First, We Make the Beast Beautiful

In First, We Make the Beast Beautiful, Wilson directs her intense focus and fierce investigating skills onto her lifetime companion, looking at the triggers and treatments, the fashions and fads. She reads widely and interviews fellow sufferers, mental health experts, philosophers, and even the Dalai Lama, processing all she learns through the prism of her own experiences.

Wilson offers readers comfort, humor, companionship, and practical tips for living with the Beast:

Cultivate a "gratitude ritual." You can't be grateful and anxious at the same time.

Eat to curb anxiety. Real food is your best friend.

Just breathe. Embrace the healing power of meditation.

Make your bed. Every day. Simple outer order creates inner calm.

Study fellow fretters to know thyself. Emily Dickinson, Charles Darwin, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. all struggled with anxiety.

Actively practice missing out. Forget FOMO, curl up on the couch, and order takeout.