Anxiety Always Has A Strategy, and Its Nonsense (Episode 165)
Anxiety always seems to have a strategy for you, doesn't it?
- Check it, prepare for it, watch it closely so nothing bad happens
- Stay on top of things so you can be the fixer, the predictor, the protector, the engineer of experiences
- Do not take your eyes off the worry because worry is proof of how good you are and how loving you are.
This week we're picking that strategy apart and showing why it almost never holds up.
We're talking about:
- The nocebo effect and why anticipating symptoms can create them
- Why anxiety takes credit for bad things not happening even when the worry and avoidance did nothing
- Why so many strategies anxiety hands you, from monitoring intrusive thoughts to rehearsing what you'll say to a stranger, are solving a problem that was never actually there to begin with
We also get into why restarting exercise after a period of anxiety can bring on new physical stress, and what that means.
Want to talk about this episode and interact with us and others that share your experience? We're hanging out in the Disordered community space:
https://disordered.fm/community
---
The Disordered Guide to Health Anxiety is available as a paperback or on Kindle
https://www.disordered.fm/the-disordered-guide-to-health-anxiety/
---
Struggling with worry and rumination that you feel you can't stop or control? Check out Worry and Rumination Explained, a two hour pre-recorded workshop produced by Josh and Drew. The workshop takes a deep dive into the mechanics of worrying and ruminating, offering some helpful ways to approach the seemingly unsolvable problem of trying to solve seemingly unsolvable problems.
-----
Got a question or did it anyway to share? Send us an email or voicemail on our website.
---
Disordered Roundtable is coming! Think of it as "Disordered Live", a way for members of our audience to spend time with us in an intimate virtual setting (attendance is limited) to engage in real time sharing and discussion on specific anxiety disorder and recovery topics. To be notified when new Disordered Roundtable sessions are scheduled, sign up for our email list using the form on this page.
