Unwinding Anxiety

What Hacker News says

1. elmomleSep 2025
   Right now I'm reading As It Is by Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche (if you don't have previous experience with Buddhism I'd recommend starting with something broader like Zen Mind Beginner's Mind, and find yourself a Buddhist meditation group!), and Self-Therapy by Jay Earley. Something else very much written for an intellectually-oriented audience but that gives inklings of a ladder into non-intellectual being, is Unwinding Anxiety by Judson A. Brewer. I liked it at the time, though I found I needed more help practicing the things that that book suggests, which led me deeper into Buddhism and eventually towards Dzogchen.

   I wouldn't recommend How to Win Friends and Influence People, it is all about fine-tuning behavior to make a better impression on people, and that doesn't sound like the heart of the issue you described. The heart of that issue _could_ be that one clings to mind-concepts rather than trusting the whole being and feeling a connection with the universe. If so, one must slowly learn to trust the felt experience of life, to know that gut feelings and open-heartedness are just as important as thoughts (moreso in many respects), to trust that one can relax one's whole being and be carried by an infinite love within. It is a gradual progression.

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2. cwilkesOct 2024
   I recommend the book “Unwinding Anxiety” by Judson Brewer for further reading. Another book of his “Hunger Habits” is really good.
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3. schaeferMar 2023
   The tricky part about depression and anxiety is that everyone is coming from someplace different. It’s like asking for directions on how to get to New York City… but not being sure if you’re starting from Tokyo, London, or someplace else entirely. The people that want to help you usually can only tell you how they overcame depression from where they started. Which, understandably, may or may not be right for you.

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   That having been said, I have some food sensitivities that were driving significant amounts of anxiety and depression. Cleaning up my diet has been life changing. Especially the “fasting mimicking diet (FMD)” as explained in the book The Longevity Diet by Valter Longo. The book is pretty dry, so I’d recommend the audio book version. Try a round of FMD (5 days) followed by a month of no sugar added. Sugar withdrawal was hell for me, but there was significant improvement on the other side.

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   I know you said meditation hasn’t worked for you, but you don’t mention which kinds of meditation you’ve tried. I’ve had luck with metta meditation. Or the meditation of loving kindness. And specifically bringing that philosophy of kindness with me off the mat into my daily life.

   Resources for my own particular take on Buddhist philosophy that worked for me include:

     - This lecture series on bringing loving kindness to a meditation practice [1]
   
     - and the book: Unwinding Anxiety by Dr. Judson Brewer. 
   
     - and basically everything Pema Chodron has ever written.  But possibly staring with: When Things Fall Apart. 

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   Even if what worked for me doesn’t work for you. I believe in you and I think you can find your own path to being at peace with your inner emotional landscape.

   [1]: https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPxfnU-O-Zydjfcneck9XIy...

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4. schaeferMay 2022
   book recommendation:

   Unwinding Anxiety by psychiatrist and neuroscientist Dr. Jud Brewer MD PhD — Dr. Brewer’s other successes include designed leading programs (highest success rate) for both quitting smoking and weight management. These programs succeed by making explicit the emotional landscapes driving counterproductive habits. The book unwinding anxiety does the same for anxiety.

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5. sjg007Feb 2022
   I recently read "Unwinding Anxiety" by Dr. Judson Brewer. He's a psychiatrist and explains the habit part of negative behaviors very well and provides an approach to "unlearn" these bad habits.
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6. pesfandiarDec 2021
   "How to Avoid a Climate Disaster" by Bill Gates. It's a pragmatic nerd's comprehensive view of ways to tackle climate change, and you know the author is deeply involved in some of the initiatives.

   I also found "Unwinding Anxiety: New Science Shows How to Break the Cycles of Worry and Fear to Heal Your Mind" by Judson Brewer eye opening (once you see through its self-help tone). The author claims (and backs it up by research he has conducted) that anxiety and worrying are addictive, and similar regimes for smoke cessation, weight loss, and drug rehab can be used to mitigate them.

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