Drew Linsalata: This week on the
anxious truth, we’re finally going to do a Frequently Asked
Questions episode. Actually, we’re going to do two of them.
This is the first one. So let’s go Hello, everybody. Welcome back
to the anxious truth. This is podcast episode number 216.
Recorded in July of 2022. The Anxious Truth is the podcast
that covers all things anxiety, anxiety, disorders, and recovery.
I am Drew Linsalata, creator and host of the anxious truth, I am
happy that you’re here. Before we get cooking on part one of
our Frequently Asked Questions episodes, I would like to remind
you that the anxious truth is more than just this podcast
episode, there are hundreds of other free episodes. There’s a
ton of free social media content, there’s a large,
engaged vibrant social media community around this podcast
and around the work that I do. There are three currently three
self-help books that I’ve written about anxiety and
anxiety recovery that are legitimately helping tens of
1000s of people around the world right now. There’s also a free
morning newsletter called the anxious morning, all of those
things can be found all the time on my website, at the anxious
truth.com. So go check that out, and avail yourself of the free
resources. And I will ask you that if you are enjoying my
work, you’re enjoying this podcast, and I’m helping you in
some way. And you would like to find a way to help keep it free
of advertising and sponsorships. Because frankly, I’m tired of
turning down money from the anxiety bracelet people, you can
find all the ways to support my work at the anxious
truth.com/support. Never required, always appreciated.
And yeah, I just appreciate you guys no matter what you do. So
here we are in Episode 216. Really, and truly, I should have
done this episode a couple of years ago, I’ve waited way too
long to do frequently asked questions. These are the
questions that get asked again and again and again. So I
compiled a bunch of them myself. And then I also asked for help
from some of my favorite people in the world, the admins and
moderators in my Facebook group. Like what are the questions that
we hear all the time in the group, that group is approaching
10,000 people, it’s very busy. And so we get these questions
all the time. So in the eight years that I’ve been doing this
podcast, these are the questions that I get asked again and again
and again. So the reason why I’m doing this episode, and then
next week, episode 217 will be part two of the frequently asked
questions so that we can put them all in one place. And you
could just pop on over to these two podcast episodes, or the
corresponding YouTube videos on my YouTube channel. And just get
those answers if you need them. It’ll just be an easy place for
us to point people. Hey, here are the top 20 questions that we get
asked Oh, listen to this. So let’s get into it. The first
question that I’m going to cover, and I’m going to do these
pretty quickly, I guess because I don’t want this to be a really
long episode. I get asked all the time am I drew. Are you
fully recovered? Or do you experience anxiety or panic
attacks anymore? And the answer to that is Hell yeah. I am 100%
totally completely recovered. I do not have any anxiety
disorders anymore. I am completely confident in saying
that that is no lie. Now, does that mean that I never
experienced anxiety or panic? Now it doesn’t mean that at all.
One of the things that you will learn if you’re just getting
familiar with this work is that that is not what recovery looks
like, I will tell you that I can have an anxious day down on them
because I can experience stress and sometimes stress is anxiety
for normal healthy human beings. So yeah, sometimes I feel
anxiety. But all human beings experience anxiety, sometimes.
I’m just not afraid of it anymore. And that’s the
difference between anxiety and anxiety disorder. Can I have
panic attacks? Sure, I might have a couple of panic attacks a
year. Now. It’s been a long time since I had one the last time
was probably eight months maybe ago. I tried to document the
aftermath of that on my Instagram account. If you follow
me over there. It’s a highlight of my stories. But yeah, I could
I could have a panic attack today. It’s possible. I just
don’t care if I do or I don’t. I mean, I prefer not to because
it’s disruptive. But how do I know that I’m completely and
utterly recovered and that I do not have an anxiety disorder
anymore, that I don’t care? I just do not care whether I panic
or don’t panic, and I don’t care whether I’m anxious or not.
Because anxiety now occupies a regular normal, healthy space
in my life. So that’s the difference between anxiety and
anxiety disorders. I do not have an anxiety disorder. I’m no
longer afraid of what I think and how I feel. Nor am I worried
that I might be anxious or panicky tomorrow, because even
if I were to panic right after I finished recording this podcast,
it will start it will peak it will and the whole thing will be
over in about 10 minutes. I’ll feel shaky for another half hour
or 45 minutes and I’ll get on with my life. And that’s
recovery. And that is me I am fully recovered 100% I’m not
lying, I swear to God. So the next question that I get asked
is full recovery actually possible? And while I just kind
of answered that, so yes, I am 100% fully recovered if you
paraded me in front of one hundred therapists and toll and ask them
to assess me and diagnose me. I am I’m completely confident I
would bet you every physical asset I have in the world that
100% of them would find out the diagnosis to be had. But it’s
not just me, right? So, I don’t want to say that well, because
If I’m recovered, then that means everybody can recover. I just
have seen too many people, hundreds of 1000s of people over
the years that I’ve been privileged to interact with you
guys have also reached a state of complete and full
recovery, and will tell you the same thing that I just told you.
Sometimes they get anxious, they might panic now and then they
might have intrusive thoughts. And then they might
experience anxiety sensations now and then, but they are 100%
fully recovered from their anxiety disorder. So yes, I
promise I would not spend the time that I do on this if I did
not fully believe and see evidence every day and a large
population of people that full recovery is, in fact possible.
It is. It’s possible I see them every day. If you’re in my
Facebook group, you see them every day, too. You just might
not notice that. Or you might be skewed and thinking, Well, this
person had a panic attack, I have been told I’ll use my own
personal experience. I’ve been told by people online that
because I had a panic attack eight months ago I’m lying,
and I’m not recovered. What’s the point if you still can have
a panic attack, and they’re missing the whole thing? And
they can have that opinion if they want. That’s okay, we won’t
see eye to eye. But sometimes the fact that you’re so
desperate to never panic again, you’re so desperate to feel
better, you’ll discount what recovery actually looks like,
right now. I get that that’s okay, you’re getting there. As
you work it down the road. As you get better with the process,
you’ll start to understand what it really means. And you’ll see
oh, yeah, people really do recover, and I can be one of
them. So I promise full recovery is only possible I see it every
day. And just about every therapist that you can find in
the world that specializes in treating anxiety disorders will
tell you that Oh, sure. It’s fully possible. Some people with
OCD will say well, you can never cure OCD. But you can live
without it crippling you and controlling your life. And
that’s what sometimes gets debated. Because just like with
anxiety, you may have thoughts, you may have intrusive thoughts
now. And then they may pop up, especially when you’re stressed.
But even then even people that say, well, it’s there’s no cure
for that will tell you, but you don’t have to be crippled by it
anymore. And that’s recovery. So that’s question number two.
Question number three, Excuse me, this is a bit of a loaded
question. And you guys know that it’s something that I don’t
spend a whole lot of time talking about. But I have to
address it because it comes up all the time every day. And
question number three is, can I recover without medication? So I
will if you aren’t really interested, I did a three-part
series in this podcast about a year and a half ago, I don’t
remember which episodes those are if you just go to the
anxious truth.com and use the search tool and search for
antidepressant or SSRI you’ll see those three episodes. I told
the whole story. Can I recover without medication? Yeah, yeah.
Now, let me preface this by saying that if you believe that
you are better off on medication, and you think that
you should just take that for the rest of your life, I am
still going to 100% support you as one human being to another, I
completely respect your ability to make a decision that you
think is best for you. 100%. So I’m going to say that it is
possible to recover without medication. But please do not
tell me that I met shaming everybody, or anybody, you may
choose to take medication. And that’s a perfectly valid choice.
What I’m saying right now, doesn’t make that doesn’t make
what I’m saying is untrue. And it doesn’t mean that I’m
invalidating your path. But I get asked, Is it possible to
recover without medication? And the truth of that is, is that I
have besides me again, hundreds and 1000s of people that I’ve
seen do it. So, what am I supposed to say?
The answer is yes. Yes, it’s there. The evidence is right
there. I’m evidence, as are these hundreds and 1000s of
people that I see all the time. Again, if you were in my
Facebook group, you know, people that have recovered without
medication, you know, people who were on medication did the work
of tapering off. Sometimes it was pretty fast. Sometimes it
was a struggle. But yeah, you can people do recover without
medication. So if you are taking meds now and you’re hoping one
day to not I get you because that was me, that used to be me.
Yes, you can come off it. Sometimes it’s difficult, that’s
for sure. But is it possible to come off your medication and
fully recover? It is possible. So, the answer to that question is,
can I recover without medication as I did, and many, many people
do, but your circumstance is yours and you get to make the
decision that you think is right for you. And everybody should
respect that. All right, so that’s all I’m going to say about
medication. Please don’t ask me and tell me that I’m med-shaming
anybody. I’m not excuse me. If you want to take medication, and
you think it’s best for you to go for it. Don’t let anybody knock
you down for that including me. So that fourth question is not
really a question. It’s more of a statement and this is a thing
that people will kind of not throw at me. They’re not being
mean. I understand. And that is this statement. You know, that’s
easier said than done. Drew, I, and I understand it totally is
it completely. This is all easier said than done. But I
will weighed down that I never talked
about it being easy. In fact, I talked about how hard it is all
the time, every single day, I will validate that this is very
difficult. The recovery plan that I’m always talking about,
and I’m not the only one, I didn’t invent this, remember, I
did not invent any of this. I just seem to be good at relaying
it to people and explaining it. To me, I guess. But I didn’t
invent this. But nobody who’s in the business of treating anxiety
disorders or being an advocate, whatever it is, and talks about
the things that I talked about, and believes in this approach,
nobody will tell you that it’s easy. So if anybody comes at
you, and tells you that, you know, they have a fast way for
you to cure your panic disorder, or your agoraphobia, or your
OCD, or your health anxiety, run because there really aren’t
really easy ways to do this. This is hard. The plan and the
concept are simple. But the execution is hard. It is hard.
And I’ve done a podcast episode about that. Now, if you go to
the anxious truth.com/ 216, in the show notes of this episode,
on my website, I will link the episodes that I’m referencing
here, I did an episode entirely dedicated to that. Like, why is
recovery so hard? Well, there’s a bunch of reasons why it’s
hard. First and foremost you have to be brave, you have to
face your fear. It’s counterintuitive. It’s the
opposite of what you want to do. You’re running toward
discomfort. Nobody wants to do that. So when you tell me,
that’s easier said than done, my answer to you is correct. That
is correct. I never promised you easy. I never talked about easy.
I talked about it being hard all the time. This is easier said
than done. It’s a simple plan, it’s really hard to execute for
a variety of reasons. Right? So that’s not question four. It’s
statement four. How’s that? So number five, in the hit parade
here, and our frequently asked questions in this episode is,
how can I be sure that this really is just anxiety? This is
definitely a tough live question. I hear it all the
time. But how can I be sure that it’s just anxiety? So let me put
this into context. If you are a typical sufferer of things like
panic attacks or agoraphobia, health, anxiety, whatever it
happens to be, if you’re typical, and you kind of follow the
patterns that most of us follow that I follow that many, many
people follow, you have been checked out again, and again.
And again, maybe you’ve been to the ER or the A&E, like you
Guys call it in the UK. Maybe you’ve been to the emergency
room in the hospital again, and again, and again, maybe you’ve
been to 16 general practitioners and a bunch of specialists and
you keep asking for different tests. And you always need to
Well, what about this, let’s go to this symptom. You know, I bet
you check that out. So the context that I’m talking about
right here is that you have gone through all of that. You
have been told by a team of medical
professionals that there is nothing wrong with you right
now. This is anxiety. So that’s the question that I’m answering,
right? So it’s okay to get yourself checked out. Everybody
does it. When new things come up in your body, it’s okay to check
them out. There’s no crime in that. There’s nothing wrong with
that. But once you have been checked out and given that
medical clearance, how can I be sure that it’s really just
anxiety? The doctor keeps telling me that everybody keeps
telling me that drew. How can, I be sure? The answer to that
question? This is a sucky one. And I did an episode on this
too. So I’ll link that in the show notes of this one. The
answer is you can’t ever be sure. That’s true. You cannot
ever be 100% certain, but you don’t need to be right. So
people who are not suffering in the grips of disordered anxiety
and the irrational fear that comes with that. And the
distortions of magnifications. Understand that they are not
living in certainty either. They’re just willing to be
certain enough. I did a podcast episode with Sally
Winston, where she talked about, that she and Marty Self
wrote a book called Needed to Know for Sure, which is a great,
great book that I highly recommend. And she talked about
being short enough, like air quotes, normal people, and I
know you can’t see me because no video in this episode, but so-called normal people are short enough. People with disordered
anxiety can never be sure enough. But the reality of this
is part of the recovery process is that you are learning
how to be short enough. And in the episode that I did
titled How can I be sure this is really anxiety, I went into a
thing that I call life math, and I talked about this, and the
distortions and magnifications that really overblow the
risk in your mind right now. But as you go down the road and you
become more and more recovered and a little bit closer to
to so-called normal that life math goes back to a normal state
The risk is no longer overblown and you learn to be sure enough
again. And trust me, that is a state that is perfectly okay.
That’s the normal human state. How can I be sure that if I have
pain in my chest after a stressful day it’s not a
heart attack? I can’t be 100% Sure I can’t. But I don’t have
to immediately assume that it is a heart attack and go into
immediate emergency mode. So that’s the answer to that
question. How can I be sure you can’t ever be 100% sure of
almost anything in life, but you can learn to be short enough? And you
can learn when anxiety goes back to a healthy position in your
life, to navigate that uncertainty more productively
and more effectively so that you know, now it’s time to call for
help. It’s time to go see a doctor, you’ll know. Believe me,
I know. Now, back then I had no idea. I thought it was always
time to see a doctor. And I’m sure you do too, right now. And
it seems super scary to not see that doctor, but you’ll get
there. So let’s move on to Question six. Where are we 15
minutes? How can I be brave and face the anxiety without
running? Look, this is at the core of everything that I talked
about right is about going toward the anxiety or allowing
it without resistance. I use the term surrender. Josh Fletcher
talks about willful tolerance, Claire Weeks talks about
acceptance and floating. So, we are allowing this scary stuff,
the scary sensations, the disturbing thoughts, the OMG
thoughts, the catastrophic guts, we’re allowing all of that. And
We’re facing it and allowing it to reach its peak so that it
comes back down naturally. And we can learn I can navigate
through this. I don’t have to run from it. But that requires
courage. Because I’m going to do a podcast episode on this shortly
I would dedicate an episode to the fact that you will be
afraid. Yeah, yeah, you’re going to be afraid you’re going to be
uncomfortable, you’re going to be vulnerable and unsure and
uncertain. And those are really tough things to just deal with
to just sit in and allow. And people will ask me all the time,
but how can I be brave? And do that? And the answer to that is,
I can’t tell you how to be brave. And a lot of times it
doesn’t. And I’ve done episodes on this to bravery. I’ve written
my morning newsletter, the anxious morning, and did a whole
series on bravery. How can I be brave and face anxiety without
running? There are no lessons on how to be brave. Just gain an
understanding that being brave doesn’t mean you’re not afraid. Brave
means that you are in fact afraid. But you’re doing
the thing that you have to do anyway. So, my best tip for
how to be brave is to first start with an understanding that
brave means that you’re afraid and if you take a leap of faith
that you can you’ll be okay. Even if you’re afraid. That’s
what bravery is. So, a lot of people are convinced that like,
Well, I’m not brave, because I’m still really afraid. Yeah,
you’re going to be afraid bravery doesn’t mean not being
afraid. It means being afraid and doing it anyway. And before
I move on from this question, I need to clarify that this is not
I mean, yeah, there’s that old I don’t even know where comes from
maybe it was a book self-help book. Feel the fear and do it
anyway. Okay. Yeah, kind of like that’s a gross
oversimplification. Do it anyway. Okay, a little bit of an
oversimplification simplification. Just do it. You
know, like the Nike slogan, do not ever let anybody tell you
that my message or the message of anybody that sounds like me
is just do it. That Frost’s me that grinds my gears in
a big way. Recovery is not just doing it; nobody is telling you to
suck it up. No one’s telling you to just do it. This isn’t a
badass, hardcore character, proof of character, or strength
thing. This is hard. Being brave is hard. And it’s nuanced. And
You’d be braver on Tuesday than you are on Wednesday. And then
Maybe you’ll be brave again on Sunday. You don’t know it waxes
and wanes. So just allow all that, like, do the best you can.
Sometimes bravery is very imperfect. Most of the time.
It’s imperfect. That’s okay. But none of this just boils down to
silly stuff, like just do it. Hate that don’t like that very
invalidating. Okay, so the next question, this is a big one. And
this is also a sensitive topic. Don’t I need to find the
root cause of my panic attacks to get better? Sometimes the
word healing don’t I have to heal to stop my panic attacks?
Well, here’s the deal. When you are now afraid of the panic
itself, and I’ve talked about this, I’ve talked about this. In
some of my earliest episodes, anxiety is physical Anxiety
disorders are cognitive. I’ve explained how these things come
to be and the evolution of what an anxiety disorder looks
like. But the crux of the matter here is, don’t I need to find the
root cause. Don’t I have to heal my pain? Or my suffering in
order to stop my panic attacks? The answer is maybe. But if you
are now primarily concerned with the fact that you are anxious,
then you have a different problem. So you may just have
that problem in my life. That’s the only problem I’ve ever
found. For whatever reason, I started to have panic attacks. I
don’t know why I may never know why. But guess what, I fully
recovered without ever finding out why. And I may never know
one day I may know, I don’t know. But once I was only afraid
of the next attack, once I became afraid of my own
heartbeat, my own thoughts, my own emotions, my own lungs, me
own legs. Once I became afraid of the state of being anxious
itself, then if there was some sort of root cause or pain
trigger, it didn’t matter anymore. So the litmus test here
is, what am I afraid of? Right so if you walk out of your
house, and you experience panic because you have been assaulted,
and you are you feel unsafe because have the memories of that
assault, then yeah, then that’s a root cause thing for
sure.
I would never ever invalidate that. It’s true. But
if you started that way, and are now just afraid that well, if I
walk into the house, and then I don’t like how I feel, that has
become the primary fear. Well, now you have two problems, you
have to work on the disorder and anxiety part. And then maybe
There’s some healing, some trauma work to do. Yeah, that
could be more than one thing can be true at one time. So, when I
say that you do not need to find the root cause of your panic
attacks or anxiety to get better. I’m talking about a
situation where you have learned to be afraid of your own body
and thoughts. Right. So, in that situation, the root cause kind
of doesn’t matter anymore. It still might be there. And one
day, you may do that work, maybe you’ll do that work
simultaneously, as you’re doing the anxiety disorder, recovery
work could be people do that. But to stand on your feet
again, and no longer be afraid of your own heartbeat, which is
the thing I use all the time. No, you don’t need to find a
root cause. Whatever that root cause is, did not make
you are afraid of your own heartbeat. It may have been the
trigger that caused your heart to beat faster, and those first
waves of anxiety as far as panic attacks. But now you’re afraid
of your heart itself. So the root cause is on the back burner
now, sorry, it is. And the beauty of some of this
process is many, many people in our community come to this
process and figuratively, metaphorically, they’re on fire,
they’re burning, they’re burning, I can’t get out of my
own bed, I can’t leave my bedroom, I cannot even walk to
the other side of the house. without panicking. I have to sit
in the dark all day. I’m super sensitized. I can do nothing I
just panic, panic, panic all day long. I’m anxious, anxious,
anxious, the thoughts, the thoughts, the thoughts. And they
stopped digging for root causes, they started doing this kind of
work, and they put the fire out. And then they discover like,
Okay, I’m back to a state where now maybe I could do some of
that root cause work. I see that every single day. And for those
people, they have very difficult but sometimes very rewarding
journeys and experiences. But digging for a root cause because
everybody just assumes that panic is caused by some sort of
unhealed pain is really a very damaging narrative in the
anxiety disorder community. So no, you don’t need that. And I
will tell you right now, if you’ve been working with
anybody, whether they just be supportive friends, family
members, or a therapist that has been digging for your root cause
for two years, and you still can’t find it, and you still
can’t leave your house, you got to rethink that relationship.
I’ll say it. Okay, I can say that. So that is the answer to
the root cause question. I’ve talked about this, all of the
things I’m talking about today, I’ve written about that, in my
books there another episode of the podcast are in the morning
newsletter, and they’re in my social media content. They’re
all there. So let’s move on to the next question. Another sort
of hot topic that I catch a lot of heat about, why don’t I talk
about things like nutrition or diet or supplements? I get
asked, I don’t understand Drew. It’s a mind-body thing.
Everybody loves the mind. The body loves the mind and body. Listen, I have no
problem with mind-body. I’m cool with that. I don’t believe that
the fact that there’s a connection between your mind and
your body is news. Like, we kind of know this already. It’s
not news. It’s not profound. It doesn’t necessarily inform the
recovery process. Just like my answer to the last
question, if you are afraid of your own heartbeat, or you have
thoughts that you can’t, necessarily unhinged, unhitch
from and they are dragging you up and down the street every
day, even though you know they shouldn’t, and you know, they’re
not true, but you get dragged around anyway. If you’re afraid
of your own breath, if you’re terrified to be alone, because
What if something happens, and nobody’s here to save me,
because I might panic. And my anxiety might be dangerous this
time, then there is nothing in your gut biome that’s going to
Make a hill of beans a difference about that. Now, this
is not to say that I don’t believe in taking good care of
your body, we should all take good care of our bodies. There’s
nothing wrong with that whatsoever. Again, these are not
mutually exclusive things. I don’t talk about diet or
nutrition or supplements, because everybody should take
care of their bodies. But in this paradigm that I have
embraced in my life, that many, many of us in this cognitive
behavioral approach to anxiety disorders have embraced,
that doesn’t enter into it. Really, you know, look, don’t
let yourself get run down. Don’t be unhealthy. Take good care of
yourself as best you can. But I’m going to tell you right now, that I
have run across hundreds and hundreds of people who have
fully recovered from a steady diet of sugar, processed foods, and
cigarettes. They still got better. They probably have
terrible gut biomes I’m guessing I’m no expert on that. But the
reason why I don’t talk about those things is because even
though you feel anxiety physically, an anxiety disorder
is not a physical problem. Is it possible that I don’t know
something in your leaky gut syndrome or something
that caused your initial panic attack to maybe, but now you’re afraid
of the attack? Itself. This is why the
community is full of people who spent just gobs and gobs of
money on all kinds of supplements and herbs and
special diets and programs, who still are having a problem, they
may have incredibly well-balanced gut biomes. And I know
I keep going back to that, you know, they’re treating that air
quotes the second brain as best as you, as we know, to treat it,
feeding it the most, you know, whole organic foods and
supplementing properly, but still can’t get better. There’s
a reason for that. There’s a reason for that. So that’s why I
don’t talk about nutrition or diet or supplements because, to
me, it’s a red herring and recovery. It’s a thing that
everybody should take good care of take, Please take good care
of your physical health, please. Like I wouldn’t, you know,
advise everybody to do that. But chasing diet, supplements, herbs
in recovery is a red herring, it leads us down paths, and we don’t
need to go and it becomes frustrating. Because I’m
guessing that for every 100 people listening to my words,
Right now, there are at least thirty-five of you who have a closet or a
box, or a big plastic container full of at least 300 US dollars
worth of vitamins, supplements, herbs, special diets, magnesium
powder that you all were just hoping we’re going to be the
answer. And I’m sorry that they weren’t. But that’s why I’m
talking about this because it’s somewhat irrelevant in recovery.
But please, please be healthy. Please take as good care of your
body as you can. Okay, so question number nine,
and then we’re going to do this one. And then one more, we’ll
wrap it up. Why don’t I know I’m sorry. Question number nine is
why we need a recovery plan. So, if you read my book, The
Anxious Truth, which is my recovery guide, you’ll talk
about having a plan all the time. Like why do we need to
plan? So I know this is confusing for
a lot of people, especially since we’ll talk about this in a
question next week and episode 217. Like, but I don’t have
panic attacks. I don’t know what my exposures are. So, what would
my plan be? I understand that’s confusing, but why do I say that
we should have a recovery plan? Look, you cannot plan every
second of your recovery. So some people hear the plan and they think
that they can literally plan every hour of every day
specifically to optimize the recovery. No, you can’t this is
you can’t become a robot. But the reason why I say we need a
plan is that if we do not have a plan to follow, that informs the
actions that we will take, we will too easily fall into only
acting based on how we feel. We’ll only challenge ourselves
on the good days when we’re feeling better. That’s bad that
we don’t learn anything. When we’re feeling better. We will
make our decisions based on our emotions, our symptoms, and our
thoughts, We make a plan so that we can put some objectivity, and
to that, I woke up this morning, and I’m anxious as hell. But my
plan says that I go and do my exposures in the morning. So I
will go do that. So a plan injects some much-needed two
things, much-needed objectivity into the process? Because odds
are if you’re still kind of lost right now and don’t know what to
do. You’re making all of your decisions based on subjective
judgments. How do I feel? What does this mean? What do I think
about this? What might be wrong? Oh, my God, what could this be?
That’s all subjective. We need objectivity. And a plan gives us
objectivity. When we are in an anxious state, and we are
frantic, and beside ourselves, we are terrible decision-makers.
So a plan gets us out of the business of making decisions on
the fly. Right? So American football teams, and I’ve talked
about this all the time, create playbooks. They know who they’re
playing on Sunday, they get ready and they know what the
first 15 plays are that they’re going to run that’s just
scripted, done. They have playbooks to tell us in this
situation, we run this play in this situation, we’re on this
plate. Yeah, there’s some creativity there, of course, but
they don’t wait to make it up on the fly in the heat of a game.
And this is the same reason why I talked about having a recovery
plan. It’s so to me, it’s very important because otherwise you
will be governed by your fear, your irrational fear
distortions. magnifications, how you feel your symptoms, that
stuff will just drag you around. And then you wind up in
that situation where it’s like, I’m doing my exposures. Oh,
well, when was the last time you did a driving exposure? Well, I
was I being out on Friday and today’s Wednesday, like, but
that’s not exposure that’s interrupted avoidance. There’s a
difference and not to get into the details. But having a plan
helps us stay clear of that trap. Right. So that’s why I say
we need a recovery plan for objectivity and to get ourselves
out of the decision-making game minute by minute when we’re
suffering and when we’re not feeling good. Make the decisions
ahead of time and then execute those decisions, no matter how
you feel. A plan does that for us. So, question number 10, which
will be the last one for this week. This is always one of my
favorite ones. You guys have heard me say this before. This
question any tips for dot fill in your symptom? Fill
in your scary thing. Any tips for nausea, any tips for
dizziness any tips or depersonalization? Any Tips for emetophobia any tips
for You know, I can probably go for another 15 minutes a name
all the specific things, Do any tips for that breathing
or feeling? Any tips for that My nose getting tingly. Any tips
for feeling like, you know having a panic attack at night?
Like, no, no, I don’t have any tips for those things. I never
have tips for those things. The reason why I don’t have tips for
those things is that they’re all the same fear.
Right? So, anybody who has ever gone down the road of trying to
address each individual fear, like today, I’m afraid of my
heart. This is a big one. Any tips for cardio phobia? How
do I overcome a fear in my heart? And at the very same
time, there are three people asking me how they overcome
heart fear. There are four other people telling me that
depersonalization is the worst possible thing, and how do they
overcome that? And then there are three other people behind them
that are talking about that short of breath, air hunger
feeling, and that’s the worst for them. And they want to know
how to overcome that. But the answer is the same all the time.
In the Claire weeks world, and that’s really what launched this
whole thing for me. Dr. Weeks talked about accepting and
floating, letting time pass. It’s the answer for all of them.
Even though I know that the thing that you want special tips
for right now feels much scarier than the other things. And
because it scares you more, you think it’s worthy of a special
approach to try to specifically address that fear. But
Especially if you’re new at this game, look around at the people
who are further down the road from you. And almost without
question, they will tell you that when I get over one fear
another one often takes its place. So this is why I did a
podcast episode about following the principles of recovery and
not just instructions. I’ll link that one in the show notes.
Anxious trip.com/ 216 for the show notes of this episode. I talked about that. Then learn
the principles and apply the principles of allowing accepting
floating, willful tolerance surrendering all of navigation.
Right, he did a video with Lauren Rosen not too long ago,
We talked about the thing, the tools that we use in recovery
are not tools of eradication, they’re tools of navigation. So
I know in my own personal journey, as soon as I learned to
navigate air hunger, I was able to use those navigation skills.
When I would have PVCs and skipped heartbeats, I was able
to use those navigation skills when I experienced the
realization or dissociative state. So I just forklifted the
same navigation skills across multiple fears. And then it all
became so obvious. And anybody who’s down the road and closer
to recovery will tell you like Yeah, I thought they were all
special. And it turns out they weren’t. So that’s why the
answer to any tips for and then you insert your scary thing
there is always the answer is always the same. And I say it
again, and again. And again. I know I start to sound, you know,
dismissive or flippant. And if you’re in my Facebook group,
you’ve seen me post this at least once a month. Special
Reminder, no symptom is special. None. No symptoms are special. I
know you think that your symptom is but it is not. It is not.
Because, like I said if your particular thing is that you’re
afraid of your heart and you want to throw down like no, this
is the scariest one. I’ll bring somebody in the room here that’s
terrified of their own breath, and they will fight you like
They will throw hands at you because they will insist that
Theirs is worse. And the people who have air hunger will insist
that theirs is worse and the people that are DPD our people,
They will insist that there’s more than there’ll be a big
Brawl because everybody is 100% convinced no but this one is
this special? How could you not have a tip for this? I can’t tell you the number of
times that I’ve had somebody say I would pay to have a rapid
heartbeat. Like I’m so afraid of my breathing that I would pay to
be afraid of my heart. I have had people say that. I wish I
was dizzy. I wish I was dizzy. I’m so afraid of my heart. I
wish I was dizzy. That must be a walk in the park. That’s easy.
See what happens. So that’s why the answer to any tips is
it’s all the same tip you’re going to have to work through
navigating through the thing that you are afraid of. To learn
that I don’t have to be afraid of it it’s super disturbing and
uncomfortable and all of those things but not worthy of an
emergency response. And when you learn it for one fear you
forklift those skills to other fears and it becomes portable
across multiple fears. And then when I say all your fears are
one fear becomes painfully apparent, like holy cow, he was
right. So if I can get through the air hunger I can get through
the dizzy, I can get through the tingly toes. I can get through
this and get like all of the things I don’t Okay, they’re
nothing new. It’s just like Oh, thanks anxiety gets through
another one than me? No problem. I know what to do with this
without needing specific instructions for oh, I need
special breathing instructions. Now I need special pdf
instructions. Now I need special nausea instructions. You don’t
need principles, learn the principles, apply them across
multiple symptoms and fears and you’re good to go. So no, I
don’t have any tips for and that is part one of our frequently
asked questions. We did 10 questions today and we will do 10
More questions next week and Pod gets episode 217. So, come back
For that, bookmark it. If you’re on YouTube, and you’re listening
to YouTube and on YouTube, favorite the video, like
When you want to ask these questions again, come back here,
Like, listen to these again. And that’s it. So, I’ll be back again
next week, you know, the episode was over, because music that’s afterglow, the
beginning end, beginning, and end of every podcast episode, song
is written by my friend, Ben Drake. It is sort of inspired by
this podcast and as a special song for both Ben and me. And I
appreciate that he lets me use it, you can find Ben and his
music at Kendrick music.com. So go check him out. And if you are
listening to this podcast on Spotify, Apple podcast, or
any platform that lets you rate and review, leave a five-star
rating or whatever the top one is, and then take two seconds
and maybe write a quick review because it helps other people
find the podcast. If you’re consuming this content on
YouTube and liked the video, subscribe to my channel and hit the
notification bell. So, you know when I publish more, leave a
comment. I dig all that. And I think that’s it. That’s part one
of our frequently asked questions. I hope it’s been
helpful. I will be back next week. I do know what I’m going
to be talking about. We’ll do another 10 questions to wrap
this up. I will see you next time. Thank you for your
attention and I will leave you as I always do with a reminder
that this is the way Unknown: you got the feeling
that you got Yeah, you’re doing fine. Now in the city, you know looking back dwelling on
the past, you know, you’ll never get another chance. See, go and
live your life.
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Number five, make something. Art therapy can be a way
for you to illustrate what you’re feeling without needing to find the words for it. And number six, therapy. With the right guidance and support, you can slowly overcome
your social anxiety…
Adrenaline helps you
redirect your blood flow so that most of it is sent
to your vital organs, like your heart and lungs. Consequently, your extremities
start to feel cold. Number four is irritability. Do you easily become irritated? Irritability is a common sign of anxiety. However, it’s a symptom we
often overlook or ignore. It’s a sign that you’re
overwhelmed with stress. Anxiety is associated
with hypersensitivity, meaning that you’ll be much more sensitive to your surroundings, which may cause you to feel
more irritated than usual. Number five is impulsive buying. Another sign of anxiety is impulsivity. In this case, impulse buying. However, impulsivity can manifest itself in many ways, such
as engaging in risky behavior. Impulsivity because of anxiety can be due to numerous factors. The main one is that your
orbital frontal cortex, another branch of your
limbic system, is affected. Studies found that anxiety
increases the blood flow to that region, which
consequently, increases activity. An increase in activity can lead to either impulse control issues,
hoarding, or impulse spending. Additionally, anxiety affects
your prefrontal cortex and makes it harder for you to make wise and thoughtful decisions. Impulse buying, as well as hoarding, are also forms of self-soothing. They provide a false sense
of comfort and security. If you do find yourself caving in and taking financial risks, please consider reaching
out to a therapist for help. And number six, crying easily. When was the last time you cried? One last sign that goes
unnoticed is crying easily. Inexplicably bouts of crying can mean you’re overwhelmed by the
situation you find yourself in. Not only can it be because
of a sensitivity to stress, but it can also be due to
your fight or flight response. The correct terminology is
fight, flight, or freeze. Feeling stuck or freezing
amidst a perceived threat can progress these overwhelming
feelings of stress. When you find yourself crying, attempt to relax by taking a deep breath. Then allow yourself to cry. Crying can release all of those feelings you may be holding onto. It may be great to find
additional ways to self-soothe when you’re feeling anxious as well. So have you experienced
any of these signs? I have. What are some self-soothing
behaviors that help you? I enjoy walking. Feel free to let us know
in the comments below. Anxiety is quite common
and can be manageable. If you ever need help or guidance reaching out to a therapist
or mental health professional can be a good idea. Feel free to like and share
this video if it helped you, or if you think it
could help someone else. Don’t forget to hit the subscribe button and notification bell icon
for more videos like this. And thanks for reading, take care.
Oxytocin has some benefits Hugging once again releases oxytocin, Holding someone’s hand can make you feel a bit better. So if you need some pain relief, try, cuddling Cuddling is sure to release a lot of oxytocin enough to even relieve pain. If not simply distract you from some Four May help lower the risk of heart disease, Catherine, A Connors, a holistic, therapist and stress management coach explains in an article from Shape that Hugging, kissing, or more physical acts of touching increases oxytocin levels, which is a bonding hormone. This chemical reaction can help to reduce blood pressure which in turn reduces the risk of heart disease, but it can also help to reduce stress and anxiety If your heart has less stress, it may not work as hard When we’re stressed our body releases adrenaline, Which means a higher blood pressure and heart rate A lotta. This can increase one’s risk of a heart attack. So when you have time, take a deep breath and ask your loved one for a hug Number five Improves a mother’s bond with a child. Here we go with oxytocin again. This hormone has some magical effects. When a mother cuddles their newborn child, they receive a boost of oxytocin. Due to this, she will not only feel happier, but her stress and anxiety levels will drop as we learned before Skin to skin contact with a mother’s baby after they’re born, can help them bond and keep both mother and child calm and happy And Number six can help reduce social anxiety. Do you struggle with social anxiety? Well, it’s time for some hugs, Maybe not the first thing you want na do when at a party with a group of strangers. But if you have a friend who loves to greet people with a good old hug, then you may just have an easier time. Socializing Not only can oxytocin make you feel happy, but your thoughts will be helpful, positive, and hopeful. This means, if your friend hugs you when they see you at a party and, as we know, hugging helps release oxytocin you made it get a positive boost in your confidence and view of the event. Suddenly, this social gathering doesn’t seem to intimidate you as much. Maybe your stress levels have decreased, even if it’s just for a moment that sparks a bit of confidence in you. So right before you start the party hug, a friend or two, when you greet them, You may just feel a bit more confident and happy. So will you hug others more often, Who will be your cuddle buddy Share with us in the comments below? We hope you enjoyed this video and, if you did don’t forget to click the like button and share it with a friend Subscribe to Psych2Go and hit the notification bell icon for more content like this, And as always, thanks for watching.
Will you want to truly know the nature of this life? When you know you’re on right now and tomorrow morning, you may be poof gone now. You want to know What the hell, What is this?
So the only thing you can do is try your best, Regardless of the result trying your best is enough. After all, everyone is different with varying skill sets and experiences, so it’s no use comparing two unique people. Number seven is your appearance. Are you unhappy with some physical features of yours? Is there anything you wish you could change about your appearance? Chances are, the answer is yes, Almost everyone wants what someone else has, which is the sad truth, especially living in today’s, society. It can be so easy to compare yourself to other people and all the gorgeous models on TV, But try to remember that what you look like doesn’t determine how much you’re worth. You’ve probably heard it before, and we know how hard it is to accept and internalize, but it’s. True You don’t need to feel bad because you might not look the way that people on TV do, because everyone is beautiful in their unique way. Number eight, your relationship status. Are you still looking for the one, But it seems like everyone. You know is getting hitched Nowadays, there’s so much pressure to have a significant other and a picture, perfect relationship. It can feel as if you constantly need to be pursuing someone out of fear of being a desperate lonely single. However, there’s nothing wrong with being single. Doesn’t make you less of a person because it means you’re, taking more time to focus on yourself and what you want na do You will only go for it when it feels right. While a relationship may be nice, it’s, not something you need to have to be valued Nine, the number of friends you have Do you value quantity, over quality when it comes to friends, Or is it difficult for you to keep up with your circle of Friends Having more friends, doesn’t matter what kind of person you are, If you only have a few it doesn’t mean you’re, not sociable or kind, but it means you have a specific taste in people which isn’t a bad thing. You’re invested in finding friends who understand and care for you. On the other hand, having more friends doesn’t mean you’re shallow and only interested in popularity. It means that you’re friendly and open to new people. The number of friends you have doesn’t say anything about your worth. Rather it’s the quality of your friends that matters 10, your social media status. Are you an avid scroller? Do you, post on social media habitually or occasionally With the amount of emphasis? The world seems to revolve around how many likes you get. There is so much pressure to have a picture-perfect, aesthetically pleasing life. However, your worth is not measured by how many people, like your posts, Social media, is for sharing parts of your life and forming connections with people It’s allowed getting likes. May give you the satisfaction it doesn’t determine your self-worth. Social media should be fun and uplifting, not a tool to gain validation. You are valid and worthy regardless of your social media status. Number 11. Your age, Both old and young people, are often judged due to their age. People may think all young people are reckless and selfish, while all older people have their whole lives figured out, But your age, doesn’t control your personality, hobbies, likes dislikes and so much more It’s, not a reflection of who you are so it does. ‘t determine your worth After all Age aint, nothing, but a number Number 12. Your decision to have children There’s a lot of societal pressure to have children to contribute to society, But having children is completely your own decision Not having children. Doesn’t make you less worthy than others who do because it’s a major decision that affects you most of all, so it should be up to you Remember your decision is valid and valued either way. In the end, you’re the only one who determines your self worth Cliche, but it’s, true, Not anyone or anything else, whether it be money, family, or friends. It may be hard, but just try to remember that you are more than any single aspect. We hope we were able to give you insight into some of the things that you should, ‘t base your worth on. Do you use any of these things to measure your self-worth? If so, that’s – okay, we’ve all been there before, and we’re here for you Leave a comment down below and share your experiences and thoughts you have as well. If you find this video helpful be sure to hit the like button and share it with those out there still struggling with their self-worth, Don’t forget to subscribe to Psych2Go and hit the notification bell for more new videos. Thanks for watching – and we’ll see you soon,
Study wise for the rest of the day I’m going to ask Kenji and Georgina if either of them is rehearsing history to rehearse for a day earlier and later, but other than that I think I’m done with a very nice sunny day today so I’d like to enjoy that at least a little bit. I want to go to the gym, and maybe also play some video games with my sister in the evening. Just relax, take a break, and calm down before the est date. So I’ll get some food, get some lunch, and yeah, we’ll get on with the day. I try to relax and take a break, and tomorrow is tomorrow… When testing, we have to look our best and that means clean shaven and then some formal wear with a shirt. Then confirmation. I have to get all that fluff out and trim those lines a little bit. Let’s do it I don’t know why I would, if I would wear a mask all the time. It won’t make much difference but if you look good, you feel good and it generally gives you confidence. Therefore, I think it is worth it. I am surprised that this camera has not fallen so far, as it is a bit of a miracle. Well, we’re all done. Let’s get some food. Good. We’ll make ourselves lunch. And we’re going to watch the new episodes of Top Boy it’s awesome and as you all know, this is my favorite eating stand that just brings things together and makes everything so much more convenient. It makes me look like a grandfather..That’s the way it is. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show. By the way, bye to the moderators, not to spoil the show. Hello my friend how are you? Good, and you? I feel like your laptop will fall off the table, not that it is fixed with a stand on the back. Hello, Massad Al-Khair, my name is Nasir Kharma and I am a doctor here. Can you say your name and age, please? My name is Paul and…………!! Well, on my way to the gym, look at the beautiful weather we had here last week. Alas, I have been confined at home studying and preparing for the exam but I kind of went to take advantage of this once the exams are over anyway let’s start with the exercise step the stress of sweating just to rest and rest my head and I’ll see you in peace oh well this is well first day one of my friends, I’m just waiting outside the site which is a very nice place I got myself a quick coffee and my general plan is to get in at the last possible second. To listen to my music as often as I can. That’s what I’m going to do for five minutes and then I’m going to the hall for the exam and I have to take the electronics so I can get in afterward And I’ll see you after that Peace….Oh my God Oh my God Well day one is done I’m not going to lie It was a lot more complex than I thought It wasn’t as straightforward as previous OSCE systems. I believe they deliberately tried to deceive us when going to the Respiratory Check Station, which later turned out to be the ATP Station. Well, then there were other stations where the wording was completely unclear. A lot of students complained about misunderstandings, what they wanted us to check, or what they wanted us to do, and they came and took feedback from all of us on how to change the wording moving forward. So you could have done a better job. But that’s okay, I wasn’t feeling great about two of the six stations we had today. Then there are six more stops tomorrow. But once I get the written feedback from the examiners, I guess it kind of puts me at ease. The comments there were much better than I thought I did I’ll be fine. Anyway, that’s it. The first exam is over and another one is tomorrow. We have to start at 8 am and we have to stay until 11 am and then we do the exam and we are quarantined again until 1 pm until other students are counted in other universities around London and so we stay in quarantine and so that the information is not shared outside I think that’s good I think it good. I think it’s good. This is the end of my walk after the exam… I’m going home, I’m going to do some prescribing practice for today only, it’s possible to take one exam like this and nothing more than that I’m going to sit with Nour, it was very fun yesterday Anyway, see you my friends, peace… … Hey my group (my friends) I’m home on the couch, just chill out and relax a bit. I m going to call Kenji and Georgina just to debrief about the stations we had today and the exam, talk about it a bit and get it off the chest and then maybe do a little practice description. I think I’ll finish it there I’ll pick up the camera again When I start calling it aits me that this is almost over as if medical school and university are finally almost over. Mad madness, well see you in a little while..well, to PDF H 32 or 32, Article 32 or Page 32? Article 32….! Well, let’s say guys, last said before, more studying today won’t make any difference for today. And I think more study won’t make any difference at all for tomorrow. So we’ll end it here. It’s five in the evening, I’m going to rest and pack my bags. I’m ready to fly on Thursday early in the morning. So I can go out and celebrate tomorrow evening with everyone and I won’t have to pack for travel, and yeah, that’s what we’re doing for the day..almost done. See you guys in a little while, Hello, Alright, so I’m going snowboarding tomorrow, not the day after tomorrow with about 10 of my friends from high school to celebrate finishing medical school, hopefully finishing medical undergraduate and all is well Alright tomorrow (let’s grab the wood) But let’s get started Time is running… Well, I’m packing up. It’s pretty much there. I just need to put some last things in tomorrow. Now it’s time to sit down with Noor… and play an episode of Eldon for a few hours. To relax and enjoy the night and that’s it. I’ll see you, my friends, tomorrow morning. Good morning and welcome to the day of the second OSC exam… I will be in a different location today, I am on the train and they separate us in different locations as Kings College London students so that we can see different examiners with different groups and things like that. It’s very popular this video of me releasing it tomorrow I put it on Instagram now I’m simply trying to relax as much as I can for a bit, before the exam I come early and I have some time, … Hello … oh still filming … we are back on the youth campus. I guess today didn’t work as well as yesterday. I think there were a couple of stations that I found challenging and I don’t think I got the intended diagnosis in the end. But I hope my communication skills and everything else in history taken away will make up for it. But anyway, I wouldn’t think about it. I just had a meal with Aaron and Georgina I’m going to put the picture here..now I’m going to go to a coffee shop there and meet some friends to rest and breathe it’s been almost a week since I last logged in I forgot to close the blog and I just realized I hadn’t done it yet during this time I went skiing In Austria I came back..and surgery started this morning, I get up at 5 am everything was so crowded, but that will be another day for Flock. I just want to thank you for taking the time to watch this video. I hope you enjoyed it. And if you enjoyed. it…. please don’t forget to like it and subscribe to my channel for more content to come in the future. And I’ll catch you on the next one, …..Peace…….. I’m done…. peace…… Hello friends Next peace, What’s up guys
You’re right.
They compared the mineral content
of nettle tea to chamomile tea, mint tea, St. John’s wort, and sage. Nettle tea didn’t seem to have
much more than any of the others— but, maybe they’re all high? Well, one cup of nettle tea
does have the iron of a dried apricot (that’s more than I expected), the zinc found in one pumpkin seed,
one-twentieth of a mushroom’s worth of copper— but four peanuts’ worth of magnesium,
and an entire fig’s worth of calcium. I agree with the researchers that,
you know, a cup of herbal tea may not be an important source
of minerals, but it’s not negligible. You know, greens are so packed
with nutrition that you can benefit from just drinking some hot water
they’ve been soaking in for a few minutes.