Introducing herself as “a leader with chronic, clinical anxiety,” Aarons-Mele writes from her personal and professional experience in presidential politics, corporate America and tech startups — anxiety-producing workplaces by any measure. As she marches the reader through appalling statistics revealing workplace anxiety as a global and rising epidemic, the question arises: Why isn’t this discussed more? Her answer: Shame. It’s not something most people feel they can talk about, particularly at work.

As the host of “The Anxious Achiever” podcast, the author has been on a one-person crusade to change that dynamic. In this book by the same title, she has collected anecdotes, research and survival tips to help the reader break the cycle of anxiety and shame. What could be more empowering?