Have you been feeling stressed out lately? Books about stress by psychologists will not only help but provide information about the human mind and body. Mental Health will always be important, so practice self-care by prioritizing yourself. Here are seven books that will surely help you in your endeavors of practicing self-care.
1. The Stress Response by Christy Matta, MA
Christy Matta has been involved with mental health research for over 20 years and is experientially trained in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). In The Stress Response, you’ll come to understand that life in itself is always going to be a little bit stressful, and that’s okay! Some things to stress over actually help us work more productively. However, reoccurring stress can stunt our growth and lead us into a world of trouble: insomnia, exhaustion, irritability, and ultimately a blowup. She will show the ways you can process stress. Matta uses DTA to help with these stressful situations.
Here, you learn how to respond quickly to early signs of oncoming stress, how to approach and avoid stressful situations, how to cope with daily life, how to change negative thoughts or possible biases, and ultimately how to calm your body down when a stress response occurs. She has worked in mental health for over 20 years and is intensively trained in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).
2. Stress: The Psychology of Managing Pressure by DK, Consultants: Diane McIntosh MD, and Johnathan Horowitz PhD
Are you stressed out with work? School? Relationships? Societal pressures? What about money? What about everything else in between?! This guidebook will give you practical ways to absolve these problems. Combined with infographics and self-analysis questionnaires to make this information easy to digest.
This guidebook was founded on psychological research that allows you to deconstruct and deal with stress the right way by identifying external and internal sources of what can cause stress and how you can break these patterns. You’ll find remarkable research by a plethora of psychologists, doctors, and teachers using psychological theory. Diane McIntosh, MD, and Johnathan Norowits, Ph.D. lead the way in this guidebook.
3. Stress-Proof by Mithu Storoni, MD, PhD
In Stress Proof, you’ll find the scientific solution to how you can protect your brain and body. We all know that a common way to fight against stress is by working out, but when is the right time to do exercise? Not to mention, there are SOOOO many other ways to fight against stress.
As you read each chapter, you come to examine the common stress agents, such as inflammation, an out-of-sync body clock, cortisol levels, and emotional triggers. You’ll find more alternatives to lessen the stress, such as listening to music, regulating your own body temperature, eye movements, and following a daily routine.
4. Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily Nagoski, PhD, and Amelia Nagoski, DMA
Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski’s Burnout is specifically for women who deal with stress from societal issues. Women today tend to exhaust themselves over differing issues. Such as keeping up the motto “love your body” when deep down you don’t. There are hundreds and thousands of magazine covers that depict ten diet tips to become “your best self,” defeating the purpose of ‘self-love.’ Or how about when you put all the effort into work and still aren’t recognized for it? Sadly, we still live in a sexist world with the common misconceptions that women are too needy, too noisy, too fat, or too selfish.
Here is a book that helps end the cycle of feeling overwhelmed and tied up. Instead of ignoring this feeling, you can now fight back with these neat tricks by looking through the biological stress cycle, how to minister your brain, and why rest is your best friend.
5. Overcome Overthinking and Anxiety in Your Relationship by Robert J. Charles, PhD, DMIN
Even when you are around people that love you, sometimes it feels like that is when you are the most alone. This is stemmed from constant overthinking and anxiety-inducing fears. And do you know how tiring it is to absolve these problems? Having romantic or platonic relationships can be difficult to navigate when everything is going sideways inside the brain. To be the best person that you can be, you have to start from within.
Overcome Overthinking and Anxiety in Your Relationship first explains why it’s so easy to overthink present relationships, the necessary steps to overcome these emotions, actively working with your partner and not against them, and SO much more. Communication is key to success. Do not forget that!
6. The Anxious Perfectionist by Clarissa W. Ong, PhD, and Michael P. Twong
Are you a perfectionist? If you give yourself unrealistic standards, tend to compare yourself to others harmfully, or excessively self-criticize to the point that it controls the way you live, then it’s safe to say you might need some help. This all leads to anxiety, stress, worry, burnout, and unhappiness.
Don’t get it twisted, it’s okay to be a perfectionist, but there is a limit to everything. In The Anxious Perfectionist, you’ll partake in acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) to cope with this ever-growing anxiety. Lessen your negative self-talk in healthy ways by not always labeling things as either ‘success’ or ‘failure’ and give yourself alternative phrases to bring you further aspirations.
7. The Anatomy of Anxiety by Ellen Vora, M.D.
Conventional medicine doesn’t always help people with their anxiety, and when it does, you still need to actively practice self-care. Dr. Ellen Vora helps you understand anxiety and mental health. She suggests that anxiety is not just a brain disorder but rather a whole-body condition.
There are different symptoms of anxiety: sleeplessness, brain fog, stomach pain, jitters, and more. These are body stress responses. They can be triggered by traumatic experiences, your diet, and the use of technology. The Anatomy of Anxiety focuses on the body’s response and how these symptoms can be absolved. Dr. Vora doesn’t see anxiety as a disorder but rather as a plea from within the body. Sometimes our body just needs some adjustment, and that’s completely okay.
Do not let stress and anxiety control your life! You got this! We believe in you!
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