Talking to Anxiety: Simple Ways to Support Someone in Your Life Who Suffers from Anxiety

The author of Talking to Depression turns to another increasingly common psychological disorder in this clear and helpful book. Targeting not anxiety sufferers but their family and friends (who may well be suffering vicariously), Strauss offers advice on what to do--and what not to do--in trying to help someone who is phobic, obsessive-compulsive, or afflicted with another anxiety disorder. Beginning with concise, clear background information in the form of answers to frequently asked questions (who gets anxiety? what is generalized anxiety disorder?), Strauss moves into the trickier issues: how can you intervene with someone who doesn't acknowledge that he has a problem? how can you set boundaries so you don't feel overburdened as a caretaker? Her advice is impressively specific; she proposes things you might say in approaching an anxiety sufferer and lets anxiety sufferers themselves list actions that do not help (e.g., ""getting angry at me for being weak""). Sensible, targeted and easy to put into action, Strauss's tips will support and soothe anyone trying to deal with an anxious loved one.