January’s Recommended Reading: Good Anxiety

This month I've chosen Good Anxiety: Harnessing the Power of the Most Misunderstood Emotion by Wendy Suzuki, Ph.D., as our Recommended Reading. 

The reason I chose this book is not only because so many of us deal with anxiety -- Dr. Suzuki states that 40 million people in the United States (that's 18% of the population!) suffer from a clinical anxiety disorder, and yet hundreds of millions of us suffer from lower-grade anxiety (she calls it "everyday anxiety") that may not be clinical, but is still challenging and draining in various ways -- but also because anxiety can be a huge part of grief. This can be a surprise, even in people who tend toward anxiety. In fact, Dr. Suzuki shares an example from her own life to illustrate how anxiety took hold as she was grieving the deaths of her father and brother. 

In this book, Dr. Suzuki explores the difference between everyday anxiety and anxiety disorders, negative vs. positive coping mechanisms for anxiety, the concept of neuroplasticity -- that our brains can change and learn new pathways even as we age, and how to supercharge our resilience. The book has a lot of neuroscience, but it's not overly complicated. She explains things beautifully and gives real-world examples so you can see the concepts she's explaining in people's lives, not just theoretically.  

One thing I love about the book is that she explains why anxiety is part of our life and how we can use it to build our resilience. Instead of anxiety being a limiting factor in our lives, she teaches techniques for how to use it to propel yourself forward into a more full and resilient life. It contains worksheets to help you work on this in your own life.

I am a person who tends toward anxiety, and I know how easily it can turn into a stumbling block in our lives. I also work with clients who experience anxiety in new and challenging ways as they navigate the waters of grief. We define grief as the conflicting emotions that come at the end of, or a change in, a familiar pattern of behavior. Anxiety is often one of those conflicting emotions -- and not just when grieving a death. 

Good Anxiety is a wonderful resource for anyone who experiences anxiety -- and that's most of us! It's reassuring and contains active strategies to help us use anxiety for our good instead of to our detriment. It's a book I will return to again and again.

Good Anxiety is available for purchase in my bookshop.org shop HERE. It's also available at other bookstores and audiobook sites, your library, and Scribd.