15 Best Stress Management Books

Stress is a natural part of life, but chronic, constant stress can cause lasting damage and be difficult to resolve. Dealing with stress usually means not only removing the stressors, but addressing the underlying cause. These books on stress management are for anyone who feels like they can’t keep up.

1. The Stress-Proof Brain

It’s not always the stress itself that wreaks havoc on us – it’s how we respond to that stress. Negative thinking, self-criticism, and tunnel vision may seem like natural ways to react to stress, but those reactions won’t get you far if you’re looking to manage stress in healthy ways.

Psychologist Melanie Greenberg combines ancient soothing techniques with systematic, scientific information about the way the brain works. This results in the resilience needed to navigate stressful times.

2. Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?

Mental health and stress are intertwined; if you understand how to manage one, you’ll likely make strides with the other. Dr. Julie Smith’s book offers compassionate advice and insight into the most common mental health issues, including coping with stress, drawn from her years as a clinical psychologist. It offers coping techniques and resilience-building exercises to help stressed readers navigate life’s ups and downs while still maintaining a level of content and peace.

3. Mindfulness for Stress Management: 50 Ways to Improve Your Mood and Cultivate Calmness

Mindfulness, like any other skill, takes practice and time. This workbook is designed to help you do exactly that. It provides 50 ways to relax and manage your stressful emotions so you can continually find peace, even in difficult times.

It’s even broken up by types of stress, so whether you’re worried about your family, your job, or other issues, you can find what you need.

4. Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle

This female-focused book was written to tackle sexist expectations of women in work and life, and why women experience deep levels of burnout. If you constantly struggle with not feeling good enough, smart enough, or pretty enough, you’ll appreciate this witty, informative book.

This book features sections on body image, stress, and stress management tips and techniques to help you move out of the cycle of stress and into a relaxed, confident state.

5. Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess: 5 Simple, Scientifically Proven Steps to Reduce Anxiety, Stress, and Toxic Thinking

Chronic stress can make your thoughts feel cluttered, chaotic, and out of control. Finding peace is challenging when there’s a lot to clean up, like taking out the trash for the first time in weeks.

Dr. Caroline Leaf offers five proven techniques to help you “declutter” your mind. Her scientifically-proven methods help you dissolve negative thinking, toxic thoughts, and more.

6. Who Moved My Cheese?

Psychologist Dr. Spencer Johnson uses an interesting, if not confusing at first, metaphor about cheese to illustrate how we react to change getting in the way of things we want. Like mice drawn to cheese, we all have goals we want to accomplish—in work, life, and relationships. That cheese is that goal, but often in life, something keeps moving the cheese, making it harder and harder to find.

How we react to that change, Dr. Johnson argues, determines how we react to stress. His book offers easy ways to anticipate and adapt to that stress in healthy ways. That way, you can finally get your cheese and eat it too.

7. Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff . . . and It’s All Small Stuff

You’re stressed, strung out, and someone has the audacity to tell you “don’t let the little things get to you.” At the moment, that’s about as helpful as a chocolate teapot. However, in practice, it can actually be a useful piece of advice, provided you go about it the right way.

Richard Carlson outlines exactly what it means to not stress the little things, including letting go of perfection, being in the present moment, and more. The little things often make up the big things, and when that stack gets too high, this book provides tips and tools to get back on track and shift your perspective.

8. The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook

If you’re constantly struggling with stress, chances are very high it’s rooted deeper than simply a “stressful day.” Long-term anxiety and phobias can cause constant stress that can only ease once the underlying causes have been addressed.

This therapist-recommended workbook is good for those who suspect their stress is actually anxiety. It offers practical advice and exercises to help you navigate your mental health.

9. The Strengths-Based Workbook for Stress Relief

This psychologist-written workbook features evidence-based guides for reducing your daily stress response. First, you’ll identify your positive strengths and how to use them effectively when life feels overwhelming. Roosted in positive psychology and filled with helpful tips, techniques, and strategies, this book is a great resource.

10. The Self Care Prescription

Stress often grows from a lack of self-care; when we’re giving ourselves enough time to rest, doing things we enjoy, and taking care of our physical health, we’re more likely to be more resilient to life’s stressful situations.

If you struggle with self-care and are looking for more advice beyond bubble baths and cozy blankets (not that they don’t have their place in a self-care regimen), this thorough guide outlines how to incorporate more self-care into every aspect of your life, including work, health, and more.

11. Stress Management: A Comprehensive Guide to Wellness

Stress Management: A Comprehensive Guide to Wellness tackles specific areas of stress, including familial, work-related, social, and emotional stress. Authors Edward A. Charlesworth and Ronald G. Nathan offer techniques for both men and women to better respond to many stressors, and reference updated statistics on disorders, drugs, and what it means to live in an age of constant communication. They also include the benefits of spiritual practices, relaxation techniques, exercise, nutrition, and alternative medicine.

12. The Stress Solution: The 4 Steps to Reset Your Body, Mind, Relationships and Purpose

Bestselling author Dr. Rangan Chateerjee provides immediate, actionable advice throughout the pages of The Stress Solution. As a general practitioner, he has seen first-hand how stress affects his colleagues and patients, and he delivers a series of small changes you can make to improve your quality of life. Reset your attitude and outlook with tips related to body, mind, relationships, and purpose! Packed with personal anecdotes and patient cases, this book is a veritable roadmap to wellness in the modern world.

13. 101 Ways to Be Less Stressed: Simple Self-Care Strategies to Boost Your Mind, Mood, and Mental Health

This book focuses on the connection between mind and body when it comes to stress. Although many people prioritize their physical health (like with daily workouts and healthy eating), they tend to forget about mental health and mood. Author of 101 Ways to Be Less Stressed, Dr. Caroline Leaf, says physical and mental stress are uniquely linked. Using simple strategies and the power of our minds, we can actually grow more resilient in response to life’s challenges, regardless of whether they manifest physically or mentally.

14. Stop Overthinking: 23 Techniques to Relieve Stress, Stop Negative Spirals, Declutter Your Mind, and Focus on the Present 

Acclaimed author Nick Trenton knows that one of the biggest causes of unhappiness is overthinking. These kinds of never-ending thought loops cause stress and a self-imposed mental prison. He wants to help readers get out of their heads and into their bodies and the present moment, providing scientific approaches to stop ruminating and dwelling on negative thoughts. Stop Overthinking offers methods to declutter your mind, find peace and focus, and unleash your full potential.

15. The Stress Prescription: Seven Days to More Joy and Ease

Psychologist and bestselling author Dr. Elissa Epen wants readers to understand how to embrace their stress in a positive way. In The Stress Prescription, Dr. Epel breaks down years and years of research, offering a seven-day plan with science-backed techniques that can help people harness their stress and turn it into strength. “Stress better” by building mental resources and actively filling your days with more joy, delight, connection, and ease.

When to See a Therapist for Stress

All the bubble baths in the world can’t resolve chronic stress if what’s creating the stress in the first place isn’t addressed. A therapist can help you evaluate your life and determine what life changes you can make to alleviate some of those chronic stressors. And, if you suffer from toxic levels of stress due to anxiety, depression, or other mental illness, speaking to a therapist may help. Here’s how to find one in your area.