Addicted to Anxiety: The instant Sunday Times bestseller that will teach you how to take back control

A groundbreaking new approach to treating anxiety as an addiction, from one of the UK's foremost mental health experts

Anxiety is a normal and sometimes healthy process, but in a world that feels increasingly unsafe and unpredictable, many of us find ourselves in its grip far more than is comfortable or truly necessary. If you subconsciously believe that worrying or investing in your anxiety will keep you safe, it is easy to get unwittingly hooked on it. To break free of anxiety, you must break free from the underlying beliefs that you cling to and the cyclical thoughts that perpetuate it. Addicted to Anxiety will help you understand anxiety from the perspective of addiction, identifying your triggers and learning how to break your habits and actively replace them with new, more productive behaviours. It will put the power back in your own hands to live a calmer and less anxious life.

Feeling anxious is part of being human; sometimes it can even be necessary or useful.

But what about when anxiety takes over? When you feel like it's too often dictating your life? Have you ever considered that you might be addicted to anxiety? In this groundbreaking book, bestselling author and psychotherapist Owen O'Kane explores how we all unwittingly build habits around our anxiety. This, he argues, is how we become addicted - the behaviours and thought patterns that help us feel safe in the short term ultimately serve to perpetuate it. Put simply, we get hooked.

The answer? Break the cycle. How? Recognize: You must understand your anxiety and identify your triggers before you can start to unpick it. Tackle: Discover vital techniques for breaking the underlying habits and patterns.

Move forward: Learn strategies for navigating setbacks or relapses on the road ahead. Addicted to Anxiety will help you understand your anxiety from the perspective of addiction, identifying your triggers and learning how to break your habits so you can actively replace them with new, more productive behaviours for a calmer, happier life. 

Paperback Release

Pre-Order Details

Publication Date:   1 Jan 2026 

We anticipate that the book will be published on this date. The product will be shipped by the book's publication date. We'll notify you via e-mail when we have an estimated delivery date for this item. If the estimated publication date changes for any reason, we will inform you promptly.