The Anxiety First Aid Kit: Quick Tools for Extreme, Uncertain Times
$19.95
Price: $19.95
(as of Aug 11, 2025 18:52:12 UTC – Details)
“Ideal for these unsettling times; highly recommended for general readers.”
—Library Journal (starred review)
A quick-relief guide for calming anxiety and stress right now.
If you’re feeling unprecedented levels of stress and anxiety right now, please know that you aren’t alone. In these extreme and uncertain times, it’s natural to be in a constant state of mental and physical strain. Whether you’re dealing with job loss, a sick loved one, or just feeling the weight of the world during your 2 a.m. doomscroll—you need quick tools you can use right now, whenever and wherever you are, to lower stress and soothe anxiety. This emergency kit has you covered.
Written by a dream team of mental health experts and grounded in evidence-based therapy, The Anxiety First Aid Kit offers powerful tools for triaging stress and anxiety in the moments when you need it most. You’ll find easy and doable ways to help you press pause on panic, and find your calm spot right away. You’ll discover in-the-moment interventions to help you relax before your anxiety and stress go into overdrive. And finally, you’ll learn how to make healthy and workable lifestyle changes to improve your mental health and increase resilience, so you can effectively deal with stressful situations in the future—no matter what life throws at you.
Between pandemic-related economic fears, the frustrations of social distancing, indoor confinement, work and household double duties (now including homeschooling!), and the looming threat of serious illness, is it any wonder you’re feeling completely stressed out and anxious? If you need immediate relief, The Anxiety First Aid Kit has everything you need to manage stress and anxiety—right now.
Publisher : New Harbinger Publications
Publication date : August 1, 2020
Edition : 1st
Language : English
Print length : 128 pages
ISBN-10 : 1684038480
ISBN-13 : 978-1684038480
Item Weight : 6.4 ounces
Dimensions : 6 x 0.26 x 9 inches
Best Sellers Rank: #741,386 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #1,131 in Anxieties & Phobias #1,224 in Emotional Mental Health #1,328 in Anxiety
Customer Reviews: 4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 132 ratings var dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction; P.when(‘A’, ‘ready’).execute(function(A) { if (dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction !== true) { dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction = true; A.declarative( ‘acrLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault”: true }, function (event) { if (window.ue) { ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } } ); } }); P.when(‘A’, ‘cf’).execute(function(A) { A.declarative(‘acrStarsLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault” : true }, function(event){ if(window.ue) { ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } }); });
Kindle Customer –
Straightforward toolbox of ways to tackle anxiety
Thanks to NetGalley and New Harbinger for the opportunity to read an early copy of this book!I really enjoyed this little book and while it can’t replace things like professional therapy or prescribed medication, it’s a great supplement with a variety of techniques that you can try in the moment and on your own time. I would say it’s more like a toolbox than a first aid kit, since out of the 40 suggestions, only 10 are meant for immediately dealing with anxiety in the moment and trying to find calm. The next section is about working on worry and anxiety from a step away, and ways to distance yourself from anxious thoughts. The third section is on deep relaxation achieved through things like hypnosis, and the fourth section is on structural life changes that will help, like better sleep and moving your body with exercise.I appreciate the very straightforward nature of this book. It’s laid out very simply, with each suggestion numbered 1-40, and each section divided into “What to Know” – a little bit of background, ranging from the biology of the fight or flight response to the history of hypnosis – and “What to Do” – action steps to carry out the technique.Some of these techniques are familiar, especially in the first two section – deep breathing, mindfulness, setting a “worry appointment” where you tell yourself to address at a later time – while others were new and interesting. The word “hypnosis” makes me nervous (I blame Office Space), but I appreciated how they framed it as something like daydreaming. And while there are some elements like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and trying to approach the problem logically, there are suggestions that go the opposite way and talk about repeating your most intense, outlandish thought dozens of times until it loses its meaning. This wide variety of approaches means that I’m confident that I’ll be able to experiment and find some approaches that work best for me.The real test is whether I’ll pick this book up in the moment and find something, vs this current cover-to-cover read with the intention to review. We shall see! On that note, I appreciate that the authors suggest taking the paperback and putting it somewhere like a coffee table, where it’s easy to pick it up when needed. Again, this cannot replace professional help but I hope it can assist people in its intended use in providing some ideas to explore on your own.
AngelWings –
Pretty good
Iâm a good way through this. Had some very helpful info and exercises. Would recommend for beginners in their journey.
Paula –
A useful book
Anxiety First Aid Kit: Quick Tools for Extreme, Uncertain Times is a quick read with various strategies to help an individual deal with anxiety and uncertainty. The book is written by several authors and has practical tips on meditation, relaxation techniques, and how to recognize anxious behavior and reset your mind.The book states that it is a “mental health toolkit” and will give the reader a “welcome respite from panic and worry,” so a person can focus on the here and now.I liked the discussion about taking your worries for a walk. It discusses how our worrisome thoughts demand attention and how trying to get rid of those thoughts directly tends to make them more persistent. The solution provided is to go out doing our everyday things and engage in the world, which tends to direct our energy and attention outside rather than inward in our heads.The other technique I found useful was the Tic Tac challenge. It suggests whenever you have a “what if” thought such as what if something bad happens, the challenge is to remove on Tic Tac and this allows you to keep track of the number of times you experience a “what if” thought that pulls you out of the present moment and has you spinning about catastrophic possibilities that may not happen. It’s a great visual to see how many times a person may have thoughts that stop them from living in the here and now.Overall, a useful book to have on your shelf, and it’s a quick and easy read that provides practical tips and tricks to help with anxiety.
Meekie –
Great for anxiety
Very nice, great tips for anxiety and panic! I loved his book Buddha’s Brain, and I love this one too!
Michelle L –
good book
I think that everyone who suffers from anxiety should read this book. I suffer from anxiety and depression, and read alot of books on mental health. I don’t pick out books to just to review them, i pick them out, either because it’s in my favorite categories or because i have experiences. This book gives a lot of exercises on how to manage your anxiety. I haven’t done all of them yet but I will 🙂 I am grateful that Netgalley gave me the chance to read this book for a review.
Carla –
Awesome and Practical!
Great ready to use and easy to implement strategies! This book will be one to pick up and use often.
Helena –
Informative
Thank you netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.Interesting First Aid kit for those that suffer from chronic anxiety. The guide provides exercises and ideas on how to cope with excessive worrying and fear laced thoughts. It provides lots of breathing exercises and ways to get around anxious feelings. I found it very helpful and will try many on a daily basis.
Anonymous –
Nothing New
Pros: it’s simple to understand and a quick read. Cons: It really isn’t anything new. If youâve struggled with anxiety before, you would probably be familiar with most of the suggestions in the book (breathe, sleep, exercise, etc) You might gain a few new ideas, but it’s not worth a purchase. You could skim it at your library and get the gist just fine. It wasn’t helpful for me, but maybe someone just starting to explore anxiety treatment or wanting to support a loved one with anxiety would find it more helpful.
A therapist –
Itâs so handy for a quick k but sufficient overview, heaps of greatTechnique ideas and I recommend it to most clients.