Member Reviews

Many people suffer from some form of anxiety, and this book attempts to help them see the positive side, and to use the anxiety to an advantage.

It's relatively easy to read and full of case studies and ideas.

If you've struggled with anxiety, read many self-help books but not managed to control it, this may be a good book for you - it's less about controlling it and stopping it, but more about learning to live and cope with it

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I was very interested to read this book as I do have anxiety (GAD) which sometimes involves panic attacks. I have basically had this since I was around 14ish and have spent years trying to deal with and accept having this condition.
Hack Your Anxiety has a lot of case studies, history, and offers much motivation with the idea of harnessing it as a positive thing. I think this book would have helped me when I was struggling as a teen to identify what was going on but I really didn't find it helpful for me now. I think I need a more step by step technique worksheet to go along with the positive affirmation. That being said, I do think it will help some people suffering with anxiety as every person is different and the way to work with anxiety will also differ. It is definitely worth a read if only to understand the history and current knowledge about anxiety. It is very well written and you can feel the author's passion for this subject and wanting to help others.

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Everyone is different and that is true too with what they deal with for their anxiety. But, this is an informative book with ideas worth learning about because you never know they might be helpful to you. The reader might find what they need to help hack their anxiety or lead them to some ideas on what might help understand living with anxiety as part of their life. It is an interesting book. I found it worth reading personally. I found some positive in anxiety that might not be considered before in a way too. The ideas might not be helpful or motiviational for everyone, but would could be helpful for some or in some way. I liked reading this book how I wanted such as reading the chapter I felt I needed in the moment or what I needed most according to the chapter title.

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Good techniques that may possiblyhelp one with anxiety. Very useful and precise information. Various subjects are discussed in a easy to understand method. I really found this book to be useful as I know people that suffer from anxiety in various ways. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book. Although I received the book in this manner, it did not affect my opinion of this book nor my review

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I really enjoyed reading HACK YOUR ANXIETY! The author does a great job at keeping you interested and It’s very informative. Whether you have anxiety or not, I believe you will love this book. It explains a lot of different views with science backing it up. Very well written!!!! Happy Reading!!! :)

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I have moderate general anxiety. It’s untreated and unmedicated but it’s there and it’s real. I have been suffering from symptoms of Anxiety since I was around 16 but I’ve always been a worrier. It was only when I started 6th-Form that things got really bad though, to the point that I suffered from a panic attack in a local theatre and was afraid to make new friends or go to new places.

My anxiety was bad until my second year of university. I never visited a doctor because I didn’t even realise that what I was experiencing was anxiety until I met other sufferers of the condition. In my second year, I grew confident and familiar with my surroundings and situation to the point that I really found myself again. So I didn’t bother to visit a doctor about the symptoms I’d experienced in the past thinking it’s gone for good.

But then I passed through my last year and into my MA and symptoms of my anxiety are starting to surface again. I hate not having a plan and not knowing what to expect, and now I have no job, I have no idea what’s in store for my future and that scares me. To add to that I don’t really see anyone other than my family and spend a lot of time at home. I feel like every part of me that I’d build while at uni is being torn down again.

Because of that, I decided to request a book about Anxiety from Netgallery to see if I could learn some strategies to help deal with what I’m experiencing at the moment.

Hack Your Anxiety is very positive. It’s all about using your Anxiety to your advantage. Harnessing those feelings and instead of trying to suppress them, embracing them. It’s full of history, case studies and scientific explanations. But it was more like an academic textbook or techniques for group sessions than for helping yourself at home. It relied too much on positive thinking for my liking and not enough on actually dealing with the problem at hand. Positive thinking is easier said than done when your heart is thumping and the fears overtake you.

I believe that this book could help some people, especially long-term readers of the self-help genres and anyone wanting to know more about Anxiety. But personally, this book wasn’t right for me. I found the positive advice hard. I had the attitude that embracing anxiety is easier said than done and the book was way too long for me. I ended up skipping whole chapters just to try and get to the advice and even then, I DNFed before I even got to the heart of the advice I was looking for.

It’s over 460 pages of black and white text, and the E-edition I had didn’t have a working contents page so I could skip easily to the chapters that mattered more to me. I was looking for some quick fix tips, something I could put in place right away and start using. But instead, I got pages and pages of history, science and other people’s stories that I wasn’t interested in reading. Once again this is purely personal preference and I wish I could have kept reading to find some of the book’s tips that may have helped me. But I couldn’t force myself to keep reading any longer, and skipping through the chapters to try and find the pieces of advice hidden amongst all the exposition was impossible.

I can imagine that you either love this book or you hate it. For me, it really wasn’t my cup of tea and I’m going to have to search elsewhere to try and find some tips to deal with my anxiety. Hopefully in a format that will capture my interest more. But for others, this book’s positivity and optimism will be a great help, and the information is very intelligent and interesting for those who want to learn more about anxiety and its history.

But personally, I’m looking for something with more colour. Something bolder and something more clear-cut and exciting.

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Thanks for the ARC! I think "Hack Your Anxiety" can be a very interesting research material, but for some reason it didn't work for me. I was hoping it would make me feel better about my own anxiety, but even after following her advices, I don't see any changes in myself. Maybe it's my own fault, I'm sorry. I hope this book can help other people.

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I enjoyed the techniques described in this book and think it's done well for describing how to utilize anxiety and make it work for an individual. I do not know if using anxiety as a motivation will work for every reader but it's an interesting perspective.

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As a person who suffers from anxiety, especially in public, I find this book quite useful and motivational.

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Well formatted and well thought out. Hack Your Anxiety had some really good useful points and tools in there to use your anxiety and harness it's potential versus being a slave to it. Clark is a well-written author who used both scientific facts and personal notes which really created a well-rounded self-help book.

My hang-ups with this are that I feel these techniques would be better suited for a one-on-one or group (in-person) therapy session. As someone who suffers from anxiety on the daily, it came across a little too gung-ho and felt at times like it was belittling how crippling anxiety can be. I think viewing anxiety as something that can be harnessed at times is a great perspective and lens to view it through - however, using it as MOTIVATION is the issue I took with the overall takeaway.

Accepting your anxiety and working through it is super important. Most of us with anxiety know it never really goes away. It sits in your chest and through time and therapy, you learn to control it and mitigate the bouts and episodes of when it becomes overwhelming. However, I felt the weight and seriousness of anxiety was a little glossed over here. I also expected a wholly scientific book and I didn't much appreciate the spirituality added in but I understand that, that is a large part of many people's lives so I can understand why Clark may have put that in.

Overall, there were some interesting points and things I can use to work on but it lost 2 stars for me because it felt a bit cursory and short-sighted.

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Hack Your Anxiety has a unique perspective on anxiety. As a life-long anxiety sufferer, I'm not sure viewing it as a motivating factor is terribly helpful. The book is well-written and interesting but I can't honestly recommend it.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

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As I believed for a while now, accepting your anxiety is the first step in having a life. Situational or long term, this book tackles most common types of anxiety and offers a little comfort that you're not alone as most of us believe. I wouldn't necessarily have put spirituality in a science book but still a book that explains everyday anxieties in plain English is always welcomed.
ps: I'd change the cover.

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Modern informative book on the research of anxiety. Better understanding of what causes anxiety and relatable examples and tips.

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Hack Your Anxiety is a seminal book written for all ages and various levels of anxiety. After all, in today’s busy, pressure-filled world it is easy to feel stressed at times, regardless of your stage in life. Whether your anxiety is situational or long term, you will find constructive, practical and valuable advice within these pages. What sets this book apart from other books is the author’s approach. Alicia H. Clark adeptly points out that anxiety can and does work for us. It is a signal, alerting us what to pay attention to. As an individual with a master’s degree in psychology, I couldn’t agree more. If you are looking for a deeper understanding of anxiety and its purpose as well as best practices for managing it positively, look no further than this book.

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I’m still processing what I read and learned and am going to work with my boyfriend on some of the things I read and will report back with a full review before publication. I will say this is way more in depth than a typical self help anxiety book and I found a lot of the information to be elightening and also not anything I’ve read before on the topic. The book discusses relationships, students, and anxiety in all types of people and scenarios. This is not your cookie cutter self help book.

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