Overcoming Worry [Paperback]

There is so much advice about overcoming anxiety and worrying that it is sometimes difficult to know where to start and what to believe. This book is brilliant because it helps you understand your problem, and then empowers you to overcome it for yourself. One of the symptoms of anxiety is to search for lots of information, but I would encourage anyone to avoid reading all the anxiety related horror stories on the web - what is the point? Instead, take control of your own life and read this book. It was recommended to me by my cognitive behavioural therapist.

The book itself is practical and easy to follow but encompassess all the latest expert thinking on worry and GAD (the clinical form of excess worry) and the anxiety that it causes. It helped me to go on a journey of self discovery and empowerment so that a year later my attitude to life was different - I thought I'd never say it but I just don't worry about things as much! I still have worry's and ups and downs but not as intense or for as long, I know I will get through and what is happening. I embrace change in life more, I do things I used to avoid because they would cause worry and anxiety and CAN tolerate the uncertainty life brings much better. This book will take you through the reasons why you worry, what your life rules are which drive your worry (which are usually not obvious), the behaviours and internal thought processes which spark worry and keep it going and most importantly how to challenge them and how to overcome them methodically and through changing your behaviour and thought processes to worrisome events. It won't give you that 100% certainty you are always looking for (through reassurance say or checking) that the problems you are worried about won't happen, that's impossible and it's not about that, it's about solving what you can on any given problem and then turning the 'worry dial' down so that you can manage and tolerate the incertaintly that is left and look at the problem from a more productive perspective without as much fear/anxiety.
The are many interactive sections of the book which is brilliant because it allows you to slot your own personal reasons and ways you worry into its easy to follow frameworks and then discuss how to improve the situation. It will allow you to recognise when in certain situations it is normal to worry, but in others it is fruitless and driven by a number of habitual thoughts and behaviours. It then shows how worrying can stop you in your tracks, making you indecisive, reluctant to take action and on the defensive looking for 100% answers to problems that aren't always possible to answer which leads to more anxiety (which in turn drives more worry). So if you want to break this cycle then buy this book!
This book is not about just thinking more positively either, that often leads to a false sense of security which doesn't last, moreover a step by step guide or signpost to a better sense of control and attitude. It doesn't focus on the object of your worry (although it does cover many common worry themes), afterall we all know this can change one day to the next, but on the attitudes and beliefs you are holding on to that can be broken like habits.
I have always been a worrier, ranging from a background sense of unease and foreboding to fully blown bouts of panicky worry and self absorbtion depending largely on what was happening in my life. After deciding I was worrying and feeling anxious too much to often, I researched worry as a problem and decided to take action, hence this book.
Kevin Meares and and Mark Freeston are experts in this field and the book has all the latest thinking and knowledge behind it. A truly life changing book if you want it to be!

Firstly I think i should say that i am not the type of person who would usually write a review but I thought I should let you know how AMAZING this book is.
I have suffered with PTSD/Anxiety/Depression/Worry for a number of years. Within a few pages of this book it felt like the penny dropped, I noticed immediate relief of the symptoms of worry.
The book is well thought out, it is split into easy to understand information that everyone can relate to and understand. Following the exercises in the book over the past couple of weeks has lead to a marked reduction in all my symptoms. To put it simply I cant recommend this book enough, if worry plays a negative part in your life, BUY THIS BOOK!