All Episodes of Disordered

This week Josh and Drew tackle "monophobia" - the fear of being alone. This is VERY common among people with panic disorder and agoraphobia. It presents most often as an intense fear and avoidance of being left home alone without safe people nearby or as always needing safe people with you before you can do exposures or go into areas where your anxiety might be triggered. This fear is not a special or "another" fear that you have to overcome. Monophobia is what we call it when you are sure...

I'm having problems with my sleep and I'm super anxious about it. HELP! Anxiety focused on sleep and sleep problems is one of the most common complaints in the Disordered community. Often, anxious people experience sleep disturbances or even periods of insomnia and wind up extremely anxious and afraid over this issue. Lack of sleep gets attached to fears about being even more anxious, never being able to recover, not being strong enough to resist anxious thoughts, or doing some actual physica...

This week we have our first official guest on Disordered! Our friend and highly respected anxiety/OCD expert Kimberley Quinlan is here to help us explore and understand the role of self-compassion in the anxiety recovery process. Kim literally wrote the book on self-compassion when it comes to OCD recovery. There's nobody we know that speaks more knowledgeably and eloquently on this topic. Give this one a listen. There's a ton of good stuff in here you can use in your journey. Find Kimb...

Are you a worrier? Overthinker? Can't stop ruminating? Do you use thinking as your go-to problem-solving and protection tool, then hate that you can't stop thinking? This week Josh and Drew tackle worry, overthinking, and rumination. This is a topic near and dear to many anxious people in our community so it's high time we talk about it. We'll talk about what overthinking, worry and rumination really are, why it seems like you should overthink or worry, and why this is just an anxious, fri...

This week Josh and Drew do a deep dive into this million dollar question: "What would non-anxious you do?" The concept of "non-anxious you" and connecting to the way you would live your life if you were not accommodating the fear of fear is powerful. Josh talks about this all the time, and for good reason! Today we take a look at why acting like non-anxious you might act (even when you're clearly anxious) is so helpful. The guys also chat about how the idea of "non-anxious you" ca...

This week on Disordered we kick off a new feature. From time to time we'll do episodes that are entirely community-based, showcasing "did it anyway" stories from listeners. In this episode we take a closer look at a few of these stories, examining exactly what made them into big wins. We had a great time with this one and we hope you find it inspirational and encouraging to hear from your peers. ----- Want to ask us questions, share your wins, or get more information about Josh, Drew, and ...

White knuckling. What is it? Why do we use that phrase all the time in the context of anxiety recovery? This week Drew and Josh talk about what "white knuckling" means in recovery, why it's a natural and expected part of the process for almost everyone, and how to kindly and compassionately take small incremental steps toward letting go of your tight grip. How do you stop white-knuckling and holding on so tightly when anxious and afraid? A little bit at a time. :-) ----- Want to a...

This week on Disordered Josh and Drew address the topic of setback or relapse. What is it? Does it even exist, or is a "setback" just another experience along the way to recovery? Of special note is the concept of "reversion" which frames this issue not as failure or return of some anxiety monster, but as a return to hold habits. Did you get triggered and fall back into old habits? No problem! You're human like everyone else and this can happen to all of us. When you see that you're back in thos...

This week on Disordered Josh and Drew tackle the topic of distraction. Trying to find ways to distract yourself when anxious is a common and popular strategy, but is it a good strategy? The answer is no ... and yes! In this episode, we look at how distraction is almost always going to be part of the equation no matter what we do, why intent matters, and how using distraction as a way to focus on something other than how you feel teaches us important recovery lessons. Bonus: Listen to Josh ...

Depersonalization and Derealization - AKA "DP/DR" This week Drew and Josh get into the nuts and bolts of this most common anxiety and stress response. This is the sense that you're not real, that you're detached from yourself, or that the world around you suddenly feels unreal or out of reach. As scary as this experience is, and as much as it is difficult to face, it is not permanent or dangerous and can't actually harm you. Adopting a more accepting and tolerant approach to DP/DR - allowing it ...

I'm obsessed with anxiety and anxiety recovery! This week on Disordered Josh and Drew examine what happens when we become obsessed with anxiety and then obsessed with anxiety recovery. This is a thing that happens to many in this community, so it's worth examining. As usual, we share our own personal experiences with anxiety and recovery, then we throw in our professional knowledge and experience alongside the usual dose of humor and compassion. It's a good listen! Oh, and this one has more y...

DRIVING ANXIETY! This week on Disordered, Josh and Drew take a look at a very common concern in the anxiety disorder community - driving anxiety. Many many people that suffer from panic disorder, agoraphobia, OCD, and other anxiety disorders often experience intense anxiety or even full-scale panic attacks when driving or when driving under certain circumstances or conditions. We'll talk about what driving anxiety is, a slightly more productive and less overwhelming way to frame it as not a s...

This week on Disordered, Drew and Josh tackle the topic of health anxiety. Health anxiety is an obsession with one's physical or mental health that drives a continuous series of compulsions designed to soothe the fear, uncertainty, and worry about well-being and safety. The episode covers intolerance of uncertainty, repetitive compulsive checking and seeking of reassurance, and how leaning into probability and reality rather than fear is the way out. As usual, the guys share some of their own...

Accepting anxiety and acceptance are two of the most difficult to grasp and misapplied concepts in the entire anxiety recovery sphere. This week on Disordered, Josh and Drew dig into the idea of acceptance. What is accepting? How do I accept anxiety? What happens when I accept? What things are most certainly NOT acceptance? As usual, this episode combines professional knowledge and training, professional experience, personal lived experience, and big helpings of both compassion and h...

My Loved Ones Don't Understand My Anxiety This week on Disordered Drew and Josh talk about how anxiety disorders have impact not just on the person struggling to recover, but on the people close to them. When your loved ones want to help you, but just don't understand or "get it", this can cause frustration, conflict, and even anger and resentment. The guys talk about how our loved ones can be helpful, and how we can help them to help us in recovery. This is a great episode to share with some...

This week on Disordered Drew and Josh look at the ways that anxiety and depression are tied together. The guys examine depression, how it is and isn't connected to anxiety, and the very important difference between being depressed and developing a fear of becoming depressed (this is very common in our community). We talked about rumination and the inner critic as they relate to depression. We touched on the role of medication in treating depression and anxiety, and we examined how negative self-...

What if I'm anxious all day long? This is a question we get asked almost daily. This week on Disordered let's take a look at being anxious all day long. In this episode, we'll address misconceptions about anxiety that hangs around all day long. We'll also share our own experiences with persistent anxiety. Finally, we get into a discussion about accidentally fueling the cycle of all-day anxiety and why trying to fix it is generally a bad plan. Grab a coffee or tea and join us! ----- Want...

This week on Disordered, Drew and Josh dive into two very popular topics in the anxiety community. The dreaded morning anxiety and the equally dreaded night anxiety. Many people struggling with anxiety disorders will lament the fact that they experience elevated levels of anxiety in the morning or at night (or sometimes both) and will insist that this is special or different and there must be specific interventions for that "kind" of anxiety. This is understandable although generally misguide...

This week on Disordered, Josh and Drew discuss scary, unwanted, recurring, intrusive thoughts that can frighten us and trigger high levels of anxiety and discomfort. The guys talk about the many different themes that intrusive thoughts cover including thoughts about harm, sexuality and sexual orientation, relationships, health, death, and existential issues. While intrusive thoughts are usually associated with OCD, they are generally present for almost anyone that struggles with any anxiety diso...

This week on Disordered, Josh and Drew talk about the all-important attitude shift that has to happen as part of recovery from an anxiety disorder. Recovery is spearheaded by behavioral change but that behavioral change also has to foster an attitudinal shift that moves you from trying to eliminate your anxiety to a consistent intentional tolerance of discomfort that will teach you that you can handle anxiety and don't have to fear it any longer. That's a key step toward decreasing your anxiety ...

In this episode of Disordered, Josh and Drew discuss why recovery is so dependent on learning that when you handle anxiety, fear, and uncertainty, YOU GET THE CREDIT FOR DOING THAT. Recovery hinges on seeing, then dropping all the safety devices and rituals so you can see through actual experience that YOU handled the discomfort without needing anything or anyone to save you. The guys talk about the idea of unconditional OK-ness, and learning that in all the time that you've been searching fo...

This week on Disordered, Drew and Josh look at the relationship between body and mind when it comes to anxiety. Anxiety is absolutely something that one experiences physically, in the body, but the guys discuss how disordered states of anxiety are driven by interpretation and cognition. Highlights include a chat about how so many people experience things like scary thoughts and panic attacks without ever developing anxiety disorders, and an examination of how its the reaction to those experience...

WHAT SHOULD I SAY DURING A PANIC ATTACK? "What is the best thing for me to say to myself during a panic attack?" This week on Disordered, Josh and Drew talk about strategies for self-talk, framing statements, action prompts, and non-compulsive ways to talk to yourself during a panic attack or high anxiety spike. The guys spend some time addressing the myth that one needs to be "talked down" from a panic attack and also cover how these concepts can be useful when supporting a friend or loved one ...

IT SURE FEELS LIKE AN ATTACK ... BUT IS IT? This week on Disordered Drew and Josh deconstruct the idea of a panic attack. It sure feels like you're being attacked, but are you? Is there a more useful and accurate way to frame what's happening? Do we find power when we stop looking at panic as a force that swoops in to attack us? The guys chat about how a panic "attack" is really an adrenaline surge based on natural, expected, bodily functions. It's not dangerous and not indicative of an actua...