The Anxious Truth - A Panic, Anxiety, and Mental Health Podcast – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Sometimes life throws real challenges at us—loss, relationship changes, health concerns, financial struggles—that naturally trigger anxiety. But when you're dealing with an anxiety disorder, these moments become especially confusing. How do you tell the difference between "normal" anxiety and disordered anxiety? And what do you do when recovery concepts don't seem to apply?

In this episode, we explore what happens when bad things really do happen in life and trigger genuine anxiety. We'll talk about why not all anxiety is disordered anxiety, how anxiety disorders create a unique challenge when facing legitimate life stressors, and why there are no tricks or hacks to make these feelings instantly disappear.

If you've ever found yourself struggling with big emotions during difficult life events and wondering how you're "supposed to" handle them, this episode may help you understand what's actually happening—and offer a more compassionate perspective on being human during challenging times.

For full show notes on this episode:

https://theanxioustruth.com/330

Send in a question or comment via text.

Support The Anxious Truth: If you find the podcast helpful and want to support my work, you can buy me a coffee.   Other ways to support my work like buying a book or signing up for a low cost workshop can be found on my website.  None of this is never required, but always appreciated!

Interested in doing therapy with me? For more information on working with me directly to overcome your anxiety, follow this link.

Disclaimer: The Anxious Truth  is not therapy or a replacement for therapy. Listening to The Anxious Truth does not create a therapeutic relationship between you and the host or guests of the podcast. Information here is provided for psychoeducational purposes. As always, when you have questions about your own well-being, please consult your mental health and/or medical care providers. If you are having a mental health crisis, always reach out immediately for in-person help.

Anxious parenting can feel overwhelming, especially when your own anxiety drives you to do more - more rescuing, more protecting, more intervening. But what if the path to better parenting actually requires learning to do less?

In this episode, I'm joined by anxiety/OCD specialist Joanna Hardis to talk about how anxious parenting patterns keep us stuck and what we can really do about them. Joanna just released her new book "Just Do Nothing (For Parents): Parenting Better by Doing Less". Joanna brings training, experience, and insight into why anxious parenting makes us want to swoop in and fix everything our kids feel.

We discuss:

• Why anxious parenting drives us to do MORE when we need to do LESS
• The false binary many parents feel trapped in (super involved vs cold and callous)
• How to tell if you're reacting to your own distress or responding to the actual situation
• The difference between danger and discomfort in anxious parenting
• Practical ways to build distress tolerance as a parent
• Why anxious parenting patterns don't stop when kids get older
• How to practice "microdosing discomfort" to break anxious parenting cycles

If you struggle with anxious parenting, whether you have toddlers, teenagers, or adult children, this conversation will give you a new framework for understanding why you do what you do and how to make different choices that serve both you and your kids better.

ABOUT JOANNA HARDIS Joanna is an anxiety and OCD specialist practicing in Cleveland with extensive experience working with families and training in SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions). 

Find her at joannahardis.com

RESOURCES Find show notes and links at theanxioustruth.com/329

Send in a question or comment via text.

Support The Anxious Truth: If you find the podcast helpful and want to support my work, you can buy me a coffee.   Other ways to support my work like buying a book or signing up for a low cost workshop can be found on my website.  None of this is never required, but always appreciated!

Interested in doing therapy with me? For more information on working with me directly to overcome your anxiety, follow this link.

Disclaimer: The Anxious Truth  is not therapy or a replacement for therapy. Listening to The Anxious Truth does not create a therapeutic relationship between you and the host or guests of the podcast. Information here is provided for psychoeducational purposes. As always, when you have questions about your own well-being, please consult your mental health and/or medical care providers. If you are having a mental health crisis, always reach out immediately for in-person help.

I get asked about medication every single day. Can you get better without it? Is it necessary? What's the best one? Is it cheating to take medication?

Today I'm explaining why I don't answer these questions - and why you should be cautious about content creators who do.

In this episode, I cover:

• The three main reasons mental health content creators shouldn't give medication advice
• Why personal beliefs and autonomy matter more than you might think
• The countless variables that make medication decisions incredibly complex
• Why your recovery journey changes over time (and so do your needs)
• What qualifications actually matter when it comes to psychiatric medications
• A better approach to getting the medication support you need

The reality is this: There are too many personal, medical, cultural, and lifestyle factors that go into medication decisions for any podcaster, YouTuber, or social media creator to give you meaningful advice. Even as a therapist specializing in anxiety disorders, there are clear boundaries I must respect.

This doesn't mean your questions aren't valid - they absolutely are. It means you deserve qualified, ongoing professional support for these important decisions, not one-size-fits-all answers from someone who doesn't know your specific situation.

Whether you use medication or not, the principles of anxiety recovery remain the same. You can't make a wrong choice because you can always change course as you learn and grow.

For full show notes on this episode:

https://theanxioustruth.com/320

My medication story:

https://theanxioustruth.com/145

https://theanxioustruth.com/146

https://theanxioustruth.com/147

Send in a question or comment via text.

Support The Anxious Truth: If you find the podcast helpful and want to support my work, you can buy me a coffee.   Other ways to support my work like buying a book or signing up for a low cost workshop can be found on my website.  None of this is never required, but always appreciated!

Interested in doing therapy with me? For more information on working with me directly to overcome your anxiety, follow this link.

Disclaimer: The Anxious Truth  is not therapy or a replacement for therapy. Listening to The Anxious Truth does not create a therapeutic relationship between you and the host or guests of the podcast. Information here is provided for psychoeducational purposes. As always, when you have questions about your own well-being, please consult your mental health and/or medical care providers. If you are having a mental health crisis, always reach out immediately for in-person help.

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 for stopping in to share with us.

For full show notes on this episode:

https://theanxioustruth.com/233

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My books, social, and other links: https://theanxioustruth.com/links 

Support The Anxious Truth: https://theanxioustruth.com/support 

Music Credit: AfterGlow by Ben Drake (with permission) https://bendrakemusic.com

Send in a question or comment via text.

Support The Anxious Truth: If you find the podcast helpful and want to support my work, you can buy me a coffee.   Other ways to support my work like buying a book or signing up for a low cost workshop can be found on my website.  None of this is never required, but always appreciated!

Interested in doing therapy with me? For more information on working with me directly to overcome your anxiety, follow this link.

Disclaimer: The Anxious Truth  is not therapy or a replacement for therapy. Listening to The Anxious Truth does not create a therapeutic relationship between you and the host or guests of the podcast. Information here is provided for psychoeducational purposes. As always, when you have questions about your own well-being, please consult your mental health and/or medical care providers. If you are having a mental health crisis, always reach out immediately for in-person help.

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 with really useful information so grab a coffee and take a listen!

For full show notes on this episode: https://theanxioustruth.com/232

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My books, social, and other links: https://theanxioustruth.com/links 

Support The Anxious Truth: https://theanxioustruth.com/support 

Music Credit: AfterGlow by Ben Drake (with permission) https://bendrakemusic.com

Send in a question or comment via text.

Support The Anxious Truth: If you find the podcast helpful and want to support my work, you can buy me a coffee.   Other ways to support my work like buying a book or signing up for a low cost workshop can be found on my website.  None of this is never required, but always appreciated!

Interested in doing therapy with me? For more information on working with me directly to overcome your anxiety, follow this link.

Disclaimer: The Anxious Truth  is not therapy or a replacement for therapy. Listening to The Anxious Truth does not create a therapeutic relationship between you and the host or guests of the podcast. Information here is provided for psychoeducational purposes. As always, when you have questions about your own well-being, please consult your mental health and/or medical care providers. If you are having a mental health crisis, always reach out immediately for in-person help.

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. 

For full show notes on this episode: https://theanxioustruth.com/231

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My books, social, and other links: https://theanxioustruth.com/links 

Support The Anxious Truth: https://theanxioustruth.com/support 

Music Credit: AfterGlow by Ben Drake (with permission) https://bendrakemusic.com

Send in a question or comment via text.

Support The Anxious Truth: If you find the podcast helpful and want to support my work, you can buy me a coffee.   Other ways to support my work like buying a book or signing up for a low cost workshop can be found on my website.  None of this is never required, but always appreciated!

Interested in doing therapy with me? For more information on working with me directly to overcome your anxiety, follow this link.

Disclaimer: The Anxious Truth  is not therapy or a replacement for therapy. Listening to The Anxious Truth does not create a therapeutic relationship between you and the host or guests of the podcast. Information here is provided for psychoeducational purposes. As always, when you have questions about your own well-being, please consult your mental health and/or medical care providers. If you are having a mental health crisis, always reach out immediately for in-person help.

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 Truth an anxiety recovery program?

It is. And it isn't. How's that for a vague answer?

For full show notes on this episode:

https://theanxioustruth.com/230

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My books, social, and other links:

https://theanxioustruth.com/links

Support The Anxious Truth:

https://theanxioustruth.com/support

Music Credit: AfterGlow by Ben Drake (with permission)

https://bendrakemusic.com

Send in a question or comment via text.

Support The Anxious Truth: If you find the podcast helpful and want to support my work, you can buy me a coffee.   Other ways to support my work like buying a book or signing up for a low cost workshop can be found on my website.  None of this is never required, but always appreciated!

Interested in doing therapy with me? For more information on working with me directly to overcome your anxiety, follow this link.

Disclaimer: The Anxious Truth  is not therapy or a replacement for therapy. Listening to The Anxious Truth does not create a therapeutic relationship between you and the host or guests of the podcast. Information here is provided for psychoeducational purposes. As always, when you have questions about your own well-being, please consult your mental health and/or medical care providers. If you are having a mental health crisis, always reach out immediately for in-person help.

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 state that we fear and hate by replacing it with a positive emotional state.
• We are attempting to eradicate negative states like sadness because we believe that we should always "choose happiness" or some such nonsense.
• We think that we are incapable of "handling" negative emotions or that they will automatically lead to some form of disaster or catastrophe.
• We are afraid that if we do not experience positive emotional states in given situations, that something is wrong with us.

Let’s talk about this today on episode 228 of The Anxious Truth!

For full show notes on this episode:

https://theanxioustruth.com/228

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My books, social, and other links:

https://theanxioustruth.com/links

Support The Anxious Truth:

https://theanxioustruth.com/support

Music Credit: AfterGlow by Ben Drake (with permission)

https://bendrakemusic.com

Send in a question or comment via text.

Support The Anxious Truth: If you find the podcast helpful and want to support my work, you can buy me a coffee.   Other ways to support my work like buying a book or signing up for a low cost workshop can be found on my website.  None of this is never required, but always appreciated!

Interested in doing therapy with me? For more information on working with me directly to overcome your anxiety, follow this link.

Disclaimer: The Anxious Truth  is not therapy or a replacement for therapy. Listening to The Anxious Truth does not create a therapeutic relationship between you and the host or guests of the podcast. Information here is provided for psychoeducational purposes. As always, when you have questions about your own well-being, please consult your mental health and/or medical care providers. If you are having a mental health crisis, always reach out immediately for in-person help.

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 and open to the process and the experiences we have to have as part of the process

Let’s talk about this today on episode 227 of The Anxious Truth!

For full show notes on this episode:

https://theanxioustruth.com/227

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My books, social, and other links:

https://theanxioustruth.com/links

Support The Anxious Truth:

https://theanxioustruth.com/support

Music Credit: AfterGlow by Ben Drake (with permission)

https://bendrakemusic.com

Send in a question or comment via text.

Support The Anxious Truth: If you find the podcast helpful and want to support my work, you can buy me a coffee.   Other ways to support my work like buying a book or signing up for a low cost workshop can be found on my website.  None of this is never required, but always appreciated!

Interested in doing therapy with me? For more information on working with me directly to overcome your anxiety, follow this link.

Disclaimer: The Anxious Truth  is not therapy or a replacement for therapy. Listening to The Anxious Truth does not create a therapeutic relationship between you and the host or guests of the podcast. Information here is provided for psychoeducational purposes. As always, when you have questions about your own well-being, please consult your mental health and/or medical care providers. If you are having a mental health crisis, always reach out immediately for in-person help.

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 not last?  What is habituation?  What is inhibitory learning?  Let's get geeky with it this week!

For full show notes on this episode:

https://theanxioustruth.com/226

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My books, social, and other links:

https://theanxioustruth.com/links

Support The Anxious Truth:

https://theanxioustruth.com/support

Music Credit: AfterGlow by Ben Drake (with permission)

https://bendrakemusic.com

Send in a question or comment via text.

Support The Anxious Truth: If you find the podcast helpful and want to support my work, you can buy me a coffee.   Other ways to support my work like buying a book or signing up for a low cost workshop can be found on my website.  None of this is never required, but always appreciated!

Interested in doing therapy with me? For more information on working with me directly to overcome your anxiety, follow this link.

Disclaimer: The Anxious Truth  is not therapy or a replacement for therapy. Listening to The Anxious Truth does not create a therapeutic relationship between you and the host or guests of the podcast. Information here is provided for psychoeducational purposes. As always, when you have questions about your own well-being, please consult your mental health and/or medical care providers. If you are having a mental health crisis, always reach out immediately for in-person help.