Reddit reviews The Anxiety & Phobia Workbook

Come on, this is just another advertisement for your website.

I've seen several links to that site and all the content is utterly generic "worry less" "meditate more" "try to remove stress" - I haven't seen any real unique content. If you're aiming for content building or blogging on the topic, you're missing the mark. It appears as though you're repackaging and reselling pleasantries (Total Value = $1,103 All Yours for Only $47) in place of actual peer reviewed medical advice.

I recommend anyone dealing with anxiety to visit their local library and check out The Anxiety & Phobia Workbook.

Oh wow...I'm doing this myself...huge pain in the ass :-)

The most important part is to understand you anxiety...there are lots of different kinds and typically people have multiple forms from multiple sources.

For instance there is generalized anxiety, specific anxiety, social anxiety, anticipatory anxiety and the list rolls on and on.

Once you have a better idea of where you anxiety comes from you can try to use different techniques to parry it - breathing, meditation, desensitization to that what causes the anxiety.

A therapist might be worth a try if you think the anxiety is affecting your life to the point where you aren't enjoying it.

At the very least I'd recommend this book (that was recommended to me by a therapist.) While I'm still working on taming anxiety I have a much better idea of what's going on with myself...and that does help.

Godspeed :-)

Hi, /u/themotherfuckingfox. I think there are several tacks you can take that will help, and it's important in doing any of them to recognise that they a) don't provide instant relief, b) require effort and c) don't automatically prevent panic attacks and anxiety.

• (Reach out for medical help sooner. Them not reaching you doesn't mean you can't reach them. The NHS will do home appointments. Tell them that's what you need and discuss your problems. In terms of medication, always follow doctors' orders, but if you want a future without meds it may be you need to tell them you want to be reducing, not increasing, your dose; of course, to do this, you also need to want to decrease. If you have diazepam for when needed, try to use it only when totally necessary, in the long term dependency could be nasty, but as I say these are questions for your doctor, not for a random redditor. Medical stuff aside and in brackets, onto lifestyle:)
  
  
• Diet. Eat three times a day, the largest meal at lunch, and eat a balance of foods. If you're at home anyway, why not learn how to cook? It kills several birds with one stone: it's a mental and physical activity, it stimulates the mind, teaches you about food and builds appetite!
  
  
• Exercise. Whatever you can do, if it's running, or just pressups. Morning is ideal, and not too soon before bedtime (this disrupts sleep).
  
  
• Routine. Get up early, even if you're tired, and go to bed as early as possible.
  
  
• Mindfulness. There are meditation techniques that may at first seem hippy/new age but that people do find useful. Be aware that although you can follow a Buddhist scheme, many courses are non-religious techniques for the same practices, and many are approved by doctors. If you do these you have to take instructions seriously and follow the quotas suggested. A generally recommended resource is Mark Williams's book.
  
  
• This is another best-selling book that uses simple exercises and CBT to help with anxiety and phobias, and is often recommended, The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook.
  
  
• Find a hobby that you can do at home. Even if not getting out, you want something that involves activity and concentration. I bake bread, it's a good balance of thoughtful and active.
  
  
• When you have a hobby, and mindfulness exercises, and a diet, refer back to the third point, routine. Your hobby, meditation, exercise, whatever, won't help if you just start them once you begin feeling anxious. You need to build them all into an overarching routine.
  
  I should add, I'm badly agoraphobic and I am almost hypocritical to offer this advice because I don't always follow it. That said, when I more or less follow more elements of it than not, I do far better than when I don't follow it at all. The shitty thing to recognise is that no matter how well you do these things, you still get bad days. Improvement is slow, and it will feel frustrating, but if you force yourself you will feel it. No miracles, no magical bullets, but it gets better, and at 25 it's definitely not the end of the line: far from it. Good luck. :)
  
  P.S. I forgot to ask if you're a smoker (or indeed a drinker). If so, quit (both). It helps.

I definitely feel ya in regards to 'medical anxiety'. I kind of always have a mild hypochondria thing going on, but my anxiety spikes like mad anytime I have a medical issue that causes, say, an ER visit.

If you have finals coming up, that means you're in college of some sort- is there a counselor or therapist at the university you could speak to? I know I have a bad habit of waiting to get treatment until my panic is out of control, and it'll be much easier to deal with if you catch your fears early.

At the least, maybe seek out this book. I was skeptical when this was recommended to me, but it has a lot of good stuff to say. In particular, I'm thinking of a set of steps they lay out when you think you're in medical danger or have the 'I'm gonna die' feeling.

Hope it gets better for you soon. Anxiety is just one of those things that ebbs and flows.

Get his book:
http://www.amazon.com/Anxiety-Phobia-Workbook-Edmund-Bourne/dp/157224223X

I had my first panic attack when I was 19. That seems the be the onset age for a lot of shit, doesn't it?

Your symptoms sound just like mine did (and do). As I've grown older, the scary cognitive stuff has gone away and it's mostly just been replaced by physical symptoms (like fear of my own heartbeat, dizziness, nausea, etc). Because cognitive stuff is a big problem for you, you should definitely focus on treating that. Even if you can't get a therapist, try this book -- I love it --

http://www.amazon.com/Anxiety-Phobia-Workbook-Edmund-Bourne/dp/157224223X

There are a few different versions -- the newer ones have a chapter on Mindfulness meditation -- but you can pick up the older ones for really cheap. I have the 3rd edition and it's fantastic. There are lots of good cognitive exercises/activities/etc that help you to re-wire the way you think when you're anxious.

Ditto what the others have said, but in addition you MUST nip that anxiety in the bud or it will consume you. Get this: http://www.amazon.com/Anxiety-Phobia-Workbook-Edmund-Bourne/dp/157224223X and work through it before you begin teaching.

As a teacher, you will have SO many responsibilities and troubles on your plate that you will need handeling stress perfected.

OCD, if not purely obsessional, is better treated with Exposure/Response Prevention in the context of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, so you probably need a therapist. Having said that, if you want to address by yourself your issues, you may want to read The anxiety and phobia workbook.