Disordered: Anxiety Help
Episodes
Anxiety and Not Feeling The "Right" Emotions (Episode 138)
26 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When you're at your child's birthday party, your wedding day, or on a much-anticipated vacation, do you find yourself feeling anxious instead ...
Anxiety Disorders and the Fear of Insanity (Episode 137)
19 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
One of the most terrifying fears in anxiety disorders is the fear of losing your mind. In this episode, Drew and Josh explore dementophobia - the fear...
Health Anxiety: The Disordered Guide to Health Anxiety (Episode 136)
12 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Drew and Josh announce the release of their first co-written book, The Disordered Guide to Health Anxiety, and dive deep into the many faces of health...
Anxiety Symptoms: Dizziness & Lightheadedness (Episode 135)
05 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Disordered, the guys delve into the common anxiety symptoms of dizziness and lightheadedness. They share personal experiences, disc...
Agoraphobia & Fear of Open Spaces (Episode 134)
28 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Agoraphobia. Is it fear of open spaces? Do people with agoraphobia always fear open spaces? What even is agoraphobia and how to I overcome it?This wee...
Doing It Anyway - While Hurting And Challenged (Episode 133)
14 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sometimes life throws real challenges at you. Medical issues. Loss. Uncertainty. The kind of stuff that makes anxiety feel completely justified. So ho...
Anxious About Feeling ... Calm? (Episode 132)
07 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Panicogenic Relaxation: Why You Feel Anxious When Feeling CalmYou're finally feeling better. The anxiety has lifted. You're relaxed and calm f...
Anxiety Recovery - Learning To Believe In Yourself Again (Episode 131)
31 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When anxiety and its relentless inner critic take hold, one of the most profound losses is the belief and trust in your own capability. In this episod...
Craig The Critic (Episode 130)
17 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Drew and Josh explore the powerful role of the internal critic—affectionately named "Craig"—in maintaining anxiety diso...
Anxiety Symptoms - AIR HUNGER (Episode 129)
10 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Disordered, Drew and Josh tackle one of the most frightening anxiety symptoms: air hunger - that terrifying feeling that you can...
How Long Does De-Sensitization Take? (Episode 128)
03 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
One of the most common questions we hear from people working through anxiety disorders and OCD is: "How long is this going to take?" In this...
"Anxiety Recovery OCD?" (Episode 127)
25 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Can your focus on getting better actually make things worse? In this episode, we explore what happens when the recovery process itself becomes an obse...
When The News Triggers Anxiety (Episode 126)
19 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How do you handle anxiety when the news feels overwhelming? With constant exposure to current events, political tensions, and global crises through so...
Did It Anyway - Volume 4 (Episode 125)
12 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to another inspiring round of "Did It Anyway" stories, where we celebrate real wins from our community members who chose to move for...
Anxiety and Mental Health Misinformation w/Dr. Birthe Macdonald (Episode 124)
05 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this essential episode, Drew and Josh are joined by Dr. Birthe Macdonald, a psychologist and neuroscience researcher who's become a vital voice...
Anxiety Recovery: Semantics and Choosing Words Wisely (Episode 123)
29 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we explore how the language we use to describe our anxiety experiences can either fuel our struggles or support our recovery. We exam...
Have You Learned How To Panic Yet? (Episode 122)
22 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Josh and Drew tackle one of the most counterintuitive concepts in overcoming panic attacks: learning how to panic better, rather than...
Forgiving Yourself In Anxiety Recovery (Episode 121)
15 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When you're struggling with anxiety disorders, you often do things that don't reflect who you really are - avoiding social gatherings, canceli...
Anxiety and the Death of Curiosity (Episode 120)
08 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When anxiety takes hold, one of the first casualties is our natural sense of wonder and openness to new experiences. In this episode of Disordered, le...
Processing ... Or Anxious Thinking? (Episode 119)
01 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When something shocking or difficult happens, we're often told we need to "process" our emotions. But what if that endless loop of repla...
Healing in Anxiety Disorders (Episode 118)
25 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Disordered, the guys tackle one of the most misunderstood concepts in anxiety recovery: healing. Sparked by a listener question abo...
Getting Out Of An Anxious Head (Episode 117)
11 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ever feel trapped in cycles of rumination, overthinking, and constant mental chatter about your anxiety? In this episode, Drew and Josh tackle the cha...
Anxiety and The Illusion of Control (Episode 116)
04 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What If I Want To Control My Anxiety Holistically?In this episode, Drew and Josh examine tension between wanting to control anxiety through holistic a...
Anxiety Recovery - Am I Doing Too Much (Episode 115)
27 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Am I Doing Too Much Recovery/Exposure?This week Drew and Josh tackle a common question in anxiety recovery: "Am I pushing myself too hard with ex...
Listener Questions About Anxiety & Recovery (Episode 114)
20 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week Drew and Josh are answering questions from listeners. Questions addressed in this episode include:Is it "normal" to feel a letdown after com...
Death Anxiety w/Professor David Veale (Episode 113)
13 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Death anxiety - an obsessive fixation on death, dying and existence driven by intense fear of the inevitability of death - is a very common experience...
Rumination ... Or Reflection? (Episode 112)
06 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What's the difference between rumination and reflection? Ruminators, worriers, and over thinkers often struggle to recognize the useful limits of ...
If Its Anxiety .... It MUST Be Trauma! (Episode 111)
30 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week on Disordered we're discussing the all too common narrative in wellness circles that demands that we ascribe all anxiety or suffering of...
Anxiety Recovery: Worse Before Better - Part II (Episode 110)
23 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"Help! I started doing exposures and trying to accept my anxiety and its getting worse!"This is a very common experience in anxiety disorder recovery....
My Anxiety Makes Me Frustrated / Angry / Sad / Guilty! (Episode 109)
16 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When we struggle with chronic or disordered anxiety, we regularly experience powerful emotions that tend to look like fear or tension. We may experien...
Anxiety, ChatGPT, AI, Reddit ... and Dr. Google (Episode 108)
09 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"Hey ChatGPT. Please tell me how I'll know if I'm accepting my anxiety or avoiding it.""Hey ChatGPT. When I get anxious my vision gets weird. Can anxi...
Two Week Break - April 18, 2025
18 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We're taking a short two week break, so no new episode of Disordered for April 18 or April 25. We'll be back again on May 2!In the meanwhile, head ove...
Doing ... And NOT Doing ... In Anxiety Recovery (Episode 107)
11 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When working on anxiety recovery, sometimes we're DOING. Other times we have to focus on NOT doing. How confusing is that!?This week Drew and Josh...
Emetophobia - Fear of Vomiting w/Dara Lovitz & Dr. David Yusko (Episode 106)
04 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emetophobia - an intense fear of vomiting and any thoughts or sensations associated with vomiting - is a more common struggle among anxious people tha...
Existential Anxiety With Depersonalization/De-Realization (Episode 105)
28 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
One of the perfect storms in the anxiety disorder world is the combination of existential related anxiety with the sensations/experiences of depersona...
Anxiety and "Incomplete" Recovery (Episode 104)
21 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Do you feel like you've "mostly" overcome your chronic or disordered anxiety issues but there are still challenges that linger? Maybe yo...
Anxiety and Flying w/Dr. David Carbonell (Episode 103)
14 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When working to overcome an anxiety disorder, the biggest challenge many in our community can identify is flying. For chronically anxious people, the ...
Self-Soothing When Anxiety Appears? (Episode 102)
07 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How can I learn to self-soothe when I get anxious and I'm terrified of my body or my thoughts?Well ... while it might seem like launching into a s...
Breathing/Breath Anxiety (Episode 101)
28 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Breathing anxiety! This is such a common issue in the Disordered community. Breathing or breath focused anxiety often involves a few key concepts:&quo...
Did It Anyway - Volume 3 (Episode 100)
21 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
To celebrate the 100th episode (and over a million downloads) of Disordered, we thought celebrating listener and community wins would be a great way t...
Existential Anxiety! (Episode 99)
14 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What is existence? What is the point of all this? Do I even really exist? The universe is so insanely huge! What even is time? What happens when we d...
Willful Tolerance and the Sensitized State (Episode 98)
07 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When Drew and Josh form a band, they will call it "Willful Tolerance and the Sensitized State". Kinda like Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trou...
The Compassionate Mind - The Role of Compassion in Anxiety Recovery (Episode 97)
31 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
If being anxious means you are less than, defective, doing it wrong, or that you are at fault for not being able to control or stop your anxiety, you ...
Anxiety ... Without Judgment? (Episode 96)
24 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
I hate anxiety and panic. I hate my intrusive scary thoughts. I fear them. Why does everyone keep talking about "not judging". I MUST judge ...
Real Event OCD (Episode 95)
17 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
BUT THIS REALLY HAPPENED! You have an event in your past that you just can't stop thinking about and ruminating on, and the feelings you are getting ...
Anxiety Insights w/Dr Sally Winston and Dr. Martin Seif (Episode 94)
10 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week on Disordered we're having a good old anxiety Q&A session, except the people answering the questions are legends in the area of anxiety ...
Anxiety Recovery ... Chasing "Rest and Digest" (Episode 93)
03 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"I MUST BE CALM OR ALL BETS ARE OFF!" If this feels like a rule you're living by, you may find that you're chasing calm all the time, looking for way...
Anxiety Disorders .. The "Default Thought" (Episode 92)
27 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
There is a default thought that stands as thread that weaves itself throughout the life of a person struggling with disordered or chronic anxiety. "...
I Get So Anxious When I'm Sick! (Episode 91)
20 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"When I am ill, my anxiety goes through the roof!" Does this sound familiar? Many people struggling with disordered anxiety will say that if they get...
Help! I'm In An Anxiety Spiral! (Episode 90)
13 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"Spiraling" is one of the terms heard quite often in the community of people struggling with anxiety disorders. There's a trigger like a thought or ...
Anxiety Recovery: How Important Is Attention? (Episode 89)
06 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How important is the concept of attention in driving an anxiety disorder and influencing the recovery process? VERY important! This week on Disordered...
Anxiety, ACT, and The Happiness Trap w/ Dr Russ Harris (Episode 88)
29 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The struggle in an anxiety disorder is seen in two almost automatic responses to anxiety - we either obey it and do what it tells us we must do, or we...
Measuring Anxiety Disorder Recovery (Episode 87)
22 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How can you tell if you're getting better? How do you measure or at least see progress when working on recovery from an anxiety disorder? What happens...
Anxiety, Caffeine, Alcohol, and Cheeseburgers (Episode 86)
15 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Do you have to give up coffee, tea, wine, pizza and cake to recover from an anxiety disorder? Well ... if you ask the Internet and consult general wel...
Obsessive and Compulsive? (Episode 85)
08 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week on Disordered we're starting with the assertion that all anxiety disorders are obsessive and compulsive in at least some way. Then we make o...
Listener Questions About Anxiety and Recovery (Episode 84)
01 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week Josh and Drew are answering questions from Disordered listeners. How to deal with the shame associated with anxiety and recovery when a p...
Anxiety Disorders - Primary vs Secondary Fear (Episode 83)
25 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week Drew and Josh are talking about secondary fear. When triggered into an anxious state by thoughts, sensations, or anything else, we ALL exp...
WHY Did I Develop An Anxiety Disorder? (Episode 82)
18 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Everyone that develops an anxiety disorder wants to know why that happened. Why do some people develop disorders while others are anxious and stressed...
Learning To Be Bored in Anxiety Recovery (Episode 81)
11 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Anxious people in recovery from chronic or disordered anxiety can find themselves bored ... and this is often a problem. This week on Disordered we're...
Dating With an Anxiety Disorder (Episode 80)
04 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"I want to get back into dating but I'm still struggling with anxiety. What should I do?" "It's been going well with this new person and I'm afraid to...
What's YOUR Anxiety Narrative (Episode 79)
27 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Your anxiety narrative is the way you conceptualize your anxiety issues alongside how you see yourself, the world, your life in general, and how you m...
Anxiety Disorders: Shock, Attention, and Resistance (Episode 78)
20 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Three things start and drive disordered states of anxiety: Shock, Attention, and Resistance Shock is what we experience when anxiety levels skyroc...
Health Anxiety and Somatic Hyper Focus (Episode 77)
13 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Somatic Hyper Focus - That thing where an anxious person becomes hyper aware and hyper fixated on specific bodily sensations or bodily functions. This...
Anxiety Recovery: When The Techniques Don't Work (Episode 76)
06 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What do you do when you're working on recovery from an anxiety disorder and your techniques stop working? How do you handle those hard days when you c...
The Social Impacts of Anxiety (Episode 75)
30 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week Drew and Josh are looking at the social impacts of anxiety. What happens when panic attacks, anxiety waves, or a flood of scary intrusive th...
When Anxious People Try to Perfectly Fix ... EVERYTHING (Episode 74)
09 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Humans will often make the mistake of trying to apply our analytical and problem solving skills in areas where they do not belong. Anxious people - pe...
Anxiety Questions and Answers (Episode 73)
02 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Let's do an old-fashioned anxiety question and answer session! This week Josh and Drew are answering questions sent in by members of the Disordered p...
Anxiety Recovery and the Fawn / People Pleasing Response (Episode 72)
26 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Fight ... flight ... or freeze. But what about the fawn response? This week on Disordered, Drew and Josh explore the fawn response and people pleasin...
Anxiety Recovery and Metacognitive Therapy (Episode 71)
19 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An anxious state can be at least partially fueled by the act of metacognition. That's thinking and feeling ... about thinking and feeling. When meta-b...
When Anxiety Feels Automatic (Episode 70)
12 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Even when you understand that changing your reaction to anxious thoughts, feelings, and sensations is the way out ... you may feel that this is imposs...
But What About ...? Applying General Principles in Anxiety Recovery (EP 69)
05 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
If you've ever listened to an episode of Disordered and felt the need to ask "Yes, but what about when ...?", then this episode is for you. A common ...
Heat Anxiety (Episode 68)
28 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Summer has arrived in the US and the UK, so let's talk about anxiety based on the heat. Summertime is often a difficult time for people struggling wit...
Anxiety Recovery and Food/Eating (Episode 67)
21 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We're back in business this week with both Josh and Drew in studio again chatting about the role of food and eating in the anxiety recovery process. E...
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy w/Dr. Steven C Hayes (Episode 66)
14 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The principles of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) are heard in every episode of disordered. Whenever you hear Drew or Josh talk about acceptan...
Why Is Mindfulness So Hard In Anxiety Recovery? (Episode 65)
07 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mindfulness is good for anxiety, right? Isn't this what everyone says? Mindfulness fixes anxiety and makes you happier? Isn't that it? Well ...
Anxiety and the Freeze Response (Episode 64)
31 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Everyone talks about the fight or flight response. But what about the freeze and fawn responses, which are also found in the anxiety disorder communit...
Anxiety Recovery: Monitoring Mundane Moods (Episode 63)
24 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When working through the process of chronic or disordered anxiety recovery many will find that at some point they are fixated on or have become a bit ...
Examining the Relationship Between Anxiety and Grief (Episode 062)
17 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How does one approach recovery from chronic or disordered anxiety when grief is part of the picture? Do the same principles apply? Do we use concepts ...
Relationship Anxiety and Relationship OCD (Episode 061)
10 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week on Disordered we're looking at anxiety focused on relationships, specifically a form of OCD known as Relationship OCD (ROCD). ROCD - li...
Nocturnal Panic Attacks and Scary Dreams (Episode 60)
03 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
WHAT ABOUT NOCTURNAL PANIC ATTACKS? HOW DO WE DEAL WITH THOSE? Nocturnal panic attacks are scary, disturbing, disruptive, and often feel like they ar...
Values Driven Anxiety Recovery (Episode 59)
26 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
WHAT DOES "VALUES DRIVEN RECOVERY" MEAN? Anxiety recovery can be seen as one long journey away from fear driven behavior and toward behavio...
Anxiety And Tension, Soreness, Twitching and Weakness (Episode 58)
19 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
BUT WHAT ABOUT WHEN YOU'RE TENSE AND SORE? HOW CAN YOU HANDLE THAT? This is one of those questions we get asked all the time. In this episode of ...
Anxiety Recovery ... What Am I Supposed To Think About? (Ep 57)
12 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"I know I'm not supposed to focus inward or engage with my anxious or intrusive thoughts, but what am I supposed to think about?!" This...
What Anxiety Recovery Lens Are You Looking Through? (Episode 56)
05 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 appr...
Help! My Nervous System Is Dysregulated! (Ep 55)
29 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
MY NERVOUS SYSTEM IS DYSREGULATED! This week Drew and Josh get up close and personal with "nervous system dysregulation". This is a term tha...
The Great OCD Whistle Stop Tour of 2024 (Episode 54)
22 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week on Disordered we're taking a grand tour around the OCD loop! Josh and Drew talk about pure-O, somatic, and "traditional" obses...
Inside The Mind of an Anxiety Therapist (Episode 53)
15 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What Is Your Therapist Thinking While You're Talking? Therapists are people too. They have feelings, opinions, insecurities, fears, and personali...
Did It Anyway - Part 2 (Episode 52)
08 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 suppor...
Neuropathways, Habits, and Anxiety (Episode 51)
01 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What about all this "neuropathways" talk? What does it mean in anxiety recovery? Funny that you asked! This week on Disordered Josh and Dre...
Anxiety Recovery, Re-Sensitization, and De-Sensitization (Episode 50)
23 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 rec...
Anxiety Recovery and "Burnout" (Episode 049)
16 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Anxiety and Compulsive Wellness (Episode 48)
09 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Are you using wellness concepts, techniques, programs, and principles as a way to resist feelings of anxiety? There's absolutely nothing wrong wi...
Anxiety And The Inward Compulsion (Episode 047)
02 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 e...
Anxiety Recovery: Worse Before Better? (Episode 46)
26 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"Is it normal for my symptoms, or thoughts, or my anxiety to get worse when I start engaging in recovery?" Even Dr. Claire Weekes acknowled...
What Does Anxiety Therapy Look Like? (Episode 45)
19 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"What does anxiety therapy look like?" "What goes on in a session with an anxiety specialist?" "How can I find the right ther...
Anxiety and Menopause w/Helen Bennett (Episode 44)
12 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
But what about hormonal issues, perimenopause, and menopause???!!! This is a question that we are asked all the time, and rightfully so. This week we...
Anxiety About Not Being Anxious? (Episode 043)
05 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Do you ever get anxious ... because you're not feeling anxious? This is a real thing in our community! Anxious people who begin to experience mom...
Is Anxiety Recovery About Healing ... Or Learning? (Episode 42)
29 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
"Healing" is a VERY popular word in self-help, mental health, and wellness circles. For many, this word resonates. For our friends strugglin...
Exercise, Gym, and Exertion Anxiety (Episode 41)
24 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Anxiety triggered by exercise, exertion, or being in the gym is a common struggle for anyone dealing with issues like panic attacks, agoraphobia, or a...
Productivity Anxiety (Episode 040)
15 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Productivity anxiety is an often overlooked subject in our community, so this week Drew and Josh are taking a look at anxiety triggered by an obsessio...