The Panic Pod: Anxiety Help

Have you ever found yourself thinking, “I am using excuses to make myself feel temporarily more comfortable,”? What about, “I fear deviating away from locations which are familiar to me,”? What happens when you reach the point of realising, “I am avoiding leaving the house”?

In this episode, we discuss agoraphobia. Agoraphobia is defined in the dictionary as 'a fear of open or crowded spaces’. However, as Josh explains, it can be defined in a more nuanced way to identify what the trigger of panic is. As with other manifestations of anxiety, it’s important to remember that panic is harmless. It’s scary, but feeling it won't hurt you. Furthermore, Josh explains the idea of exposure: if you go towards what panics you, it disappears.

Books we talked about:

Anxiety: Panicking about Panic by Joshua Fletcher

Anxiety: Practical about Panic by Joshua Fletcher

Needing to Know for Sure by Martin Seif and Sally Winston

If you have questions for us, anonymously or otherwise, we can be reached at [email protected] You can also reach us on instagram at @thepanicpod

If someone you knew was experiencing anxiety, how would you calm and reassure them? For many of us, this comes easily. Having compassion and empathy for others is something we do every day. However, when we look at how often we use the same empathic listening on ourselves for our anxiety, it can be hard to find the same amount of compassion. Perhaps then, self-compassion deserves more space in our personal struggle with anxiety. How can we go about achieving this? Ella and Josh discuss the proactive and reactive nature of caring for oneself and some things we can do to manage our inner critic.

Some books we talked about in the podcast that will help you if you’re interested in learning more about self-compassion:

Kristen Neff - Self-Compassion

Brene Brown - Daring Greatly

Paul Gilbert - Compassion Focused Therapy

Chris Irons & Elaine Beaumont - The Compassionate Mind Workbook: A step-by-step guide to developing your compassionate self

We’d love it if you reached out to the podcast to ask a question (anonymously or otherwise) - we can be reached at [email protected] or on instagram and facebook as @thepanicpod. Thanks for listening!

Following up from our last episode on Imposter Syndrome, this episode has Josh explain a facet of anxiety that was studied extensively by the American psychologist Carl Rogers. Conditions of Worth is a lens in which to look through at threats to self esteem. If you feel as though you have a list of conditions you must meet in order to be a good person, these are your conditions of self worth. Society imposes some of these ideas that we all abide by, but sometimes the conditions of worth we have for ourselves are unique, or perhaps even wildly unrealistic for any person to achieve. Learn about introjection, self-compassion, and why therapists explore genealogical relationships in counselling.

We’d love to hear from you. If you have a question or comment for the podcast and would like to submit it anonymously or otherwise, please email [email protected]

We’re on instagram as @thepanicpod

Just because you have a feeling or a worry that you got where you are on chance, doesn’t make it true. Imposter Syndrome is the anxious feeling that we are somewhere we don’t belong. This is usually accompanied by feeling like we are not qualified or cool enough for the professional or social environment we find ourselves in.

Josh helps Ella illuminate what our wise mind already knows: not every day is going to be 100%. Perfection isn’t possible, but when we only see everyone’s celebrations of their greatest accomplishments, we often get a false sense of reality. Thereafter, we compare ourselves to that image of constant perfection, instead of recognising our humanity. When we chase the “What If…” of anxiety down the rabbit hole, we realise what lies at the heart of this particular manifestation of anxiety; a variable so paper-thin you’d think it really was made in our imagination.

What we talk about:

The Art of Being Yourself by Caroline McHugh - Tedx Talk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veEQQ-N9xWU

You can find @thepanicpod on instagram now! And as always, there is the opportunity to have a question of yours read on the show (anonymously or otherwise) by emailing [email protected]

The Repeat Beat Poet (a.k.a PJ) is a friend of Ella’s from the London spoken word/live music scene. Ella often times reaches out to PJ for advice, as he is a performer with a crazy schedule who always seems to keep his work in balance with his own mental health. After many frank conversations about how to keep passion and play in line as independent artists, this is Ella and Repeat Beat’s first recorded discussion aiming to shed light on the topic. The conversation is for anyone who struggles with overworking or swinging between apathy and fits of passion for what they do to make a living.

We’ll be back next week with a normal episode between Joshua and Ella.

Repeat Beat Poet:

https://www.instagram.com/repeatbeatpoet/

Things we talked about:

Imaginary Millions - London jam night / music collective

https://www.imaginarymillions.com

Three Different Rooms: The Disney Method - Creative Strategy

https://online.visual-paradigm.com/knowledge/disney-creative-strategy/what-is-disney-creative-strategy/

Ecofeminism Documentary - If Women Counted (Book) or documentary (Who’s Counting?) by Marilyn Waring http://www.nfb.ca/film/whos_counting/

Repeat Beat Broadcast (Radio Show)

https://www.mixcloud.com/ThreadsRadio/playlists/the-repeat-beat-broadcast/

Silvertongue: Beneath the Surface

https://silvertonguesax.co.uk/

Please get in touch with us if you would like to submit a question to be discussed on the podcast:

“The worst part about Coronavirus is worrying about getting Coronavirus,” but yet we see friends living through it, and others who are immunocompromised facing it fearlessly, so how can people with anxiety cope in this time of isolation and fear? Josh and Ella have a follow up to Episode 9: Health Anxiety in which the unprecedented nature of Coronavirus’s effect on society is discussed. Ella follows a model provided by Josh for assessing thought patterns triggered by health anxiety. Josh shares strategies for helping your own mental health, as well as making the environment you share with others a positive one.

Things we talked about:

Vicious Flower Model

https://www.psychologytools.com/resource/cognitive-behavioral-model-of-health-anxiety-2018/

Josh on BBC Bitesize:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zdjyy9q

Get in touch with us to ask a question, you’d really help our podcast help others! [email protected]

Follow our daily lives on instagram @joshuafletcher.author and @ellaofthenet

What does social anxiety make you think of? For Ella, it’s parties. For others, it’s sometimes broader regarding identity and how other people’s opinions may threaten our identity. If you’ve ever had an excited or anxious anticipation of what someone’s text reply is going to be, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have social anxiety, but you know the feeling that someone with chronic social anxiety experiences on a regular basis.

Books we mentioned:

Want to follow us on instagram? We’re @joshuafletcher.author and @ellaofthenet

Get in touch with us to ask a question, you’d really help our podcast help others! [email protected]

Content Warning: We discuss the COVID-19 epidemic on the day that the WHO classified it as a pandemic (March 11th) so some things have come to light about the severity of the disease which we didn’t know on the day of recording. Please keep this in mind as you listen. We have a follow-up episode talking about the Coronavirus coming up in two more episodes. Stay strong, and stay tuned.

Two episodes on the same day! We're here to help you through social distancing.

Health Anxiety, or "hypochondria", is the chronic and persistent anxiety about ones' health. How does health anxiety affect those with it on a daily basis? Can you use Exposure Therapy to change your reaction to the Coronavirus from panic to boredom? 

Joshua Fletcher is a therapist in Manchester and online at thepanicroom.co.uk - he has also written two books on anxiety which you can order online: https://www.amazon.com/Joshua-Fletcher/e/B00MPKAAR6?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1585313077&sr=1-1-spell

Get in touch with us to ask a question, you’d really help our podcast help others! [email protected]

Find us on instagram @joshuafletcher.author and @ellaofthenet

Content Warning: Pedophilia, Violence, Suicide

Having the ability to let a thought pass through your mind without getting attached to it is one of the most frequent human experiences. Thoughts don’t define us like actions do, but when present in an anxious brain, thoughts can become persistent and intrusive. Josh explains what he does to manage his clients' worries when it comes to intrusive thoughts. By exploring "false comfort" vs. "letting go of the thoughts", intrusive thoughts can be viewed as nothing more serious than a song stuck in one’s head.

The book Josh mentions is:

"Needing to Know for Sure: A CBT-Based Guide to Overcoming Compulsive Checking and Reassurance Seeking" by Martin Seif (PhD) & Sally Winston (PsyD)

https://www.amazon.com/Needing-Know-Sure-Overcoming-Reassurance-ebook/dp/B07MMQ7HRK

Get in touch with us to ask a question, you’d really help our podcast help others! [email protected]