We are already over halfway through 2025. We trudged through the winter storms. We have faced wind and hail and gloom of night. If you are like me, that wind and hail and gloom of night may have resulted in damage to your home. Life can just be plain stressful at times. Stressful situations can lead to internal questions about what could possibly happen next (including that sweltering heat of summer). Anxiety can come in with a tornado’s strength. Anxiety can be even worse for those who suffer from anxiety disorders, which, most sources agree, is around 19% of the total population.
I have always found studying about ways to help my own anxiety to be one of the most effective methods of coping and recovering. Just learning about what causes my feelings and methods of healing makes me feel less alone in my struggles. Here at the Salina Public Library, we have many books that can help those of us who need an extra boost when we are feeling down and anxious. The following are a few titles that may interest you:
Anxiety Free: Unravel Your Fears Before They Unravel You
In the book Anxiety Free: Unravel Your Fears Before They Unravel You, Robert Leahy offers a staggering statistic that the average child today faces as much anxiety as a 1950s’ psychiatric patient. If this is the statistic for children, just think of us adults. Anxiety-inducing situations are everywhere. Leahy, who is a cognitive behavioral therapist, discusses six different anxiety disorders and offers techniques to help the sufferer deal with and gain control of the symptoms. Some of the specific disorders discussed in Anxiety Free are agoraphobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and social anxiety.
Studying how therapists handle the anxiety disorders that I have has been extremely helpful in my own recovery. In his work The Clinician’s Guide to Exposure Therapies for Anxiety Spectrum Disorders: Integrating Techniques and Applications from CBT, DBT, and ACT, Dr. Timothy A. Sisemore discusses such anxiety disorder treatments as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). He explains the obstacles sufferers face when implementing these types of exposure therapies, provides information about how those who have these disorders and their therapists can handle these obstacles, and even includes exercises that those with anxiety disorders can practice.
The Let Them Theory: A Life-Changing Tool that Millions of People Can’t Stop Talking About
A quite popular book right now is The Let Them Theory: A Life-Changing Tool that Millions of People Can’t Stop Talking About by Mel Robbins. In fact, it is so popular, we here at the Salina Public Library have several copies available. The Let Them Theory is all about the anxiety that arises from giving other people too much power over us. Robbins encourages readers to give up the attempt to control what others think and do. We need to begin focusing on our own well-being. When we do, positive changes will result.
Anxiety and Avoidance: A Universal Treatment for Anxiety, Panic, and Fear
One of the most common things to do when we face anxiety about a specific situation is to avoid that situation. I have been there. However, avoidance is counterproductive. In the long run, it reinforces the anxiety we face (and even makes it worse). In the book Anxiety and Avoidance: A Universal Treatment for Anxiety, Panic, and Fear, Michael A. Tompkins uses cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness practices to teach his readers how to deal with, rather than avoid, anxiety-inducing situations. Rather than just offer methods of managing anxiety once it occurs, he shows readers how to handle the underlying emotions that lead to anxiety.
The Anxiety First Aid Kit: Quick Tools for Extreme, Uncertain Times
COVID has brought a new wave of anxiety for many of us. In his book The Anxiety First Aid Kit: Quick Tools for Extreme, Uncertain Times, psychologist Rick Hanson, along with other experts in the field, offers help for those who, due to uncertainties and, perhaps, personal experiences, have found COVID times particularly stressful. Hanson first emphasizes that it is not unusual or abnormal to feel stress in such situations. He then focuses on personal mental health and strategies for relaxation and for dealing with stressful times. He discusses lifestyle choices that can help improve mental health.
From Anxiety to Love: A Radical New Approach for Letting Go of Fear and Finding Lasting Peace
If you prefer a more natural approach to dealing with anxiety, From Anxiety to Love: A Radical New Approach for Letting Go of Fear and Finding Lasting Peace by Corinne Zupko might be for you. In this book, the author discusses how mindfulness can help correct thinking that leads to anxiety. Zupko promotes her strategies that she believes will help cure rather than just cope with anxiety. She wrote this book after studying the 1976 book A Course in Miracles and found its Eastern philosophy and focus on love helpful in healing from anxiety.
Battlefield of the Mind: Winning the Battle in Your Mind
The very first book I ever read about anxiety was Joyce Meyer’s Battlefield of the Mind: Winning the Battle in Your Mind. Joyce Meyer is a popular Bible teacher and inspirational writer. Battlefield of the Mind is one of her most popular works. It explains her own experiences with anxiety and mental suffering and offers suggestions for how to get past that mental pain and fatigue. When I read, in this book, the author’s personal experiences with anxiety, I finally felt seen. I had never encountered someone who was so vulnerable with her struggles. After reading this book, I bought several copies to hand out to others who I knew struggled with anxiety. It is one I will probably always recommend to others.
Teenagers are not immune to anxiety. Anxiety and Panic Attacks by Judith Levin is geared toward teens who have anxiety. It provides a basic understanding of what anxiety and panic attacks are. It serves as an introduction to this topic, so teens know they do not suffer alone.
Understanding Teenage Anxiety: A Parent’s Guide to Improving Your Teen’s Mental Health
It is also important that parents whose teenagers suffer from anxiety have help and information. In the book Understanding Teenage Anxiety: A Parent’s Guide to Improving Your Teen’s Mental Health, Jennifer Browne and Cody Buchanan investigate teen anxiety from the perspective of the teens themselves, from the viewpoint of parents, and from the standpoint of counselors. It tackles topics such as symptoms of anxiety and depression, self harm, sports and anxiety, and much more. This book can assist parents who are trying to better understand and help their teens.
Anxiety Relief for Kids: On-the-Spot Strategies to Help Your Child Overcome Worry, Panic & Avoidance
Teens and adults are not the only people who face anxiety. Anxiety also affects much younger members of our society. One in eight children suffers from an anxiety disorder. In the book Anxiety Relief for Kids: On-the-Spot Strategies to Help Your Child Overcome Worry, Panic & Anxiety, Dr. Bridget Flynn Walker offers solutions, based upon cognitive behavioral therapy, for childhood anxiety. These strategies can help parents help their children. It specifically teaches parents how to spot anxiety and avoidant behaviors, how to identify triggers, and how to handle issues from everyday anxiety to anxiety disorders.
Breaking Free of Child Anxiety and OCD: A Scientifically-Proven Program for Parents
In Breaking Free of Child Anxiety and OCD: A Scientifically-Proven Program for Parents, Eli R. Lebowitz discusses the SPACE program and how it can help parents help their children with OCD and anxiety. The acronym SPACE stands for Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions. Lebowitz explains SPACE is a treatment program that can help parents improve the life of their child by reducing their child’s anxiety symptoms. SPACE also assists parents with changing what could be problems with their own behavior when dealing with their child’s anxiety.
Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic – and What We Can Do About It
Whether we like it or not, our anxiety not only affects us, it affects those around us – including those we care about most. In Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic – and What We can Do About It, Jennifer Breheny Wallace discusses the pressure that is put on children and teens to succeed in every aspect of their lives. When their days are structured by others and full of activities to ensure success in later life, depression and anxiety can and often do result. Wallace seeks to answer the question of how we can teach students to excel without causing unneeded pressure and stress.
I want to include some fiction that I have found helpful in my personal journey with anxiety and anxiety disorders. The first is Turtles All the Way Down by John Green. John Green himself suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder. Because of the inaccurate ways OCD is often portrayed in popular culture, he decided to write a novel that shows what is closer to the truth about this mental condition. The protagonist of this young adult novel also suffers from OCD. The plot centers on her struggles and victories. I wholeheartedly recommend anything by John Green (and I am not usually a reader of young adult fiction). He handles with care sensitive topics, such as anxiety.
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi is about a cafe in the city of Tokyo whose customers can travel back in time to change something from their past. The story follows multiple protagonists and just what they can or cannot accomplish before their coffee gets cold. Dwelling on the past can cause anxiety. Before the Coffee Gets Cold encourages readers to think about the past with curiosity rather than anxiety. If you enjoy Before the Coffee Gets Cold, you might also check out the rest of the series – Tales from the Cafe, Before We Forget Kindness, and Before Your Memories Fade. All four books are available at the Salina Public Library.
Another novel that I have found helpful in my anxiety journey is The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. I have read this novel twice, and both times it has brought tears to my eyes. The plot centers on a protagonist who suffers from depression and anxiety and seeks to take her own life because of her struggles. In between life and death, she visits the Midnight Library. While here, she learns personal lessons about the uncertainties life inevitably brings. Similar to John Green, Matt Haig also suffers from anxiety and depression.
Anxiety can happen to anyone at any time. Knowing we are not alone makes us feel safer. Knowing how to deal with anxiety can aid in recovery. Reading fiction can help us explore our feelings and gain perspective. The books I listed are just a few in our stacks that you might find helpful. Whether you suffer from a temporary bout of anxiety or an anxiety disorder, we have books that can aid you in your recovery.
About The Author: Kandy
Kandy works in the Circulation Department at Salina Public Library. She holds two bachelor's degrees in religion and education and three master's degrees in human services counseling with a cognate in Christian ministries, history, and professional writing - all from Liberty University. In her free time, she enjoys fiction and nonfiction writing, reading, researching her favorite historical, sociological, psychological, and theological topics, conducting Bible studies, and visiting her favorite historical sites and museums. Her favorite things at the library are books and writing events.
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