The Anatomy of Anxiety

Understanding and Overcoming the Body's Fear Response

By: Ellen Vora

Narrated by: Eileen Stevens

Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

From acclaimed psychiatrist Dr. Ellen Vora comes a groundbreaking understanding of how anxiety manifests in the body and mind—and what we can do to overcome it.

Anxiety affects more than forty million Americans—a number that continues to climb in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. While conventional medicine tends to view anxiety as a “neck-up” problem—that is, one of brain chemistry and psychology—the truth is that the origins of anxiety are rooted in the body.

In The Anatomy of Anxiety, holistic psychiatrist Dr. Ellen Vora offers nothing less than a paradigm shift in our understanding of anxiety and mental health, suggesting that anxiety is not simply a brain disorder but a whole-body condition. In her clinical work, Dr. Vora has found time and again that the symptoms of anxiety can often be traced to imbalances in the body. The emotional and physical discomfort we experience—sleeplessness, brain fog, stomach pain, jitters—is a result of the body’s stress response. This physiological state can be triggered by challenging experiences as well as seemingly innocuous factors, such as diet and use of technology.

The good news is that this body-based anxiety, or, as Dr. Vora terms it, “false anxiety,” is easily treated. Once the body’s needs are addressed, Dr. Vora reframes any remaining symptoms not as a disorder but rather as an urgent plea from within. This “true anxiety” is a signal that something else is out of balance—in our lives, in our relationships, in the world. True anxiety serves as our inner compass, helping us recalibrate when we’re feeling lost.

Practical, informative, and deeply hopeful, The Anatomy of Anxiety is the first book to fully explain the origins of anxiety and offer a detailed road map for healing and growth.

©2022 Ellen Vora (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers

invaluable for someone struggling with anxiety!

Very good and practical information for anyone who struggles with anxiety. while the author's personal belief s and political leanings tend to come out quite a bit. I find it's easy to "eat the fish and pick out the bones", so to speak.

Digestible look at anxiety

Really identified with a lot of stories of patients.
Enjoyed the perspective of how we look at and utilize anxiety.

Lot of repetition…

Did have some valuable information but a lot of it was regarding your diet (which is necessary) but repeated a lot of the same things… did have a few good takeaways

This book is fantastic!!!!!

I started sending this book to my friends after the first chapter. I’ve been struggling with anxiety for most of my life and every doctor I’ve spoken to immediately wants to prescribe medicine without getting to know me. This book explores the background of anxiety, alternative treatments, lifestyle changes and so much more. I wish I had this book earlier in life but better late than never.

This book is literally life changing

I’ve read everything on anxiety and this is by far the best. It’s holistic top to bottom.

A focus on understanding true vs false anxiety and actionable advice.

I really appreciate the open honest dialogue about anxiety and how it manifests in our lives. Well written and read. Highly recommend.

Excellent

I am a psychiatrist. This is an excellent, thorough look at anxiety. Dr. Vora makes the information easily accessible while remaining engaging and not feeling like a textbook. Highly recommend for anyone dealing with anxiety, or anyone in general, to get a better understanding of how the human body and brain work.

Loved it!

Recommended it to all the women in my life and a few men. Very helpful and positive!

It was okay

There were a lot of things in this book that were helpful, but also many things I ethically disagreed with. The author said it best to "take this book buffet style taking what helps you and fulfills you and leaving what doesn't."

Life changing Read

I had a feeling this would be good but it surpassed my expectations on so many levels.
It’s not often that I finish a book and want to start it right up again and buy a ton copies to share with family and friends.
Dr. Vora presents the science and research with such a beautiful flow and suggests changes that are so nonthreatening that I actually look forward to my next bout of anxiety so I can test some suggestions. :-)