Anxiety Help: Learning To Do ... Nothing? (Podcast Ep 272)
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- čas přidán 21. 07. 2024
- This week my guest is anxiety and OCD specialist Joanna Hardis who stopped by the podcast to talk about the art of doing ... nothing.
Wait ... what? Nothing? Yes. Nothing.
Humans are conditioned to automatically spring into action to solve problems, and often we declare that our emotional and mental states are automatically problems that must be solved. When we experience discomfort, distress, anxiety, or any "negative" feeling we can get trapped into automatically trying to do something .... anything ... to solve that problem and make it disappear.
The thing is, this is often paradoxically harmful in that it can keep us trapped in the very state we're trying to escape. Learning that it is possible to do nothing about negative internal experiences - learning to ride through them without hitting the panic button - can go a long way toward getting us closer to where we want to be both in anxiety recovery and in life. And as it turns out, if we look at what Joanna wrote about in her book "Just Do Nothing", we see that even as we struggle with recovery from an anxiety disorder, we're not all that different from all the other humans walking the planet. The issues are often the same, just experienced at a different degree in our community. This is good news, because we're afraid and unsure, but not defective and not broken.
For more information about Joanna and her book:
joannahardis.com
For full show notes on this episode:
theanxioustruth.com/270
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🎵 Music Used on My Podcast: AfterGlow by Ben Drake (with permission)
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I’m glad you touched upon feelings and emotions. I had so many weird feelings , emotions and intrusive thoughts. Honestly the physical symptoms never scared me, what really worried me was the mental symptoms, weird feelings emotions and Intrusive thoughts. I’ve been stuck in the anxiety cycle for 1 year and 10 months. Also have been agoraphobic for 15 years. I also noticed that I’ve lost interest in things I used to love doing before like making films.
Many in our community would say that they are not really bothered by the physical manifestations of anxiety. They would say that big negative emotions or scary thoughts feel like the danger to them. So you're not alone in that. The same approach would be applied there too though. We'd work on learning that we can handle big emotions and scary, negative thoughts and don't have to totally dismantle our lives to avoid them to stop them from happening.
@@TheAnxiousTruth thank you
Omg you are not alone . I think with every cycle the recovery takes longer it’s taken me 10 months . And sleep is the last thing that keeping me in the cycle cause I don’t like dreaming it’s like having thoughts if I can just get over that hurdle
I can totally agree with the premise this. I have a lot of anxiety when eating out or in front of others that aren't family sometimes. I went out to eat with my fiance and parents for dinner this weekend and my anxiety was really bad. So bad I felt like leaving the table getting that nauseous gaggy feeling. But I kept on holding on and try to be normal. I get really bad when food comes out. Thankfully it took an hour and by then I settled down. I was able to eat and actually enjoy the experience. So I did nothing and eventually my anxiety passed. It took an hour but it went away. So it very funny on coincidence that this got recommended to me by CZcams. This anxiety thing is a battle of your thoughts in your mind. Thanks for your work.
I know that was NOT easy for you to do and required you to be brave so very well done! And good on you for taking a valuable lesson from it too. That's a big deal!
hey man, don't know how often you read these, but I wanted to say you've been such a tremendous help for me. I had my first panic attack three years ago, since then I've gotten into GAD territory with some OCD to boot. It's been a ride, but yours was one of the first resources I stumbled on during my initial craze to figure out what was happening with me, and I'm so glad it was. I don't follow the show as religiously as I used to because, honestly, I find I'm doing well enough to not need the reinforcement too often. Huge thanks to you and what you do
Amazing man! I’m a noob
I read almost all the comments and I LOVE that you don't listen like you used to because ... you don't have to. That's great, and its the result of hard work on your end. Well done!!!
Thank you for these weekly podcasts. I'm binging through all of them and have recovered a lot over the past two months. Please keep up the good work. Thank you so much, Drew.
You're very welcome. I'm glad you're finding help helpful in some way! 🙂
I am going to buy a copy of Joanna Hardis' "Just Do Nothing" and a copy of Paul Brodie's "Just Do it" and let them battle it out on my bookshelf while I watch Netflix.
Maybe fold the pages into each other put it under your pillow and see what happens when you wake up
OK this comment killed me. So good! LOL
Really appreciate what you're doing. You're helping me a ton. @@TheAnxiousTruth
The chapter on insight is something that I've been thinking of for years on why I'm against going to therapy and digging too deep into trauma bs. And hearing that put into words by actual therapists was.. insightful lol. Really nice listen, thanks!
You're welcome! I'm glad this one resonated with you in some way. :-)
Thank you.
Your book is absolutely AMAZING!
I'm glad you're finding it helpful in some way. :-)
That’s exactly what happens to me!
Just as the food comes to the table while at a restaurant the nausea gets worse! I used to get barely through it before the anxiety got so bad but now I can’t even imagine being at a restaurant waiting for the food to come. Just thinking about it it makes me feel sick to my stomach and waives of panic come and go. I don’t really have panic attacks per se but just feel so horrible all the time. I can’t even watch TV and see people eating and socializing out because even that makes me nauseous.
Thanks❤
Great 👍
Dear Drew, I purchased your book but having problems with the addressing the problem by making a plan and do things you are afraid to do.
I’m not afraid of anything particular. Well… I’m afraid of not sleeping. And so I don’t sleep for more than an hour or so. I practice acceptance but it’s getting harder and harder as I don’t sleep. With no sleep it’s not possible for me to stay motivated and do things. Can you please give me some advice about this. As this is a problem that seems to conflict with your method. And I’m trying so hard.
You might want to take a look at the podcast episode I did with Daniel Erichsen. Daniel speaks the same language I do and he seems to help lots of people that are struggling with anxiety focused on sleep or not sleeping. If you search my channel for "sleep" you'll find a few episodes, but those will all - including the episode with Daniel - talk about how this "method" is used even when you are sure that sleep is different, special, or dangerous and that it doesn't apply. Also, this is definitely not "my method". I'm just talking about an approach that's been clinically validated for a very long time. I didn't invent it at all. I'm just good at explaining it, so I'm told. xx
I also bought Daniels book already. And I joined BedTyme. It’s just this total exhausting feeling conflicts with motivation. I sleep 1 hour and wake up in total terror. And I keep scanning whether or nog I’m sleeping. I don’t want to but do it subconsciously. I was just hoping for some more I guess…
And yes, you explain it very well :)
Action works it can be challenging but it works for me
What's strange is that doing nothing is also an action. It's just not a saving or controlling or escaping action. It's an acceptance action. Sometimes this stuff can make your head hurt. Doing nothing is still something. LOL
Hey! Do u think there is a difference between ocd and other forms of anxiety? And besides that do u belive we can recover without the contact to therapists?
People do recover without professional help. That is true. It is possible. Every form of anxiety disorder has its own defining characteristics from a diagnostic standpoint but in many cases the lines between them really do get blurry over time. I tend to see them all as quite closely related and often overlapping.
You are all in a different country from me . I’m in Scotland & can’t find help with my anxiety . Please help me , I’m struggling.
There are therapists in the UK that specialize in treating anxiety disorders. Not all fo them are working in the NHS though. Many might be private practice therapists. If you start with the COSCA website you can search for therapists and counselors in Scotland that are registered to practice there. Hint: Choose "panic/anxiety" as "area of interest" when using COSCAs "find a therapist" tool. xx
Hey! But what about sensations, feelings that is not from anxiety. Because sometimes you dont 100% know if its dizzy, wierd feeling from anxiety or from just the body. Do you still do nothing? Because the doing keeps its "alive"?
gradually just do nothing for few minutes and experience it willingly. you will know eventually.
Know what? that if i resist it its anxiety?@@fukzen
Hey bro, could you help me. Even if its not anxiety the resistance creates more of that feeling? @@fukzen
"How can I be sure it's anxiety?" Check out episode 160 of my podcast. I directly address this. The answer is, you can never be 100% sure of anything in life. But you can learn to be "sure enough", which is not a state you're willing to tolerate or accept at present.
@@TheAnxiousTruth I understand, I saw the video. its just that the mechanics of Anxiety i understand. With the resistance/Fighting How its a cycle. But what If it its sensations,feelings that is uncofortable But not anxiety. My Brain thinks its different approach. That How can Fighting/Resisting Keep Making This Feeling,sensation stay here. that what happens and it dosent make sense. I have No problem with it Being anxiety or not. Just that if it is how can fighting/resisting making it worse. I guess it’s just anxiety then?
Please answer how do you do nothing when the symptoms and thoughts are all day?
Going about your day like people without anxiety would do.
Do you have a video on insomnia?
Search the channel for "sleep". You'll find a few episodes on the fear of insomnia and anxiety around not sleeping "right".
Do you still work with people one on one? If so, how would I accomplish that?
I will be able to work with people in New York State as of February when I start my clinical work but otherwise I do not do one-on-one work.