Anxiety disorders can rob you of independence, happiness and self-esteem. In this book, the authors describe simple self-help techniques and practical tips derived from years of helping people with anxiety problems. This book enables the reader to: assess what changes you need to make; create a personal recovery programme; set realistic goals and work towards them; change unhelpful ways of thinking; and, take back control of your life. The techniques can be used for all forms of anxiety: phobias (including Agoraphobia and Social Phobia), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Panic Attacks and General Anxiety Disorder. However bad your anxiety, and however long you've had it, you can recover. Using true life examples from anxiety sufferers, this book shows you just how you can do it.

Contents: Who this Book is for; Acknowledgements; Dedication; 1 The Black Hole of Anxiety; PART ONE; 2. Are You Sure it's Anxiety? 3. Depression; 4. Anxiety Disorders; 5. Helping Yourself to Overcome Anxiety; 6. Two Key Skills: Goal Setting and Relaxation; 7. Causes of Anxiety Disorders; 8. The Connection between Mind, Body and Spirit; 9. Taking Exercise to Help Anxiety; 10 Examining Your Diet; 11. More about Diet; 12. Understanding Alcohol, Nicotine and Other Drugs; 13. Your Sleep Patterns; 14. Positive Experiences; 15. Achieving Life Balance and Managing Your Time; 16. Review - Lifestyle Changes; PART TWO; 17. Taking the Next Step; 18. Examining Anxiety Behaviours; 19. What Do You Want to Achieve? 20 Looking at Change and Risk; 21. How Your Anxiety Affects Your Friends and Family; 22. Learning about Exposure Work; 23. Planning Your Exposure; 24 Exposure for OCD; 25. Working with a Helper; 26. Exposure - Coping Skills; 27. Exposure - Your First Goal; 28. Plateaux and Setbacks; PART THREE; 29. Anxiety on Trial; 30. Let the Trial Commence; 31. The First Two Charges Against Anxiety; 32. Anxiety is Charged with Distorting Your Personality; 33. Anxiety is Charged with Extreme Thinking; 34 Anxiety is Charged with Selective Attention; 35 The Final Charges Against Anxiety; 36. Another Approach - Logical Argument; 37. The Verdict; 38. Other Techniques to Use to Change Your Thinking; 39. More about Thought Processes; 40. The Vicious Circle; 41. Working on Your Negative Core Beliefs; 42. Changing Your Negative Core Beliefs; 43. Summary of Work with Core Beliefs; PART FOUR; 44. Why Me?; 45. Dealing with Withheld Feelings; 46. Assertiveness; 47. Self-confidence and Self-esteem; 48. Problems and Decisions; 49. The Meaning of Life; 50. Dealing with Maintenance Factors - Summary; 51. Finale; 52. It's Okay to be Me; Extra Information; Appendix 1; Appendix 2; Appendix 3; Index.