By Craig, No Panic volunteer

In our recent blog on psychoeducation, we spoke about the value of understanding what is happening biologically when you are anxious. Doing so can help you understand that whilst symptoms are real and scary, they can also be easily explained and cannot truly harm you.

Once you’ve decided that you want to learn more, the challenge is where to go. In today’s blog I wanted to talk about some of the sources that I have found useful:

Books

It seems hard to believe, but back in the early 2000’s when I first experienced those bewildering feelings of anxiety, the internet wasn’t a big thing. When I wanted to understand more about anxiety, I turned to books! That first time, I picked up books at my local library, so self help doesn’t always cost.

Books may not feel like the immediate or magic cure you are seeking, but I have found a great deal of wisdom and help in books on anxiety disorder. Although it does take quite a bite of effort to get a book to the shop shelves, I still always recommend checking out authors and their titles to see how well respected they are.

A particular author I would like to bring to your attention is Dr Claire Weekes. Whilst she died back in 1990 at the ripe old age of 87, she had already led the field in recommending techniques that are common today and in doing so got herself books and TV slots. Her title ‘Self Help for your nerves’ explains some of the basics behind what’s going on when you become nervously unwell, she explains individual symptoms and their biological mechanics before she goes on to discuss ways to help yourself recover.

If you’ve got any books you’ve found really helpful, do add them to the comments for others to read.

Websites

As the 2000’s rolled on, you may have noticed that the internet took off. It’s fair to say it has left us with a rich array of websites specialising in anxiety disorders. There are different types of websites each coming from a slightly different angle:

• Official guidance from public health bodies, e.g. here’s the UK NHS page on Generalised Anxiety Disorder (https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/generalised-anxiety-disorder/overview/)
• Supportive guidance from anxiety related health charities, e.g. our own NoPanic resource library (https://nopanic.org.uk/resources/)
• Independent websites from qualified medical professionals, e.g. The Anxiety Coach is a website run by Dr Dave Carbonell as us based clinical psychologist with some following as a therapist, author and teacher (https://www.anxietycoach.com/)
• Independent websites from interested individuals/groups, e.g. Anxiety No More is a website run by Paul David, a British blogger who suffered severe anxiety for over 10 years, who shares his experiences and also managed to get his story published (https://anxietynomore.co.uk/)
• Corporate websites from organisations looking to sell anxiety related services

A couple of challenges with internet sites are a) the fact that just about anybody can put a site out there and b) the sheer volume of choice. For this reason, I think it’s always important to be that bit more discerning. My general rule of thumb is that if a website is promising a quick fix for anxiety, it can generally be left well alone. Another red flag for me is if there is any kind of significant charge for their information. If you had information that would help people suffering from anxiety, would you restrict it to those paying? You’ll find plenty of websites where people are willing to share their information and provide paid service alongside for extra support, but are completely optional.

Although it can seem daunting or challenging, I do think it’s worthwhile as there are some powerful resources out there as I’ve listed above.

Podcasts

One of the more recent innovations has been every growing world of Podcasts. These are audio recordings of individuals or groups sharing discussion and information. They are accessible through a variety of platforms (e.g., Apple podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts). If your anxiety leaves you finding it difficult to focus on tasks like reading, these can be helpful alternatives.

As I recommend with websites, I also recommend a bit of digging on podcast authors. What can you find out about their podcasts, people’s views on them and the topics they are covering. Some platforms do enable podcasts to be rated, some allow comments to be left and then there are websites that will actively review podcasts to help you source one that works for you.

Then there is the fun side of this, with a podcast it’s always far more valuable if you find somebody that really resonates with you, be that the way they explain their stories, their voice or the format they share them in, so I really recommend exploring and finding something that’s right for you.

A couple of podcasts I have found great interest in are…

• The Panic Pod, by Joshua Fletcher (a Manchester, UK based psychotherapist and published author) https://schoolofanxiety.com/the-panic-pod/
• The Anxious Truth, by Drew Linsalata (a New York, US based past anxiety sufferer, published author and in training psychotherapist) https://theanxioustruth.com/subscribe-to-podcast/

There really is so much information out there that is of value. I know it can be overwhelming when there is so much choice, but think about how you usually prefer to learn, find a source you trust, then give it a go. In the next blog on psychoeducation, I’ll try and balance all the above and the volume of material available by considering if there is such a thing as too much??

(note: this article refers to sources that the author has found beneficial. It is important you make your own choices with the use of the information available to you)