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yearlylists's review against another edition
1.0
DNF @ 59%, and possibly my first 1-star review?!
I just haven’t picked this book back up. I thought it would be more about how to face your anxiety, instead it’s basically a biography about the author.. bit disappointed
I just haven’t picked this book back up. I thought it would be more about how to face your anxiety, instead it’s basically a biography about the author.. bit disappointed
ktbentsen9's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book from both a personal and professional perspective. I felt so validated and seen by the way she described her experiences. Some of the best descriptions of living with an anxious brain I’ve ever come across. And as a therapist, I align with a lot of the skills, research, and concepts she puts forth in this book. I went into this skeptical because of her “I Quit Sugar” work and some vaguely concerning remarks about vaccines...glad I put those judgements aside and read anyway. This was a big ole, “highlighted multiple pages,” “will reference again in the future,” win for me.
sheilaghs_wheels's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
4.75
This author understands anxiety. It was comforting to read and I felt held. It’s up there as one of (if not the best) self help book I’ve read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt
Minor: Miscarriage
smittenibelieve's review against another edition
4.0
I wrestled with whether I liked this book or not at multiple stages of getting through it. At times I felt seen, understood and moved. Others I was just plain frustrated at what I was reading.
I want to point out that one of the things leaving a bad taste in my mouth were the references to previously being fat as this horrible thing (which… she wasn’t even. Queue massive eye roll). I didn’t know who Sarah Wilson was prior to reading this and so when I began reading the book and discovered the ‘sugar = bad’ stuff, I almost didn’t want to keep reading.
That (and some other comments here and there that I found gross) aside, I did enjoy this book and feel like I have some solid takeaways. While I didn’t always agree or understand her viewpoint, I did appreciate the vulnerability and rawness that came with sharing her experience with mental illness so candidly. It is needed.
I want to point out that one of the things leaving a bad taste in my mouth were the references to previously being fat as this horrible thing (which… she wasn’t even. Queue massive eye roll). I didn’t know who Sarah Wilson was prior to reading this and so when I began reading the book and discovered the ‘sugar = bad’ stuff, I almost didn’t want to keep reading.
That (and some other comments here and there that I found gross) aside, I did enjoy this book and feel like I have some solid takeaways. While I didn’t always agree or understand her viewpoint, I did appreciate the vulnerability and rawness that came with sharing her experience with mental illness so candidly. It is needed.
nikkidhpts's review against another edition
3.0
i have no idea anxiety books make me more anxious and i’m already anxious so i plowed through so i wouldn’t feel so anxious and i don’t remember
daeus's review against another edition
4.0
This woman knows anxiety, wow. Some brilliant insights are in here, but the book could definitely be whittled down and edited a bit more.
Quotes:
- "When I can't sleep now, I remind myself that it might just be about a need to re-acquaint myself with myself."
- "meditation is like a little forum for airing grievances..... just meditate."
- "the thing about anxiety is that it's all head. So the thing that gets us out of our head is all good."
- "roll a sponge around your skull. Imagine a sponge gentle working it's way around the inside of your head, absorbing or mopping up little anxious pockets."
- "how do I know what I think until I see what I say?"
- theres this story about giving animals gifts to survive, but running out when they come to humans: "humans will have to survive by being the inventors of their own nature... they'll have to remain restless."
- "passionate people feel particularly and inherently compelled to complete themselves."
- "Real disasters are a cinch compared to the shit we make up in our heads. Actually they're a relief. When the future does arrive were always okay and I think my tendency to seek our risky experiences is wanting to be reminded of this."
- "Cruel irony number nine: we cope with strangers better than our own mates when were anxious. I think this is because around loved ones we feel so bloody responsible and guilty and hyper aware of our inconsistencies and neurotic needs. It's exhausting being that apologetic. In contrast being polite and attentive with the old lady at the bus stop is like a job we can attend to..."
- "Choose discomfort over resentment."
- "Happy is fun for sure, but rich and deep light my fire so much more."
- "There would be no anxiety without possibility."
- "Happy, successful entrepreneurs ritualized everything in their lives, except their creative work.....dropping 'certainty anchors.'"
- "Yes, it's time that she books out, but it becomes space when its kept empty."
- "We have to create the boundaries ourselves...in the past, success was gauged by how well you could hunt down information... now successes must be gauged by how much information you can shut out via your own boundaries.... build your own boundaries...creating boundaries for himself meant training those around him to not expect him to be always on."
- "I remember....that the decades of gripping at perfection I was so used to seemed, well, boring, and kind of comical. And when something is a bit boring and kind of comical it's not longer very potent. It's the same with recovering from a breakup. One day your clinging to your ex becomes suddenly and overwhelmingly boring. You hit saturation point on your obsessing and whining to friends...of course, you only get to this point by sitting in the grimness.... you mean that's all I have to do? Yup, just sit in the grim."
- "The most important thing...is to connect with what our anxiety is trying to tell us, it's to go through anxiety to the joy of what just is.... willing to engage with the moral struggle against yourself."
- "Ruts are best broken with small moments in whimsy. Not seismic changes in behavior."
- 'we defer to others notions of fun, probably because we struggle with choice.'
- "the love and mercy given to us by life because life desires us to have it, not by anything we have done to earn it....anxiety spiral is a descent towards grace...let or unfurl and express...the end point of the anxious journey is the acquiring of character...many people dont come out healed, they come out different.'
- "I beg you to have patience with eveything unresolved in your heart. And to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don't search for the answers which couldn't be given to you now because you would not be able to live them."
Other Notes:
- Society rewards anxiety in many forms, while shaming depression. "The more anxious we are, the more high-functioning we will make ourselves appear, which just encourages the world to lean on us more."
- "positive neurotic behavior." Hiking (nature), walking, swimming. Taming the head.
- what makes someone good is taste, the hard part is the first few years where you have good taste, but your work sucks.
- distinguish panicky attacks (acute) vs anxiety spirals (progressive overload, can take hours or weeks - hard to stop before having a breakdown).
- anxious people often have a fear of not being able to fall asleep.
Quotes:
- "When I can't sleep now, I remind myself that it might just be about a need to re-acquaint myself with myself."
- "meditation is like a little forum for airing grievances..... just meditate."
- "the thing about anxiety is that it's all head. So the thing that gets us out of our head is all good."
- "roll a sponge around your skull. Imagine a sponge gentle working it's way around the inside of your head, absorbing or mopping up little anxious pockets."
- "how do I know what I think until I see what I say?"
- theres this story about giving animals gifts to survive, but running out when they come to humans: "humans will have to survive by being the inventors of their own nature... they'll have to remain restless."
- "passionate people feel particularly and inherently compelled to complete themselves."
- "Real disasters are a cinch compared to the shit we make up in our heads. Actually they're a relief. When the future does arrive were always okay and I think my tendency to seek our risky experiences is wanting to be reminded of this."
- "Cruel irony number nine: we cope with strangers better than our own mates when were anxious. I think this is because around loved ones we feel so bloody responsible and guilty and hyper aware of our inconsistencies and neurotic needs. It's exhausting being that apologetic. In contrast being polite and attentive with the old lady at the bus stop is like a job we can attend to..."
- "Choose discomfort over resentment."
- "Happy is fun for sure, but rich and deep light my fire so much more."
- "There would be no anxiety without possibility."
- "Happy, successful entrepreneurs ritualized everything in their lives, except their creative work.....dropping 'certainty anchors.'"
- "Yes, it's time that she books out, but it becomes space when its kept empty."
- "We have to create the boundaries ourselves...in the past, success was gauged by how well you could hunt down information... now successes must be gauged by how much information you can shut out via your own boundaries.... build your own boundaries...creating boundaries for himself meant training those around him to not expect him to be always on."
- "I remember....that the decades of gripping at perfection I was so used to seemed, well, boring, and kind of comical. And when something is a bit boring and kind of comical it's not longer very potent. It's the same with recovering from a breakup. One day your clinging to your ex becomes suddenly and overwhelmingly boring. You hit saturation point on your obsessing and whining to friends...of course, you only get to this point by sitting in the grimness.... you mean that's all I have to do? Yup, just sit in the grim."
- "The most important thing...is to connect with what our anxiety is trying to tell us, it's to go through anxiety to the joy of what just is.... willing to engage with the moral struggle against yourself."
- "Ruts are best broken with small moments in whimsy. Not seismic changes in behavior."
- 'we defer to others notions of fun, probably because we struggle with choice.'
- "the love and mercy given to us by life because life desires us to have it, not by anything we have done to earn it....anxiety spiral is a descent towards grace...let or unfurl and express...the end point of the anxious journey is the acquiring of character...many people dont come out healed, they come out different.'
- "I beg you to have patience with eveything unresolved in your heart. And to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don't search for the answers which couldn't be given to you now because you would not be able to live them."
Other Notes:
- Society rewards anxiety in many forms, while shaming depression. "The more anxious we are, the more high-functioning we will make ourselves appear, which just encourages the world to lean on us more."
- "positive neurotic behavior." Hiking (nature), walking, swimming. Taming the head.
- what makes someone good is taste, the hard part is the first few years where you have good taste, but your work sucks.
- distinguish panicky attacks (acute) vs anxiety spirals (progressive overload, can take hours or weeks - hard to stop before having a breakdown).
- anxious people often have a fear of not being able to fall asleep.