Anxiety Rx

Book excerpt: From physician and neuroscientist Russell Kennedy, MD comes an award-winning book that offers a revolutionary, life-changing approach to healing anxiety. Break the cycle of anxiety with the newly upgraded and expanded second edition. After years of trying different therapies for his debilitating anxiety without success, Dr. Russell Kennedy had an epiphany: anxiety does not start in the brain. Anxiety starts in the body, where trauma is stored and physical and emotional perception begin. Alarm bells originating in the body are what trigger those anxious thoughts that we call anxiety, and Russ realized that true healing starts only when we learn not to conflate the two. He understood that existing therapies focused only on the mind would never get to the root of the problem—at best, they could help manage symptoms, but they’d never truly heal anxiety. Wanting to make a difference for the millions who suffer from anxiety disorder, Russ created Anxiety Rx, a book that blends his personal story with medical science, neuroscience, and developmental psychology. Readers learn how to sever the connection between the somatic alarm and the flood of anxious thoughts—in the process they begin to heal old trauma and gain a sense of control previously unknown. Russ offers techniques not only for our thinking minds, but for our feeling bodies, changing not just our mindset, but our “body-set.” Unraveling the intricate relationship between anxiety, the body, and the mind, Anxiety Rx offers a profound path toward healing and growth.