The Anxious Truth - A Panic, Anxiety, and Mental Health Podcast

Afraid During A Panic Attack ... Or Afraid OF Panic Attacks? This is one of those recovery concepts what will make you tilt your head and wonder what I'm talking about.  But there is a difference between being afraid during a panic attack, and being afraid of panic attacks. That difference matters because it speaks to the mechanics of issues like panic disorder and agoraphobia. TL/DR: EVERYON...

Examining Body Dysmorphic Disorder Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) is a condition in which a person sees - and becomes excessively focused on - problems or "defects" in their appearance that nobody else sees. This can become overwhelming when the person with BDD starts to see themselves as completely defined by this problem that nobody else would call a problem. This week therapist, BDD a...

Scary And Difficult Do Not Mean Ineffective Recovery by way of facing fear is scary and difficult. When people choose to recover by learning how to accept, tolerate, surrender to and move through anxiety panic and fear, sometimes they will declare that it doesn't work for them.  They'll say that because they are afraid and they are challenged. They accidentally equate being afraid with r...

Anticipatory anxiety - the anxiety you feel when you have an event or challenge coming up that you know will make you anxious and therefore fear - is a common type of anxiety that many struggle with. This week on the podcast two giants in the anxiety community, Martin Seif and Sally Winston joined me to explain in the ins-and-outs of anticipatory anxiety, worry, and what they call fear of fear of...

The state of mental health care - at least in the west - is such that many in our community have a difficult time either locating a therapist that specializes in treating anxiety disorders, or accessing professional mental health help for economic and other reasons.  This leads many to ask, "Do I need a therapist to recover?" While the help of a trained, experienced professional is certa...

How do you see your anxiety?  Is anxiety a monster?  Is anxiety like a storm or an invading army that comes to get you?  Are you powerless over it?  Do you feel that you can't resist, stop or control it no matter how hard you try? What if it wasn't a monster attacking from the outside?  What if instead you could recognize that you are playing a role, that you have choice, and that you ha...

Do you see yourself as being OK "as long as" specific conditions are met?  Or are you learning that you can be OK "even if" those conditions are not met?  This can be a critical concept in recovery that can get us stuck in the dreaded, fragile acceptable bubble, or launched into a more complete and lasting recovery. For full show notes on this episode: https://theanxioustruth.c...

Do you have to be a positive person to get better?  Do you have to choose positivity?  Eliminate the negative energy?  Vibrate correctly?  Manifest positive things?  Accept only positive vibes? Develop a positive mindset?  Are these things required in anxiety recovery? I think that developing a sense of competence and self-efficacy through action is WAY more impactful that trying to think or emote...

In recovery we are sometimes dealing with more than one issue beyond just your panic, agoraphobia, health anxiety, or OCD. Maybe there is another phobia or phobias involved.  Maybe you are dealing with tendencies toward perfectionism, people pleasing, or trying to control everything.  Humans are complex.  We have lots of facets!  What happens when these other issues conflict with our recovery work...

When dealing with an anxiety disorder we often talk about why excessive reassurance seeking is counterproductive and can make things worse.  But why is this?  And is there any time where seeking assurance is OK?  Let's answer these two questions, and look at ways to start breaking the cycle of reassurance seeking, in this week's podcast episode.   For full show notes on this episode:  ht...

Anxious people focused on health issues often spend lots of time being checked, tested and examined by doctors.  In recovery, I'm often asked if calling a doctor if never allowed, or if calling a doctor is wrong or indicates a setback of some kind.  The short answer is, "No.  It's not wrong."  But there's more to it than that, so let's talk about it in this week'...

The Same Anxiety Symptons, But Different Reactions?   Two people can have the same anxiety symptoms but different reactions to those symptoms. There can be common thoughts, fear themes, and bodily reactions, yet wide variations on how those things are interpreted and in the reactions they trigger.  Let's talk about this, and what it can teach us about anxiety and recovery.   For full show not...

For most people, the things they fear the most in relation to anxiety and panic fall into one of three common categories or themes.  Let's look at these three themes:   Death/ Physical Incapacitation  Loss of control / Insanity  Embarrassment / Shame   Understanding these common themes can save you from digging deeply into each individual fear you have.  It can help you see that you are NOT s...

Everyone wants to talk about the most common anxiety symptoms.  I get it.  Your symptoms feel important.  They're scary and you see them as dangerous.  In many many cases with it comes to anxiety disorders, the symptoms of anxiety become the source of the anxiety. Fear of fear is often based on fear of the most common anxiety symptoms - fear of your own body.  Let's talk about that this...

This week sleep physician Daniel Erichsen stopped by to talk about insomnia and a cognitive behavioral approach to the problem. If you're struggling with your sleep ... and struggling because you're struggling ... this episode is for you.  Spoiler alert: The most helpful approach to sleep issues is going to sound very familiar to you.  ;-)   This episode of The Anxious Truth is sponsored...

When in the thick of the struggle, it can be easy to fall into the trap that makes anxiety a major part of your personal identity.  UK psychotherapist and anxiety specialist Josh Fletcher is back this week to talk about this common problem and ways to separate yourself from anxiety so that it doesn't dominate your identity. This episode of The Anxious Truth is sponsored by My Life In A Book ....

Can anxiety be cured? I know that if you look for an answer to this question you will find a very wide range of answers.  This week on the podcast we'll look at why there's such a wide range of opinions on this and where the truth - if there is even a universal truth - lies. For full show notes on this episode: https://theanxioustruth.com/234 --- My books, social, and other links: https:...

Real events that you witness or stories you see on social media or in the news show us the power of suggestion at work when it comes to triggering anxiety.  Today an old friend popped in to relay his experience with being "triggered" by the death of a celebrity and how he navigated through that as mostly recovered person.  It's a great chat.  I can't thank my friend Jay Floyd f...

I am often asked if hypnosis and anxiety go together.  Does hypnosis or hypnotherapy "work" for anxiety?  Will it make your panic attacks or scary thoughts stop?  Will it calm you down?  I am far from an expert on hypnotherapy so I asked my friend and qualified psychotherapist Emma Garrick to join us to talk about the role of hypnotherapy in anxiety recovery.  This episode is jam packed...

Sleep Anxiety and Insomnia: A Success Story Sleep anxiety and insomnia are big topics in the community surrounding this podcast.  My friend Ande Lyons struggled with sleep and tons of anxiety around sleep for many many years.  She was gracious enough to stop by the podcast this week to talk about how learning to let go of the ritualization and distorted beliefs about her sleep changed everything. ...

Anxiety Recovery Program - Is The Anxious Truth One Of Those??? Is The Anxious Truth an anxiety recovery program?  Does this podcast, the books I write, and all the content I create describe a program or method for recovery? Can you follow things step by step to know exactly what to do when anxious or afraid and how to feel better?  This is something I am asked all the time, so is The Anxious Trut...

Demanding to create positive emotional states on demand is common misguided strategy that many fall into during recovery. While often we fear emotions because they turn into fear so quickly, we can also demand that we should be able to experience positive emotional states when we want to.  When we do this, we are generally trying to achieve a few basic goals: We are trying to escape the emotional...

Even when we work with a therapist, listen to podcasts, watch videos, and read books, some parts of the recovery process remain completely our responsibility. There are recovery things that other people cannot do for us. We’re responsible for: Showing up and being an active participant in recovery Being consistent in the work we do Finding and displaying courage when we need to Remaining willing a...

How Does Exposure Work For Anxiety? Habituation vs Inhibitory Learning We know about exposure. Going toward the thing we fear rather than trying to avoid it, escape from it, or engineer life so that it is never “triggered”. We know that exposure is en effective tool when it comes to anxiety disorders. But how does it actually work?  Why does it sometimes only work halfway?  Why does it sometimes n...

Many people dealing with anxiety disorders experience problems sleeping from time to time. Many anxious people also wind up stuck in mental loops where they obsess about sleep and worry excessively about not sleeping and not sleeping "properly".  This can result in a few common themes that revolve around disastrous feared outcomes associated with sleep or sleep distrubances. "If I d...