Customer Reviews

Living Well with Anxiety: What Your Doctor Doesn't Tell You... That You Need to Know (Living Well (Collins))

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Many people will find Carolyn Chambers Clark's book to be an indispensable support. If you've been accumulating a shelf of books on the subject, Living Well with Anxiety is the keeper; it's a comprehensive guide to every angle of approach.
The book is in part a tool for exploring cause and effect; Clark writes that some lucky individuals, for instance, may find their symptoms alleviated by addressing environmental factors that may not have occurred to them (such as indoor pollutants) or even by changing a prescription they've taken for granted (perhaps an oral contraceptive).

For some, her pg. 87, #5 strategy for quitting smoking alone will be worth the cover price!

For those tormented by more complex issues, Clark discusses the connection between muscle tension and heartbeat, adrenaline and exercise, relaxation and breathing. She cautions against looking for a miracle in a pill bottle, but holds out the hope that it is possible to discover the source of any condition and, armed with that knowledge, to create a treatment program based on what the sufferer knows, or comes to know, to be true about himself.

Self-healers will find a plethora of practical anxiety-reducing measures with which to experiment.

There are also valuable sections on psychiatric drugs and on the variety of professional practitioners and treatments available.

The advice here will be perfect for those who already have a good support system of family and friends, a good job, and decent health care; these people will gather confidence from the author's firsthand knowledge as a professional in the field who has herself struggled to overcome the paralyzing symptoms of anxiety. They can easily apply everything they learn to their own situations.

Those in less favorable circumstances may be put off by some of the suggestions involving, for instance, time management skills, and calling meetings. But, skipping those items, they will find much of substance remains.

Likewise the references to a "Higher Power (or God)" and a "life's purpose" will annoy many people; but the chapter which covers the benefits and dangers of spiritual belief also contains much food for thought about interpersonal relationships, including strategies for dealing with the sorts of people whose attitudes cause stress in their associates.

The author's voice will please most of her readers; in every authoritative statement there is also a sense of empathetic camaraderie.

Whether you're reading on your own account, or on someone else's behalf, you'll find Clark's optimism contagious, because it's genuine--the author, with full knowledge of the realities involved, promises that in time you CAN learn to control your anxiety; you can even make your sensitivity work FOR you. With fifteen pages of further resources at the back of the book, this is the volume to get you started, keep you motivated, and help you get there.

Dr. (EDD) Clark gives a nice overview for those who want to know a little bit more about living with chronic anxiety. She brings a helpful holistic point of view and advice to those who might be suffering and need information. Some of this is very basic and some more sophisticated with new or different material, such as on unusual herbs or color therapy. This is definitely a useful book and I'd suggest it for those who are unsure what to do about chronic anxiety. Everyone dealing with anxiety will get some ideas here. G. Miki Hayden, author of *Writing the Mystery*

When I was diagnosed with anxiety, the psychiatrist led me to believe that my only treatment options were medication and therapy. For various reasons, I was strongly opposed to the idea of medication so before taking his advice, I decided to get on amazon and find some books that might offer some other alternatives.

This book has definitely been the MOST HELPFUL for me. The book is divided into chapters based on different approaches - such as Nutrition, Herbs, Alternative treatments. What I really like is the fact that the author provides dozens of different treatment options and explains them in a way that you can kind of pick and choose what you think will work best for you.

When I got this book I was almost entirely overwhelmed by anxiety and depression. I dreaded leaving my apartment or making phone calls, and I often spent days on the couch, drinking virtually every night. My school work severely suffered, and I felt like a complete failure at life. After a couple months of suffering, I ended up starting acupuncture treatment (one of the methods suggested in this book), and I have made an amazing recovery. As well, I have been taking several supplements, and I have been working to improve my sleeping and eating habits. But the best part is that I have been able to gain control over my anxiety WITHOUT the use of prescription drugs!

If you are feeling overwhelmed by anxiety, I would STRONGLY recommend this book.

Living Well with Anxiety is a concise, well written book that offers easy to follow ways to deal with anxiety using a combination of traditional and complementary health interventions. The addition of complementary self-help interventions makes this book different from most books on anxiety and includes information on nutrition, exercise, herbs, environmental factors, stress reduction, and relationship aspects as they influence anxiety. The comprehensive section on resources includes related websites, audio- cassettes and CD's, and brief outlines of relevant literature. This book should be valuable to anyone who experiences anxiety, and wants a better understanding of the condition. It provides a wide range of interventions that will be useful to anyone who wants to assume more responsibility for their own care.

Carl O. Helvie, R.N., Dr.P.H., Author "Healthy Holistic Aging."

In her introduction, Clark states: Anxiety conditions are the No. 1 mental health problem among American women and are second only to alcohol and drug abuse among men.... Frequency of anxiety is also increasing in children."

Wow! That's scary, considering that 10 percent of our population suffers from anxiety--and only a small proportion receive treatment.

Living Well With Anxiety is in three parts:

1. Anxiety and Medical Treatment: Included is cause and effect; self-diagnosis; types; and your brain and medication.
2. Holistic Approaches: Includes nutrition, herbs, environmental changes and exercise.
3. Creating Your Anxiety Plan: Includes finding the right practitioner.

With many drugs having disturbing side affects, traditional medicine's approach may not be enough. Only the symptoms are treated. You may never learn the source--and fear of the unknown being one of the worst kinds of anxiety.

If it has to do with feelings of anxiety, Clark has it in her book. Food that affects your body's chemistry is explained. Antidepressants and their side affects are detailed, including the abuse of anti-anxiety drugs.

If you have anxiety or panic attacks or live with someone who does, this book clearly explains so many concerns and what to do about them.

Armchair Interviews says: Subtitled, What Your Doctor Doesn't Tell You...That You Need to Know--after reading Living Well with Anxiety--you will know!

I found this book to be a waste of time and money. It is filled with information about herbs to cure anxiety. Some herb can have bad side effects. Also there was little information on how to control or live with anxiety as the title states. I have dealt with anxiety for years and this book was a waste of time.

This book was very helpful in giving the reader some very informative options when it comes to dealing with anxiety. Very easy to read and understand. Though no very pro-medication, has a very good chapter on different antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs. I would recomment this book to anyone that is new to anxiety problems.

As with most books on anxiety, this one doesn't cover a lot that's new (if you've done any reading at all) -- but it does offer some different information. I would definitely recommend this book for new anxiety sufferers, and for those who aren't new to anxiety, though, because the book does provide some new suggestions for natural anxiety treatments (Chinese medicine, in particular, isn't usually mentioned in most anxiety books). It's also refreshing because the author is very anti drug. Most anxiety books present the idea that, yeah, you can give natural remedies a try, but you'll probably need medication at some point.

Overall, I'd recommend this book. Although the author is one of those people who had a brief period of anxiety (as opposed to a lifelong problem), she offers some good advice about managing anxiety. Definitely worth a read.

This book help me understand everything that was going on in my life. Before I was just felt different and weird without explanation. I knew I had anxiety but I didn't know how or what do with it.

I read this book and slowly began to break the anxiety cycle that controlled me. I would recomend this book to anyone. GIVE THIS BOOK A TRY IT WILL HELP IN MORE WAYS THEN YOU THINK.