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

Self-compassion.  We hear about it all the time.  It's quite a popular buzzword in mental health social media circles.  But what really is self-compassion?  What does it look like?  What role does it play in the recovery process?  How important it is?  This week we are fortunate to Kimberley Quinlan, LMFT on the podcast to teach us about this oh-so-important concept.  Kimberley is the author...

You may feel powerless over your anxiety, pain, and past.  But in reality, you DO have power and influence in this process. In this episode I am joined by Dr. Bridget Cooper to discuss awareness, choice, power and responsibility in the recovery process.  Becoming aware that you DO have choice means that you do gain power and responsibility that you can use to propel yourself in the right direction...

If you can learn to slow down, while anxiety, fear, panic, and stress are telling you to speed up, good things will happen over time. On this podcast episode we take a look at the speed response that is baked into anxiety, fear, panic, and stress.  When you are anxious or afraid, the odds are very high that you will automatically speed up.  This is not helping.  In fact, it is making things worse...

The magic of recovery lies in allowing and passing through fear, not for fun, but so that we can learn the lessons that reality hands us afterward.  Specifically, " That was really hard and scary, but nothing bad happened. "  Often, we make the mistake of refusing those lessons, choosing instead to follow the fear based, irrational lessons that anxiety tries to force onto us. Let's...

At some point in recovery, every one of us faces unplanned exposures and challenges that life throws at us.  This is just part of the deal, so we must accept that.  In this episode we'll answer a very common question: "How do I handle an unplanned exposure that I can't practice for?" For full show notes on this episode: https://theanxioustruth.com/17 1 -------- My books, websit...

Today we have an anxiety success story that goes beyond just anxiety!  My friend and frequent collaborator Dean Stott from the DLC Anxiety Worldwide platform stopped by to talk about his anxiety journey, how he created the DLC platform, and the state of the mental health community online.  This was a really great chat that I know you're gonna like. For full show notes on this episode: https:/...

What happens AFTER a panic attack?  Do you suffer from panic attack "hangover"?  Does it impact you for hours, or even days after the attack ends?  In this podcast episode we'll look at the panic attack hangover, what it is, and what to do about it. For full show notes on this episode: https://theanxioustruth.com/168 -------- My books, website, and social media links: https://theanx...

Morning anxiety.  It was a thing for me, and I know based on massive amounts of feedback on this topic that it's a thing for many others.  In this episode of the podcast, we'll look at morning anxiety and how to approach it most effectively. For full show notes on this episode: https://theanxioustruth.com/167 -------- My books, website, and social media links: https://theanxioustruth.com...

Sometimes we take our inspiration and encouragement from outside the anxiety disorder realm.  Sometimes we find someone that had been knocked down HARD, yet found a way to stand back up and get back into the game of life on good terms.  Sometimes that person does it in creative and inspiring ways.  Then we can use that story and apply it in our own recovery person. Today that person is my new frie...

Anxiety recovery is a strange war.  You only win it when you stop fighting. In this episode we look at the need to stop being an anxiety warrior, and start being an anxiety student.  Learning, not fighting, is the way to recovery. For full show notes on this episode: https://theanxioustruth.com/165 -------- My books, website, and social media links: https://theanxioustruth.com/links Music credit:...

This is part 2 of my conversation with my friend and social media collaborator Lily Bloomberg. In this episode Lily talks about the process of her recovery.  There are twists in Lily's story that I found fascinating, and I hope you will too. For full show notes on this episode: https://theanxioustruth.com/164 -------- My books, website, and social media links: https://theanxioustruth.com/link...

I had the privilege of spending an hour with my friend and some-time collaborator Lily Bloomberg.  Lily is a school psychologist and anxiety coach that has lived her own struggles with anxiety disorders and other mental health challenges.  Today Lily speaks about her anxiety struggles and the time she spent trying to find solutions to her anxiety, panic, and other mental health issues through the...

In this episode I take questions from listeners.  Some questions came in as voice messages on my Anchor podcast page.  Others were submitted on Instagram.  I wasn't able to answer all the questions because I only have 30 minutes or so for each episode, but I did my best to answer questions that were asked by multiple people.  I hope you find it helpful. If you want to leave me voice messages...

"What does it take to really recover?"Good question.  I can tell you one thing it takes.  It takes this. Calling out our habit of choosing temporary relief and comfort when we avoid and escape and run and refuse to face the scary stuff.  This is the habit of making decisions rooted in fear and based on achieving short term comfort at the expense of long term progress and recovery. Confro...

This is a question I get asked literally every day.  The answer may not be the one you want, but it's the one you need.  In this episode we examine how we can learn to be sure (enough) that it really is just anxiety. For full show notes on this episode: https://theanxioustruth.com/160 -------- My books, website, and social media links: https://theanxioustruth.com/links Music credit: Afterglow...

SOCIAL ANXIETY - LET’S TALK ABOUT IT My guest today is Sadie Hall, creator and host of the Your Social Anxiety Bestie podcast and a lifelong social anxiety sufferer. Sadie was kind enough to spend some time with me to help bring some understanding of social anxiety to the podcast. This is a topic I have not covered nearly enough so I appreciate Sadie helping me to remedy that. For full show notes...

This is a theme that has come up now and then in the community surrounding the podcast.  When I asked my Instagram community how many people felt that anxiety means they are being punished in some way, I was blown away by the magnitude of the response.  Clearly, many people that suffer with anxiety and anxiety disorders see this problem at least to some degree as some form of punishment they are b...

ANXIETY IN CHILDREN AND OTHER FAMILY ISSUES Today we're joined by Dr. Jacque Bogdanov, a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in anxiety and behavioral issues in children.  Dr. Jacque is trained in using CBT and PCIT (Parent-Child Interaction Therapy) and was kind enough to take the time to talk about anxiety issues in children and families in general.  It's a good listen full of...

RECOVERY IS POSSIBLE! Meg is a great example of someone that spirals into a full blown anxiety disorder, then works really hard to follow that spiral back out of the jam she was in.  If you're not sure if you can recover, or that your anxiety is somehow special or worse than anyone else's, Meg's story will be encouraging and inspirational. For full show notes on this episode: https:...

For many anxiety sufferers, an obsessive and consuming fear of death and existential issues becomes a real problem. Let's talk about it in this episode of the podcast.  The most important thing to remember is that ALL humans struggle with thoughts and fears about death and existence from time to time.  This is NORMAL! Your relationship with those thoughts and fears is just a bit off the rails...

In this issue I had the good fortune to chat with Tori Chavira about her journey through OCD and mental health issues while also handling the issues faced by a member of the LBGTQ+ community.  Tori is a strong, positive voice in both the mental health and LGBTQ+ communities.  I appreciate having her stop by to share her story and her insights. For full show notes on this episode: https://theanxiou...

I HATE MY INNER CRITIC! Everyone does! Your inner critic will say all kinds of horrible things to you. This builds obstacles along the path to recovery.  In this episode I am joined again by UK psychotherapist Joshua Fletcher to examine the inner critic, where it comes from, and how to best react to it and ultimately silence it. For full show notes on this episode: https://theanxioustruth.com/153...

Agoraphobia goes well beyond "can't leave the house".  In this episode, let's examine the nature of agoraphobia.  We'll talk about: What agoraphobia really is What it isn't How it develops The impacts of agoraphobia Recovering from agoraphobia For full show notes on this episode, visit https://theanxioustruth.com/152 -------- My books, website, and social media links:...

A couple of months ago I did a "gender issues in recovery" episode with my friend Bridget Cooper.  The response was good!  ALL voices and experiences matter, so this week we chat with Dr. Lisa Cortez about anxiety and mental health issues in the Latinx community.  Lisa and I discussed cultural, religious and gender issues that impact mental health treatment and anxiety recovery in the La...

How do I talk to my anxiety?  This is a common question.  In this episode we'll explore why and HOW you can "talk" to your anxiety as part of an effective recovery strategy. For full show notes on this episode visit https://theanxioustruth.com/150 THE HIGHLIGHTS: Why talk to your anxiety? Your amygdala does NOT understand words! You Can Only "Talk" To Anxiety With ACTIONS!...