Emotional Inflammation: Discover Your Triggers and Reclaim Your Equilibrium During Anxious Times

Lise Van Susteren, Stacey Colino Sounds True (APR 28) Hardcover $24.99 (274pp) 978-1-68364-455-2

Lise Van Susteren and Stacey Colino’s Emotional Inflammation is a transformational road map to staying grounded in turbulent times.

Facing climate change, gun violence, and political strife, people are stressed out and overwhelmed. We sacrifice our own health and prove unable to be productive around issues of concern. The book diagnoses this problem as emotional inflammation and suggests a realistic solution.

Connecting physical inflammation—the body’s temporary response to combat illness and injury, which is harmful if it becomes chronic— to emotional responses in an eye-opening way, the book argues that knee-jerk responses to what’s wrong in the world are often ineffective, both when it comes to solving problems and for those responding to them. It names four types of reactors—nervous, revved-up, molten, and retreating—and invites self-awareness. Its suggestions make it possible to take control of big feelings within overwhelming situations.

Suggestions for regaining health and making emotional responses more effective come from the acronym RESTORE, beginning with “Recognize Your Feelings” and ending with “Exercise Your Power.” This holistic, methodical approach focuses on listening to, trusting, and caring for one’s body, including no-brainer techniques that few manage well, like getting sleep and exercise. To support its practices, the book includes research about what works and what doesn’t; accessible first steps with immediate benefits; and permission to try again. It closes with key methods for tailoring the RESTORE plan to each person’s reaction style.

Focused on considering what’s in a person’s control despite the out-of-control world, Emotional Inflammation is a thoughtful self-help book about moving from unhealthy emotional patterns toward healthy rhythms, and about becoming an agent for change.