An anxiety specialist from Ayr has published his third book in the space of a year while also launching a charity designed to improve understanding of anxiety and emotional wellbeing.
Alan Currie, a former psychiatric nurse and mental health nurse, has spent decades working with people across South Ayrshire who live with anxiety, overthinking and emotional pressure. In 2026, he said he wanted to make change and help break down taboos around anxiety.
His latest title, The Version of You, completes the first stage of a broader series that he is developing. The book is now available in eBook and paperback formats.
What Alan Currie's third book explores
Currie said the new book moves on from the themes explored in his first two publications. It focuses on how identity, habits and repeated choices can influence behaviour and the person someone becomes.
“The central idea behind the book is that you don’t become the life you want. You become the person you’ve been practising to be.”
He said the first two books examined the emotional burdens people carry and why anxiety-related patterns can repeat. The Version of You takes that understanding further by asking who is shaping everyday behaviour and decisions.
“This book takes that understanding forward and asks a different question: who is actually creating your behaviour and making your everyday decisions?”
The book also looks at fear, self-doubt, confidence and the small decisions people make repeatedly, which Currie said can gradually shape their identity.
His first book, The Rucksack You Carry, was published in April. Currie said it was intended to introduce the idea that people may be carrying more emotional weight than they realise. The book presents anxiety not as a weakness, but as a natural response from a nervous system that has learned to remain on guard.
In May, he released Why Anxiety Repeats, which examines recurring emotional and nervous-system patterns that can leave people feeling trapped.
A wider series and children’s project
The three books form the opening stage of what Currie calls The Emotional Regulation Series. He has named the first stage HEAL and plans to add two further sections, SEE and LIVE.
Currie said the planned structure will move from understanding and changing the experiences that have shaped people, towards seeing themselves and their lives differently, and then applying that learning to how they choose to live.
“The wider plan is add sections SEE and LIVE. It will take the books from understanding and changing what has shaped us, into seeing ourselves and our lives differently, and ultimately applying that to how we choose to live.”
Alongside the adult-focused series, he is developing The Calm Kids World, a separate collection of children’s stories. The project will bring ideas about emotional understanding, confidence and life skills to younger readers.
Currie said the scale of the project had grown beyond what he first expected when he began writing. He now has three published books, two further stages planned and the children’s series in development.
“Now there are three published, another two stages planned, and the children’s series being developed alongside them.”
He estimated that about 1,200 individual decisions are involved in taking a book from an initial idea to a finished publication, making the completion of the first three books a significant personal milestone.
Anxiety Aid International charity launched
Currie has also recently launched Anxiety Aid International after the organisation was granted charitable status and entered on to the Scottish Charity Register.
The charity was established to help bridge a gap in awareness, intervention and resources as concerns grow about anxiety and emotional wellbeing challenges. Its intended work includes cooperating with existing support services and developing activity across Ayrshire and beyond.
According to Currie, the organisation aims to provide additional support and education to help people understand anxiety and improve their wellbeing. Its wider purpose is to challenge the stigma associated with anxiety.
All three books are available as eBooks priced at £2.99 and as paperbacks. Digital copies are being distributed internationally.
People seeking more information about the books or Anxiety Aid International can contact Currie by email at [email protected].