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

Everyone loves a good success story.  Katie's story certainly qualifies! When I first met Katie she was crippled with fear, riddled with anxiety and panic, and generally spending her time on the floor with a fan blowing trying to calm down.  Now she's living her life and even traveling solo to Europe multiple times. What a difference 18-24 months can make! Go Katie! For full show notes o...

This week I'm joined by therapist and author Jennifer Swantowski as she shares her ongoing experience with benzodiazepine withdrawal and anxiety.  Jennifer is the author of " The Waiting Room " a most excellent book that anyone dealing with this challenge will find useful and inspiring. For full show notes on this episode: https://theanxioustruth.com/223 --- My books, social, and ot...

This week on the podcast we're talking about the difference between a survival mindset and a defiant mindset when it comes to anxiety, panic, and fear. Like it or not, we all have an anxiety mindset.  We have a framework or a conceptualization of our anxiety situation. We formulate a platform that we stand on when it comes to anxiety.  This influences how we interact with anxiety, fear, and d...

Flying Anxiety It's a thing. This is not the same as fear of flying.  In this episode of The Anxious Truth we're talking about flying anxiety - being afraid to fly because of your anxiety issues.  This is a topic I've been asked to cover for quite some time, so let's get to it! For full show notes on this episode: theanxioustruth.com/221 --- My books, social, and other links: h...

I am asked all the time if it is OK to use safe people when doing exposures or facing anxiety challenges.  Let's do our best to answer that question. We'll define the term "safe person" then explore situations where use of a safe person is perfectly fine. Then we'll look at situations where we must leave our safe people behind to go it alone for full and lasting recovery....

Many people in our community worry about the long term health effects of chronic anxiety.  For some this is concern that pops up from time to time. For others, this can become an obsession and  the primary driver of anxiety.  Regardless of which situation you are in, we can acknowledge that the question is a reasonable one.  This is a thing that we are justified in expressing concern about.  Today...

Sometimes podcasts like this one can become soothing rituals, safety devices, and crutches in your recovery. While it might seem crazy for a podcaster to warn you against listening to his podcast, it's not in your best recovery interests to rely on crutches for too long.  So stick with me, because there's a method to my madness and we examine this important concept in recovery. For full...

This week we have ten more of the most commonly asked questions about anxiety and recovery. Tune in as we tackle the following questions and issues: Is recovery possible even if I've suffered for many years? What if I don't have panic attacks and just feel anxious all day? How can I drive during a panic attack?  Its not safe What if I have a real medical condition? How do you accept anxi...

This week we're answering ten of the questions about anxiety and recovery that are most often asked in our community. Tune in as we tackle the following questions and issues: Am I fully recovered and do I experience anxiety or panic any more? Is full recovery possible? Can you recover without medication? This is all easier said than done, Drew! How can you be sure that this really is just anx...

There's no podcast episode this week but I wanted to remind everyone that every episode I've ever recorded is on my website for your consumption.  Browse, listen, and read show notes for each old episode here: https://theanxioustruth.com/listen You can also search all the old episodes by using the search tool in the menu on my website, so check it out! We're back on July 20 with new...

Being afraid that you MIGHT harm yourself or commit suicide even though you have no desire or intention of doing that is a very common fear in our community.  Today I was joined by OCD and anxiety specialist Kimberley Quinlan who stopped by the podcast to help me address this scary and sensitive topic that I know is important to many listeners. Please remember that a podcast is not therapy nor a s...

You don’t have to recover.  Nobody, including me, should force you or shame you into getting better.  In the end, you have full control over the choices you make and you are free to make whatever choices you want to make based on what you think is best for you.  Only you get to decide whether the things I say on this podcast are right for you, and that should always be respected. For full show not...

Accepting that you are responsible for your own recovery leads to empowerment and puts you in a position of strength.  But often responsibility is confused with blame or fault, which can lead us into bad places that we don’t need to visit.  Let’s talk about that in this week’s episode of The Anxious Truth. For full show notes on this episode: https://theanxioustruth.com/213 --- My books, social, a...

Spirituality. How does it factor into the recovery process?  What even is it?  How do we define it?  How does it relate to religion and faith?  How do those factor into recovery? All great questions that I have not paid enough attention to.  This week on The Anxious Truth UK psychotherapist and bestselling author Joshua Fletcher stops by for a great chat about spirituality, its many forms, and the...

Emetophobia - fear of vomiting - is a major driver of anxiety and even panic for many in the community.  Today on The Anxious Truth my old friend and collaborator Holly is back to share openly about her experience with emetophobia and what ultimately helped her get past what can be a crippling phobia. For full show notes on this episode: https://theanxioustruth.com/21 1 --- My books, social, and o...

This week I am joined by a friend and frequent collaborator, Lauren Rosen.  Lauren in a licensed marriage and family therapist in California specializing in OCD treatment. In a bit of departure, we're doing a top five list! Lauren and I decided to share the top five anxiety busting recovery tips and concepts that helped us both along the path to recovery.  Is it click bait?  Is it helpful?  I...

Are you feeling stuck? Are you struggling to make progress or overcome obstacles in your anxiety recovery journey?  This is a really common situation for most members of our community from time to time.  My friend and frequent collaborator Joe Ryan stopped by the podcast to talk about how he got himself un-stuck, one small step at a time. It's a great story full of lessons that you can apply...

“Recovery is not linear”.  How many times have you heard this? There are ups and downs from day to day or even hour to hour.  Some days it seems like we’re killing it.  Other days we feel frustrated, impatient and discouraged. This is difficult to navigate.  It confuses us.  It also triggers an emotional reaction in many cases.  This week on The Anxious Truth let’s take a look at how that emotiona...

“Change your thoughts, change your life!", right? NO! This is a thing we hear all the time in self-help and personal development but in all honesty, it's nonsense.  Let’s talk about the fact that you cannot stop, control, or change your thoughts no matter how much you want to or how hard you try. And really, that's fine because controlling thoughts is not what will set us free. For...

"I just want my old self back!" When wrestling with an anxiety disorder, the current state of suffering can sometimes warp the accuracy of our memory.  We remember being "anxiety free" before things went south, but often this is not true. There's a chance that you did have anxiety before you had anxiety!  Most members of the community would look at this statement sideways,...

This week I'm joined by working therapist and OCD specialist Joanna Hardis to ask the million dollar question ... "Is there a secret sauce in recovery?" The short answer is that there kinda is, and that secret sauce is overcoming your intolerance to distress! For full show notes on this episode: https://theanxioustruth.com/205 --- My books, social, and other links: https://theanxiou...

This week on The Anxious Truth we're talking about the concept of “white knuckling” through exposures and through anxiety and fear in general. White knuckling is the term we use to describe the act of holding on tightly and fighting through an exposure or a challenging anxiety experience just to get through it and back to safety.  Imagine gripping something so hard that your knuckles turn whi...

This week on The Anxious Truth we're talking about what your anxiety support system looks like.  We'll dismantle the common misconceptions about what support should be, and how those can be problematic in recovery. For full show notes on this episode: https://theanxioustruth.com/203 --- My books, social, and other links: https://theanxioustruth.com/links Support The Anxious Truth: https:...

How does a highly respected psychologist approach panic attacks?  This week on The Anxious Truth we’re going to find out as we talk to Dr. Dave Carbonell about panic, panic attacks, and the second edition of his book, The Panic Attacks Workbook. --- For full show notes on this episode: https://theanxioustruth.com/202 My books, social, and other links: https://theanxioustruth.com/links Support The...

Depression is a hot topic in our community.  I get asked about my personal experience with depression all the time.  It had taken me a while to get around to this but on this week's episode of The Anxious Truth I will share my experience with depression.   Let's talk about how I handled it then, and how I handle it now. Disclaimer:  I am not an expert on depression or is this a substitut...