Disordered: Anxiety Help

WHAT RECOVERY LENS ARE YOU LOOKING THROUGH?

This week Drew and Josh take a bit of an unexpected turn to explore ways that CBT and exposure-based approaches to recovery can fall short. Recovery can't always be about facing, accepting, exposures, and Claire Weekes. While we might not look to other models to unearth deeply hidden root causes for an anxiety disorder, other theoretical frameworks can be quite useful - or even necessary - to conceptualize why one might encounter obstacles in the recovery process itself.

In this episode, the guys so a little Transactional Analysis role play, drag the venerable Carl Rogers into the recovery forum, and generally provide different ways of looking at how you see yourself and what recovery lenses you might be looking through.

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Want to talk about this episode, interact with us, and communicate with others that are sharing your experience? We're hanging out in the Disordered Community Space

⁠https://www.disordered.fm/the-disordered-guide-to-health-anxiety/⁠

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The Disordered Guide to Health Anxiety is available now:

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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.

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Got questions or did it anyways to share? ⁠Send us an email or voicemail on our website⁠.

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Disclaimer: Disordered is not therapy or a replacement for therapy. Listening to Disordered does not create a therapeutic relationship between you and the hosts or guests of the podcast. Information here is provided for psychoeducational purposes. As always, please consult your mental health and/or medical care providers. If you are having a mental health crisis, always reach out immediately for in-person help.

Help! My Nervous System Is Dysregulated! (Episode 55) Mar 29, 2024

Show notes

MY NERVOUS SYSTEM IS DYSREGULATED!

This week Drew and Josh get up close and personal with "nervous system dysregulation". This is a term that might have some benefit when dealing with issues like stress management or general wellness, but goes straight off the rails into the unhelpful zone when it comes to anxiety disorders.

Declaring an anxious state to be a state of dysregulation might be defended from a semantics standpoint. Operationally however, when we insist that our internal states must be labeled as problems that must be fixed, this can and most times does backfire by activating the threat detection and response system that we're trying so hard to deactivate. The attempt to regulate winds up having the opposite result. Welcome to anxiety paradox number 10,641.

Imagine stepping on the accelerator pedal in your car (insisting that you must find ways to extinguish your internal experience) then immediately looking for ways to slow the car down because going fast doesn't feel right. Now imagine what might be possible if you saw your nervous system as responding as designed to a perceived threat.

Is it the nerves that must be addressed, or that off-kilter threat scanning and response routine?

If you've been trying to find ways to hack your nervous system or force it into some kind of acceptable "regulated" state, and that's proving to be frustrating or disheartening for you in your recovery, this episode is for you.

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Want to talk about this episode, interact with us, and communicate with others that are sharing your experience? We're hanging out in the Disordered Community Space

⁠https://www.disordered.fm/the-disordered-guide-to-health-anxiety/⁠

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The Disordered Guide to Health Anxiety is available now:

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Got questions or did it anyways to share? ⁠Send us an email or voicemail on our website⁠.

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The Great OCD Whistle Stop Tour of 2024 (Episode 54) Mar 22, 2024

Show notes

This week on Disordered we're taking a grand tour around the OCD loop! Josh and Drew talk about pure-O, somatic, and "traditional" obsessive compulsive disorder subtypes.

While not every possible theme and subtype can be covered in a short podcast episode, the guys touched on some of the more common themes found in the community, taking care to address how regardless of the specific obsession, there are common characteristics that we can rely on when approaching recovery.

Keep in mind that OCD subtypes and themes often morph and overlap, and that related anxiety disorders often look a whole lot like OCD because there really is quite a bit of common ground between these mental health issues.

Coming soon ... follow-up episodes covering treatment for OCD, including guest appearances by some well known and respected OCD specialists.

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Want to talk about this episode, interact with us, and communicate with others that are sharing your experience? We're hanging out in the Disordered Community Space

⁠https://www.disordered.fm/the-disordered-guide-to-health-anxiety/⁠

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The Disordered Guide to Health Anxiety is available now:

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Got questions or did it anyways to share? ⁠Send us an email or voicemail on our website⁠.

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Inside The Mind of an Anxiety Therapist (Episode 53) Mar 15, 2024

Show notes

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://geni.us/JoshFletcher⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

What Is Your Therapist Thinking While You're Talking?

Therapists are people too. They have feelings, opinions, insecurities, fears, and personality quirks. And they - like you - sometimes have an inner dialogue. If you ever wanted to know what goes on inside the mind of an anxiety therapist, this week Josh and Drew dig into this a bit, including a few moments where the guys exercise their drama and acting skills. Absolutely Oscar-worthy, so tune in.

As usual ... it's quite a scene.

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Interested in Josh's new book, “And How Does That Make You Feel?”

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Want to talk about this episode, interact with us, and communicate with others that are sharing your experience? We're hanging out in the Disordered Community Space

⁠https://www.disordered.fm/the-disordered-guide-to-health-anxiety/⁠

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The Disordered Guide to Health Anxiety is available now:

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Got questions or did it anyways to share? ⁠Send us an email or voicemail on our website⁠.

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Did It Anyway - Part 2 (Episode 52) Mar 08, 2024

Show notes

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://geni.us/JoshFletcher⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

This is the one-year anniversary episode of Disordered! We've been at this now for a full year, and we cannot be more grateful for all the support you guys have provided along the way.

What better way to mark a year of Disordered than with an episode dedicated entirely to celebrating the community surrounding this podcast? If you need some encouragement or inspiration in your recovery, listen in as we play and read "did it anyway" stories from our listeners and your peers.

Thanks to everyone who shares their stories with us. We appreciate them, and we're happy to share them when we can.

Now let's get on with year two, shall we?

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Interested in Josh's new book, “And How Does That Make You Feel?”

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Want to talk about this episode, interact with us, and communicate with others that are sharing your experience? We're hanging out in the Disordered Community Space

⁠https://www.disordered.fm/the-disordered-guide-to-health-anxiety/⁠

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The Disordered Guide to Health Anxiety is available now:

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Got questions or did it anyways to share? ⁠Send us an email or voicemail on our website⁠.

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Neuropathways, Habits, and Anxiety (Episode 51) Mar 01, 2024

Show notes

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://geni.us/JoshFletcher⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

What about all this "neuropathways" talk? What does it mean in anxiety recovery?

Funny that you asked! This week on Disordered Josh and Drew are talking about neuropathways, anxious habits, and how the concept of "building new neuropathways" applies in the context of anxiety disorders and anxiety recovery. Let's start by acknowledging that even counterproductive anxious habits are built atop pathways in the brain designed to make things easier for us. We can learn good habits and develop responses and behaviors that almost feel automatic because that's metabolically efficient and frees our thinking brains up to concentrate on more important things. But sometimes, this amazing mechanism is accidentally used to create anxious or avoidant responses and habits based on a misfiring of our threat detection systems. Are there neuropathways beneath habits designed to avoid or escape anxiety triggers? Yes, there are.

But the good news is that we can play an active role in building new neuropathways. New behavioral choices and new experiences can re-wire our brains, even in the case where we might be terrified of our own bodies and minds. The guys use a bunch of analogies (some clever, some not so clever) to illustrate how making new choices in responding to anxious thoughts and anxious sensations triggers the process of creating new neuropathways. The conversation also touches on the need for commitment and repetition in building these new pathways that support new behaviors, new habits, and a new relationship with anxiety and fear.

Tune in for this, the usual "did it anyways", questions from the community, and maybe even a surprise for Josh and his now trademark screaming American eagle sound effect. ;-)

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Interested in Josh's new book, “And How Does That Make You Feel?”

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Want to talk about this episode, interact with us, and communicate with others that are sharing your experience? We're hanging out in the Disordered Community Space

⁠https://www.disordered.fm/the-disordered-guide-to-health-anxiety/⁠

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The Disordered Guide to Health Anxiety is available now:

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Got questions or did it anyways to share? ⁠Send us an email or voicemail on our website⁠.

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Anxiety Recovery, Re-Sensitization, and De-Sensitization (Episode 50) Feb 23, 2024

Show notes

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://geni.us/JoshFletcher⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

OH NO! IT'S COME BACK!

The habits we develop and the neuropathways that get created by a disordered state of anxiety mean that even long into recovery, an anxious person might be re-triggered by life events, stress, memories, or any number of expected issues. This is normal. If this happens, we can feel things again ... anxiety, anxiety symptoms, and scary thoughts. This is not failure, or returning to square one, or "doing it wrong". This is being human and alive.

But exactly what has been re-triggered when this happens? How does a recovered person or nearly recovered person become re-sensitized to anxious sensations and thoughts? This week we're talking about how external events can re-trigger INTERNAL sensitization - the state where we treat how we feel and what we think as urgently important or even dangerous.

When suddenly re-sensitized, what then? As you might expect, this episode goes into detail about the process of de-sensitizing oneself to your internal state, which isn't a process at all. It's OK to be re-triggered. The trick here is to steer clear of the usual traps - looking for steps, tools, and techniques for making the feelings go away.

When re-sensitized, the object of the game is to de-sensitize as you did before by allowing, accepting, tolerating, and surrendering. Bring it all with you, do not launch into evasive action or retreat rituals, and you will likely find that de-sensitization happens much more quickly than you expect it to.

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Want to pre-order Josh’s book, “And How Does That Make You Feel?”

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Want to talk about this episode, interact with us, and communicate with others that are sharing your experience? We're hanging out in the Disordered Community Space

⁠https://www.disordered.fm/the-disordered-guide-to-health-anxiety/⁠

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The Disordered Guide to Health Anxiety is available now:

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Got questions or did it anyways to share? ⁠Send us an email or voicemail on our website⁠.

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Anxiety Recovery and "Burnout" (Episode 049) Feb 16, 2024

Show notes

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://geni.us/JoshFletcher⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

BURNOUT!

Running out of gas and being emotionally, physically, and/or mentally drained can happen to any human. This week on Disordered Drew and Josh explore how an anxious mind can twist and distort the concept of burnout. In many ways, the fear of burning out, and the catastrophic interpretation of what that might mean, can be worse than burnout itself!

The guys explore different signs of burnout, how burnout comes in different shapes and sizes depending on context, and how obsession with and fear of burnout can mimic fear of depression or fear of the lack of enough or proper sleep.

Finally, Josh and Drew share some tips for avoiding burnout and taking care of oneself. As always, there are a couple of great questions and "Did It Anyways" from the community in this episode, so tune in!

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Want to pre-order Josh’s book, “And How Does That Make You Feel?”

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Want to talk about this episode, interact with us, and communicate with others that are sharing your experience? We're hanging out in the Disordered Community Space

⁠https://www.disordered.fm/the-disordered-guide-to-health-anxiety/⁠

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The Disordered Guide to Health Anxiety is available now:

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Got questions or did it anyways to share? ⁠Send us an email or voicemail on our website⁠.

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Anxiety and Compulsive Wellness (Episode 48) Feb 09, 2024

Show notes

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://geni.us/JoshFletcher⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Are you using wellness concepts, techniques, programs, and principles as a way to resist feelings of anxiety?

There's absolutely nothing wrong with taking care of oneself and wanting to be healthy physically, mentally, emotionally, and even spiritually. But in a large community of people struggling with disordered and chronic states of anxiety, compulsively seeking, chasing, and engaging in wellness rituals as a way to desperately stomp out any possibility of feeling anxious or uncomfortable can become a problem.

This week on Disordered we're looking at compulsive wellness, characterized by the assertion that one must be perfectly healthy, manage or micro-manage bodily functions and systems, and always be perfectly stable, optimized, and fully prepared to minimize the chances of being triggered into an anxious state. Especially in a social media climate jam-packed with body-centric and often less-than-reputable anxiety management or cure programs, it can be easy to be drawn into the compulsive wellness cycle.

If you find yourself there and trying to break out, know that you're not doing anything wrong, its OK to want to feel better, and even if you stop desperately chasing every wellness hack you come across, you can still be OK.

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Want to pre-order Josh’s book, “And How Does That Make You Feel?”

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Want to talk about this episode, interact with us, and communicate with others that are sharing your experience? We're hanging out in the Disordered Community Space

⁠https://www.disordered.fm/the-disordered-guide-to-health-anxiety/⁠

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The Disordered Guide to Health Anxiety is available now:

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Got questions or did it anyways to share? ⁠Send us an email or voicemail on our website⁠.

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Anxiety And The Inward Compulsion (Episode 047) Feb 02, 2024

Show notes

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://geni.us/JoshFletcher⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

The default state for most humans - to varying degrees - is for the brain to launch into inward thinking and inner dialogue when there's nothing else to pay attention to. If you're struggling with chronic or disordered anxiety, this can become a real issue and a major struggle.

This week we're looking at the inward compulsion. That fear-driven habit of not only having thoughts, but answering them, engaging with them, checking in on them, and inviting them in for lengthy conversations that go on endlessly and drive anxiety and more discomfort.

Can you stop the inward compulsion? Well, that's complicated. You can't stop your brain from making thoughts. That's just what brains do. But you can work on building a new relationship with those thoughts and refusing to engage with them or feel them with the attention they so crave when your brain thinks it needs to keep you safe.

Over time, the inward compulsion stops being a compulsion and your regular, non-anxious relationship with your thoughts and inner dialogue (which will vary from person to person) goes back to a "regular" state where even a highly active inner dialogue simply exists without posing an obstacle in your life or causing significant struggle or disruption.

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Want to pre-order Josh’s book, “And How Does That Make You Feel?”

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Want to talk about this episode, interact with us, and communicate with others that are sharing your experience? We're hanging out in the Disordered Community Space

⁠https://www.disordered.fm/the-disordered-guide-to-health-anxiety/⁠

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The Disordered Guide to Health Anxiety is available now:

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Got questions or did it anyways to share? ⁠Send us an email or voicemail on our website⁠.