Freedom from Health Anxiety - by Karen Lynn Cassiday (Paperback)

About the Book

Health anxiety is on the rise. COVID-19 has introduced an abundance of new stressors, resulting in increased fear and obsession about illness and death. In this much-needed guide, nationally recognized anxiety expert Karen Lynn Cassiday presents a highly effective, cutting-edge method for treating health anxiety--teaching readers to disconnect their physical sensations and symptoms from a perceived sense of danger. By learning not to fear how their body feels, readers can liberate themselves from health worries, tolerate uncertainty, and find peace of mind.

Book Synopsis

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.

Review Quotes

"An essential resource for anyone overwhelmed by illness concerns, Freedom from Health Anxiety is loaded with evidence-based suggestions to help you step away from avoidance, reassurance seeking, and other tactics that counterintuitively make anxiety more difficult to manage. The powerful concepts in this book will help you understand and work through persistent patterns of worry, tolerate the difficult emotions driven by uncertainty, and selectively respond to health concerns in new, more productive ways."
--Joel Minden, PhD, licensed clinical psychologist, and author of Show Your Anxiety Who's Boss--Joel Minden, PhD

"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--Ken Goodman, LCSW

"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--Elizabeth DuPont Spencer, LCSW-C

"Karen Cassiday has written a helpful book on how to incorporate creative exposure and response prevention (ERP) exercises into the treatment of health anxiety. The guidance offered throughout is straightforward and easy to implement. Readers will learn how to use gratitude to counterbalance the negative chatter that anxiety injects into one's unfolding experience. I will be recommending this book to my clients looking for additional support working on moving past health anxiety."
--Debra Kissen, PhD, MHSA, CEO of Light on Anxiety, author of Rewire Your Anxious Brain, and coauthor of The Panic Workbook for Teens and Break Free from Intrusive Thoughts--Debra Kissen, PhD, MHSA

"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--Kimberly Morrow, LCSW

"This book is an amazing gift in times such as these. I know too well how debilitating health anxiety can be, and this is exactly what I needed thirty years ago. Cassiday clearly and compassionately presents valuable context, personal accounts, and science-based therapies to help those struggling build resilience and cultivate peace. This book is the key that will unlock a happier and healthier mindset for countless readers."
--Wendy Tamis Robbins, speaker, anxiety coach, attorney, and best-selling author of The Box--Wendy Tamis Robbins

"This is an incredibly timely resource from such a talented clinician in our field. What a gift this is to the professional community, as well as to those who suffer with health anxiety. Karen shares her expertise in a validating and relatable way, and those who need help can now get it from one of the best. Thank you, Karen Cassiday!"
--Beth Salcedo, MD, psychiatrist and medical director of The Ross Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders, with offices in DC, Northern VA and New York City, NY; and board member of the ADAA--Beth Salcedo, MD

About the Author

Karen Lynn Cassiday, PhD, is owner and clinical director of the Anxiety Treatment Center of Greater Chicago, the upper Midwest's longest-running exposure-based treatment center for anxiety disorders. She has served as president of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA); chair of the scientific advisory board of Beyond OCD; and has published numerous articles, a book for parents of anxious children, and numerous scientific publications that advance the understanding of anxiety disorders. She is a popular commentator in the media, radio show host, and TEDx presenter. She is also clinical assistant professor in the department of clinical psychology at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Sciences. She won the prestigious Clinician of Distinction Award from the ADAA, is an ADAA clinical fellow, a founding fellow of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy (ACT), and one of its certified trainers.

Foreword writer Simon Rego, PsyD, is a board-certified cognitive behavioral psychologist with more than twenty years of experience. He is chief psychologist, director of psychology training, and director of the cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) training program at Montefiore Medical Center in New York, NY. He is also associate professor of clinical psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.