Anxiety UK

Anxiety UK has a range of self help books available in our online shop that many people living with anxiety have found to be of real help. We have chosen books based on member feedback and the best available medical evidence.

As an organisation, we made a substantial contribution, consulting our members for their opinions, to the production of ‘Best Practice Guidance for Self Help Guides’ for the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme. Some of the recommendations from that guidance suggested that:

• Self help information and the approaches it is based on should be backed up by evidence from trials.
• Not all self help information will help all individuals for all conditions. In the case of PTSD self help may be of limited value for those in distress, over more intensive psychological therapy.
• Generally, self help information should be based around cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) principles and apporaches.
• Self help materials should be selected to match your needs, in terms of your problems and goals, and you should take into account your reading ability and your cultural background (if appropriate) when choosing self help.

Self help is a proven way to help people with anxiety. It is a technique that gives you the control over your own recovery, equipping you with skills and tools to manage your anxiety, putting these into practice in your life. Over the years, Anxiety UK has helped many people in this way – advising them of the appropriate self help guide for their anxiety condition via the Anxiety UK helpline.

It is important to bear in mind that in order for self help to be successful it requires a high level of self motivation of the individual (something that is not always possible no matter how determined you are), which is why Anxiety UK also offers therapy services, for individuals who need a bit more encouragement and support.

“I have suffered from anxiety for 9 months. I am pleased to say however that after three sessions of cognitive therapy I feel that I am in control of my anxiety and am slowly getting myself back to full health. The best advice I can give is to not give up hope of a full recovery; you will have your good and bad days. I also recommend reading as many “good” self help books as you can and try as many available treatments that there are because as I found anxiety and depression can be controlled. I hope this information helps.” David

“I have always been a worrier, but it wasn’t until September 2005 that normal worrying turned into GAD.  At the start I was completely uneducated on this topic and of course that made it worse, because I couldn’t understand why I felt like this.

As I’ve managed to tackle the physical symptoms, I’ve realised that underlying all of this is having a mind of negative thought patterns and key to complete recovery is dealing with those thoughts – no matter how small you think they may be.

If I can give some advice it would be:

• Don’t believe that you cannot beat this
• Help yourself – getting better relies on you wanting to get better
• MAKE YOURSELF do the hard things – they sound clichƒÂ©d but exercise, vitamin  supplements, relaxation sessions are all crucial
• Understand that you will be better on some days and worse on others
• Enjoy the good times and celebrate every little thing you do
• If you can invest in just one book, I’d recommend “Overcoming Anxiety,” by Dr Chris Williams”

Craig