Recommend any good books about....

[Alisonlg]

Anxiety?

I want to get better at recongizing anxiety in myself and others (i.e. my children). For some reason I am so ready to discount or miss signs of anxiety and it's apparent that all three of us HAVE it, that I want to get better at recognizing and addressing it.

For instance, when my 3 yr old had his therapist appointment, he asked the same question twice and the therapist said, "Children with anxiety will often ask questions repeatedly." I instantly thought, "What? He doesn't have anxiety!" But the more I think about it...OMG...lightbulb moment...DUH...what about the time the car was parked in a puddle and he REFUSED to get in it and had a big meltdown because he was scared it wasn't safe!?!? Hello anxiety! How could I be so blind?

So, are there any good books that you've read about anxiety that you'd recommend that could give me more lightbulb moments and put me more intune with the anxious componant of my children (and myself)? I've been dealing with the "explosive" componant for YEARS and not grasping the anxiety side of it...I don't want to ignore that puzzle piece.

 

[Adrift]

Well, I had panic attacks for several years and a book I loved was "Hope and Help for Your Nerves." Not sure it would be all that useful for your kids but I really got a lot from the biological description and also her four step process to deal with an oncoming panic attack. It's a fairly old book and there are two of them, one written after the one I mentioned. I'm sorry I can't remember the author. Good luck!