Escape Anxiety: 8 Steps to Freedom Through Meditative Therapies

by Suzanne Jessee, Lavelle Jacobson (Foreword)

It’s estimated that forty million Americans suffer from anxiety disorders―but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Millions more suffer in silence. Suzanne Jessee was one of them. Hospitalized at age thirty with severe depression, anxiety, and panic disorder, she was determined to overcome the mental paralysis and addictive behaviors that ruled her life. Not only did she personally triumph over these debilitating disorders, but she set out to study, train, and work in the world's leading treatment centers and has helped thousands of others to recover from severe anxiety.    Through her research and stories of her experience,  Escape 8 Steps to Freedom through Meditative Therapies  Jessee gives the causes and patterns of these complicated and often misunderstood mental health problems and offers a program of natural treatments to regain health and happiness.       Accompanied by a PBS special,  Escape Anxiety  is an exclusive look at the revolutionary treatment program Jessee successfully pioneered at the Betty Ford Center and other top addiction treatment centers. Her 8-Step Escape Anxiety program is designed to provide holistic, natural techniques to manage extreme stress and depression in order to escape their destructive consequences.       At the heart of her program is Jessee’s innovative method of Neurogenesis Meditative Therapy™ (NMT). Combining proven therapeutic techniques such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy with ancient mindfulness practices, her methods empower anxiety sufferers by liberating them from unhealthy “thought myths” and helping them create sustainable, life-changing habits. Backed by recent scientific proof that meditation has a transformative effect on the physical brain, Suzanne demystifies the practice of meditation and demonstrates its power as a viable alternative to synthetic medications for treating anxiety. Each of the following steps of Jessee’s program to break the patterns of anxiety is accompanied by exercises the reader can do at home, including a specially designed script for   Step 1: Conquering Codependent Control Issues
Step 2: Dismantling Perfectionism
Step 3: Releasing Resentment and Forgiving Others
Step 4: Surrendering Shame and Forgiving Yourself
Step 5: Defusing Catastrophic Thinking
Step 6: Mastering Self-Regulation
Step 7: Making Conscious Choices About Your Emotions
Step 8: Rewriting Your Internal Dialogue     After years of personal experience helping patients at the Betty Ford Center and other clinical settings, and recognition for her success from the top experts in the field, Suzanne Jessee now offers an affordable and accessible in-home treatment program to heal those who suffer from the devastating effects of anxiety disorders.

Genres: Nonfiction

304 pages, Hardcover

First published February 3, 2015

Reviews

[Barbara · Rating 1 out of 5]

I saw the PBS broadcast featuring the author and her book. I thought it was interesting so I picked up the book at the library. BORING. It's a Christian book to begin with. I have no problem with that but please describe it as that.

[Katey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book, because I was going through a hard time. I had a hard time controlling my emotions, and then figuring out what I really needed to worry about, versus what I would be able to let go of. I learned some things about my anxiety that I hadn't considered before, and I think the concepts in this book helped.

[Teresa Hammett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was recommended to me by a friend and I'm glad that I read it. This book needs to be added to my "reference books" as it really needs to be read more than just straight through. I think I'll buy this one, because sometimes you have to read something several times for it to sink in. An excellent book that makes you really stop and examine how you think and what makes you feel anxious, with some good meditations included. It gives good advice on how to change what you can about your own thinking so that you can be calmer inside.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book gave a lot of tips. I did not her clear dislike of medication. I think her opinions could be dangerous in fact although she does state to work with professionals, some people are always looking for excuses to not take medication. I also did not like the religious aspect of the book. I would also have liked to know what her degree is in.

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a review of the first edition hardback.

For years, my mom kept watching those horrible PBS infomercials and buying the books being promoted. She then quit reading the book before page 40. We have a whole damn stack of them.

She never made it past the introduction for this book. She wailed that it was about meditation and threw it aside. Apparently, she never pays attention to the infomercials. She just assumes that somewhere is a book to solve her health problem.

I've had panic attacks most of my life, but the worst were right after my Dad died from a heart attack at the beginning of the pandemic. We couldnt even have a funeral because it was too dangerous. I had panic attacks so bad that I couldn't even stand up. The best I could do was get to my knees with my back bent forward.

I lost my health insurance and access to perscription drugs the year before my Dad died. In the years since I was forced to stop Prozac, I've tried many things to stop my panic attacks. I still get them, but they are not as bad.

This book did not help. It does focus on meditation to quell anxiety. Unfortunately, I cannot meditate. Perhaps reading and writing these goofy book reviews is my meditation.

The book is also out of date in terms of medical studies. Serotonin is now thought to have little to do with mental illness. There have also been recent studies where meditation makes some people worse.

The only way to know if meditation works for you is to try it. Since access to mental health care is getting worse and worse in most countries, including America, books may be the only mental health care most people will ever be able to get.

The author casually mentions that her young son has only one eye. This was the result from an accident at Christmas. She never says what happened. I tried reading further, but the back of my mind kept thinking of that infamous line from Jean Shepherd's "A Christmas Story":

"You'll shoot your eye out!"

I also found the references to God and angels annoying, since I'm an atheist.

I gave up at the end of Part One. Your milage may vary.

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is very good information about what anxiety is and where it comes from. I didn’t do the meditation exercises. I’m not big on guided meditation. I’m more of a yoga or music meditation kind of person.

[Ethan Petuchowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author has a great patient tone and clear writing style. That said the book mainly targeted specific triggers that I don’t have. It did have some good generic practices.