I Hate Anxiety Podcast

While avoiding a trigger may seem like the most natural thing to do to try to help your anxiety, it’s actually the thing that will keep your anxiety alive even for a lifetime. Today on the podcast I talk about how avoidance makes anxiety last.

I’ve had many people ask me why can’t you just give me a pill that will make this all better. Today I answer that question on the podcast.

Today I share my personal thoughts and concerns regarding the use of medications or illegal drugs for reducing the symptoms of anxiety. As a disclaimer I’m a mental health therapist, and I am not a physician, nurse practitioner, physician assistant, or nurse. In this podcast I am not offering any medical advice. If you have medical or medication questions you need to see your prescriber.

Today I talk about secondary benefits in relationship to anxiety disorders, and how this can get in the way of a person’s full recovery.

This is Part 2 of a 2 part series on Adrenaline and Panic Attacks.  If you haven't listened to Part 1 already, please go back and listen to Part 1 on Episode 045.

This is Part 1 of a 2 part series.  Today I talk about the physical effects of adrenaline.

Today we look at patterns in our life and whether they are helpful or harmful.  I use four examples that include changing passive into pro-active, efeated into accomplished, victim into empowered, and pessimist into hopeful.

Do you find yourself thinking negatively in certain situations where other's don't think negatively?  Do the negative thoughts just pop into your head without having to really think about it?  If so you may have Automatic Negative Thoughts.  Today I talk about ANTS, how to identify them, and briefly outline how to change them.

What happens if we treat beliefs as if they are emotions?  We can get trapped into believing lies.  Don't let yourself be trapped - Listen to today's episode.

In today's episode I share several key thinking symptoms of anxiety including need for approval, anticipating a dark future, excessive focus on negativity, perfectionism, poor concentration, and racing negative thoughts.

Today I want to share with you the four key reactions to anxiety: thoughts, emotions, actions, and physical reactions.

Today, I want to answer the question, "What Kind of Help Do I Need?" when wanting to treat anxiety.  Well, that depends upon your symptoms.  Some people mostly need education, while others need to address an overactive sympathetic nervous system and an under-active parasympathetic nervous system.  Some people have long-term problems with anxious thinking patterns that need to be corrected, and still others need to retrain the structure in their brain that determines if something is a life threatening danger or not.  A sequence for treatment that I would recommend is find a therapist that has a long history of successfully assessing and treating those with anxiety, complete a detailed and accurate assessment, develop with your therapist an effective and focused treatment plan that is tailored on your specific needs.

Alright, you have the physical symptoms of anxiety, but why do you have them?  In today's podcast I'll explain that to you and remove the mystery of panic attacks.

Today I share with you the physical symptoms of anxiety as it relates to a Panic Attack as described in the DSM-5.

Your anxiety impact your actions in several ways including decisions, thoughts, and experiential learning.  Larry tackles each of these areas in today's podcast.

What's wrong with my memory?  Well, if you have anxiety issues, then that could be the culprit.  Anxiety related decisions tend to clog up our higher mental functioning and limits our ability to transfer items from short term to long term memory.

Why can't I concentrate?  Is there something medically wrong with me?  Well, people with anxiety often struggle with concentration, and in today's podcast I'll tell you why.

Are you stuck on the perfectionism treadmill?  Would you like to get off?  Would you like to practice an alternative where you feel good about yourself?  Well, it today's podcast that is exactly what I'm going to address.

Remember those old time movies with the old style special effects with models and strings holding them up in the air?  The photographers would use magnification to make small things look big.  Well, that is the same thing that we do with anxiety...we magnify and believe something is bigger or worse than it really is.  Also, we can do catastrophizing and imagine what is happening is a worse case scenario, when it actually isn't.  In today's podcast I address each of these issues.

People with anxiety often live in a scary future, not a scary past or present, but worrying about how bad, terrible and scary the future will be.  But I'm willing to bet your future doesn't turn out to be a scary as your imagination takes you.  The good news is that if you can imagine a scary future you can also imagine a great future!