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Overcoming Anxiety, Worry, and Fear: Practical Ways to Find Peace

Review

Overcoming Anxiety, Worry, and Fear: Practical Ways to Find Peace

Author Gregory L. Jantz, PhD, is a speaker and the author of more than 25 books, and his co-author, Ann McMurray, has written with him several times. Combining their expertise, they offer more than the run-of-the-mill, how-to advice on overcoming anxieties, worries and fears.

Jantz opens the text with an Introduction filled to overflowing with every kind of fear a person might suffer. Aptly titled "One More Thing to Worry About," this intro to the topic at hand brings it home by addressing how commonplace most of our fears truly are. Jantz's descriptions will resonate with Christ followers in equal measure to those with no particular faith-based worldview (translated: everyone struggles against anxiety/worry/fear).

A smattering of Jantz's queries includes these questions for readers trying to discern whether or not they might find value in his newest resource. Jantz asks: "Do you ever find yourself fearful without really knowing why? Do you worry about a thousand little things during the day? Do you sometimes feel like you're smothering, like you can't get enough air? Do you wake up in the morning tired and irritable? Do you have trouble going to sleep or staying asleep? Do you avoid certain people, places, and situations because of how fearful they make you feel? If you've answered 'yes' to any or all of these questions, then this book is for you."

Jantz helps readers grasp just how cumbersome our electronic age has made our lives by giving us too much information too quickly, too often, and in too big amounts. For many people, living in a constant stream of anxiousness has become the only way they know how to live. The authors want to share a different way, a better way.

In this hefty two-part text, readers will first gain a strong foundational (biblical) understanding of the effects of anxiety, worry and fear. Specifically, they will learn how to decode their emotions and delineate "what's what" in the realms of emotions and thinking and believing patterns. A strong emphasis is placed on the importance of disciplining one's thought life and our hidden assumptions (which aren't so hidden as we might think or hope). Jantz discusses the various effects of stress in one's life and on the body; how individuals cope and self-medicate to ease emotional pain; how relationships are negatively affected by not addressing fears; how depression plays a part in these emotional struggles; and how people sometimes choose paralysis over making active choices.

Part two is the how-to "get better" section where the authors concentrate on practical methods for experiencing relief from fears and worries by taking control of the "volume" of what we listen to internally; by refusing to sweat the small stuff; learning to relax; making small baby steps toward change; proactively choosing a better way to live; making healthy choices; writing a new script for life; and intentionally trusting in God through faith.

There's much to be said about asking introspective questions and then making proactive, positive life choices. Jantz enables readers to do both, and his text is so engaging and encouraging that even those Christ followers who experienced such defeat before when attempting change will give it another go after reading this excellent resource. It's good medicine (for the heart, mind and body).

Reviewed by Michele Howe on July 1, 2011

Overcoming Anxiety, Worry, and Fear: Practical Ways to Find Peace
Gregory L. Jantz, PhD, with Ann McMurray

  • Publication Date: July 1, 2011
  • Genres: Christian, Self-Help
  • Paperback: 224 pages
  • Publisher: Revell
  • ISBN-10: 0800719689
  • ISBN-13: 9780800719685