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

By Drew Linsalata

What's The Anxious Truth - A Panic, Anxiety, and Mental Health Podcast about?

Struggling with panic attacks, agoraphobia, or other anxiety problems? The Anxious Truth will educate you, empower you, encourage you, and inspire you to get your life back! Listen to the podcast, read the books, join the social media community, and get on the path to recovery.

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EP 244 - Examining "Conditi...

02.01.2023

Do you see yourself as being OK "as long as" specific conditions are met? Or are you learning that you can be OK "even if" those conditions are not met? This can be a critical concept in recovery that can ...

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

02.01.2023 EP 244 - Examining "Conditional Okay-ness" in Anxiety Recovery: Okay Even If vs. Okay As Long As. Do you see yourself as being OK "as long as" specific conditions are met? Or are you learning that you can be OK "even if" those conditions are not met? This can be a critical concept in recovery that can ...
01.25.2023 EP 243 - Do I Have To Be A Positive Person To Get Better? (Positivity vs Competence) Do you have to be a positive person to get better? Do you have to choose positivity? Eliminate the negative energy? Vibrate correctly? Manifest positive things? Accept only positive vibes? Develop a positive mindset? Are these things required in anxiety ...
01.18.2023 EP 242 - Serving Multiple Masters In Recovery w/Kimberley Quinlan & Joshua Fletcher In recovery we are sometimes dealing with more than one issue beyond just your panic, agoraphobia, health anxiety, or OCD. Maybe there is another phobia or phobias involved. Maybe you are dealing with tendencies toward perfectionism, people pleasing, or trying ...
01.11.2023 EP 241 - Anxiety Recovery: Assurance vs Reassurance And Why It Matters When dealing with an anxiety disorder we often talk about why excessive reassurance seeking is counterproductive and can make things worse. But why is this? And is there any time where seeking assurance is OK? Let's answer these two questions, ...
01.04.2023 EP 240 - Does Anxiety Recovery Mean I Can Never Call A Doctor? Anxious people focused on health issues often spend lots of time being checked, tested and examined by doctors. In recovery, I'm often asked if calling a doctor if never allowed, or if calling a doctor is wrong or indicates a ...
12.28.2022 EP 239 - Same Anxiety Symptoms ... Different Reactions? The Same Anxiety Symptons, But Different Reactions? Two people can have the same anxiety symptoms but different reactions to those symptoms. There can be common thoughts, fear themes, and bodily reactions, yet wide variations on how those things are interpreted ...
12.21.2022 EP 238 - Three Main Anxiety Fears Explained For most people, the things they fear the most in relation to anxiety and panic fall into one of three common categories or themes. Let's look at these three themes: Death/ Physical Incapacitation Loss of control / Insanity Embarrassment / ...
12.14.2022 EP 237 - Most Common Anxiety Symptoms (And Why They Kinda Don't Matter) Everyone wants to talk about the most common anxiety symptoms. I get it. Your symptoms feel important. They're scary and you see them as dangerous. In many many cases with it comes to anxiety disorders, the symptoms of anxiety become ...
12.07.2022 EP 236 - I Can't Sleep And I'm Anxious About That! (w/Daniel Erichsen) This week sleep physician Daniel Erichsen stopped by to talk about insomnia and a cognitive behavioral approach to the problem. If you're struggling with your sleep ... and struggling because you're struggling ... this episode is for you. Spoiler alert: ...
11.30.2022 EP 235 - Has Anxiety Become Your Identity? (w/Joshua Fletcher) When in the thick of the struggle, it can be easy to fall into the trap that makes anxiety a major part of your personal identity. UK psychotherapist and anxiety specialist Josh Fletcher is back this week to talk about ...
11.23.2022 EP 234 - Can Anxiety Be Cured Or Just Managed? What Is Recovery? Can anxiety be cured? I know that if you look for an answer to this question you will find a very wide range of answers. This week on the podcast we'll look at why there's such a wide range of ...
11.16.2022 EP 233 - The Power Of Suggestion: Triggering An Anxious Mind 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 ...
11.09.2022 EP 232- Hypnosis and Anxiety Recovery w/Emma Garrick 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 ...
11.02.2022 EP 231 - More on Sleep Anxiety and Insomnia 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 ...
10.26.2022 EP 230 - Is The Anxious Truth An Anxiety Recovery Program? Anxiety Recovery Program - Is The Anxious Truth One Of Those??? 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 ...
10.19.2022 EP 229 - Physical Symptoms Of Anxiety, Exercise and Interoceptive Exposure w/Jenna Overbaugh Physical symptoms of anxiety are usually at the top of everyone's "talk about" list. Today I'm joined by my friend and anxiety therapist Jenna Overbaugh to talk about how we can learn to fear the physical sensations of anxiety and ...
10.12.2022 EP 228 - Positive Emotional States On Demand? 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 ...
10.05.2022 EP 227 - What Is Personal Responsibility In Anxiety Recovery? 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 ...
09.28.2022 EP 226 - How Does Exposure Work For Anxiety? Habituation vs Inhibitory Learning How Does Exposure Work For Anxiety? Habituation vs Inhibitory Learning 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 ...
09.21.2022 EP 225 - Sleep Related Anxiety: Three Common Fears And Themes Many people dealing with anxiety disorders experience problems sleeping from time to time. Many anxious people also wind up stuck in mental loops where they obsess about sleep and worry excessively about not sleeping and not sleeping "properly". This can ...
09.14.2022 EP 224 - Anxiety Success Stories: Katie's Journey Everyone loves a good success story. Katie's story certainly qualifies! When I first met Katie she was crippled with fear, riddled with anxiety and panic, and generally spending her time on the floor with a fan blowing trying to calm ...
09.07.2022 EP 223 - Anxiety And Benzo Withdrawal : Pain vs Suffering This week I'm joined by therapist and author Jennifer Swantowski as she shares her ongoing experience with benzodiazepine withdrawal and anxiety. Jennifer is the author of "The Waiting Room" a most excellent book that anyone dealing with this challenge will ...
08.31.2022 EP 222 - Anxiety Mindset: Survival Or Defiance? This week on the podcast we're talking about the difference between a survival mindset and a defiant mindset when it comes to anxiety, panic, and fear. Like it or not, we all have an anxiety mindset. We have a framework ...
08.24.2022 EP 221 - I'm Afraid To Fly Because Of My Anxiety! Flying Anxiety It's a thing. This is not the same as fear of flying. In this episode of The Anxious Truth we're talking about flying anxiety - being afraid to fly because of your anxiety issues. This is a topic ...
08.17.2022 EP 220 - Safe People: Are They OK? Can I Use Them During My Exposures? I am asked all the time if it is OK to use safe people when doing exposures or facing anxiety challenges. Let's do our best to answer that question. We'll define the term "safe person" then explore situations where use ...
08.10.2022 EP 219 - Can Chronic Anxiety Hurt My Body? Many people in our community worry about the long term health effects of chronic anxiety. For some this is concern that pops up from time to time. For others, this can become an obsession and the primary driver of anxiety. ...
08.03.2022 EP 218 - When Anxiety Podcasts Become Crutches In Your Recovery Sometimes podcasts like this one can become soothing rituals, safety devices, and crutches in your recovery. While it might seem crazy for a podcaster to warn you against listening to his podcast, it's not in your best recovery interests to ...
07.27.2022 EP 217 - Anxiety And Recovery Frequently Asked Questions - Part 2 This week we have ten more of the most commonly asked questions about anxiety and recovery. Tune in as we tackle the following questions and issues: Is recovery possible even if I've suffered for many years? What if I don't ...
07.20.2022 EP 216 - Anxiety And Recovery Frequently Asked Questions - Part 1 This week we're answering ten of the questions about anxiety and recovery that are most often asked in our community. Tune in as we tackle the following questions and issues: Am I fully recovered and do I experience anxiety or ...
07.13.2022 No Podcast This Week / Accessing Old Episodes And Using The Search Tool There's no podcast episode this week but I wanted to remind everyone that every episode I've ever recorded is on my website for your consumption. Browse, listen, and read show notes for each old episode here: https://theanxioustruth.com/listen You can also ...
07.06.2022 EP 215 - Anxiety and Fear Of Suicidal Thoughts Being afraid that you MIGHT harm yourself or commit suicide even though you have no desire or intention of doing that is a very common fear in our community. Today I was joined by OCD and anxiety specialist Kimberley Quinlan ...
06.29.2022 EP 214 - You Don't Have To Recover From Your Anxiety You don’t have to recover. Nobody, including me, should force you or shame you into getting better. In the end, you have full control over the choices you make and you are free to make whatever choices you want to ...
06.22.2022 EP 213 - Accepting Responsibility For Your Anxiety Recovery ... But Not Blame Or Fault Accepting that you are responsible for your own recovery leads to empowerment and puts you in a position of strength. But often responsibility is confused with blame or fault, which can lead us into bad places that we don’t need ...
06.15.2022 EP 212 - Spirituality In Anxiety Recovery (w/ Joshua Fletcher) Spirituality. How does it factor into the recovery process? What even is it? How do we define it? How does it relate to religion and faith? How do those factor into recovery? All great questions that I have not paid ...
06.08.2022 EP 211 - More on Anxiety and Emetophobia (Fear of Vomiting) Emetophobia - fear of vomiting - is a major driver of anxiety and even panic for many in the community. Today on The Anxious Truth my old friend and collaborator Holly is back to share openly about her experience with ...
06.01.2022 EP 210 - Top Five Anxiety Busting Tips and Tricks (w/ Lauren Rosen) This week I am joined by a friend and frequent collaborator, Lauren Rosen. Lauren in a licensed marriage and family therapist in California specializing in OCD treatment. In a bit of departure, we're doing a top five list! Lauren and ...
05.25.2022 EP 209 - Getting Unstuck In Anxiety Recovery w/ Joe Ryan Are you feeling stuck? Are you struggling to make progress or overcome obstacles in your anxiety recovery journey? This is a really common situation for most members of our community from time to time. My friend and frequent collaborator Joe ...
05.18.2022 EP 208 - The Emotional Rollercoaster of Anxiety Recovery and How To Get Off “Recovery is not linear”. How many times have you heard this? There are ups and downs from day to day or even hour to hour. Some days it seems like we’re killing it. Other days we feel frustrated, impatient and ...
05.11.2022 EP 207 - You Can't Stop, Change, or Control Your Anxious Thoughts “Change your thoughts, change your life!", right? NO! This is a thing we hear all the time in self-help and personal development but in all honesty, it's nonsense. Let’s talk about the fact that you cannot stop, control, or change ...
05.04.2022 EP 206 - Were You Anxious Before You Were Anxious? "I just want my old self back!" When wrestling with an anxiety disorder, the current state of suffering can sometimes warp the accuracy of our memory. We remember being "anxiety free" before things went south, but often this is not ...
04.27.2022 EP 205 - Is There A "Secret Sauce" In Anxiety Recovery? (w/Joanna Hardis, LISW-S) This week I'm joined by working therapist and OCD specialist Joanna Hardis to ask the million dollar question ... "Is there a secret sauce in recovery?" The short answer is that there kinda is, and that secret sauce is overcoming ...
04.20.2022 EP 204 - When Does The Anxious "White Knuckling" End? This week on The Anxious Truth we're talking about the concept of “white knuckling” through exposures and through anxiety and fear in general. White knuckling is the term we use to describe the act of holding on tightly and fighting ...
04.13.2022 EP 203 - What Does Your Anxiety Support System Look Like? This week on The Anxious Truth we're talking about what your anxiety support system looks like. We'll dismantle the common misconceptions about what support should be, and how those can be problematic in recovery. For full show notes on this ...
04.06.2022 EP 202 - Panic Attacks And How To Handle Them w/ Dr. David Carbonell How does a highly respected psychologist approach panic attacks? This week on The Anxious Truth we’re going to find out as we talk to Dr. Dave Carbonell about panic, panic attacks, and the second edition of his book, The Panic ...
03.30.2022 EP 201 - Depression And How I Deal With It Depression is a hot topic in our community. I get asked about my personal experience with depression all the time. It had taken me a while to get around to this but on this week's episode of The Anxious Truth ...
03.23.2022 EP 200 - What's Next For The Anxious Truth? This is the 200th episode of The Anxious Truth podcast. When I started this podcast in 2014 all by myself, talking to myself in my living room (it was called "That Anxiety Guy") back then, I would never have imagined ...
03.16.2022 EP 199 - Anxiety Recovery: Crying and Expressing Emotion Many people get confused and worried when they cry while anxious or afraid. Let's clear this up, because this is NOT a problem. Highlights From This Episode: Is Crying Wrong? Is Crying Avoidance? Does Crying Mean I’m Not Accepting? I ...
03.09.2022 EP 198 - Jen Kirkman: Two Anxiety Paths, Same Destination Jen Kirkman is a comedian, author, actor, TV writer, and podcaster that has lived through anxiety and panic for large portions of her life. I was fortunate enough to have Jen on the podcast this week to talk about her ...
03.02.2022 EP 197 - Anxiety Recovery: Comparing Success and Struggle In today's episode of The Anxious Truth, we are going to talk about success and struggle within the anxiety recovery process and how, for many people, the two can look very similar at face value. As I have said many ...
02.23.2022 EP 196 - Anxiety Recovery: It's The Process, Not The Outcome! In episode 196 of The Anxious Truth, we will explore the urge to focus on the outcome in anxiety recovery rather than giving our attention to the process. Everyone wants to feel better. Clearly, this is the outcome we are ...

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