• Why do you change in every room?
• What if “being yourself” feels confusing?
• What if anxiety is making you mask?

In this episode, Jessica Davis breaks down why you might feel like a different person around different people. If your voice changes, you laugh at the right moment instead of the real one, agree before you think, or replay everything later in the car, you may be masking.

Jessica explains what masking really means, when adjusting yourself is normal, and when it starts costing you your voice. You’ll learn how anxiety turns your attention inward, why you may feel like you are watching yourself from the outside, and how post-event overthinking can make being yourself feel harder at first. This episode helps you start finding small moments where you feel like yourself again.

What You’ll Learn in this Episode:

• Why masking does not mean you are fake
• How to tell when adjusting yourself becomes costly
• Why anxiety makes you watch yourself from the outside
• How masking can make it harder to know what you want
• Why different versions of you can feel exhausting
• How one small practice helps you collect proof of who you are 

Got a question or feedback? Text us and share your thoughts—we’d love to hear from you!

RESOURCES:
Get your FREE Anxiety Survival Toolkit to help you when your anxiety is overwhelming!

JOIN our NEWSLETTER! Get weekly emails about upcoming podcasts, but also how to fight against anxiety!

📱 Follow Us:

Instagram | Facebook | Threads 

🎙️ Presented by Davis-Smith Mental Health

This podcast was created by Davis-Smith Mental Health, offering counseling for teens & young adults in Illinois (only). We accept BCBS PPO, Aetna PPO, and self-pay clients.

Links: 
Anxiety Survival Toolkit:
https://www.blockoutthenoisepodcast.com/anxiety-survival-toolkit/

Newsletter:
https://blockoutthenoisepodcast.substack.com/welcome

Davis-Smith Mental Health:
https://www.davis-smithmentalhealth.com/

⚠️ Disclaimer:  Block Out the Noise provides personal insights and practical strategies to help manage anxiety and self-doubt. The content is intended for educational and informational purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for professional men...

• Does everyone have anxiety?
• What does anxiety mean now?
• How do you know when worry needs support?

In this episode, Jessica Davis breaks down the difference between feeling anxious and having an anxiety disorder. Anxiety is a word people use everywhere now, from social media to school to everyday conversations, but that does not mean every anxious feeling is the same thing.

Jessica explains how everyday worry differs from clinical anxiety, why the word "anxiety" has become more common, and why younger generations are hearing about it more than ever. This episode helps you understand the signs that anxiety might need support without getting stuck in labels, comparison, or wondering whether your struggle “counts.”

What You’ll Learn in this Episode:

• Why feeling anxious is different from having anxiety
• How worry shows up in your body, sleep, and focus
• Why anxiety becomes serious when it starts costing you something
• How phones, social media, parenting, and avoidance shape anxiety patterns
• Why wondering "Does mine count?” may be anxiety talking
• Why you do not need a diagnosis to deserve support 

Got a question or feedback? Text us and share your thoughts—we’d love to hear from you!

RESOURCES:
Get your FREE Anxiety Survival Toolkit to help you when your anxiety is overwhelming!

JOIN our NEWSLETTER! Get weekly emails about upcoming podcasts, but also how to fight against anxiety!

📱 Follow Us:

Instagram | Facebook | Threads 

🎙️ Presented by Davis-Smith Mental Health

This podcast was created by Davis-Smith Mental Health, offering counseling for teens & young adults in Illinois (only). We accept BCBS PPO, Aetna PPO, and self-pay clients.

Links: 
Anxiety Survival Toolkit:
https://www.blockoutthenoisepodcast.com/anxiety-survival-toolkit/

Newsletter:
https://blockoutthenoisepodcast.substack.com/welcome

Davis-Smith Mental Health:
https://www.davis-smithmentalhealth.com/

⚠️ Disclaimer:  Block Out the Noise provides personal insights and practical strategies to help manage anxiety and self-doubt. The content is intended for educational and informational purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for professional men...

•  Why do you keep avoiding it?
• What if you are not lazy?
• What if starting feels too risky?

In this episode, Jessica Davis breaks down why what looks like laziness may actually be fear of failure. When something matters to you, starting can feel scary because trying means you might find out whether it works, whether you are good enough, or whether the dream is possible.

Jessica explains how fear hides behind procrastination, planning, scrolling, avoidance, and shame. You’ll learn why not trying does not protect you from failure, why motivation comes after movement, and how to make the task small enough that it cannot prove anything about your worth.

What You’ll Learn in this Episode:

• Why avoidance can look like laziness
• How fear of failure keeps you from starting
• Why not trying becomes its own outcome
• How shame makes the next step harder
• Why naming the exact task makes it smaller
• How one small start builds new evidence about who you are 

Got a question or feedback? Text us and share your thoughts—we’d love to hear from you!

RESOURCES:
Get your FREE Anxiety Survival Toolkit to help you when your anxiety is overwhelming!

JOIN our NEWSLETTER! Get weekly emails about upcoming podcasts, but also how to fight against anxiety!

📱 Follow Us:

Instagram | Facebook | Threads 

🎙️ Presented by Davis-Smith Mental Health

This podcast was created by Davis-Smith Mental Health, offering counseling for teens & young adults in Illinois (only). We accept BCBS PPO, Aetna PPO, and self-pay clients.

Links: 
Anxiety Survival Toolkit:
https://www.blockoutthenoisepodcast.com/anxiety-survival-toolkit/

Newsletter:
https://blockoutthenoisepodcast.substack.com/welcome

Davis-Smith Mental Health:
https://www.davis-smithmentalhealth.com/

⚠️ Disclaimer:  Block Out the Noise provides personal insights and practical strategies to help manage anxiety and self-doubt. The content is intended for educational and informational purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for professional men...

•  Why does a short text feel personal?
• Why do old mistakes still haunt you?
• What if the thought feels true, but is not true?

In this episode, Jessica Davis breaks down eight oddly specific thoughts anxiety puts in your head. Not the obvious signs of anxiety, but the private thoughts people often feel too embarrassed to say out loud. The ones that make you replay old memories, assume people are upset, feel like a burden, or question who you are.

Jessica explains why anxiety makes these thoughts feel urgent and true, even when they are not facts. You’ll learn how anxiety turns your own thoughts into threats, why fighting the thoughts often makes them louder, and how small reset tools help you interrupt the spiral before it takes over.

What You’ll Learn in this Episode:

• Why anxiety makes small moments feel personal
• How old memories turn into shame spirals
• Why good moments can feel unsafe
• How anxiety convinces you that you are a burden
• Why intrusive thoughts are not proof of who you are
• How to interrupt anxious thoughts without arguing with them 

Got a question or feedback? Text us and share your thoughts—we’d love to hear from you!

RESOURCES:
Get your FREE Anxiety Survival Toolkit to help you when your anxiety is overwhelming!

JOIN our NEWSLETTER! Get weekly emails about upcoming podcasts, but also how to fight against anxiety!

📱 Follow Us:

Instagram | Facebook | Threads 

🎙️ Presented by Davis-Smith Mental Health

This podcast was created by Davis-Smith Mental Health, offering counseling for teens & young adults in Illinois (only). We accept BCBS PPO, Aetna PPO, and self-pay clients.

Links: 
Anxiety Survival Toolkit:
https://www.blockoutthenoisepodcast.com/anxiety-survival-toolkit/

Newsletter:
https://blockoutthenoisepodcast.substack.com/welcome

Davis-Smith Mental Health:
https://www.davis-smithmentalhealth.com/

⚠️ Disclaimer:  Block Out the Noise provides personal insights and practical strategies to help manage anxiety and self-doubt. The content is intended for educational and informational purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for professional men...

•  Why is leaving someone so hard?
• What if it is not love keeping you there?
• What if anxiety is making the choice for you?

In this episode, Jessica Davis breaks down how anxiety keeps people stuck in relationships they already know do not feel right. Sometimes the wrong person is not a bad person. They might be kind, loyal, and loved by your family, which makes it even harder to admit the relationship is draining you.

Jessica explains the three ways anxiety keeps you attached: making their feelings your job, weighing their pain while ignoring yours, and selling you hope through the good moments. This episode helps you ask a better question than “Are they a bad person?” and start telling the truth without forcing yourself to make every decision today.

What You’ll Learn in this Episode:

• Why anxiety makes leaving feel impossible
• How caring for their feelings becomes your job
• Why your pain matters too
• How hope keeps you attached to the good moments
• Why a good person may still be wrong for you
• How one honest sentence breaks the silence 

Got a question or feedback? Text us and share your thoughts—we’d love to hear from you!

RESOURCES:
Get your FREE Anxiety Survival Toolkit to help you when your anxiety is overwhelming!

JOIN our NEWSLETTER! Get weekly emails about upcoming podcasts, but also how to fight against anxiety!

📱 Follow Us:

Instagram | Facebook | Threads 

🎙️ Presented by Davis-Smith Mental Health

This podcast was created by Davis-Smith Mental Health, offering counseling for teens & young adults in Illinois (only). We accept BCBS PPO, Aetna PPO, and self-pay clients.

Links: 
Anxiety Survival Toolkit:
https://www.blockoutthenoisepodcast.com/anxiety-survival-toolkit/

Newsletter:
https://blockoutthenoisepodcast.substack.com/welcome

Davis-Smith Mental Health:
https://www.davis-smithmentalhealth.com/

⚠️ Disclaimer:  Block Out the Noise provides personal insights and practical strategies to help manage anxiety and self-doubt. The content is intended for educational and informational purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for professional men...

• What task are you avoiding?
• Why does starting feel so hard?
• What if music can help you move?

In this episode, Jessica Davis breaks down how music can help you get moving when anxiety makes even one simple task feel impossible. When your mind is loud, overthinking can keep you frozen, stuck on the couch, or avoiding the one thing you know you need to do.

Jessica explains why music is more than background noise. It can affect your emotions, energy, movement, and motivation before your thoughts catch up. You’ll learn how to use music with purpose, avoid the trap of staying stuck in sad songs, and create simple music-based tools that help you start when anxiety says you cannot.

What You’ll Learn in this Episode:

• Why anxiety can make small tasks feel huge
• How music can help shift your energy and movement
• Why waiting to feel ready keeps you stuck
• How sad songs can sometimes keep anxiety active
• How to build playlists for different emotional needs
• Why one song can become a starting signal
• How small starts build self-trust over time 

Got a question or feedback? Text us and share your thoughts—we’d love to hear from you!

RESOURCES:
Get your FREE Anxiety Survival Toolkit to help you when your anxiety is overwhelming!

JOIN our NEWSLETTER! Get weekly emails about upcoming podcasts, but also how to fight against anxiety!

📱 Follow Us:

Instagram | Facebook | Threads 

🎙️ Presented by Davis-Smith Mental Health

This podcast was created by Davis-Smith Mental Health, offering counseling for teens & young adults in Illinois (only). We accept BCBS PPO, Aetna PPO, and self-pay clients.

Links: 
Anxiety Survival Toolkit:
https://www.blockoutthenoisepodcast.com/anxiety-survival-toolkit/

Newsletter:
https://blockoutthenoisepodcast.substack.com/welcome

Davis-Smith Mental Health:
https://www.davis-smithmentalhealth.com/

⚠️ Disclaimer:  Block Out the Noise provides personal insights and practical strategies to help manage anxiety and self-doubt. The content is intended for educational and informational purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for professional men...

• Why does relief never last?
• What habits keep anxiety in control?
• What if feeling safe is keeping you stuck?

In this episode, Jessica Davis breaks down seven habits that can feel safe in the moment but quietly make anxiety stronger over time. These patterns often look like being kind, helpful, flexible, thoughtful, or easy to be around, but underneath them, anxiety may be running the show.

Jessica explains how keeping the peace, saying yes too often, overexplaining, asking for constant input, going with the flow, apologizing first, and perfecting your words can all become safety habits. You’ll learn why these patterns give short-term relief, how they weaken your self-trust over time, and why small boundaries help you start showing up as the real version of yourself.

What You’ll Learn in this Episode:

• Why short-term relief can keep anxiety alive
• How keeping the peace can cost you your voice
• Why being the reliable one can lead to burnout
• How overexplaining turns your choices into negotiations
• Why going with the flow can make you disappear
• How over-apologizing weakens your confidence
• Why small boundaries help you rebuild self-trust

Got a question or feedback? Text us and share your thoughts—we’d love to hear from you!

RESOURCES:
Get your FREE Anxiety Survival Toolkit to help you when your anxiety is overwhelming!

JOIN our NEWSLETTER! Get weekly emails about upcoming podcasts, but also how to fight against anxiety!

📱 Follow Us:

Instagram | Facebook | Threads 

🎙️ Presented by Davis-Smith Mental Health

This podcast was created by Davis-Smith Mental Health, offering counseling for teens & young adults in Illinois (only). We accept BCBS PPO, Aetna PPO, and self-pay clients.

Links: 
Anxiety Survival Toolkit:
https://www.blockoutthenoisepodcast.com/anxiety-survival-toolkit/

Newsletter:
https://blockoutthenoisepodcast.substack.com/welcome

Davis-Smith Mental Health:
https://www.davis-smithmentalhealth.com/

⚠️ Disclaimer:  Block Out the Noise provides personal insights and practical strategies to help manage anxiety and self-doubt. The content is intended for educational and informational purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for professional men...

• Why does your brain jump to the worst case?
• Why do small things feel so big?
• What if your thoughts are not the real problem?

In this episode, Jessica Davis breaks down why catastrophic thinking keeps coming back, even when you journal, use positive self-talk, or tell yourself to stop spiraling. The problem is not that you are too negative or irrational. It is that your brain is acting like a fire alarm, trying to protect you from danger, even when the threat is not actually an emergency.

Jessica explains how catastrophic thinking is often driven by an overactive alarm system, perfectionism, negativity bias, high-alert mode, and the relief trap. You’ll learn why reassurance, overpreparing, researching, and avoiding may calm anxiety for a moment, but keep the loop going over time. This episode will help you understand what is happening underneath the spiral and how to start turning down the alarm.

What You’ll Learn in this Episode:

• Why catastrophic thinking feels so hard to stop
• How your brain acts like a fire alarm
• Why perfectionism can become emotional armor
• How negativity bias keeps worst-case thoughts loud
• Why reassurance and overpreparing feed the relief trap
• How to remind yourself of the whole truth, not just the worst moment

Got a question or feedback? Text us and share your thoughts—we’d love to hear from you!

RESOURCES:
Get your FREE Anxiety Survival Toolkit to help you when your anxiety is overwhelming!

JOIN our NEWSLETTER! Get weekly emails about upcoming podcasts, but also how to fight against anxiety!

📱 Follow Us:

Instagram | Facebook | Threads 

🎙️ Presented by Davis-Smith Mental Health

This podcast was created by Davis-Smith Mental Health, offering counseling for teens & young adults in Illinois (only). We accept BCBS PPO, Aetna PPO, and self-pay clients.

Links: 
Anxiety Survival Toolkit:
https://www.blockoutthenoisepodcast.com/anxiety-survival-toolkit/

Newsletter:
https://blockoutthenoisepodcast.substack.com/welcome

Davis-Smith Mental Health:
https://www.davis-smithmentalhealth.com/

⚠️ Disclaimer:  Block Out the Noise provides personal insights and practical strategies to help manage anxiety and self-doubt. The content is intended for educational and informational purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for professional men...

•  What dream still hurts to think about?
• Why does letting go feel like grief?
• What if the dream did not fail, but changed you?

In this episode, Jessica Davis talks about the grief that comes when a dream does not become what you hoped it would. Whether it was a sport, career, relationship, creative goal, or version of yourself you thought you would be by now, losing a dream can feel like losing part of who you were becoming.

Jessica shares how anxiety, fear, regret, and self-doubt can make that loss feel heavier, especially when you look around and feel like everyone else is moving forward. This episode helps you name the grief, rethink the story you have been telling yourself, and ask whether the dream still fits who you are today. You will learn how to carry the lesson without letting regret write the rest of your story.

What You’ll Learn in this Episode:

• Why losing a dream can feel like grief
• How regret keeps you stuck in the past
• Why your dream may still hold meaning
• How fear can shrink what you believe is possible
• Why small wins help rebuild momentum
• How to decide if a dream still fits who you are now 

Got a question or feedback? Text us and share your thoughts—we’d love to hear from you!

RESOURCES:
Get your FREE Anxiety Survival Toolkit to help you when your anxiety is overwhelming!

JOIN our NEWSLETTER! Get weekly emails about upcoming podcasts, but also how to fight against anxiety!

📱 Follow Us:

Instagram | Facebook | Threads 

🎙️ Presented by Davis-Smith Mental Health

This podcast was created by Davis-Smith Mental Health, offering counseling for teens & young adults in Illinois (only). We accept BCBS PPO, Aetna PPO, and self-pay clients.

Links: 
Anxiety Survival Toolkit:
https://www.blockoutthenoisepodcast.com/anxiety-survival-toolkit/

Newsletter:
https://blockoutthenoisepodcast.substack.com/welcome

Davis-Smith Mental Health:
https://www.davis-smithmentalhealth.com/

⚠️ Disclaimer:  Block Out the Noise provides personal insights and practical strategies to help manage anxiety and self-doubt. The content is intended for educational and informational purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for professional men...

• Why do you feel stuck, not sad?
• Why does everything feel too heavy to start?
• What if anxiety is the real root?

In this episode, Jessica Davis breaks down why anxiety can sometimes look exactly like depression. Not showering, falling behind, avoiding messages, staying in bed, and wondering what the point is can all look like depression from the outside. But sometimes, underneath that fog is untreated anxiety that has become so overwhelming your nervous system froze.

Jessica explains the difference between being stuck and being frozen, why self-attack makes the freeze worse, and how small body-based steps help you start moving again. You’ll learn a simple three-step reset to regulate your body, get outside, and bring your mind back to your own life instead of comparing your pace to everyone else’s.

What You’ll Learn in this Episode:

• Why anxiety can look like depression
• How freeze is different from laziness
• Why self-criticism keeps you stuck
• How small wins help rebuild momentum
• Why regulating your body comes before mindset work
• How comparison makes the freeze feel worse
• Why the goal is to shorten the freeze, not never feel it again

Got a question or feedback? Text us and share your thoughts—we’d love to hear from you!

RESOURCES:
Get your FREE Anxiety Survival Toolkit to help you when your anxiety is overwhelming!

JOIN our NEWSLETTER! Get weekly emails about upcoming podcasts, but also how to fight against anxiety!

📱 Follow Us:

Instagram | Facebook | Threads 

🎙️ Presented by Davis-Smith Mental Health

This podcast was created by Davis-Smith Mental Health, offering counseling for teens & young adults in Illinois (only). We accept BCBS PPO, Aetna PPO, and self-pay clients.

Links: 
Anxiety Survival Toolkit:
https://www.blockoutthenoisepodcast.com/anxiety-survival-toolkit/

Newsletter:
https://blockoutthenoisepodcast.substack.com/welcome

Davis-Smith Mental Health:
https://www.davis-smithmentalhealth.com/

⚠️ Disclaimer:  Block Out the Noise provides personal insights and practical strategies to help manage anxiety and self-doubt. The content is intended for educational and informational purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for professional men...