A coach I know recently recommended to me the book Life Unlocked:  7 Revolutionary Lessons to Overcome Fear, by Harvard professor of psychiatry Dr. Srinivasan S. Pillay, and I, in turn, want to recommend it to you.

Dr. Pillay uses brain science to explain the structure of fear in the brain, and he does so in ways that are approachable for a layperson, which makes this more than a simple self-help book. He also offers suggestions for addressing and potentially overcoming the fear that exists in so many of our lives.

Among the topics he addresses are:

• How fear registers itself in the brain in ways that we do not notice.
• How hope can be an antidote to dread.
• How to transcend fear of success.
• How to shift deeply engrained habits of mind that create fear.
• How fear affects attachment in relationships and how to address it.
• How fear underlies racial prejudice, how to become aware of it, and how to undo it.
• Trauma, fear, and the impact on the body.

The book is full of insightful and helpful bits of information of the sort that you’re likely to find yourself underlining and coming back to reread. One that struck me and gave me a WOW reaction was, “People who experience childhood trauma are six times more likely to develop chronic fatigue syndrome as adults.” I could have quoted several dozen equally interesting pieces of information that he shares with readers.

The book, though detailed and interesting, is merely a starting point for addressing fear and not a book that offers a fix for everything that ails everyone.  His one seemingly universal suggestion is to meditate.

This summary is a hasty one, and I encourage you to check out the book for yourself if the topic of fear interests you or applies to you (as it does to most of us).  I have a copy in my office library that I’m willing to share with past, current, or potential future clients.