The Anxious Girl's Guide to Dating.

When I split up with my ex in 2007 after my year of anxiety filled torture, I went into a downward spiral when it came to dating, choosing the wrong person seemed to be the norm for long enough until I met James in 2009. Before meeting him I had resigned myself to a life of being alone and making silly decisions.  I blamed the fact I had been through a tough time for the mistakes I made, but now, I look back and see a girl who was making mistakes that everyone else probably made on the rocky road to finding the one, and I have Hattie C Cooper to thank for changing my outlook.



When Hattie contacted me and asked would I like to read her book, The Anxious Girl's Guide to Dating, I jumped at the chance. I had a very strong feeling that I would be able to relate to her story and I was right. It was honestly as if I had written the book myself, my life story flashed before my eyes, the thought processes, the experiences, everything seemed to remind me of my younger self even before I met my roommate anxiety (yes I do call anxiety my roommate)

At the start of the book there is a great explanation of what anxiety is and what symptoms manifest when you are feeling anxious. I was actually mentally ticking them off.

Every chapter is filled with a mixture of her experiences and amazing advice.  Being honest this book is not just for someone who lives with anxiety, this book is for everyone who is waiting to find the one, has their eye on someone or even someone like me who is married.

The advice is honestly incredible.  Without giving too much away, you will find advice on accepting yourself for who you are, looking after your health, taking your time when it comes to relationships, trusting your instinct (which is correct 99.9% of the time!) being open and honest and most importantly just to be yourself.

Another part of the book, which I loved, was the section on being with someone who has anxiety. The book helps to educate those who have a loved one living with anxiety and gives great advice on how to connect with them.  30 minutes per day to talk about how you both feel. Perfect advice and this is something James and I do almost every day.  It helps us both to vent what is annoying us or lets us talk about the positives.

I cannot recommend this book enough. As I say you don't need to be living with anxiety to relate.

If you would like to find out more about Hattie C Cooper you can visit her website here and you can also follow her over on Twitter here

To purchase a copy for yourself you can go to Amazon UK (Kindle version priced at £3.84)