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

A Powerful Guide for Overcoming the Emotional Challenges of Our Turbulent Times.

A rising number of people today are troubled by a phenomenon for which they don’t know there’s a name. This condition is called emotional inflammation—a state not unlike post-traumatic stress disorder, but one that stems from simply living in today’s anxious, overwhelming, and tumultuous world. If you’ve suffered from sleep problems, hyperreactivity, persistent grief, or inescapable worry about the future—especially triggered by the nonstop news cycle—then you’re probably dealing with emotional inflammation.

The good news is: there’s something you can do about it.

With Emotional Inflammation, general and forensic psychiatrist Dr. Lise Van Susteren joins writer Stacey Colino to present a breakthrough guide to help you become grounded and resilient in these turbulent times. You’ll begin by determining your “reactor type” to better understand how your body and mind respond to stress overload. Then you’ll learn the vital steps of the powerful RESTORE program for recovering inner balance, personal effectiveness, and joy in your life:

• Recognize Your Feelings: how to identify, unpack, and learn from difficult emotions
• Evaluate Your Triggers: pinpoint what sets you off and how you can moderate your reactivity
• Steady Your Body’s Natural Rhythms: keys for restoring your natural, healthy internal equilibrium
• Think Yourself into a Safe Space: work with your mind to remain flexible, thoughtful, and adaptable
• Obey Your Body: essential self-care practices for diet, exercise, stress management, and more
• Reclaim the Gifts of Nature: revitalize your healing connection to the natural world and its awe-inspiring benefits
• Exercise Your Power: become an “upstander” who takes effective action from a place of compassion, hope, and love

Completing the basics of this method, the authors share key insights on how to personalize RESTORE to fit into your life based on which of the four reactor types you identify with—Nervous, Revved, Molten, or Retreating.

You can’t always control the crises and catastrophes that are swirling around you. But that does not mean you’re powerless against the status quo—nor do you need to be at the mercy of the physiological, psychological, and spiritual stress responses inside you. With Emotional Inflammation, you now have an invaluable guide to help you cope with the challenges of a turbulent world, calm your body and mind, and reclaim a sense of peace, purpose, and connection to others.

LISE VAN SUSTEREN, MD, is a psychiatrist in private practice in Washington, DC, and has served as an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University. She is a frequent commentator or contributor for CNN, NBC, NPR, the Wall Street Journal, HuffPost, and other outlets.

STACEY COLINO is an award-winning writer specializing in health and psychology. Her work appears in U.S. News & World Report, Prevention, Family Circle, Parade, and Parents. She lives in Chevy Chase, MD.

Lise Van Susteren
LISE VAN SUSTEREN, MD, previously served as a clinical professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University. She is a go-to commentator about anxiety and trauma for television (including CNN, Good Morning America, NBC, VOA, and Fox News), radio (NPR, Minnesota Public Radio, and others), print media (including the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, the Huffington Post, and CQ Magazine), and online outlets (such as Live Science, U.S. News & World Report, Global Health NOW, and many others).

As a thought leader and activist, Dr. Van Susteren addresses issues related to trauma and emotional inflammation through her roles at the Earth Day Network and Physicians for Social Responsibility. She is considered an expert in the psychological effects of climate change.