Disordered: Anxiety Help

In this listener participation episode, Drew and Josh tackle your questions about recovery while celebrating inspiring stories from the community. Questions explored in this episode: Why does my anxiety disorder feel like it's protecting me? When you're struggling with OCD, panic disorder, or health anxiety, your threat response can feel like a cult leader in your head—insisting it has you...

When you're at your child's birthday party, your wedding day, or on a much-anticipated vacation, do you find yourself feeling anxious instead of joyful—and then getting frustrated with yourself for "not feeling the right way"? In this episode, Drew and Josh explore one of the most common traps in anxiety recovery: judging yourself for having the "wrong" emotions. You&#3...

One of the most terrifying fears in anxiety disorders is the fear of losing your mind. In this episode, Drew and Josh explore dementophobia - the fear of insanity - and why it's so common among people experiencing panic disorder, OCD, agoraphobia, and health anxiety. The guys discuss how the brain's threat response can turn inward when it can't find an external danger, creating the bel...

Drew and Josh announce the release of their first co-written book, The Disordered Guide to Health Anxiety , and dive deep into the many faces of health anxiety. From the resource gatherer constantly Googling symptoms to the optimizer obsessing over perfect health metrics, they explore how health anxiety shows up differently for different people - and why it's fundamentally about the anxiety, n...

In this episode of Disordered, the guys delve into the common anxiety symptoms of dizziness and lightheadedness. They share personal experiences, discuss the impact of these symptoms on daily life, and explore coping mechanisms such as interoceptive exposure and mindfulness. The conversation also highlights community wins, listener questions, and the importance of awareness in managing anxiety. Th...

Agoraphobia . Is it fear of open spaces? Do people with agoraphobia always fear open spaces? What even is agoraphobia and how to I overcome it? This week we're looking at the complexities of agoraphobia, exploring its definitions, connections to panic disorder, and the fear of open spaces. We're sharing some personal experiences and insights on how navigate through these challenges, emphas...

Sometimes life throws real challenges at you. Medical issues. Loss. Uncertainty. The kind of stuff that makes anxiety feel completely justified. So how do you move forward when you're genuinely scared AND dealing with actual difficult circumstances? In this episode, we share some of the most powerful "did it anyway" stories we've ever received. From someone facing serious health...

Panicogenic Relaxation: Why You Feel Anxious When Feeling Calm You're finally feeling better. The anxiety has lifted. You're relaxed and calm for the first time in months or even years. So why does that feel so  weird ? And why are you suddenly anxious about feeling calm? In this episode, Drew and Josh explore "panicogenic relaxation". This is a common experience in anxiety disor...

When anxiety and its relentless inner critic take hold, one of the most profound losses is the belief and trust in your own capability. In this episode, Drew and Josh explore how to rebuild self-trust after anxiety disorders erode your confidence in handling life's challenges. The conversation centers on stories from listeners who confronted their worst-case scenarios—from emergency medical si...

In this episode, Drew and Josh explore the powerful role of the internal critic—affectionately named "Craig"—in maintaining anxiety disorders and interfering with recovery. They discuss how this nagging inner voice criticizes, questions, and doubts us, often telling us we're doing things wrong or that we'll never be who we hope to be. Let's examine where Craig the Critic come...

In this episode of Disordered, Drew and Josh tackle one of the most frightening anxiety symptoms: air hunger - that terrifying feeling that you can't get a deep enough breath or fully fill your lungs. Drew and Josh draw from both their clinical expertise and personal recovery experiences to explain why this sensation happens, why trying to "fix" your breathing often makes things wors...

One of the most common questions we hear from people working through anxiety disorders and OCD is: "How long is this going to take?" In this episode, Drew and Josh tackle the timeline question head-on—but probably not in the way you're expecting. We explore why asking "how long until I recover?" might be the wrong question, and why shifting to "how long until I'm d...

Can your focus on getting better actually make things worse? In this episode, we explore what happens when the recovery process itself becomes an obsession - coining the term "Recovery OCD" to describe the fixation many people develop around their anxiety recovery journey. We dig into the counterintuitive reality that constantly checking "Am I recovered yet?" or "Am I doin...

How do you handle anxiety when the news feels overwhelming? With constant exposure to current events, political tensions, and global crises through social media and traditional news sources, it's no wonder many people with anxiety disorders find themselves struggling. This week on Disordered we're talking about the complex relationship between news consumption and anxiety, discussing when...

Welcome to another inspiring round of "Did It Anyway" stories, where we celebrate real wins from our community members who chose to move forward despite their anxiety. In this episode, Drew and Josh share powerful listener stories that illustrate a fundamental truth about anxiety recovery: you can take meaningful action even when you feel scared, uncertain, or overwhelmed. From someone d...

In this essential episode, Drew and Josh are joined by Dr. Birthe Macdonald, a psychologist and neuroscience researcher who's become a vital voice in combating mental health misinformation on social media. The conversation tackles the overwhelming sea of questionable advice that anxious people encounter online, from vagus nerve stimulation devices to "nervous system regulation" quick...

In this episode, we explore how the language we use to describe our anxiety experiences can either fuel our struggles or support our recovery. We examine the difference between helpful and unhelpful ways of talking about panic attacks, intrusive thoughts, and anxiety symptoms. We discuss why saying "it feels like I'm dying" versus "I'm experiencing intense physical sensation...

In this episode, Josh and Drew tackle one of the most counterintuitive concepts in overcoming panic attacks: learning how to panic better, rather than trying to avoid panic altogether. When facing a new job triggers familiar panic patterns, many people focus on preventing anxiety rather than developing a healthier relationship with it. Drew and Josh explore why "learning how to panic" is...

When you're struggling with anxiety disorders, you often do things that don't reflect who you really are - avoiding social gatherings, canceling plans, or making demands on loved ones that you normally wouldn't. As you start to recover, it's common to feel overwhelming guilt about how your anxiety affected the people around you. In this episode, Drew and Josh explore the complex jo...

When anxiety takes hold, one of the first casualties is our natural sense of wonder and openness to new experiences. In this episode of Disordered, lets explore how anxiety disorders systematically erode our curiosity about the world around us and our own capabilities. Drew and Josh discuss how anxiety creates a rigid, self-focused mindset that asks only "How will this make me feel?" rat...

When something shocking or difficult happens, we're often told we need to "process" our emotions. But what if that endless loop of replaying events in your mind isn't actually processing at all? In this episode, Drew and Josh explore the crucial difference between healthy emotional processing and anxious rumination that keeps us stuck. How to distinguish between genuine emotional...

In this episode of Disordered, the guys tackle one of the most misunderstood concepts in anxiety recovery: healing . Sparked by a listener question about balancing relationships with anxiety recovery work, the hosts dive deep into what healing anxiety really means - and what it doesn't. The Problem with "Healing" Language   Drew and Josh explore how the word "healing" can b...

Ever feel trapped in cycles of rumination, overthinking, and constant mental chatter about your anxiety? In this episode, Drew and Josh tackle the challenging question of how to "get out of your own head" without turning it into another exhausting battle. Starting with a thoughtful question from a listener who has built an impressive life despite ongoing anxiety and DPDR but still strugg...

What If I Want To Control My Anxiety Holistically? In this episode, Drew and Josh examine tension between wanting to control anxiety through holistic approaches and recognizing when that desire for control becomes part of the problem itself. Key Topics Discussed: The difference between actual control and the illusion of control How the wellness and self-optimization industry can exploit anxiety su...

Am I Doing Too Much Recovery/Exposure? This week Drew and Josh tackle a common question in anxiety recovery: "Am I pushing myself too hard with exposures?" The guys explore the nuanced balance between challenging yourself and recognizing when you might genuinely need rest. In this episode: How to distinguish between being genuinely depleted versus being scared Why feeling anxious after s...