My Anxious Mind: A Teen's Guide To Managing Anxiety And Panic

by Michael A. Tompkins, Katherine A. Martinez, Michael Sloan (Illustrator)

ABCT Self Help Book Seal of Merit Award

Can you spare 30 minutes to feel less anxious?

Go ahead. Think about how your life would be different if you were less anxious. What would change? Would you try out for the basketball team? Ask someone out on a date? Would you sleep better and feel less tense? Would you feel calmer and happier?

My Anxious Mind helps teens take control of their anxious feelings by providing cognitive behavioral strategies to tackle anxiety head-on and to feel more confident and empowered in the process. It also offers ways for teens with anxiety to improve their inter-personal skills, manage stress; handle panic attacks; use diet and exercise appropriately; and decide whether medication is right for them.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Psychology, Mental Health, Parenting, Health

196 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2009

About the author

Michael A. Tompkins, Ph.D. is co-founder of the San Francisco Bay Area Center for Cognitive Therapy, Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and a Diplomate and Founding Fellow of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy. He is the author or co-author of numerous articles and chapters on cognitive-behavior therapy and related topics, as well as six books. He is a certified supervisor for the Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy and the Academy of Cognitive Therapy and serves on the Advisory Board of Magination Press, the children’s press of the American Psychological Association. He has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and on television (The Learning Channel, Arts & Entertainment) and radio (KQED, NPR).

Reviews

[Claire Koger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I chose to read the book My Anxious Mind because I suffer from anxiety and I thought this book would be beneficial for me. I found 8 of the chapters in the book very helpful in coping withy my anxiety. The first chapter talks about realizing when anxiety becomes a problem and to see the initial signs right from the start. This is very imprint to realize you are suffering from anxiety. The second chapter states that everyone needs to have time to breath, relax, and take a step back. It is always important to make sure you have time for yourself. The third chapter talks about facing our fears one step at a time and over time how this will become easier and help manage your anxiety. The fourth chapter discusses panic attacks and how to deal with them and make them last a shorter amount of time. The key thing to do when having a panic attack is to stay calm and go with the flow. The fifth chapter talks about identifying stress so you know what is getting to you. You cant solve the problem if you don't know what the issue is. The sixth chapter mainly focuses on taking care of your well being and how important it is to keep up on your nutrition, exercise, and sleep. If you live a health life style it will improve your anxiety and lower your chances of getting a eating disorder. The seventh chapter talks about different medications that help deal with anxiety but it also talks about all of the medications bad side affects. The last chapter I found helpful was that you will never get rid of your anxiety unless you have a hopeful heart and keep your head up. If you follow all of these steps your anxiety will decrease if not go away.

I found this book incredibly helpful in managing my anxiety.I would recommend this book to anyone who has an anxious mind and needs help.

[Ann Bailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic, easy to understand book for ANYONE. Although a lot of the techniques I already knew through therapy, I greatly enjoyed this book. I thought it was well written and easy to follow. The techniques to change your anxious track are simply amazing and something I do on a daily basis to work through anxious situations. The things this books talks about were well researched, explained, and actually do help! Of course they will all work differently for everyone, like everything that has to do with anxiety; it's just a matter of trying and seeing what works best for you!

[Sylvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always felt like I had a bit of an anxiety issue, so I wanted to learn a bit more.

I ended up skimming parts of the book because I started feeling dizzy and nauseous and nervous.

But there was a lot of good advice.

[Kristen Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great resource if you work with older children or teens who struggle with anxiety or panic attacks. Contains practical tools with awesome charts and diagrams for implementation. In fact, since reading, I've found myself using some of the tools when I am feeling stressed out at work. Just an all around helpful and informational guide.

[Yvonne Ferlita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome primer for those first learning to handle anxiety. The writing style is friendly, encouraging and simple to understand. Covers topics from relaxation techniques to psychotherapy and medication. Though written for teens, I would not hesitate in recommending it to adults as well.

[Debbie Hoskins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this helpful as an adult. I also like the way the book is illustrated and designed.

[Bryson Sweeney · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me this book was very good and made allot of sense in the context of my life. Some people that have extreme anxiety don't know that they aren't alone and they also don't know that people can't imagine what the levels of anxiety feels like. Yes all people have moments of high anxiety but its a different experience when the anxiety won't go away and continues to loop inside your head. This is called the worry wheel in the book and sometimes it doesn't stop, i personally know what this can feel like knowing and experiencing panic attacks before in my life. The book is really good for people that somewhat don't understand their anxiety and want to understand maybe how to control it better and not letting it control you.

[Louise Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

i am really no longer a teenager but just saw my anxious mind mind missing out the teenage bit not that it matters as the tchniques mentioned are the same for what ever the age it was easy to follow with stories and that made sense and worth remembering although must admit rushed through the techniques alot

[Chloe · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars.

My mom bought me this book when I was in eighth grade to help with my social anxiety, and though it didn't instantly or completely solve my problems (I still carry some of it with me to this day, but this is in part because of how I was raised), it helped me a lot.

First sentence:

Note to Reader

Think about how your life would be different if you were less anxious.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some great charts and illustrations for presenting calming strategies for teenagers. I'm not sure how teens would take to reading this on their own (lots of text and charts), but there are definitely a bunch of resources that I will incorporate into my work with teenagers.

[Ruby Paustian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book gave helpful hints to teens on how to deal with anxiety. I thought most of their tips were helpful like learning how to breathe, why sleep is important, etc. Some advice that the authors give seem to be very basic and repetitive, but would still recommend to someone with anxiety.

[Elie E · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m a therapist and wanted to learn additional ways to treat adolescents with anxiety. This book offers a lot of common knowledges and tends to repeat itself, but also has some techniques/interventions that you can work with clients. It was an easy ready with some helpful tools.

[Arthea J. Larson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite go-to book in working with teens who have anxiety. (And I own A-LOT of books on the subject.) I like the clarity of the program and have been able to apply much of it to depressed clients as well.

[Ruth · Rating 2 out of 5]

this seemed like it had some good concrete ideas to help with anxiety. but again i couldn't get my teens to read them or apply their principles.

[Elizabeth Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

It has given me some ideas to help me with my anxiety

[Lenka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written guidance. Only few things to personally take away tho, but that is fine.

[Sarna na Kiju · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ironically, I felt a headache and stress whenever Id continue reading.
Its a good book though. Gave me few new ways of dealing with what Im going through.

[Ella · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really appreciate that the authors would take time out of their lives to help others by writing this book. It really helped me through a lot.

[Heather McC · Rating 4 out of 5]

1st read was a skim, but this book is a good resource to keep on your radar to understand patterns of anxiety and how to get ahead of it.

[Tasnia Khanom · Rating 3 out of 5]

A handy book for teens or adults wanting to learn how to manage their anxiety. It contains exercises you can partake in to calm you when you are facing anxiety from breathing exercises to journaling ideas.

[Aimee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has great tools and descriptions of anxiety and how to manage it. However, it is wordy and teens may benefit from using this book with s parent or counselor's help. It's a great resource for teens who like to read and are self motivated. Also great resource to use in counseling sessions. And lastly I think it would be helpful for parents wanting to help a child work through anxiety. I would recommend this book to my friends and mental health coworkers.

[Julia P · Rating 3 out of 5]

I normally don't read a lot of reference books/non-fiction, but I definitely going this book useful. It gives lots of great self-care tips and habits to practice, so I would definitely recommend it to anyone with anxiety.

[Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

By most accounts this book is very helpful. It was recommended to me by a psychologist whose clients have found it very helpful and who knows me very well. I had high hopes for it, but it wasn't the right book for me.

[Travis Niemeyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this to see if it would be beneficial for my anxious child (and me). His anxiety is pretty mild so there are some helpful portions, but this seems to be geared more for those with serious anxiety issues.

[Mari · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book phrases the concepts in a way that is easy to remember especially during a stressful situation.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book for Elizabeth. It is wonderful! I see a bright future for her and us as we work through this book to help with our anxieties!

[Clara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll definitely be coming back to this one.

[carter Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was ok.

[Isabella O · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was really useful. I struggle with anxiety and this really helped me:)

[Eve Del · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book to use in practice with teens. Focused, to the point, and useful strategies for teens looking to manage anxiety and panic