Anxiety Road Podcast

I did an episode about ACEs a long time ago. It was okay but I know a bit more now.    At the time I said something to the effect, "Childhood isn't easy even in the best of families, but what if your family of origin contributed to your current condition? I'm not saying that it has, but what if it did?"   That part was ok but listening to it now I did not fully define it or give examples.    When...

So in this episode I wanted to put a bit more context as to why sucking sour candy could work to stop panic attacks. Or not. Or not for the long term.   Here is how it started. I have news feeds for anxiety. This story popped up.   Delish is a food recipe and kitchen gadget website. I've seen videos on YouTube. I was confused when I saw the story about sour candy and panic attacks.   It didn't mat...

I don't know if I'll ever go on a cruise ship. The only part that really interest me is tasting a wide variety of food in a short amount of time. Plus my anxiety about riding on a human petri dish would get the best of me and cause all kinds of embarrassment. Not to mention that there are hundreds of people around and having to move as a pack once you arrive for an excursion.   Gives me the shiver...

You made it over the first hurdle. You know you have a problem.  You might have even gone to the doctor or your health provider to obtain help. They might have set you up with pills or talk therapy.   And that is a far as you got. You take the meds but you are still drinking.   Or eating high sugar or caffeinated beverages.   Babe, you gotta make some changes. Ones that you do not want to make but...

There is a term called visceral anxiety. According to various sources, it isn't a medical term but more of a description of feeling anxiety in the lower center of your body. We are talking about the gastrointestinal track.  For some with anxiety it is a persistent problem of pain in the stomach, being gassy or bloated. Or feeling queasy each and every day. (Pregnant people excepted).   Now life ha...

Worry is powerful, it can dishearten you and have you see nothing but shades of gray. There are techniques that even anxious people can use to reduce the amount of worry and get on with the business of the day.    I've been around a few spins around the sun. There have been very few times when things haven't been crazy on this planet. Especially with humans having access to weapons.   Gasses me up...

You can be a smoker that has anxiety or a person with an anxiety condition who smokes. Either way it is a bad deal that can not only make your symptoms worse but cause long term harm to your body. In this short pebble in the road episode, some resources to help educate yourself about the problem but some viable resources you can check out to separate yourself from the cigarette or the vape. If you...

I try to keep episodes short and to the point. But sometimes I need to talk about conceptual things that at first, doesn't seem to have anything to do with anxiety treatment options.  But it does.   I need to talk about beans or knowledge. Or the do before the why. Which I like better but it isn't grammatical. I take comfort that I'm pissing off an A.I. generator.   I know that many people that li...

The American Psychiatry Association defines depression as loss of interest of activities once enjoyed, and that the symptoms must last longer than two weeks before an official diagnosis.   There isn't just one kind of depression and they don't all generate from the same source.    For people that have not experience depression, it is really hard for them to understand. Or they try to related to so...

When things go wrong and you need a break, like when none of your audio software will record and you have to use your phone, you need to take a moment.    Or two. Maybe have dinner as well. Some days you have to find ways to roll with it.    A meditative break can help. That is the topic of this episode.   If you need support contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-825...

Many of us hold our tongues or clench our teeth to protect ourselves from saying what you really want to say. Or feel. And for most of us, that works and we go about our day. But if you are clenching and grinding your teeth on a daily basis there is going to be a problem.    Sometimes with your jaw. Or wearing away your teeth. Or having headaches or something worse.   In this episode, a look at wh...

I've done a couple of episodes on generalized anxiety disorder, sometimes referred to as GAD. However, there have been changes to some of the medication treatment options.   And there are new options that did not exist in 2016 or 2018 so I thought that I'd catch everyone up on what is going to be current for the foreseeable future.   That is the topic for today's episode. If you need support conta...

I try to stay off of sites like Kickstarter and Indigogo. Too much temptation and even more disappointment. Back in the day, I use to support the up and coming companies.    But I got tired of waiting sometimes month before the product arrived. I have been burned by companies that found out it was hard to be an innovator.   Few days ago, I got an email that I was about to toss in the trash. Looked...

The TLDR version: What I do know is that a coloring book could be an opportunity for those who have trouble with some of the traditional concepts of meditation or mindfulness practice.    But be careful about making a purchase. When possible, buy from a human creator.   The much longer version : I insist on being a human being so I still do my own research. Not saying I having dipped a toe or two...

I'm on the summer slow down vibe, but there are lots of interesting ways to handle and reduce symptoms. One of those ways is combining a breathing practice with humming. To be clear, I'm talking about the sound that humans make with their mouths. Usually involves the sound "hum". Take the human body, the Vagus nerve and an open mind and you just might have an additional tool to tell the body to re...

As I mention in the podcast, it is the eight anniversary of the podcast. The need to connect people to the various mental health services  is still necessary. There have been times that my symptoms were stable and I could crank out an episode, no problem.   But there are times when I'm at high tide, the symptoms are showing themselves to the public and I can or cannot produce an episode.   Thing i...

It is the start of the summer slowdown where I'll post less often as I try to catch up on my sleep and elocution skills. I've been talking a lot lately and I can hear multiple imperfections.  Really a bad idea to do five things at the same time.    Anyway, last week's error has created this episode. As a standing warning. Never upgrade as you are working on a project. I've gotten away with it befo...

After missing last week, I was determined to get an episode up.  I recording and edited it. The SOS software decided to garble my speech.  And then it stopped working. So I turned to my phone and made something happen. It ain't pretting but I dood it. This is a quick look at the new movie called Minding the LIne, which is a fictional movie about fly fishing, PTSD and coping as best you can.  I'll...

It has been a while since I've mentioned this; the focus on the podcast is for folks that have been medically diagnosed with an anxiety condition or disorder.    However, all are welcome. The over-stressed, the somewhat anxious or those that are up against it and don't know what to do.   Everybody has anxiety. That is normal and necessary. We need it for our personal safety and awareness that ther...

There are days when we muck it up. And spend hours berating yourself that you were not perfect or you did not catch one of the dozens of bug a boos that you handle in a day.    On this day I would like to suggest that you stop being mean, nasty or hyper-critical about being fallible. Practice your breathing, drink some water, move your body and actively be kind to yourself. If you need support con...

For those of you that don't understand about the experience of depression, I have two websites that might help folks get a grip on it.     The first is Will O'Neil's Actual Sunlight.    It is a fictional narrative game about the experience of living and trying to exist in a depressive state.     Another expression of the experience is an old school HTML website called Deprression Quest.   It is an...

Last time, I talked about coaching. How there are different types of coaches and that it is an unlicensed and unregulated practice. There are good and bad coaches, and we need to find ways to figure out who is who.   I tried to chop it down into chunks but this is a big topic. And not a lot of consumer friendly information sources. Many of the resources I found where connected to vendors wanting t...

I'm working my way through the mental health telemedicine providers and I'm coming across the word "coach."    I get a little leery about that word because I've had some experiences with people using it to wrap themselves in a health wellness cloak of respectability.   I've gone to conferences and sat in on sessions that I thought were about how to best provide information to people wanted health...

This episode is not for everybody. Some of you will be highly dismissive. That is okay. Different strokes for different folks.     Knitting provides an object of focus for our practice. We can practice focusing our attention and letting go of distractions.   The point is, doing something analog or tactile can help you relax. Or meditate or route you and keep you in the present tense. In this pebbl...

Long time listeners know that I am a connoisseur of the sequential arts.    It is truly the theater of the mind because I can co-create with the artist to experience an environment or an adventure.   I bring this up because sometimes healing can come from unexpected places. Like a graphic novel or a comic book.    Three of the books talk about the experience of having a perpetual negative voice in...