Help! I'm Dying Again

As a medical doctor, I find Chesworth’s work systematically captures the reality of health anxiety. “I’m dying” captures how normal sensations spiral into catastrophe through cognitive distortions. We don’t react to what happens - we react to our interpretations. A racing heart becomes “I’m having a heart attack,” triggering genuine panic. Core beliefs like “my body is fragile” and “any symptom could be serious” fuel this misinterpretation, with each episode reinforcing the pattern. The desperate “Help!” embodies the safety-seeking behaviors that trap patients in the cycle: Body checking (constant pulse monitoring, self-examination), Reassurance seeking (repeated doctor visits, asking others), Compulsive Googling and avoidance etc. These behaviors feel protective but paradoxically maintain anxiety. They prevent learning that symptoms resolve naturally, while the temporary relief they provide reinforces the false belief that vigilance equals safety.. The weary “again” conveys something only lived experience can capture - the exhaustion of simultaneously knowing you’ve survived this before while remaining utterly convinced that this time is different.. CBT remains first-line treatment because it systematically dismantles maintaining factor: Thought awareness and cognitive restructuring, Identifying and eliminating safety behaviors, Behavioral experiments to test catastrophic predictions, Core belief modification: from “I’m fragile” to “I’m resilient”*. “Importantly, CBT isn’t about positive thinking - it’s about logical, evidence-based thinking.** What sets this book apart for healthcare providers, patients, and their supporters is Chesworth’s rare dual perspective. Her clinical knowledge provides the framework, but her personal journey through health anxiety breathes life into the science. She doesn’t just describe the condition - she knows how it feels, making this far more engaging than typical medical texts.

As a person who suffers from health anxiety I wanted to read this book for any insights and tips it might offer to manage it. Health anxiety can feel quite isolating because I do not personally know of anyone who suffers from it quite like I do. Therefore this book made me feel understood. The book is easily readable and I found that I related to many of the situations portrayed. Now I must do the exercises as recommended and give myself time throughout the week to complete the exercises in each chapter. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC. All thoughts are my own.

In this book, you will learn a variety of CBT strategies to help you feel less anxious about your health and improve your overall quality of life.” Off the top, Dr Britney’s credentials speak for her and the authenticity of this resource. Dr Chesworth simplifies the concepts and tools explained and makes them easy to capture and understand. She gives the necessary background without overwhelming the reader. The wording is down to earth and encouraging for the reader. It challenges them and pushes them to reconsider their thought patterns by pulling from the experiences of other people who lived through similar fears and anxieties and they overcame them steadily and healthily. I appreciate Dr Chesworth’s vulnerability in the book and sharing things were definitely hard to write for the entire world to read. I recommended this book to my partner who suffers from Health Anxiety, and by only reading a couple of sentences from the intro and chapter 1, he was sold on the book telling me “I should definitely read this book”. The book gives tools but also encites the reader who is practicing these tools on themself to be accountable for their own healing process. The book is comprehensive and a great tool for anyone who wants to understand Health anxiety, understand its treatment, and/or start on the healing journey, and/or maintain the healing journey. It is not an alternative to proper therapy and follow up with medical professionals especially in advanced cases.

Thank you to NetGalley and publishers for granting me access to this book. First. Wow. I needed this book. And that could not be any further from hyperbole. The first chapter alone (which recommends you work through the rest of the book slowl) is eye opening. I think for people who pick up this book because of the title, you’ll get a shock when chapter one describes your whole life. The title “Im dying again” is what caught MY eye to request this book because that’s exactly how health anxiety feels. Wow I feel sick today I think Im dying. Chesworth first introduces health anxiety (the aforementioned introduction) and offers a list of benefits and causes of the anxiety. The one that got me was “it makes it difficult to enjoy anything.” Bingo. Then she proceeds to offer methods throughout If you dont know what cognitive behavioral therapy is, it’s an effort to acknowledge thoughts and the behaviors they cause. The author focuses each chapter on an aspect of CBT: reducing errors, recognizing your own abilities to cope with diseases, how to live more comfortably, stop avoidance and so on. All very very useful information and doesn’t feel like something you’re going to drag your feet to get through because self help is sometimes a chore. This is a guide for exploring your health and the mindsets affecting it, and I think it is executed beautifully.

This is how I would like more self-guides and CBT books to be. The problems are defined, the solutions are encouraged, self-initiated and the ‘reframe’ framework of CBT is clearly described. I will gift this to my loved ones who have health anxiety.

Many thanks to NetGalley and John Murray Press for an advance readers copy in exchange for an honest review. This book is a must-read for anyone who suffers from health anxiety, or has regular interaction with anyone who does. Because such anxieties tend to run in families-children raised by anxious parents tend to model their parents-and there are theories about the intergenerational nature of stress and trauma. Whether it affects children in the womb or from early infancy, the point is that there is no start date, nor any end date either. You don’t need to be a life-long worrier to develop health anxieties in your senior years. But, regardless of age, as the author stresses, these are not ordinary health anxieties. People who ignore discomforts associated with their emotional or physical state are actually in a condition of detachment that is as dangerous as though they were feeling alienated from any loved one. Some self-concern is necessary because ignoring all signals can cause illness and death. But envisioning death as the only possible outcome for any ache or pain is just a scary way to live. Some of these points seem to contradict each other, but Chesworth is very good at explaining why the mind-body relationship is the root of understanding. She goes over many theories old and new, while also explaining practical embodied exercises to try. Even if you have tried CBT, as I have, you will find that her book is better than most in the self-help genre to dispel the jargon and direct you to results. Nothing over night’ is promised: these exercises take time and commitment. She acknowledges how hard that is. But her tone is non-judgmental and she especially encourages those who are trying to stop with harmful self-judgment above all. Dr Chesworth has produced a well-written, organized and illustrated work. I’m happy to recommend it for your wellness book collection. If you don’t have one, this is a good place to start.

· ARC Review

Dr. Brittney Chesworth is a licensed psychotherapist with a private practice and an award-winning researcher in the treatment of mental health issues, mental health influencer and expert author for Psychology Today. She has over 15 years of experience treating clients with anxiety in child welfare, hospice, hospital, university, community mental health and private practice settings. Trained by the Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy, Dr. Chesworth teaches graduate and undergraduate students and mental health professionals on the use of CBT, exposure therapy and other evidence-based interventions. In 2020, Dr. Chesworth received the UNC-Chapel Hill Impact Award for the positive impact of her research in North Carolina.

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