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duparker's review
4.0
At first I wasn't sure this book had much to offer, but as I read it, I found more and more of interest and of value. The approach is less self help and more self awareness. There are quizzes and exercises to take, but overall the book described scenarios and emotions and attempts to walk the reader through options to deal with the scenario or emotion and give the reader guidance on dealing with stress and anxiety in a simple and straightforward manner.
katie_chandler's review
The author warns that as you read about anxiety you might find yourself becoming more anxious. While I only suspect that I might have mild anxiety, I began reading this book to understand other I know who suffer more severely and was able to read through Chapter 4 (which is ironic because the next chapter CH5 is on rumination which is probably my weakness). I think I'll have better success listening to this as an audio book.
grahamlm86's review
4.0
This was the first book I have read regarding advice to reduce anxiety, and I thought it was an insightful read! I really enjoyed this book - it was easy to understand and I was eager to keep reading. I gained much insight into general anxiety and ways to overcome anxious thoughts. Lots of practical advice and real-life examples to help you understand. Definitely a great resource to have on hand and refer back to again and again! I am already feeling better as I try to practice these strategies.
hei_chan's review against another edition
5.0
對抗焦慮的實用急救箱
本書結構清晰，先是讓讀者了解自己的性格和焦慮模式，再針對五種常見的焦慮反應作解說 (因猶豫而無法開始，反芻思考和擔憂，因完美主義而停滯，害怕他人批評和意見，拖延) 。作者採用了「認知行為療法」(Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy) 的方針，每章均有一系列從思維和行為上緩和焦慮的建議，輔以簡單測試和實驗助讀者了解自身情況。
作者是資深的臨床心理學家，雖然我看的翻譯版，但也能從字裏行間看出她非常熟悉焦慮者的心理活動 (例如認為自己對焦慮要有透徹掌握/消化整本書+其他資料，才能慢慢開展對付焦慮的漫長旅程), 因此閱讀起來不會感到很大壓力。它不是盲目雞湯，而是實用的，可即時應用的技巧。其實
本書中某些方法是我自己在面對焦慮和恐慌時曾經有意無意間用過的，有些甚至是當時身邊人協助我的方法。雖然如此，我認為無論是看起來多麼像常識(common sense) 的東西，整理成一本指南後，確實清晰和方便多了，更何況作者是用例子和詳細文字一步步引導讀者思考。
作為紀錄，對我最有幫助的建議是：
改變「全或無」思維，以「精熟目標」取代「表現目標」，了解「不行動」的後果，接受自己的天性和步調，不要以減輕焦慮為目標。
如果你在閱讀的過程中感到焦慮，那麼就放下一會兒，等狀態好一點再回來(生理上的焦慮和恐慌反應是不可能持續很久，没完没了的) 。對症下藥，直接查看與你目前狀況最相關的部份也没有問題，我當初就是先看了拖延和完美主義兩章，相隔許久才讀完剩餘部份。
對抗焦慮是一場曠日持久的戰役，但並非不能戰勝，也不如你想像中困難。之後有需要的話，我想我會時不時再翻看這本書，提醒和重新檢視自己。如果有人在看的話(很大機會是未來的我自己), 希望你身心健康，平安幸福。共勉之。
本書結構清晰，先是讓讀者了解自己的性格和焦慮模式，再針對五種常見的焦慮反應作解說 (因猶豫而無法開始，反芻思考和擔憂，因完美主義而停滯，害怕他人批評和意見，拖延) 。作者採用了「認知行為療法」(Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy) 的方針，每章均有一系列從思維和行為上緩和焦慮的建議，輔以簡單測試和實驗助讀者了解自身情況。
作者是資深的臨床心理學家，雖然我看的翻譯版，但也能從字裏行間看出她非常熟悉焦慮者的心理活動 (例如認為自己對焦慮要有透徹掌握/消化整本書+其他資料，才能慢慢開展對付焦慮的漫長旅程), 因此閱讀起來不會感到很大壓力。它不是盲目雞湯，而是實用的，可即時應用的技巧。其實
本書中某些方法是我自己在面對焦慮和恐慌時曾經有意無意間用過的，有些甚至是當時身邊人協助我的方法。雖然如此，我認為無論是看起來多麼像常識(common sense) 的東西，整理成一本指南後，確實清晰和方便多了，更何況作者是用例子和詳細文字一步步引導讀者思考。
作為紀錄，對我最有幫助的建議是：
改變「全或無」思維，以「精熟目標」取代「表現目標」，了解「不行動」的後果，接受自己的天性和步調，不要以減輕焦慮為目標。
如果你在閱讀的過程中感到焦慮，那麼就放下一會兒，等狀態好一點再回來(生理上的焦慮和恐慌反應是不可能持續很久，没完没了的) 。對症下藥，直接查看與你目前狀況最相關的部份也没有問題，我當初就是先看了拖延和完美主義兩章，相隔許久才讀完剩餘部份。
對抗焦慮是一場曠日持久的戰役，但並非不能戰勝，也不如你想像中困難。之後有需要的話，我想我會時不時再翻看這本書，提醒和重新檢視自己。如果有人在看的話(很大機會是未來的我自己), 希望你身心健康，平安幸福。共勉之。
ralesniak's review
4.0
I found Dr. Boyes through her HBR articles and loved her friendly tone. I don't have the worst anxiety, but it helped so much to read this. I feel like I understand the concepts of anxiety a lot better than I've picked up through therapy or random articles online. Strongly recommended!
toeffy's review
5.0
A valuable and well-reasearched resource
It took me ages to get through The Anxiety Toolkit, but this is entirely not the book's fault. My recollection of the first half is a bit hazy, but I don't think there was a huge change in quality throughout.
This book is therapy in writing and I loved it. As a psychology major myself and as someone who went through 2 years of cognitive behavioral therapy, let me tell you - this is it. This is exactly what you get in therapy, condensed to a readable minimum. There's no "water" here, no useless motivational blah, you have descriptions of problematic behaviors and hands-on approaches to working on them.
It might be too straight forward for some, not motivational enough for others, maybe too much for people who are just starting to scratch the surface of their issues.
One thing I missed was an overview of all the exercises and tools - they were distributed throughout the book and embedded in the text, so to find a specific one you'd need to search quite a bit. That's pretty much the only issue I have with The Anxiety Toolkit.
Overall, for me personally that was a good book to stop digging through my issues for now and to focus on my strengths instead.
5/5
It took me ages to get through The Anxiety Toolkit, but this is entirely not the book's fault. My recollection of the first half is a bit hazy, but I don't think there was a huge change in quality throughout.
This book is therapy in writing and I loved it. As a psychology major myself and as someone who went through 2 years of cognitive behavioral therapy, let me tell you - this is it. This is exactly what you get in therapy, condensed to a readable minimum. There's no "water" here, no useless motivational blah, you have descriptions of problematic behaviors and hands-on approaches to working on them.
It might be too straight forward for some, not motivational enough for others, maybe too much for people who are just starting to scratch the surface of their issues.
One thing I missed was an overview of all the exercises and tools - they were distributed throughout the book and embedded in the text, so to find a specific one you'd need to search quite a bit. That's pretty much the only issue I have with The Anxiety Toolkit.
Overall, for me personally that was a good book to stop digging through my issues for now and to focus on my strengths instead.
5/5