Everything Anxiety Ever Told You Is a Lie: *Well, Almost Everything!

Writing for a young adult audience, clinical psychologist Lindsay (The Certainty Myth) provides calm and reassuring advice about living with anxiety. Noting that racing thoughts and catastrophizing are common, she explains that this tendency comes from stress responses that have been part of the human condition since the beginning of time and that, while these thoughts are often wrong and painful, one must learn to live with them and let them pass. Lindsay writes with empathy about the avoidance path, making assumptions, poor sleep, procrastination, and other unhealthy behaviors. Exercises on meditation, confronting one’s thoughts, origin stories, and more are sprinkled throughout. In an open and approachable manner, the work provides advice about cutting out the noise and determining what is most important. The book does not claim to be a cure-all, as Lindsay notes repeatedly that anxiety is something that can never really go away. Even so, she provides tools that can be used to manage it. A chapter on “help in a hurry” provides concise advice on what to do when experiencing panic attacks, feeling overwhelmed, and other responses to anxiety.