target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="#fb3_img_img_fa842951-dc2e-5766-8a97-102d22038db5.png" alt="Remember"/> This is the Anxiety & Depression Workbook For Dummies. You can’t feel better without doing a little work. Don’t worry; the work isn’t that difficult. Of course, you can skip a few exercises, but the more of them you complete, the sooner you’ll start feeling better. Odd as it may seem, writing things down does a world of good. Writing helps you remember, clarifies your thinking, and increases focus and reflection.
Worksheet 1-10 Tyler’s Personal Problems Profile
| 1. I have no energy lately. (D)2. Every move I make takes more effort lately. (D)3. I’ve lost my sex drive. (D)4. I’ve been eating all the time lately. (D)5. I don’t feel like being with anyone. (D)6. I don’t look forward to much of anything. (D)7. I find it impossible to make decisions. (D)8. I worry about my health all the time. (A)9. I feel shaky all over. (A)10. Sometimes I can’t make myself get out of bed. (D) |
Worksheet 1-11 Tyler’s Reflections
| I can see that I do have signs of depression. I didn’t realize that before. And I see that depression particularly shows up in my body. It’s affecting my energy, sex drive, and appetite. It’s also making me withdraw from my girlfriend, which I can see from my loss of sex drive and lack of desire to be with her. Apparently, I also have a few symptoms of anxiety, and I think I always have. It’s time to do something about this. |
In addition, put an A by the symptoms that are most indicative of anxiety (even-numbered items in the preceding quizzes) and a D by symptoms that are most consistent with depression (odd-numbered items).
Do your symptoms mostly involve anxiety, depression, or a mix of the two? And do they seem to mostly affect your thoughts, feelings, behaviors, or relationships? Take some time to reflect on your profile. What conclusions can you draw? Record them in Worksheet 1-13.
Worksheet 1-12 My Personal Problems Profile
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Worksheet 1-13 My Reflections
Choosing Your Challenge
The next four parts of this workbook cover the areas of thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and relationships. One obvious way of deciding which area to begin with is to choose the one that causes you the most problems. Or you can work through them in order. Sometimes it makes sense to start with a relatively minor problem and achieve quick success. Wherever you choose to start, you should know that all these areas interact with each other. For example, if you have anxious thoughts about being judged, you’re likely to avoid (behavior) the spotlight. And you could very well experience butterflies (feelings). Furthermore, you may be overly sensitive to criticism from others (relationships).
Are you predominately a thinker, doer, feeler, or relater? If you checked considerably more items in one area than the others, you may want to start your work in the part of this workbook that corresponds to that style:
Thinker: Part II, “Thinking About Thinking: Thought Therapy”
Doer: Part III, “Actions Against Angst: Behavior Therapy”
Feeler: Part IV, “Focus on Physical Feelings”
Relater: Part V, “Relationship Therapy”
Worksheet 1-14 Personal Style Questionnaire
| Thinkers I like facts and numbers.I tend to be a very logical person.I’m a planner.I like to think through problems.I carefully weigh costs and benefits before I act. |
| Doers I can’t stand sitting around and thinking.I like to act on problems.I like accomplishing things each day.I like plowing through obstacles.I act first and think later. |
| Feelers I’m a very sensuous person.I pay a lot of attention to how I feel.I love massages and hot baths.Music and art are very important to me.I’m very in touch with my feelings. |
| Relaters I’m a people person.I’d rather be with people than anything else.I care deeply about other people’s feelings.I’m very empathetic.Relationships are more important to me than accomplishments. |
When and Where to Get More Help
Self-help tools benefit almost everyone who puts in the effort. Many people find they can overcome minor to moderate emotional problems by working with books like this one. Nevertheless, some difficulties require professional help, perhaps because your anxiety or depression is especially serious or because your problems are simply too complex to be addressed by self-help methods.
