Overcome Worrisome Thoughts With These 4 Anxiety-Busting Books
Many of us feel anxious in our day-to-day lives. It might be the constant destructive news cycle, the pressure of your micromanaging boss and endless to-do list, or social media making everyone else’s lives look better than they really are.
No matter what’s causing it, you’re not alone if you’re feeling anxious. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, anxiety affects a whopping 40 million adults in the US — that’s more than 19% of the population!
While therapy and medication are useful and sometimes necessary, treatments, there are also other, simple and easy ways for us to continually improve ourselves on our own. Non-fiction books, for instance, offer tons of useful nuggets of information. Psychiatrists, neuroscientists, and therapists have all shared the latest science and their own wisdom to help you enter 2023 feeling calmer and more able to cope with your own feelings.
Want to stress less in the New Year, but don’t know exactly how to achieve this lofty goal? Blinkist can help you on your journey and be a useful addition to your anti-anxiety toolkit.
The app shares the powerful ideas and interesting insights found in nonfiction books in bite-sized explainers. Each explainer is only 15 minutes long and you can choose to read or listen to it. Decide between 5,500 titles across 27 categories including personal development, mindfulness, and psychology.
Here’s a peek into the books available on the app, and what you can learn to help you feel less anxious in 2023.
1. Unwinding Anxiety by Judson Brewer
Unwinding Anxiety
- 28 min reading time
- audio version available
Judson Brewer is a renowned addiction psychiatrist and neuroscientist, so who better to share the latest science on how to break bad habits and ease obsessive thoughts?
In his book, Unwinding Anxiety, Brewer dives into what’s happening inside our brains when we get anxious, why anxiety is addictive, and how we can use mindfulness and a compassionate mindset to break this addiction.
“To hack our brains and break the anxiety cycle, we must become aware of two things: that we are getting anxious and/or panicking and what results from anxiety/panicking.”
2. Eat to Beat Depression and Anxiety by Drew Ramsey
Eat to Beat Depression and Anxiety
- 21 min reading time
- audio version available
You may reach for comfort food when you’re anxious, but the link between your diet and your mental health goes deeper than that.
Eat to Beat Depression and Anxiety shares the latest research into how the food you eat affects your gut health, and how your gut health has a direct impact on how you feel mentally. It’s written by psychiatrist, Columbia University professor, and farmer Drew Ramsey.
Beyond the science behind it, the book shares the specific foods you should be reaching for to improve your anxiety. Think leafy greens, fruits, colorful veggies, nuts and seeds, and oily fish.
And don’t worry, comfort food can still make an appearance. There’s evidence dark chocolate can help with depression — thanks, Science!
3. Future Tense by Tracy Dennis-Tiwary
Future Tense
- 19 min reading time
- audio version available
Anxiety has been demonized in our society, and it’s treated as a problem we need to cure. But professor of psychology and neuroscience Tracy Dennis-Tiwary says it shouldn’t be this way at all.
In her book, Future Tense, Dennis-Tiwary explains why those anxious feelings we all get are actually meant to help us, not harm us. She shares advice on how we can reframe our thinking around anxiety, let go of anxiety that isn’t useful, and discover what worrisome thoughts are trying to tell us.
“The problem isn’t anxiety; the problem is that our beliefs about anxiety stop us from believing we can manage it and even use it to our advantage.”
4. Accessing the Healing Power of the Vagus Nerve by Stanley Rosenberg
Accessing the Healing Power of the Vagus Nerve
- 19 min reading time
- audio version available
The vagus nerve is the longest of the 12 nerves coming out of your brain, which connect it to organs and muscles around your body. By activating your vagus nerve, you can calm your body’s flight-or-fight response, which you might be stuck in if you’re in a constant state of worry.
It sounds complicated, but craniosacral therapist Stanley Rosenberg has a simple way you can do this from home, and in just a few minutes, too.
His book, Accessing the Healing Power of the Vagus Nerve, explains the exercise and the science behind it.
Ease Anxious Thoughts with Help from Blinkist
Beyond these four titles, Blinkist has tons of books to help with everything from overcoming anxiety at work to rewiring your brain away from stress.
There are also collections — reading lists curated by our experts — to help guide your learning. These include the Anxiety-Busting Toolkit, which includes 10 books on anxiety, including the four we mentioned above, and 7 Days to Better Wellbeing, a seven-day challenge to help you upgrade your mental and physical health.
Wondering how exactly you can get these powerful insights on anxiety? Here’s how the Blinkist app works.
Beat Anxiety in 15 Minutes A Day
Neuroscientists, psychologists, and therapists have poured their wisdom into nonfiction books, but it can take hours, if not days, to read through them cover to cover. And it’s especially hard to find time to sit down and read when you’re struggling with stress and anxiety.
Blinkist can help as it shares the most important parts of a nonfiction book in just 15 minutes. You’ll get all of the powerful ideas, actionable advice, and cutting-edge science in a fraction of the time.
Learn Coping Strategies On the Go
Each of Blinkist’s bite-sized explainers is available in both text and audio form, so you can sit down and read them over breakfast or listen to them on the go, like when going for your mental health walk, working out, or running errands.
24 Million Users Trust Blinkist
There’s so much advice on the internet about mental health, it’s hard to know who to trust. All the information on Blinkist comes from trusted sources, leading experts, and bestselling books.
24 million users already trust the app with their learning, and they’ve given Blinkist 94,000 5-star ratings across the app stores.
–5-star review
Blinkist Helps Users Make Real Change
Reading about anxiety is one thing, but you actually want to do something about it. Luckily, Blinkist is designed to help you take the knowledge you learn on the app and apply it to your everyday life.
– Holger Seim, CEO of Blinkist
The explainers are memorable, easy-to-digest, and key advice is highlighted and repeated, making it stick. When we surveyed our users we found 87% have made positive changes and 91% have created better habits thanks to what they learned on the app.
One of the Best Apps for Personal Growth
Blinkist is recognized as a leading app for personal growth. The app has won awards from Google and the United Nations, it’s loved by Forbes, The Guardian, and the New York Times, and Apple even named it one of the top 20 apps for lifelong learning.
You can explore the library of nonfiction explainers — which grows by 70 books each month — or Blinkist’s newest feature: Guides.
Guides are short courses narrated by an expert, and those seeking a less anxious 2023 can try “Manage Your Mental Health at Work” by psychotherapist Nora Dietrich or “Stop Negative Self-Talk” by clinical psychologist Dr. Rheeda Walker.
Want to overcome anxiety in the New Year, but not sure where to start? Download the Blinkist app to get the tools you need for a brighter 2023.
