27 Best Anxiety Books

Edmund Bourne's workbook brings together exercises for anxiety and phobias, including relaxation, breathing, exposure, and examination of negative thoughts. It also discusses lifestyle, nutrition, medication, and relapse prevention as parts of a broader approach to managing anxiety.

Barry McDonagh presents his DARE approach to responding to anxiety and panic, including fears surrounding travel, shopping, intrusive thoughts, and sleep. The guide focuses on changing reactions to anxious sensations and returning to activities readers may have avoided.

Claire Weekes explains the cycle in which frightening nervous symptoms and fear reinforce one another. Drawing on her work with patients, she offers step by step guidance for understanding those sensations and changing how readers respond to them.

David Carbonell examines how attempts to suppress or avoid anxious thoughts can reinforce worry. Drawing on cognitive behavioral and acceptance-based approaches, he offers exercises for recognizing the pattern and responding differently to uncertainty.

David Burns presents cognitive behavioral exercises for anxiety, panic, and persistent worry. The book examines distorted thinking and offers methods for concerns including shyness, public speaking, examinations, and phobias, with examples showing how the exercises work.

Elaine Aron explores heightened sensitivity to surroundings and emotional experience. Her guide helps readers understand the trait she studies and consider ways to manage overstimulation, develop self-understanding, and approach daily life with greater confidence.

David Carbonell explains the cycle of fear surrounding panic attacks and presents a structured workbook for examining it. Breathing exercises, gradual exposure, relaxation, worksheets, and panic diaries form the core of his approach.

Brewer explores anxiety through habit loops, reward, and the ways people respond to discomfort. The book combines research, clinical stories, and exercises in awareness and curiosity, inviting readers to examine how repeated reactions can keep worry going.

S.J. Scott and Barrie Davenport offer exercises for addressing mental clutter and recurring negative thoughts. Their approach combines mindfulness, reflection on personal values, and changes to goals, relationships, and distractions to help readers clarify their priorities.

Shannon uses the image of a chattering monkey to explain cycles of anxious thinking. Drawing on cognitive behavioral approaches, she examines attempts to gain certainty, perfection, and control, then presents exercises for responding differently to fear and worry.

Wilson investigates her experience of anxiety through personal stories, conversations, research, and philosophical reflection. The book considers how anxiety has shaped her choices and identity, moving between practical experiments and broader questions about living with an unsettled mind.

Ellen Hendriksen explores how social anxiety takes hold and persists, drawing on research, client stories, and her own experience. Practical techniques address self-critical thoughts and anxious behavior, helping readers consider how to participate more comfortably in social situations.

Scott Stossel combines his own experience of anxiety with an investigation of its history and treatment. Family stories, scientific research, philosophy, literature, psychotherapy, and medication reveal how people have understood and lived with anxious suffering.

Drawing on his own experience of anxiety, Haig explores how news cycles, smartphones, social media and modern busyness can overwhelm us, then offers simple, practical ways to slow down, protect your mind and build a kinder relationship with the world.

Winston and Seif examine intrusive thoughts and the distress that can arise from interpreting or resisting them. The guide uses cognitive behavioral ideas and examples to explain recurring patterns, offering exercises focused on changing the relationship to unwanted mental events.

Alice Boyes examines habits that keep anxiety going, including rumination, hesitation, perfectionism, sensitivity to criticism, and negative predictions. Self assessments and practical strategies help readers recognize these patterns and experiment with different responses in everyday situations.

Huebner introduces children to worry through illustrations, metaphors, and activities based on cognitive behavioral approaches. The updated second edition explains anxious thought cycles and offers exercises for developing different responses, with guidance intended for children and the adults supporting them.

Pema Chödrön draws on Buddhist wisdom to explore living with fear, anxiety, and pain. She suggests approaching difficult experience with openness, offering practices aimed at changing habitual responses to suffering and developing compassion for oneself and others.

Mark Williams and Danny Penman present an eight-week program based on mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Brief daily meditation practices guide readers in observing thoughts and habitual reactions, with exercises intended to address the pressures and anxieties of everyday life.

Cassiday examines persistent fears about personal health or the health of loved ones. The guide discusses checking, reassurance, online symptom searching, and rumination, presenting exercises intended to help readers understand and change patterns that keep health-related worry going.

Lucinda Bassett combines her experience of anxiety and agoraphobia with case histories and practical exercises. She explains the approach developed through her Attacking Anxiety program, addressing fearful thinking, self confidence, and responses to panic.

Duff introduces anxiety and coping ideas in an informal style that uses humor and profanity. The concise guide discusses anxious reactions and ways to approach them, aiming to make the subject more approachable for readers put off by traditional self-help.

Petersen recounts living with anxiety while investigating research, treatment, and family history. Her reporting connects personal experiences of panic and avoidance with questions about why anxiety develops, how it affects relationships, and how people seek help.

Clark and Beck present exercises grounded in cognitive behavioral therapy for examining anxiety and persistent worry. Worksheets and examples guide readers through identifying triggers, evaluating beliefs, and considering behavioral responses, with a structured format for recording and reviewing practice.

Clark presents cognitive behavioral exercises for repetitive negative thinking associated with worry, shame, regret, and other difficult emotions. The workbook helps readers examine patterns and responses through structured activities, linking explanations with opportunities to record and review their own experience.

Melanie Greenberg explores how stress affects emotional responses and habitual thinking. Combining mindfulness with psychological exercises and discussion of neuroplasticity, she offers ways to identify stressors, respond more deliberately, and develop resilience.

Harper introduces connections between brain responses, difficult emotions, and behavior in a direct, conversational style. The book discusses anxiety alongside anger, depression, and triggers, combining explanations with practical prompts for understanding reactions and considering different ways to respond.