療中相當有效且有研究根據的療法，
轉化為我們在日常生活中隨時能使用的技巧和竅門。
無論是憂慮症患者，或只是天生容易焦慮，
都可以了解讓自己困擾的焦慮如何運作，並突破它為我們設下的瓶頸。

請將本書當成一個專屬自己的焦慮急救箱，
一遇到困難便翻開，找到與你目前最類似的狀況，
就能找到解法，找回心靈平衡。

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction, Psychology, Mental Health, Personal Development, Health, Counselling

224 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 3, 2015

Reviews

[Toni Bernhard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Self-help books contain a lot of advice, but can be hard to apply to our lives. “The Anxiety Toolkit” is different. It focuses on what we can do, right now, to make our lives better. The book is uniquely interactive: Dr. Boyes doesn’t lecture us; instead, she invites us to participate by taking valuable (and often fun) self-assessment quizzes that help us pinpoint the ways in which we self-sabotage our happiness. Dr. Boyes then discusses practical strategies—backed by sound research—to free ourselves from being slaves to anxiety. This book teaches us how to live life fully. You won’t be disappointed.

[Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ez egyébként egy remek könyv.
Arra, hogy szorongást váltson ki belőled.

Én csak többet akartam tudni az olyasmikről, hogy miért válik hirtelen fantasztikusan érdekessé a mosogatás, ha meg kéne írnom egy e-mailt, vagy miért kezdek rögtön szöttyögni a macskákkal, ha fejleszteni kellene magam a munkámban.
Mert hogy valahol ez az apró, tökhétköznapi halogatás is szorongásos tünetnek fogható fel. Nem kell ahhoz feltétlenül pánikrohamot kapni, vagy a takaró alá bújni, elég ha az ember életében vannak olyan nemszeretem apróságok, amik már kényelmetlenséget okoznak a rendes funkcionálás során.

Ezt akartam kikalapálgatni.
Aztán mit értem el?
Azt, hogy az utóbbi egy hetet arcra borulva töltöttem a padlón.
Na jó, képletesen. De olyan volt, mint mikor az ember rákeres a google-ön, hogy miért tüsszög, aztán a végén veserákkal diagnosztizálja magát.
Alice Boyes nagyon szépen bemutatja a szorongások különböző formáit, a mindenféle buktatókat, hogyan nehezítheti meg az ember a saját életét úgy, hogy például mindent magára vesz, mindent személyes támadásként él meg, mindent elkerül, ami kellemetlen érzéseket vált ki belőle.
Hát persze, hogy mindent magamra vettem, még azt is, ami nem igaz.
Úúúúúúristen, semminek semmi értelme! – óbégattam, miközben magzatpózba kuporodva hintáztam ide-oda a szőnyegen.
Aztán eljutottam a végére, és most jobb.

Amúgy tényleg nagyon hasznos dolgok vannak benne. És valóban azt adja, amit ígér: általánosságban vázol fel helyzeteket, aztán megoldási lehetőségeket, amiből az olvasó összeállíthat magának egy Szerszámosládát, amit később bevethet, amikor konkrét helyzet van. Azért nem rossz az, ha az ember időben képes grabancon ragadni az olyan gondolatokat, mint pl: Nyersebben szólt rám a kolléga, biztos utál. vagy Tegnap csak húsz oldalt olvastam, értéktelen, buta ember vagyok.
Na persze nem nekem vannak ilyen gondolataim. Hanem egy… barátomnak. Igen. Távoli ismerős. Ő szeretné tudni, hogy a izét. Hogy na szóval igen.

Tetszett, mert nem ilyen pozitívgondolkodásos bullshit, hanem kognitív viselkedésterápia. A csatolt irodalomjegyzék elég nagy, de asszem most egy darabig én nem fogok ilyen dolgokat olvasgatni.
Lehet, hogy ez is aviodance coping, de inkább megyek, csinálok valamit.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

You overthink before taking action--check.
You're prone to making negative predictions--check.
You worry about the worst that could happen--check.
You take negative feedback very hard--check.
You're self-critical--check.
Anything less than extraordinary performance feels like failure--check.

I really like that she had a disclaimer that said this isn't intended for a substitution for therapy and not all of the advice may be right for you. Honesty is appreciated and I felt like she would be so much more empathetic and nurturing than the man's anxiety book which I read. Also, unlike that other author, she experiences anxiety too and admits it. Every major decision she's made has made her feel physically sick. I'm going to trust an author more who's experienced anxiety personally than one who seems to be judging.

She suggested that anxiety can seem like a flaw but it's an evolutionary advantage that caused us to analyze potential threats. I like that she said it would be worse not to recognize a real threat at all than to recognize a potential danger that doesn't happen.

I became really afraid that this was going to be targeted for those with general anxiety and just experiencing some degree of anxiety but not a clinical anxiety disorder when she said that's who most of the people came to her were.

I like that she set up the chapters to begin with a quiz to gauge how relevant they would be to us. I also liked that she said reading the book could cause anxiety and for us to experience our symptoms, because that can happen when reading about anxiety. It does for her and we would all go through it together. I'm glad that someone understands that reaction, that just thinking about it can cause anxiety. She even suggested skipping sections that we didn't want to try, and only choosing what works for us. So honest and helpful and understanding.

She recommended we read The Highly Sensitive Person by Elaine Aron if we are that way.

Some of the examples were too specific and didn't apply to me, in her examples. Like reading an O magazine and knowing the "living your best life" didn't apply. And one of the choices was self-esteem coming "from the fact that I recycle to the fact that my friends ask for seconds when I serve them my massaman curry." I didn't even want to choose it, it was so specific to her.

Why do people always write in library books? Just like in the other anxiety book where we're supposed to circle an answer choice or write something, people do it, like it's their private copy and not a library book that other people are going to read. I can't stand to see what other people have chosen, especially if they had one of the good, high-scoring answers and I had the low one...unless they had a low score and I had a high one, of course. Then it made me feel better.

I loved that she said she often feels inadequate when reading success and business books because they're aimed at people who have sky-high goals of being a CEO and we don't all want that. "Goals don't have to be giant to be important to you." I like someone who knows that.

She asked us to come up with idiosyncratic goals we had without defining what idiosyncratic meant.

At the same time as I was glad that she experienced anxiety, I kind of had a problem with using examples from her own life. She talked about wanting to go visit Google, and a colleague was going and she decided to speak up and ask if she could go instead of worry about his reaction. And she met her favorite Broadway actress and asked her to have lunch with her, and it's a highlight and another quirky goal she's achieved. I felt like it was bragging and tooting her own horn that she's done so many things she's wanted to, in a place where it shouldn't be. It's the wrong audience to share this with people who might not have accomplished any of this due to crippling anxiety. But it was a little inspirational that by putting herself out there and risking rejection, she had the time of her life and a good memory to look back on.

I really liked the experiments she had and I wrote all of them out and did them as I was reading.

She had us think of something that we're currently anticipating will fail at and it would be a catastrophe. She wants us to replace that thought with recognizing that attempting it and failing would be upsetting but tolerable. That was groundbreaking for me, that even failing shouldn't be considered a disaster.
She wanted us to recall times where we successfully dealt with failure and the ensuing emotions, like embarrassment, frustration, and sadness. And she asked us to recognize what we did, how we eventually came out of it, whether it was just that time passed or something.

She asked us to think of or research someone famous whom we admire who has dealt with failure in their area of success. It really hit home that everyone experiences failure and it doesn't end them. They kept on going until they were successful. Rarely does anyone to straight to being successful without struggling on the way.

She advocated listening to our gut instinct that says yes, but also listen to the feelings of no that are telling us something isn't right for us according to our passions and strengths.

Her tip to reduce anxiety in an instant is to drop our shoulders and slow our breathing.

Deciding when and where to act will increase the likelihood that we'll follow through with it. So whenever we're planning on doing something, we need to identify when and where we will do it.

She touched on things that I would think would be unrelated on the surface but they are so related. You can't know why someone acted rudely or abruptly. You probably never will. You can't take it personally or assume it had anything to do with you. We need to accept not knowing the reason, not take it personally, and not ruminate about it. We also can't jump to conclusions about why someone didn't write back to us or take so long writing back. We need to acknowledge what's the worst case scenario, but also the best case scenario, and the most likely scenario.

One of the choices to how we respond to the thought that we can't handle a big project was that we go on a gossip website and browse to sloth ourselves. What?

She wanted us to practice getting feedback in the form of a "poop sandwich." I have no idea why it was called that and am certainly not going to ask someone to craft their negative feedback of me in reference with anything to do with crap. The "bread" of the sandwich are things we do well, something positive, and the "poop" is a problem or something we need to learn...No.

The concepts kept building on each other and I would forget what a past term meant and be a little lost in the current reading.

She kept making references to computers. So many of her examples had to do with technology and social media.

It was so ironic that she mentioned business and self-help books seem like they're geared toward these future CEO types and not people with less huge dreams, because most of the examples she used were for a business person. Pitching ideas. Making a sell. Creating a website. Networking.

The last chapter or so the material felt more insubstantial and harder to grasp and pin down. She repeated some of the earlier ideas to reiterate and it felt repetitive and I would have liked just new info at the end, not to hear things I had already heard.

This happens a lot with self help books, by the end I'm wondering what took up the entire book and I'm trying to latch onto something concrete I can actually apply, so it wasn't her fault. There was a lot to tackle in here, ways we think that are negative and then each way had its own solution and task. She had experiments throughout the book. I wrote a lot of them out but others I just did in my head. Just like any other book, it's not going to be useful unless you write it down, so you really have to write down the tasks to give yourself and thoughts to remember so that you'll have something proactive to do. When I tried to think back on what I'm actually supposed to do I had a hard time remembering things. So I knew I was going to have to go back through the book and write them down.

My main takeaway is to not fall into avoidance coping where I avoid doing something, but to find small ways of achieving a larger goal and holding myself to it by choosing where and when to do it. Her main lesson is that, breaking up a major goal into smaller, more manageable tasks and choosing a time and place to get it done. And she shared some breathing and meditation tips. I had already known to slow my breathing before reading this, but I thought I would try meditating soon.

[Nathan Albright · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who has dealt with anxiety for a long time, I find myself deeply interested in reading books about anxiety, and I find in general that most such books come in one of two types.  Either the book comes at anxiety from a particularly cerebral approach (as this one does), or the book comes at it from a pro-Buddhist and New Age approach.  While I must admit that my ideal approach in a book would be neither of these, since the choice is generally between these two I prefer the cerebral approach, namely the Cognitive-Behavioral Approach, and this book delivers sound insights even if it can be a bit emotionally tone-deaf at times.  This author shows no particular interest in the etiology of anxiety but is only interested in helping someone recognize the level of their struggle and nature of their struggle against anxiety and to encourage some tips on how anxiety can be coped with.  That is the extent of the author's interest in the subject, and if you are amenable to such an approach this book is definitely one I can recommend warmly.

This book is about 200 pages long and is divided into three parts and 11 chapters.  The author begins by urging the reader to understand oneself and one's anxiety (I), with chapters on how anxiety works (1), understanding one's multiple dimensions (2), and stating one's goals openly (3).  After that the author provides the titular anxiety toolkit for how to get beyond one's stuck points (II), with chapters on overcoming the problems of hesitancy (4), rumination (5), perfectionism (6), fear of feedback and criticism (7), and avoidance (8).  Finally, the author discusses what one does next after coping better with anxiety (III), with chapters on living one's life rather than merely coping (9), areas where people get tripped up (10), and liking as opposed to tolerating one's natural self (11).  None of what is discussed is particularly unusual or rare and the book includes a lot of multiple choice questions to help the reader engage in self-diagnosis.  The book then ends with a conclusion, acknowledgements, references, notes and in index.  By and large this is not a book that takes a long time to read and nothing in the book should be a surprise to someone who is even remotely familiar with the treatment of anxiety.

Even where this book delves into a recommendation of meditation, the author is quick to remind the reader that even slow and rhythmic breathing counts as meditation when it comes to the health benefits that one gets from reduced anxiety, and this is a far better way of addressing the subject than to promote dodgy Eastern religious practices in the name of health and completely ignore the biblical tradition of prayer and meditation that could easily be discussed.  Of course, the author does not discuss such matters from a Christian point of view either, but rather from the point of view of a psychologist.  The author even brings a bit of spice to her discussion, calling out at least some readers for reading a lot of self-help books without putting any of the insights into practice, which is a bit more fierce of an approach than would be the norm for a book like this which encourages the reader to adopt a proactive approach to better coping with anxiety.  Not everyone is going to appreciate this sort of book, but if one wants a very clinical book with a tough love approach there is much to commend itself here, and that is enough for me as a reader.

[AJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm thinking of purchasing this book so I can refer to it from time to time and make annotations. The book contains 11 chapters, broken up into three parts: Understanding Yourself and Your Anxiety, Overcoming Your Stuck Points, and Where to Next? Each chapter starts out with a mini-quiz so the reader can self-assess how relevant that particular topic will be: rumination, hesitancy, paralyzing perfectionism, etc. The author includes practical CBT exercises to try and references online resources whenever applicable.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best self-help books I've read. First, it's down-to-earth and honest. There are no claims that you are going to suddenly become a different person and never feel anxious again. Instead, the aim of the book is to teach strategies for learning to live with the fact that you tend to be anxiety prone, and reduce the ways anxiety might bring you down, or limit you. In fact, Boyes herself admits she's still an anxiety-prone person, and gives many examples of how she uses the strategies in her own life. This makes the book very real, and gives you a greater trust in what it says. Secondly, it's a very intelligent book. There's a lot of reference to the ideas and research behind the principles and strategies written about. So that's great for people who like to understand something before they can really believe in it and put it into practice. Thirdly, it's very modest. Boyes constantly reminds the reader to take from the book what appeals, or works for him/her, and ignore the rest. Again, her modesty about her own teaching makes it in reality more appealing, at least for me. There was probably a fourth and fifth reason why I liked it, but they don't come to mind now! Anyway, highly recommended, especially if self-help books (or even just the word 'self-help') usually make you cringe!

[Sara Chen · Rating 5 out of 5]

確實點出一些自己心態上不論有無意識到、卻存在的問題，也提供足夠的方法協助自己改善、調整。如果在心態上遇到困境時可以讀的書，可以對於自我行為認識有新的啟發。

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a useful CBT guide to dealing with anxiety. It's full of practical suggestions to help reframe thinking and would be an excellent start to working with an anxious client. However, this book felt very simple and basic. The suggestions were good starting points, but I feel like most people need a little more than this book had to offer.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay. I feel like a lot of the stuff in here didn't apply to my particular anxiety struggles. I had a hard time relating to this book. Maybe my anxiety disorder is very specific. The books I prefer are the Anxiety and Phobia Workbook and From Panic to Power.

[Barbara Markway · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you tend to be a worrier, a perfectionist and are self-critical, this book is for you! Dr. Boyes shares her own experience of being "anxiety-prone" so she knows what's it's like to get stuck in your thoughts. She also brings her years of clinical and research experience to show you how to get unstuck. She shows you how to work with your personality, not fight it. Her writing is down-to-earth and easy to read. There are so many practical tips and strategies, you can dip in and out of the book and find exactly what you need.

[Kerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I ended up skim reading this as it had to go back to the library. As is typical for someone with anxiety issues, I kept putting off reading it and I ran out of time.

However, I did check out the chapters that most apply to me, and I think there's some really good, helpful advice in here. I will either borrow it again when it's not so new and no longer has a hold list so I don't have to have it back exactly the moment it is due.

But I'll keep it's advice in mind and keep on working on that anxiety when it shows its ugly head.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Generally I don't find self-help books useful. I picked this one up after noticing it seemed to have some practical advice for issues I'd been seeing creep into my personal and professional life, mainly concerning decision-making. I've read through the book multiple times now, because it turns out that it has a ton of useful information. I like how the book is set up: it starts with diagnosis of a potential issue and guides you toward implementing a helpful solution to that issue.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recommend this book for anyone who struggles with anxiety. It gave me insight into my behavior and other people's, along with tools to reduce anxiety and live better.

[Olavia Kite · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book helped me to understand certain things about my behavior and thought patterns that were making my life a little bit more difficult. This clarity alone has brought a lot of relief, as I'm now able to break those patterns faster and move on. There's still a long way ahead of me to get better, maybe even overcome my issues completely, but I'm glad I'm finally standing on that road.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Anxiety Toolkit by Alice Boyes, PhD was a Goodreads giveaway that I won in March and began reading in April finishing it in a day. I have to admit that not only did I enter the giveaway for myself but also for another which I have already shared. So, I was hoping that someone else as well as I could get something from its content. I have pulled a couple things but I am getting ahead of myself. I don't suffer from extreme anxiety or panic attacks anymore but have had my share and figured it wouldn't hurt to learn a few additional techniques or learn something new about anxiety types. So I began...

I learned that you first must identify your thinking and behavior patterns that caused the anxiety to begin with. Recognition isn't that easy as I realized when thinking back to those times. That is the first section of the book then it gets into tools to overcome and understanding anxiety and its healthy components. I have learned even prior to reading this that I am anxiety prone. However, the signs of nervousness I hadn't realized were due to anxiety. Nervousness for no reason, perspiration, stutter, shakes, looking down or away and babbling, etc. are all signs I hadn't thought about much. It is certainly uncomfortable and her explanations are so rational that anyone using the book can use it as a reference and benefit later if they choose not to look into it now. The main thing I took from the first section is that it will pass... it does.

The focus of the book uses Cognitive Behavior Therapy techniques and quizzes that I will take as I go and use the book as a tool myself before I share it with my friend.

Identifying my triggers was difficult but I limited it to large groups of people and navigating through them in strange places. I think I need room to breathe, think and figure out where I am and where I need to be and feel pressured to do it quickly and this makes me nervous.

Ch. 2 wasn't that helpful to me other than I was able to identify other types of anxiety that I hadn't realized existed. My self identification is as a socially anxious introvert with a few close relationships. I am agreeable and not willing to make waves. This is a personal goal of mine to learn to not over commit myself and to speak my mind when appropriate. My goal is to stay true to my general nature. Ch. 3 is my goal section and my goals are worth pursuing and so much more important than preventative anxiety. I am stopping myself from achieving my goals due to preventative anxiety. I get it.

Going to pursue goals that have meaning and take action to get there. Ch. 4 Hesitancy. Slow breathing and move on. I get that too. What I took from this chapter is to surround yourself with people who already do what you want to do! I agree. Great idea.

Ch. 5 Rumination. I get this chapter too - stop ruminating and once again - get it done! Just do it - chip away at the stone is what I like to say.

Ch. 5 Paralyzing Perfection. No, not me. Mindful meditation is a good technique though!

Ch. 7 Fear of Feedback & Criticism. No, not me really. Read through this chapter rather quickly.

Ch. 8 Avoidance. Okay, maybe a little but I still get it done.

Ch. 9 Managing your Anxiety vs. Living your Life - Yes, I got this!

Ch. 10 Areas where People get Tripped up. This chapter reinforced for me that I read my own symptoms correctly and have been doing good. I also liked hearing that you should show your self compassion. Nice.

Ch. 11 Likeing your Natural Self vs. Tolerating your Natural Self. I like myself.

I finished the book and would recommend it highly to anyone looking for ways to help themselves with identification of their individual anxieties and techniques to help get through panic attacks. Great self help book.

I took her advice about the book, which was to "take what you find useful from it and ignore the rest". Perfect.

Thank you!

Mary

[Iliana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would 100% recommend this book. Maybe it could get 4 starts since some chapters are not for everyone and sometimes you can find yourself getting bored. But the chapters I was interested in, kept me fascinated.
So what I loved in this book was the structure.
1. Each chapter starts with a questionnaire and shows you how this chapter can help you in the specific area.
2. It has tons of experiments to practice all the things written in each chapter.
3. The author also narrates some of her personal stories.

In brief, the title Toolkit is exactly what someone can find in this book. Easy tools to put in practice. It puts you in a mindset of taking actions.
This book is not an one-time read. Definitely go back once in doubt or need some advice.

[Geoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

My friend Caitrin (of podcast fame) sent me an article from Refinery 29 and after checking it out I knew I needed to read this book. I reached out to the publisher, Perigee Books (Publisher’s site), and they generously provided a copy of the book in return for my honest opinion. In addition to the book, there is an amazing free resource at theanxietytoolkit.com!

Last year I had a panic attack which resulted in a hospital visit when the lingering effects didn’t go away. I was already in therapy for stress, so I was convinced I was having a heart attack, but I wasn’t. That experience resulted in my researching more about anxiety and ways to deal with it. Between therapy last year, I “graduated” :-D last month, and reading this book I’ve come to realize I’ve always experienced a lot of anxiety but I’ve developed really good coping mechanisms throughout the years. Now on to the book!

Continue reading on my blog The Oddness of Moving Things.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first book I have read regarding advice to reduce anxiety, and I thought it was an insightful read! I really enjoyed this book - it was easy to understand and I was eager to keep reading. I gained much insight into general anxiety and ways to overcome anxious thoughts. Lots of practical advice and real-life examples to help you understand. Definitely a great resource to have on hand and refer back to again and again! I am already feeling better as I try to practice these strategies.

[Amy Rhoda Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clear, straightforward descriptions of ways that you might be thinking about stuff the wrong way, and suggestions about how to change your thinking patterns. I've read a million self-help books and there were some new ideas and approaches in here. The writing is current and conversational. Worth a look.

[Brandon Baggett · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some great ways to identify factors in your life that are causing anxiety and some ways to help you cope with those factors. Overall, this is a great beginning resource to use to identify where to dive in further (Boyes even recommends further reading on some issues that cause anxiety).

[Anis · Rating 3 out of 5]

As anxiety was always representing the huge obstacle for me to move forward, this toolkit pushed me off my comfort zone, quickly into experiencing more of life, and more into facing fears, one by one. And for that i'd give it 5stars. The author is pretty intuitive but that's the point.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Straightforward information with suggestions for how you can find out where you land on the anxiety spectrum and what steps you can take to improve your quality of life by decreasing your anxiety.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book doesn't just give advice, it prompts you with quizzes before each chapter and experiments to get you thinking to help you actually apply the tools to your life. I definitely recommend reading with a notebook to write down the parts that you relate to and to make sure you don't forget all of the things you read and think "yeah, I could do that." The information in this book is backed by the author's years of professional work and her own experiences with anxiety-prone thinking. I appreciate that she also includes gentle reminders that there's nothing wrong with you if you don't think a certain way or relate to a certain topic. She recognizes that everyone is different and so what works for everyone will also be different. I definitely recommend if you ever have anxious thoughts!

[Jahna Pusedu · Rating 4 out of 5]

After taking the time to really sit with myself and evaluate my own challenges and strengths when it comes to anxiety, this book really helped identify key points and also expand on areas that I haven’t experienced but could understand how anxiety is driving those actions and thoughts. I feel this book gives good insight to anyone who has experienced anxiety. I can relate to many of the situations mentioned and I’m excited to take the tools listed and incorporate them into some of those areas of challenge. I would recommend this book to someone who wants to dip their toes into self evaluation and those who may not fully understand their anxiety. I think even when it comes to just being able to see what anxiety may look like (it’s very much different for everyone) you’ll be able to direct yourself to a better understanding of why you may feel challenged by anxiety!

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short and extremely helpful guide to working through anxiety. I read this in a weekend and have since recommended it to every person I know who suffers from some form of anxiety. I loved that each chapter started with questions so I could understand how applicable that particular section was to me. Boyes also uses a lot of examples to showcase how anxiety may present itself in everyday situations (ie. having an open office space can be overwhelming for a highly sensitive person).

This was a good reminder for me to not be hard on myself because of the fact that I can’t always control how I react to something, but over time I can learn to manage that reaction better now that I understand why it’s happening.

See more of my reviews: Blog // Instagram

[Collette · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been slowly reading this over the course of a few years. I actually purposefully paused reading it so that I could implement what I learned and read about. I am so grateful for this book. I think it could help anyone (even those who think they have no anxiety). It's not overwhelmingly big and breaks down different concerns (rumination, perfectionism, hesitancy, avoidance, etc.) so that you can focus on what is personal to you. I have recommended it to several people and even bought it for a few. I love this book.

[Chuy Ruiz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short read. Could help lots of people. I read it as an audiobook while doing other things, so I missed out on some of the things it wanted me to do (make lists, answer quizzes, etc). But good tips nevertheless.

[M.H. Norris · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who’s finally taking the time to acknowledge and managing her anxiety, this book felt super relatable. It gave me a lot of food for thought and some helpful tips for managing and overcoming my anxiety.

[Mia Stanich · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was approachable and relatable. A great aspect is that there are self-reflective quizzes at the beginning of each Chapter/Topic before giving insights. Specific parts made me feel seen and understood. The author attempts to hold readers accountable throughout the book!