List

Anxiety

By Chris Breitenbach

These books provide an introduction to anxiety. Produced in collaboration with the Douglas Center and MCC.

  • Unwinding Anxiety: New Science Shows How to Break the Cycles of Worry and Fear to Heal Your Mind

    2021 by Brewer, Judson

    Adult: Based on more than 20 years of research, neuroscientist Judson Brewer's book provides a step-by-step guide offering mindfulness tools one can use to alleviate anxiety. Best of all, Brewer understands how difficult it can sometimes feel to overcome excessive anxiety by offering compassion and a way forward. Suggested by Chris.

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  • Kind of Coping: An Illustrated Look at Life with Anxiety

    2019 by Wilson, Maureen

    Adult/Teen: This collection of comics and vignettes captures what it's like to live with and experience acute anxiety. And it does so with courage, humor, and the aim of letting others know they're not alone, while lending a helping hand by offering coping strategies. Suggested by Chris.

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  • Guts

    2019 by Telgemeier, Raina

    Grades 3-8: Raina's stomach aches start with what must be a stomach bug. After a while, though, they haven't gone away--and she's feeling nervous and unsettled most of the time. Telgemeier's beloved graphic novels take seriously the challenges of young people--and Guts offers a compassionate view of school-age anxiety. Suggested by Amy.

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  • Gloria's Big Problem

    2020 by Bright, Sarah Stiles

    Preschool-grade 3: Gloria would really like to do lots of things, if it weren't for her giant Problem that follows her everywhere telling her all the things that could go wrong. This picture book gives a visual to anxiety and shows a young girl working to not let it overrun her life. Suggested by Amy.

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  • First, We Make the Beast Beautiful: A New Journey through Anxiety

    2018 by Wilson, Sarah

    Adult/Teen: This decidedly meandering memoir takes a deep look at the variety of ways anxiety can work to derail a life, in this case, the life of Sarah Wilson, an Australian TV journalist. Wilson wants her experience and her resilience to be an act of compassion and affirmation for others reading her memoir, to let them know that their anxiety is indeed a beast, but that it can be tamed and even laughed at. Suggested by Chris.

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  • Mindfulness in Plain English

    2011 by Gunaratana, Henepola

    Adult/Teen: Sometimes anxiety can take you away from the present moment. And for some of us, anxiety can cause excessive worry and stress about events and activities and become hard to control. This book offers a clear and helpful guide about how meditation and mindfulness practices can offer a potentially powerful coping mechanism for runaway anxiety. Suggested by Chris.

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  • My Age of Anxiety: Fear, Hope, Dread, and the Search for Peace of Mind

    2013 by Stossel, Scott

    Adult: How to live and even succeed with crippling anxiety? Stossel, a journalist and editor at The Atlantic Magazine, has wrestled with anxiety since he was a toddler. This intimate, funny, and approachable book details how anxiety has affected Stossel (along with millions of others), as well as his attempts to seek relief. Suggested by Chris.

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  • And Then They Stopped Talking to Me: Making Sense of Middle School

    2020 by Warner, Judith

    Adult: In this well-researched account of the culture and structure of middle school, Warner explores why these years are often a time of turbulence and anxiety, with consequences that may be carried into adulthood. Although targeted toward parents with middle-school children, it offers meaningful insights for anyone who struggled with mental health in early adolescence. Suggested by Elise.

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  • Why Do I Feel So Worried?

    2022 by Kirkness, Tammi

    Grades 2-5: Using attractive and bright graphics and an easy to follow flowchart guide, Kirkness combines yoga with clinical and psychological approaches to provide helpful coping techniques for children and their parents. Children are asked yes/no questions to help them identify the cause of their worry, while notes to adults define helpful terms and describe why a particular coping strategy is recommended. The end of the book includes tips and helpful resources. Suggested by Rummanah.

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  • The Anatomy of Anxiety: Understanding and Overcoming the Body's Fear Response

    2022 by Vora, Ellen

    Adult: In this easy to understand and implement primer, psychiatrist Ellen Vora offers an holistic approach to anxiety by exploring the physiological sources of anxiety and offering practical guidance to help mitigate symptoms, backed up with medical evidence. She teaches readers how to take anxiety inventories, avoid unnecessary stress by stabilizing blood sugar levels, rein in social media use, and alter one’s diet to lessen anxiety. She also offers strategies for coping with sometimes inevitable anxiety. Suggested by Rummanah.

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  • A Brush with Love

    2022 by Eddings, Mazey

    Adult: Harper Horowitz believes she can manage her anxiety if she remains under control and sticks to her plan of becoming an oral surgeon, but when Daniel Craige and the possibility of love enter Harper's life, her plans go awry and her anxiety begins to take control. Harper has to overcome her own internal ableism and begin her journey to finding successful ways of mitigating her deeply rooted anxiety by seeing a therapist. Suggested by Rummanah.

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