Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Attacks, and Stress

• Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness by Jon Kabat-Zinn.

This is perhaps the single best book ever written on how to deal with stress and pain. It offers a section dedicated to anxiety and panic, but the vast majority of the book’s material is life-changing and can be applied to all facets of life. This book can be read a thousand times without fully extracting all of the wisdom contained within it. Highly recommended.

• Calming Your Anxious Mind: How Mindfulness and Compassion Can Free You from Anxiety, Fear, and Panic by Jeffrey Brantley and Jon Kabat-Zinn.

This short but powerful book follows in the footsteps of Full Catastrophe Living to provide a effective approach to conquering anxiety and fear.

• Anxiety, Phobias, & Panic: A Step-by-Step Program for Regaining Control of Your Life by Reneau Z. Peurifoy.

This book is chock full of information on anxiety of all types. The author also includes a well-designed self-recovery program that has helped many people regain control over their lives.

• The Anxiety & Phobia Workbook by Edmund J. Bourne.

The author is the Director of the Anxiety Treatment Center in Santa Rosa California and has years of experience working with anxiety. In The Anxiety & Phobias Workbook Bourne couples a wealth of information along with a workbook-style
approach to recovery. This is a valuable addition to your library.

• Natural Relief for Anxiety: Complementary Strategies for Easing Fear, Panic & Worry by Edmund J. Bourne.

This title provides a wide variety of helpful techniques on coping with anxiety, including breathing, yoga, meditation, and lifestyle changes that promote well-being. Bourne also covers herbal supplements and foods that aid in alleviating anxiety symptoms.

• Beyond Anxiety and Phobia: A Step-by-Step Guide to Lifetime Recovery by Edmund J. Bourne.

Much of anxiety therapy is designed as quick, focused intervention, treating a specific syndrome without looking at the possibility of long-term healing. However, true recovery requires something more: understanding the meaning of anxiety symptoms and going deeper to face their underlying sources in a holistic and life-changing way. Beyond Anxiety and Phobia provides an array of alternative strategies for entering this long-term healing mode; describes alternative therapies such as herbs, yoga, massage, acupuncture, and homeopathy; and addresses the impact of perfectionism and other personality issues.

• The Anxiety Book by Jonathan Davidson and Henry Dreher.

This book covers a wide variety of topics in a well-written and calming tone that is a pleasure to read. Davidson and Dreher bring a lot of information together in a format that addresses that most common concerns of the anxious. This is a great book that deserves your attention.

• Overcoming Anxiety: From Short-Time Fixes to Long-Term Recovery by Reneau Z. Peurifoy.

Through activities and case studies, Peurifoy shows sufferers how to shift their focus from the symptoms of anxiety (pounding heart, feeling of choking, dizziness, fear) to the core problems behind the anxiety (childhood trauma, stress from work, etc.) in order to create longtime freedom from anxiety.

Obsessive Anxiety and OCD

• The Imp of the Mind: Exploring the Silent Epidemic of Obsessive Bad Thoughts by Lee Baer.

This book is the definitive authority on those who experience “bad,” “scary,” or “disturbing” thoughts as a result of obsessions. This is commonly seen in individuals diagnosed with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) although anyone can experience these symptoms of anxiety regardless of diagnosis. This book is small but very powerful. This book is a beacon of hope for the millions of people who suffer from scary obsessions. Dr. Baer provides a vast amount of information and guidance on how to rid yourself of these obsessions once and for all.

• Getting Control by Lee Baer.

This is another great book from Dr. Lee Baer. Although the title is written specifically for those with OCD, anyone who experiences chronic anxiety and obsessive worry will find valuable advice here.

• Freedom from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: A Personalized Recovery Program for Living with Uncertainty by Jonathan Grayson.

Whether the diagnosis is OCD or not, this book’s great strength lies in its advice for dealing with uncertainty. It is a valuable addition to the body of literature on anxiety.

• Brain Lock: Free Yourself from Obsessive-Compulsive Behavior by Jeffrey M. Schwartz.

In Brain Lock, Jeffrey M. Schwartz presents a simple four-step method for overcoming OCD that is so effective, it’s now used in academic treatment centers throughout the world. Proven by brain-imaging tests to actually alter the brain’s chemistry, this method doesn’t rely on psychopharmaceuticals. Instead, patients use cognitive self-therapy and behavior modification to develop new patterns of response to their obsessions. In essence, they use the mind to fix the brain. Using the real-life stories of actual patients, Brain Lock explains this revolutionary method and provides readers with the inspiration and tools to free themselves from their psychic prisons and regain control of their lives.

Spiritual and Philosophical Approaches to Anxiety and Stress

• When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times by Pema Chodron.

Pema Chodron is an American Tibetan Buddhist nun whose advice for living is unparalled. In this book, one of her most popular, Chodron explains how to rid oneself of anxiety and negativity through the cultivation of compassion and inner bravery. This powerful book will permanently change the way you see your problems.

• The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times by Pema Chodron.

This is another great book by Pema Chodron (see above), although this one has a slightly more Buddhist bent to it. I would suggest this one only if you found When Things Fall Apart to be helpful.

• Breath by Breath: The Liberating Practice of Insight Meditation by Larry Rosenberg.

This book outlines the ancient practice of vipassana, or insight meditation, and how it helps us overcome our insecurities, fears, disconnectedness, and all other forms of human suffering. But this book isn’t just about meditation, it also covers a large variety of incredibly potent advice about how to live your life without fear and worry. Highly recommended.

• Mindfulness in Plain English by Bhante Gunaratana.

This is possibly the best book ever written on the nuts-and-bolts of insight meditation. Like other books on meditation, this one also contains gems of advice that apply to every part of your life, whether you’re a meditator or not.

Inspirational Fiction

• Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life’s Greatest Lesson by Mitch Albom

This book is not about anxiety in particular, but Morrie’s wisdom about life and happiness is something that no one should miss out on. This is an inspirational story that will touch your heart and change your life. Pay attention. Morrie’s lessons are subtle but incredibly profound.