New Book Offers Remedies for Sufferers of Anxiety, Anxiety and Depression

New Book Offers Remedies for Sufferers of Anxiety, Anxiety and Depression

Few books have captured my attention from the first page like Fearing Nothing by Michael O’Brien. Michael begins this book by sharing his personal story of winning bodybuilding competitions and competing in another when he had his first panic attack, which caused him to rush out of the auditorium. Impressive! I thought. You mean even bodybuilders have anxiety attacks and suffer from anxiety and depression? And that was just the beginning for Michael. He inexplicably had to get out of a car and walk three miles in his dress shoes, had to run out of a restaurant while having lunch with his brother and then couldn't drive or even leave the house. Too often people with anxiety and fear issues stay silent and try to hide their problems from others, so I want to say, “Michael, thank you for sharing your story because it makes the rest of us realize we are not alone and it gives us the courage to share ours.”

We all have stress in our lives, but sometimes the stress becomes almost uncontrollable. Although I have never had a panic attack, there have been times when I thought I was on the verge of one and I often have anxiety attacks during the work day, so I could relate to a lot of what Michael said and I found the tools he offered to be more than helpful.

After Michael tells his story, he divides the book into three sections. The first concerns the stressors that lead to anxiety, fear, depression and other phobias. He uses the word STRESSORS as an acronym for each of the nine major stressors that cause fear and anxiety, including issues with self-esteem and sensitivity. Some of these stressors seem obvious, but others are surprising, including the first: Smart. I was both surprised and delighted by that first stressor - it turns out I'm afraid because I'm intelligent. As Michael points out, intelligent people analyze and consequently think about what can go wrong that causes them stress. So fear is a side effect of what I otherwise have as an advantage. Who would have thought? Michael explains it like this:

"For every symptom you've had and experienced, you've been able to develop its preceding thoughts or these ideas. Like it or not, you're probably above average when it comes to your IQ. They're probably smarter than you." You don't have to be a doctor or lawyer to be considered smart. There are many smart people in the world who work in large and small companies, smart people work as gardeners, teachers and mechanics, they work in saloons, saloons, anywhere and everywhere.”

He goes on to explain that people with anxiety are intelligent and essentially self-sabotage: "You have to know that this isn't happening to you. It's happening inside you. No outside source is doing this to you. Nothing is attacking you that was created by you, but it's also refreshing to know that it can be cured by you." Michael also describes how we can use our intelligence to tell ourselves new stories that aren't so debilitating.

The second section of the book is REST, also an acronym that describes the methods or activities that people must use to overcome their fear and anxiety. The R stands for relaxation. Michael offers many helpful techniques to relax your body and he recommends doing these simple and short activities several times a day to teach your body to relax and get used to being relaxed. The T stands for tools. This is the longest chapter in the book because Michael has ten wonderful tools you can use. Again, some may be obvious, like breathing, but there are others very surprising like “The Hoax.” You'll have to read about it yourself because it's hard to explain, but Michael shares his personal story of how he discovered this incredible tool and it reminds me of other things I know, like the importance of letting go or committing to resolving a situation.

The final section is YOU, an acronym for how you are the solution to the problem. This section also contains practical advice on how to improve your situation. The book concludes with a final note and then appendices that contain lists of Bible verses about fear and anxiety that provide comfort, and also a series of affirmations that you can use to feel better.

One final thing I really appreciated was Michael's perspective on the futility of trying to determine the causes of anxiety and all the other associated fears and symptoms. This book is not about psychoanalysis. In fact, Michael focuses solely on overcoming the problem rather than trying to dig into the past. He says he spent years trying to figure out the causes of his problems and ultimately concluded that:

"There is nothing to discover. There is no solution to be found for two reasons: 1) You have a wonderful and creative mind in which millions of thoughts arise, and 2) Everyone in the world also has these wild and crazy thoughts. Yes, it's true; they just react differently than you do; so they don't pay much attention to these thoughts at all. They release the thoughts instantly and move on. Just as you will in time."

Perhaps most importantly, Michael pleads for the reader to do what he did - stop hiding your situation from the world. Michael says:

"You're hiding. It's time to stop hiding. When an alcoholic comes to grips with the fact that he is an alcoholic, one of the first steps to improving is to admit that he is, in fact, an alcoholic.

"Well, you may not be an alcoholic, but you are someone who hides from society. So much so that if you don't admit what you're dealing with, you cause additional suffering. You add to the fear. The fear that someone will find out. The fear that someone will think you're weird. The fear that you'll be fired if your boss finds out. The fear that you won't be accepted. The fear of what people will think? Today is the day, where you end it. Let the world know.

"I promise you that you will find comfort in knowing that people still love you. You will find comfort in knowing that people care for you lovingly. You will find that more people are experiencing the same situation than you ever thought possible."

I took a lot of the advice in this book to heart, and although I haven't tried all the tools yet, I think people will find a lot in this book to help them - they can take what works for them and leave the rest because no one solution fits all. But fortunately there are many pieces of the solution in these pages and I am sure that you will find something useful here that will make your life less anxious, more normal and hopefully even happier and more joyful.

Inspired by Tyler Tichelaar