Reddit reviews Monkey Mind: A Memoir of Anxiety

If youre new to researching the subject then maybe it could be a good idea to read/listen to things about anxiety in general. It really helps to listen to stories of dealing with mental illness. You'll never find anyone that has exactly what you do, but you always see characteristics that you find in yourself. Its nice to hear people talk about it put it into words better than you can yourself.
I would recommend:

book: Monkey Mind

podcast: Mental Illness Happy Hour

> Lately I get this weird feeling, kind of withdrawn when I get down on myself. This is relatively new. I don’t feel like eating, talking, hanging out, I just want to zone out in front of a TV, book, or game, anything distracting

This is textbook depression.

> I don't even know what it is but it makes me feel like I'm crazy, which in turn makes me feel worse about myself. I try not to say anything, but honestly, negative thoughts about myself are so constant, sometimes they spill out of my mouth before I can stop them.

Not to cause you more anxiety but I've had two former relationships that ended on this very issue. I eventually gave up complimenting her. It's very difficult to be with someone you find genuinely beautiful with amazing qualities and every time you share this with them they shoot you down or don't believe you. Then the minute you stop trying you get the opposite, "you never compliment me" well yea, I know, I tried that. I wish I had an answer for you but continuing to professionally treat your depression and anxiety is the best path because it's definitely related to this issue. Depression and anxiety aren't just things you cure. You will always live with both. A bit like an alcoholic that has to wake up everyday and remind themselves not to drink. You might enjoy the book, Monkey Mind as well.

I've thought about teaching! It's definitely an option if I can't get into grad school. I'm not sure how qualified I would be, but I feel like that's a personal issue, you know? I feel so old and so young and I'm not sure I'm authoritative enough to actually teach people! It would be awesome though.

Psych is SO FREAKING COOL but the science-y parts were way over my head! I've thought about a masters in guidance counseling or something too, since I have a BA instead of a BS. I'm excited that you're going to be out there helping people in ways I can't! I've heard it's a tough (but rewarding!) job. If you haven't read them yet you should check out Just Like Someone Without Mental Illness Only More So: A Memoir and Monkey Mind: A Memoir of Anxiety. Those books completely altered my views on mental illness in a good way!

A GREAT book to read is Monkey Mind by Daniel Smith. There would be great quotes and first hand experiences to talk about and have examples. As far as scientific research use your schools library to find peer reviewed articles. Are you in college ot high school??

Books can be very helpful as well. [The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook] (https://www.amazon.com/Anxiety-Phobia-Workbook-Edmund-Bourne/dp/1626252157/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1466618329&sr=1-4&keywords=anxiety) is a great one to start with as well as My Age of Anxiety.

Monkey Mind and Agorafabulous are great books when you want a good laugh and realize other people have similar experiences as you.

I posted a similar question on here for a gift for my boyfriend, and I got a lot of great responses so I decided to make a "panic box" for him with lots of different ideas.

He is big on scents for soothing, so I got him a relaxation blend and frankincense essential oils, as well as his favorite incense.

He is also very responsive to tea, so I got him this pregnancy tea. I know that seems weird, but it was one of the few on Amazon that had chamomile and oatstraw. Although I didn't really expect them to work, I also got him stress mints, calm drops, and moon drops in hopes that having something to suck on might calm him down if some minor anxiety pops up.

As for books, after reviewing this thread here, I got him this anxiety memoir since he seems to benefit from reading other people's stories (shout out to this subreddit! Thanks guys!), as well as this workbook.

Finally, I got him a panic pete to give him something to hold and squeeze when he was anxious. Out of all the things I got him, he loved panic pete the best!

As a final, personal touch, I printed out this article which he loved reading when he is anxious, and included some of the calming mantras I found here.

Hope at least some of this helps!