Anxiety Is a Bastard

17 Steps to Manage Panic, Calm Your Mind, and Live Boldly

De: Grayson Vasquez

Narrado por: Selfara Productions

Take Back Control from Anxiety Without “Fixing” Yourself or Living Small
Anxiety doesn’t usually crash into your life all at once. It creeps in quietly. At first, it’s just overthinking. Then it’s avoiding certain places. Certain conversations. Certain feelings. Eventually, your world shrinks not because you’re weak, but because you’ve been trying to stay safe in a system that keeps moving the goalposts.

You tell yourself to calm down. To think positively. To stop overreacting. When that fails, you assume you’re the problem. You’re not. Anxiety is relentless and exhausting, but it’s also predictable and manageable once you stop fighting it the wrong way.

Anxiety Is a Bastard gives you 17 clear, practical steps to understand exactly how anxiety operates and how to dismantle its control without turning your life into a safety project.

If you’ve tried breathing exercises, reassurance, distraction, or forcing yourself to “be brave” and nothing stuck, this audiobook explains why. Anxiety doesn’t disappear through control or perfection. It loosens its grip when you understand its mechanics and respond differently, step by step.

Stop letting anxiety dictate your choices, your boundaries, and your confidence. Start living boldly again.

©2026 Grayson Vasquez (P)2026 Grayson Vasquez

Not Warm, But Clear

I went through it during an early morning commute, mentally preparing for a presentation. The chapter on reframing panic as a temporary stress response instead of a personal flaw caught my attention. That distinction landed differently than I expected.

A Quiet Shift in Perspective

I started this while resting on a Sunday afternoon, not in crisis but worn down. The step about accepting uncertainty instead of negotiating with it felt subtle yet significant. There’s a moment where he points out how constant reassurance-seeking feeds anxiety, which stung a little.

The “17 Steps” That Actually Stuck With Me

I appreciated how Grayson Vasquez keeps explanations straightforward and not overly clinical. Still, some steps felt briefly explained, and I wished certain exercises had deeper examples. Even with that, it offered a grounded reminder that panic doesn’t always need dramatic solutions sometimes it just needs patient observation.

The Exposure Step Changed My Approach

I listened during a long walk after a stressful meeting. My mood wasn’t great. The step about gradual exposure leaning slightly into discomfort instead of reorganizing your life around it hit me harder than expected. The example about avoiding social situations felt too familiar.

Straightforward, Maybe Too Straightforward

I went through this late at night while already wound up from overthinking. The chapter on “panic isn’t danger” was clear and logical, especially the part explaining adrenaline’s short lifespan in the body. That breakdown made sense and felt grounded.

But parts lean heavily on tough-love phrasing. I understand the intention, though it occasionally came off a bit harsh when I was already feeling fragile. Even so, the structure of the 17 steps gives something concrete to follow, which I can’t dismiss.