Addicted to Anxiety O’Kane Owen (2026)

Feeling anxious is part of being human, and it can sometimes be necessary or useful. But when anxiety begins to take over and dictate your life, you may have become addicted to it. In this book, psychotherapist Owen O’Kane explains how people can unknowingly develop habits around anxiety: behaviours and thought patterns that provide short-term safety but ultimately keep anxiety going. He presents a three-step approach to breaking the cycle. First, recognize your anxiety and identify your triggers. Then tackle the underlying habits and patterns with practical techniques. Finally, move forward by learning how to handle setbacks or relapses. The book helps readers understand anxiety from the perspective of addiction, identify their triggers and replace unhelpful habits with more productive behaviours for a calmer, happier life.