One of the goofier things typically characteristic of Zen practitioners like myself is the notion that sitting, sitting, sitting takes care of everything. No words, just sit!
Maybe it does. But I'm no Zen master. In the toughest of times, there's nothing better than words wisely spoken to support the sitting -- to support this life. And there's not a single book in my whole library better for this than When Things Fall Apart.
When things are really falling apart, I open this book to anywhere it happens to open, read two or three pages and somehow always come up more clear-headed about my particular situation. Like fueling the spirit tank.
There's a million books I love. If I could take just one on the journey, though, it'd be this one. O.k., if I could take just two on the journey, it'd be this one and Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. If you let me have three, I'm all set! Add Thay Nhat Hanh's Heart Sutra commentaries (The Heart of Understanding) and I'm walking tall.
More seriously still: for what ails you, this is the book.