The 10 Best-Ever Anxiety Management Techniques

270 Pages·2018·3.5 MB·English

by  Margaret Wehrenberg

THE 10 BEST-EVER
ANXIETY MANAGEMENT
TECHNIQUES
Understanding How Your Brain Makes You Anxious
and What You Can Do to Change It
SECOND EDITION
MARGARET WEHRENBERG
W. W. NORTON
Independent Publishers since 1923
New York • London
For Ellie and Hal
Contents
Preface
PART I: UNDERSTANDING YOUR BRAIN
ONE
How Your Brain Makes You Anxious
TWO
Managing Your Brain With Medication
PART II: MANAGING YOUR ANXIOUS BODY
THREE
Technique #1: Change Your Intake
FOUR
Technique #2: Breathe
FIVE
Technique #3: Practice Mindfulness
SIX
Technique #4: Rest and Relax
PART III: MANAGING YOUR ANXIOUS MIND
SEVEN
Technique #5: Stop Catastrophizing
EIGHT
Technique #6: Stop Anxious Thoughts
NINE
Technique #7: Contain Your Worry
PART IV: MANAGING YOUR ANXIOUS BEHAVIOR
TEN
Technique #8: Control TMA (Too Much Activity)
ELEVEN
Technique #9: Talk Yourself Into Changing Your Behavior
TWELVE
Technique #10: Implement a Plan and Practice the 3 C’s
References
Resources
Acknowledgments
Index
The 10 Best-Ever Anxiety
Management Techniques
Preface
Continuity gives us roots. Change gives us branches,
letting us stretch and grow and reach new heights.
—Pauline R. Kezer
How does it happen that the 10 Best-Ever Anxiety Management Techniques need
revision? If they were the best ever, then maybe they should remain the same. I
believe, however, that Pauline Kezer got it right: there are times when change is
necessary if we’re going to grow. As I teach the seminar based on this book, I
am constantly changing and adapting it based on the latest neuroscientific
research about how therapy works and how we can most effectively manage
anxiety. This edition of the book reflects new information that makes anxiety
easier to alleviate.
In fact, all the methods I included in the first edition of this book are still
included, but some have taken a backseat as other, more significant methods
have been highlighted. Some tried-and-true methods are truer than ever before,
as research has provided increasing support for how important they are. In many
cases, I have clarified how to use the techniques, again based on the continuing
stream of research about anxiety and its treatment.
If you benefited from the first edition of this book, this revised edition will
add to that. If you didn’t read the first edition, this is the resource that will help
you to take charge of anxiety and get free from crippling panic, worry, or social
anxiety.
It is a blessing in my life to have this forum to share such life-altering
knowledge.
Margaret Wehrenberg
March 2017
PART I
UNDERSTANDING YOUR BRAIN
When it comes right down to it, you can understand your brain only by using
your brain. Every thought, image, and perception you have and every action you
make begins with activity in your brain. And that’s good news, because—as this
book is going to demonstrate—you can use your brain to change your anxious
brain. And you can’t separate your brain activity from your body. If you think of
your brain and body as distinct from each other, you set up a false dichotomy.
Our brains are organs in our bodies, and every thought, image, and perception is
linked to how it is affected and interpreted through sensory and visceral
sensations. This brain–body interconnectedness is a major focus of this
discussion about how your brain creates anxiety and can change anxiety.
Now, you can manage anxiety effectively whether or not you know about the
brain. You could skip Chapter 1 and use the rest of the book very well. The 10
techniques outlined in this book work, but their effectiveness doesn’t rely on
understanding how they work. Nevertheless, an understanding of why these
techniques are effective from a neurobiological standpoint can maximize how
well they work. It will be easier for you to exert the effort needed to manage
anxiety, even when it seems hard to do, if you know you’re changing your brain
every time you control the symptoms. You automatically gain a certain measure
of control over anxiety when you say to yourself, “This is my brain doing this.
Anxiety is not me, and I can control it.” Chapter 1 is intended to give you
enough brain basics to understand why these 10 techniques will work.
MEDICATION CONTROLS THE BRAIN BUT DOESN’T
TEACH TECHNIQUE
It’s important to understand what medications do for anxiety and how they work
so that when you make decisions about whether to add medication to anxiety
management, you have clarity about the benefits and limits of drug therapy.
What you may not have been told if you’ve started using meds for anxiety
symptoms is that by relying solely on pills, you won’t learn how to control or
eliminate your symptoms without medication. You’ll never develop the tools for
managing the anxiety, which, in all likelihood, will turn up again whenever you
feel undue stress or go through significant life changes. What you should be told
when getting medication is that in many cases, the right management techniques
can offer relief from anxiety in a matter of weeks—about the same amount of
time it might take for anxiety medications to become effective. It is often best to
have a therapist and a physician working with you to integrate an initial
medication protocol with techniques you can use for effective anxiety
management even after your meds are discontinued.