Readers, particularly those who only knew the beaming, sugar-free Wilson from her cookbooks, might feel quite concerned for her. The name dropping was so frustrating. Oprah, Brene Brown, Gabrielle Bernstein etc get to have their names in the book, but then she refers to "some guy" who uses the analogy of walking on custard. His name is Neil Hughes, he has a lovely TED talk and he wrote a book called "Walking on Custard and the meaning of life: a Guide for Anxious Humans". Surely she could have included that? She includes a couple exercises to help bring yourself down when you're experiencing anxiety. But not too many, because: "I don't plan on filling this book with too many exercises that people like me skim over to get to the meaty theory. I'll just include the ones that suit people like you and me." pg 57, ebook Sarah Wilson: ‘Anxiety is a very lonely condition but I feel like there’s a yearning out there to connect over it.’ Photograph: Pan Macmillan

First, We Make the Beast Beautiful by Sarah Wilson - Waterstones

An exploration of the chasm between the public persona of a high-functioning media personality and her private struggle with ever-lurking, crippling anxiety. You’ll never read a more searingly honest account of mental illness than this.”This book is a combination of self-help and memoir as TV personality and author, Sarah Wilson relives her own struggles with anxiety. Unfortunately, whilst we share a first name, Sarah and I do not share a large portion of our anxiety and how we manage it. Gabrielle Bernstein, #1 New York Times bestselling author of May Cause Miracles Here’s where you find all the science and source references Full of great, solidly researched, personal and genuinely useful tips for the anxious mind … I loved this book. Matt Haig

first, we make the beast beautiful - Pan Macmillan AU first, we make the beast beautiful - Pan Macmillan AU

First, we make the beast beautifulwas published on February 28th, 2017 (Pan Macmillan Australia) and April 24, 2018 (US, Harper Collins) and is now published worldwide, in South Korean, Lithuanian and French. Where to buy the book An amazing book for people who struggle with anxiety, confusion, and existential curiosity (and pretty much as an inevitable consequence, existential angst). Not sure how Sarah, with financial and professional status, has not dealt with her trauma properly. But dear lord it is badly written. I understand that the meandering structure is probably intended to mirror her journey to some extent, but it is sometimes a real struggle to follow her threads, internally inconsistent, has a severe over use of !!!!! and Sentences like 'But still.' or 'Do you understand where I am coming from?' Inconsistencies in timelines such as (and I'm paraphrasing) 'I haven't owned a car in 5 years' to 'I spent years researching what car to buy and I bought the most environmentally sound car in the world', 'I live in the city' to 'I am a nomad and have lived in 7 different places in the last year'. Huh? I'm lost.I have read many many books on related subjects the last ten years, and I find most have a tiresome "do these 10 simple things and your anxiety will be gone!!! :D :D :D" tone. That tone pisses me off. Nothing is easy with anxiety; nothing is straightforward or simple. I was worried this book would be more of that. You can also get it on Kindle hereand other ebooks hereand for Audio (I read the book myself), you can buy it here. I also related strongly to a quote on 276, "I generally find that anxious people spend a lot of their lives trying to have fun doing stuff other people find enjoyable." This is another thing that I am a firm follower in, and reading it will hopefully make me choose my own plans, no matter how small they are. However, what I loved most about this book were the parts where Wilson tried to approach anxiety in a positive way, in other words - make the beast beautiful. And she’s right! For all the negativity that anxiety can bring to our lives, it also makes us the people we are. If you simply removed my anxiety from my personality, I would be a very different person. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t receive treatment or counselling if it is impacting your life in a hugely negative way, but there’s something to be said for how anxiety can be beneficial in some ways. For me, it means that I am extremely efficient and organised; time management is my jam, even if it also turns me into a little bit of a control freak.