Anxiety And Recovery Questions and Answers (Podcast Ep 286)
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- čas přidán 21. 07. 2024
- Let's do an old fashioned anxiety questions and answers session, shall we? Today we're answering questions from our friends on Facebook.
Chapters/Questions
0:00 Introduction
2:24 How do I face a scary exposure?
5:58 Is it normal to still have symptoms or scary thoughts in recovery?
8:48 What do I do when I'm not anxious and have no symptoms or thoughts to deal with?
10:40 Which comes first, scary sensations or scary thoughts?
12:37 How can I be sure if it's just anxiety or my intuition?
15:01 The selfish nature of anxiety and anxiety disorders
For full show notes on this episode or to access more anxiety recovery resources:
theanxioustruth.com/286
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🎓 ANXIETY COURSES AND WORKSHOPS
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ℹ️ WHO AM I?
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❓ WANT TO ASK ME A QUESTION?
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🎵 Music Used on My Podcast: AfterGlow by Ben Drake (with permission)
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Drew I’m so glad I came across your info, at 38 years old I finally have a proper understanding of anxiety after many years of drug therapy and talk therapy but still struggling. It upsets me the info wasn’t given to me as a teenager when I needed it, alas I am thankful to have found it now. 🙏 on my way to recovery
so could write this too.
I love that you're feeling on your way now. Keep going! xx
You are absolutely amazing how you explain things, it comes across with SUCH compassion!! Thank you so much!
Thank you. I try. :-)
This is my second bout with anxiety, after being completely free from anxiety for 13 years! This time it still shocked me and instead of just knowing what it was just anxiety and focused on doing what I had learned years ago, and stop and take care of myself to recover, I went down that horrible rabbit hole and wasted months going to see Dr after Dr!! Even had 3 MRS’s in 3 months! All came out perfectly fine!
I've just read your book and it's spot on! The way you've written it is how my brain thinks too! I also loved that the text was spaced out so easy to read. I've read about every anxiety related book out there in the last 10 years and yours.is the best in all areas. Amazing! Thanks Drew.
Thank you for the feedback. We intentionally formatted the book to be a bit easier to read and to write notes in, so I appreciate this comment. I'm glad you found it helpful. :-)
Thank you so much Drew..you are so awesome in explaining anxiety..you are so detailed..it's comforting hearing from someone that knows first hand on anxiety..thank goodness I found you and your podcast. I have ordered your 3 books..already read "An Anxiety Story", reading now "Seven Percent Slower"..as soon as I am done with the book I will start "The Anxious Truth". Amazing books. Once again thank you for your work and podcast.
Awww thank you for some very kind words. I do hope you find the books useful in your recovery. xx
@@TheAnxiousTruth you,are so welcome…the books and your podcast are a huge…HUGE help..once again thank you for everything you do..xoxo
I remember when I first got panic attacks, I was so lost and the hardest thing was accepting that some “nerves” could call so much issues. Day by day passing by is such a blur during recovery but im making it happen! If it wasn’t for you and all of dr claire weeks books, idk where id be sadly out health care system doesn’t care much i believe if we just got a good explanation of whats going on when we first reach out it would greatly help with the cycle 🔃 because we keep searching and searching for answers. One day at a time dont stop doing what you do 🥹🫶 so happy i ran into you 3 years ago.
I kinda agree that this interpretation of anxiety and fear needs "more coverage". We also have to admit that this is a very difficult interpretation to hear so I understand why "manage and soothe" messages generally are louder, take up more space, and often become the default.
@@TheAnxiousTruth yes! I kinda wasn’t looking for like reassurance it was more like if i was explained clearly what was going on with my body and what to expect it would have been easier to accept? If that makes sense. I remember my first encounter the Drs were like oh its just anxiety, lol i was like what?! No way Ive had “anxiety” when trying to do a school presentation or meeting a new person. This is not anxiety lol further sending me off into the rabbit hole, then as the cycle progressed i noticed it started turning into a cycle. I had to research slow down and learn that yeah anxiety can cause more symptoms, it just felt like the just anxiety saying was a little harsh in the beginning. I guess some empathy would have help the learning journey balance if you will.
@@TheAnxiousTruth did not mean to say cycle twice in the same sentence 😂🤪
Thank You Drew .... I like the term Response Prevention , We need to change our response else we will always remain stuck...
The "RP" is the most important yet most overlooked part of the process.
For the last five years, I've endured persistent and atypical chronic idiopathic nausea, which is distinct from typical gastro nausea and can even exist simultaneously with it, it feels more like it's within the throat region. This started a few months after I lost a job and experienced anxiety over a new dental implant that felt loose, but was later confirmed fine and secure by 3 different dentists. Despite countless medical evaluations, blood tests, ECGs, gastroscopy, ultrasounds and various treatments with no relief, no concrete physical cause has ever been identified. I haven't felt acutely anxious for years now, as these symptoms have became my new normal, I've somewhat gotten used to it, despite feeling unable to live a normal life feeling this way.
My symptoms are constant and affect me 24/7, usually a 9 or 10/10 for the first few hours of the morning, and slowly drop to about a 5/10 throughout the day, but then resets the next morning. This all began 5 months after losing my job and having the dental implant installed. It originally lead me to worry about a potential metal allergy from the implant, though every dental professional has assured me the implant is not the cause. Even a metal testing company in Germany (MELISA) told me that my symptoms don't match up with what would be typically expected from a metal allergy.
With a longstanding history of social anxiety and depression, and after much research over the last year, I suspect my issues might be psychosomatic or hyperstimulation, linked to an ongoing fight or flight response to the initial stress of losing my job and not knowing what to do with my life, as well as the implant situation. Would you agree with this likely being my issue? I've had these constant symptoms for 5 years now, so I've had years of physical and mental rest without any improvement, I've explored other approaches, including Dr. Claire Weekes' methods. Do you think that engaging more actively with the world through exposure therapy or CBT could be beneficial in overcoming these symptoms once and for all? Because ever since these symptoms began, I have done almost nothing with my life, other than start exercising just a few months ago, but still without improvement. I believe doing nothing with my life is potentially leaving my nervous system stuck/scared, and is constantly viewing my life as in danger. Sorry for such a long message, thanks a lot for your content ;)
I cannot know what your physical symptoms are ultimately attributable to because I do not know you and I am not your doctor. Be careful about asking the Internet to diagnose you or confirm a diagnosis or self-diagnosis. That being said, I can tell you that you are describing a path that many anxious people take. Refusing to stop searching. Insisting that there MUST be a physiological answer. Sitting still and putting life on hold because the feelings are uncomfortable and challenging and must be solved before anything else can happen. So it might help to know that you are describing that people like me. hear almost every day. Maybe that helps in some way.
Thx Drew❤
Thank you!
You're welcome!
Hi, I have a question. Do I have to absolutely forget about reassurance? For example, how about, When my anxiety spikes, I wait 2-3 days before I remind myself of my reassurance?
This might help:
czcams.com/video/ikR5v9WAIuk/video.html
Also this one might help explain a bit more:
czcams.com/video/jnDs66rhXP8/video.html
Great job Drew. You’ve helped me soooo much.
I am slowly getting better
Glad to hear it! Keep going!
You did an episode on "Self-Sabotaging" in Recovery Room, but I have yet to hear you talk about it on The Anxious Truth Podcast or Disordered.
I believe it is a very important topic, at the very least, it is for me.
Every time I start getting better and my comfort zone increase greatly, I tend to slow down and hide into the online world, escaping the exposure practice.
It's not like I enjoy my acceptance bubble, but it is preferable than more of the hard work that is needed. And this cycle repeats for years.
Also, every time you talked about exposure and response prevention you never took into the consideration that "where you live" affects the rate of your recovery greatly.
For example, if you are in rural area and if that is part of your acceptance bubble, it is a bit more difficult to practice than if you live in super crowded area.
Anyway, this is not a rant or anything like that. Just giving you some ideas to consider.
I also believe that you should a proper episode on Exposure and Response prevention, maybe even with Josh? Since it has been a while since you last did it. Plus, you are much more knowledgeable about the subject.
No rant taken at all. I love the suggestions! Being afraid and therefore less willing to do scary things is not necessarily self-sabotage. That's a term people tend to use to try to find some kind of hidden motive for intentionally not recovering. As for rural areas being harder, I could probably line up 15 anxious people in 5 minutes that would insist that they WISH they could be in a more rural, quieter area to recover. Its not that it isn't difficult for you. It certainly is. But rural vs urban recovery will vary from person to person and in the end its still that fear and the fear trying to justify why it needs to be accommodated.
I'm not saying we won't do an ERP episode, but I see you have heard the exposure episodes already out there so I might ask you to consider if you want to hear things that you think have been missed, or if you just want to hear more because hearing more helps in some way.
@@TheAnxiousTruth
I did listen to all of them plenty of times and they are really helpful. Same goes for most of the episode you recorder.
They help a lot, give me the forward push and motivation daily.
It's just that I think you are much more knowledgeable about the subject right now so I believe you would do an even better job covering the topic. Plus, it would be interesting to listen to.
Not that I expect to hear anything new from it. I've hard you say it over and over again in your podcast as well in your book.
It is simple, but hard to execute.
Thank you for all your work over the year.
For me, The Anxious Morning is your favorite work so far.
Hi Drew,I just read your book and I have a question:"In order to recover We need to quit to our meds or the recovery it's possible if we continue to take them and do the exposure in the same time?
I cannot tell you if you should get off your meds or not. I will say that this community is full of people using medication in combination with exposure or other therapy and I do NOT see meds as "cheating". ALL the progress counts, including progress made while using medication. In the end this becomes a personal decision that you have to make based on your own goals and how you define a recovered state in your own life.
Thanks so much.
What do you think about psychedelics as a tool to get us on the right path
I tend to be cautious about this the same way I think we need to be cautious about any intervention that can quickly - especially in the era of click bait and the desperate need for eyeballs and followers - become overhyped. Can it be a tool? It might be! I'm just not sure we have enough rigorously produced and reviewed data yet to get overly excited about it. This is also a difficult subject because of the controversy that surrounds it. There are lots of personal identity issues and therefore big emotional responses and inflammatory discussion that comes up in this area so it can be hard to find a reasonable interpretation of reality from where you sit.
Let me add one more thing here. CNN (love em or hate em) ran a story recently about an ell ess dee /anxiety study. The article itself was pretty solid and discussed uncertainty and need for more research when it comes to personal variations in dosages and number of treatments. Pretty reasonable. But the headline was super sensationalized and absolutely contradicted all of the actual content. And that stuff isn't limited to big media. Its everywhere, which makes this even more difficult!
What I’ve recently ran into is im ready to do what i have to and be afraid and get things done slowly, but how do i go about those days where lets say my son has an appointment and im around ppl i need to talk to about his care then you get flushing or that rush of fear and your face kinda looks dumb 😢 how do you explain that to ppl who dont know you. The only thing i did recently was that i was in the middle of my eye exam and felt nervous 😢 the dr kept staring at me like are you ok, so i addressed it as im ok i just have anxiety and seem nervous but im fine. 🥹 i feel so bad when other ppl look at my face and notice something is wrong its really embarrassing.
I might translate this question to "How do I not feel bad when ... (insert context here)". Learning that we can handle those bad feelings (all of them - not just fear and anxiety) is a core lesson in recovery. If you're trying to find ways to stop those feelings or prevent them, that's exhausting and you can stop trying to do that. I know this sounds so simple, and it is, but it is hard to do. Nobody wants to feel embarassed but we put ourselves in a no-win situation when we want to face our fear but also don't want to feel things like this when we do it.