Rewire Your Anxious Brain: How to Use the Neuroscience of Fear to Overcome Anxiety, Panic, and Worry

Do you ever wonder what is happening inside your brain when you feel anxious, panicked, and worried? Now fully revised and updated, Rewire Your Anxious Brain offers a unique, evidence-based solution to overcoming anxiety based in cutting-edge neuroscience.

In Rewire Your Anxious Brain, psychologist Catherine Pittman and author Elizabeth Karle show how the amygdala and cortex (both key parts of the brain) are essential players in the neuropsychology of anxiety. The amygdala acts as a primal response, and oftentimes, when this part of the brain processes fear, you may not even understand why you are afraid. By comparison, the cortex is the center of "worry." That is, obsessing, ruminating, and dwelling on things that may or may not happen.

In the book, Pittman and Karle provide specific examples of how to manage fear by tapping into both of these pathways in the brain. You'll gain a greater understanding of how anxiety is created in the brain, and as a result, you will feel empowered and motivated to overcome it. This new edition also features the latest in cutting-edge brain research, unique "goal-focused" self-assessments, and more than a decade of new findings in neuroscience.

The brain is a powerful tool, and the more you work to change the way you respond to fear, the more resilient you will become. Using the practical and proven-effective techniques in this book, you will learn to literally "rewire" the brain processes that lie at the root of your fears.

Catherine M. Pittman, PhD, is a professor at Saint Mary's College in Notre Dame, IN. As a licensed clinical psychologist in private practice in South Bend, IN, she specializes in the treatment of brain injuries and anxiety disorders. She is a member of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), and provides workshops and seminars on the topics of anxiety and stress.

Elizabeth M. Karle, MLIS, is circulation and fulfillment manager at the Cushwa-Leighton Library at Saint Mary's College in Notre Dame, IN. In addition to supplying research for this book, she has personal experience with anxiety disorders--providing a firsthand perspective that focuses the book on what is most useful for the anxiety sufferer. Originally from Illinois, she currently resides in South Bend, IN; and holds degrees or certificates from the University of Notre Dame, Roosevelt University, and Dominican University. She is author of Hosting a Library Mystery.