Discover essential skills to liberate yourself from persistent anxiety about your health.Are you constantly worrying about your health, or the health of a loved one? Do you frequently check yourself for lumps, bumps, tingling, or pain? Do you find yourself endlessly looking up symptoms on the internet? Perhaps you find yourself asking others for reassurance or validation that you’re okay, obsessing over health scares in the media, or monitoring your blood pressure on an hourly basis? No matter how your health anxiety manifests, it can be a crippling psychological burden. Endlessly ruminating about illness and death can affect all aspects of life—at home, work, school, as well as the doctor’s office. And if you’re obsessing over the health of a loved one, that can put tremendous pressure on the relationship.In Freedom from Health Anxiety, nationally recognized anxiety expert Karen Lynn Cassiday teaches you skills to conquer health anxiety, once and for all. You’ll learn to switch from focusing on worst-case scenarios to appreciating the joy of the present moment—regardless of health status. Using a blend of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), positive psychology, and the author’s “learned inhibition” model, you’ll finally acquire the tools you need to take charge of your fear and break the cycle of stressing over your—or your loved one’s—well-being. You’ll also learn effective methods for tolerating health uncertainty, getting in touch with your body’s cues, and rediscovering the pleasure of the present.It’s time to find freedom from the obsessive fears that stand between you and true happiness. If you’re ready to trade endless hours of online self-diagnosis (Goodbye, Dr. Google!) for a life filled with a genuine appreciation for each moment, this book will show you the way.
Reviews
"As a health anxiety specialist, I applaud Karen Cassiday for helping readers understand that the illness they fear is not the illness they have. If you worry about fatal diseases, Freedom from Health Anxiety is a must-read. Cassiday provides real-life examples, captures the torturous inner dialogue of people who suffer needlessly, and then provides a way out with exercises and tools."—Ken Goodman, LCSW, board member of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), and creator of The Anxiety Solution Series
"Karen Cassiday compassionately outlines a clear blueprint for dealing with anxiety about illness, dying, and death. Read this wonderful book to learn from a master clinician how to live a happy life even with medical uncertainty."—Elizabeth DuPont Spencer, LCSW-C, co-owner of Anxiety Training
"Karen Lynn Cassiday is one of the leading experts in the anxiety field, not only because she is knowledgeable, but because she has a way of translating information for health anxiety sufferers to understand and use immediately in their lives. Freedom from Health Anxiety is packed with success stories, specific strategies, and meaningful ways to change how you respond to your health worries. This book is exactly what you need to take back your life from health anxiety!"—Kimberly Morrow, LCSW, anxiety therapist, author, national speaker, and co-owner of www.anxietytraining.com