The award-winning Agony Autie is the utter ramblings of a 30 year old Autistic woman (with Ehlers Danlos).
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Joshua is the author of best-selling books on anxiety, a previous sufferer and a qualified psychotherapist. Co-hosted by Canadian singer, producer, and amateur linguist Ella Jean, The Panic Pod is a discussion-based podcast offering bite-sized practical advice on managing anxiety. It is also an opportunity to illuminate what medical and academic spheres know about anxiety to discuss it in a way that you can take to the pub. Joshua is a fully qualified Psychotherapist and runs a private couns ...
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Shaun Flores is an OCD advocate, public speaker, former model and influencer, aiming to have the right influence on the world. focusing on mental health, well-being, and lifestyle. He is also a public speaker with two TEDx Talks, TEDx 2022 & TEDx 2018. A third TEDx Talk remains in his periphery to help raise awareness of OCD, and in turn, raise fun…
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Neurodivergence ft. Sara, The Agony Autie
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37:22
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In December 2016, 36 year-old Chester resident Sara Jane Harvey started producing educational, yet entertaining videos about what it's like to be autistic. She is a proud parent to her eleven year-old son, who is also autistic. With lively interviews, video essays, weekly vlogs and live streams; Agony Autie aims to share and foster autistic pride a…
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Holiday/Vacation Anxiety ft. Drew Linsalata
36:32
36:32
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Summer is here and it's the time of year when many people and families are heading of on their annual vacation. For those struggling with disordered anxiety, what 'should' be a nice relaxing time away with loved ones can feel like a panic-stricken week full of challenges. This topic has been requested by my audience and so this week, I'm joined by …
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Today, you have the pleasure of listening to my northern accent for 30 minutes. There is no special guest this week but I am covering an incredibly important topic. Many anxiety sufferers also experience depression. But what I want to bring to your attention today is the difference between experiencing depression and having a fear of depression. As…
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Talking about poo, is taboo. Yet, it is very common for anxiety sufferers to experience symptoms of IBS. Today we are joined by Dr Sula Windgassen as we talk about all things irritable bowel syndrome. We cover everything from the basics of IBS, how it is interlinked with anxiety, and how to identify symptoms. Although it can often be an embarrassin…
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OCD is often misunderstood and because of this, many feel a great deal of shame surrounding their obsessions and compulsions. So, I am pleased to have qualified OCD specialist, Jenna Overbaugh on The Panic Pod today to discuss the ins and outs of OCD. We're covering all ground in this introductory episode to OCD: What is OCD? What are compulsions? …
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Joining me today on The Panic Pod is special guest, Kimberley Quinlan. I do not consider myself an expert on eating disorders so it is a privilege to have Kim on the show today who is not only an expert in her field but has also lived with and overcome her own battle with an eating disorder. Not only does Kim help us identify the symptoms of eating…
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Mindfulness is a hot topic at the moment, but is there a 'right' way to do it? According to our special guest today, Dr Leah Katz - yes, there is! Today we discuss the difference between formal and informal mindfulness and alternative approaches to focusing on the breath, which can often increase anxiety and panic for anxiety sufferers. Dr. Katz is…
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Rumination & Fear Of Going Crazy feat. Dr Dave Carbonell
36:16
36:16
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"We don't have to be in danger to feel afraid" - Dr. Dave Carbonell. We have a very exciting episode for you today on The Panic Pod, as I am joined by someone I hold in very high regard, Dr. Dave Carbonell. Dr. Dave and I cover two topics in this episode - rumination and the fear of going crazy. Dr. Carbonell offers some incredible insights that wi…
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The language we use in anxious recovery is so important and yet it is one of the things I see clients not giving the attention it requires. The language you use to describe yourself in anxiety, or yourself during recovery, is so crucial to your progress because the brain is always listening. I often need to gently remind my clients to look at how t…
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Dental Anxiety with Dr Niall Neeson "The Calming Dentist"
34:27
34:27
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Dental anxiety is a big topic of conversation among The Panic Pod and School of Anxiety community, and for understandable reasons. Today on the Panic Pod we are joined by guest expert, Dr Niall Neeson a.k.a The Calming Dentist. Niall has a wonderfully empathetic approach to supporting those of us with dental anxiety to navigate our experiences in t…
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Metacognitive Therapy Ft. Dr Henrik Nordahl and Dr Lora Capobianco
41:54
41:54
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This week, we are joined by Dr Henrik Nordahl and Dr Lora Capobianco. Both guests today are experts in the field of metacognitive therapy. We often discuss a range of different modalities and treatments on the Panic Pod, yet metacognitive therapy is still a lesser-known form of therapy (especially in the UK). Metacognitive therapy (MCT) is a psycho…
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Today we welcome a special guest, Seerut K. Chawla onto the podcast. Seerut is a fellow psychotherapist and self-confessed Lord of the Rings nerd. She has amassed a following of over 235,000 on Instagram for her straight-talking and IG-therapy busting content. Seerut works using an integrative model (which means incorporating different therapeutic …
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Today on the Panic Pod, Josh is joined by counsellor, Louise Tyler to talk about anxiety and sleep. It comes as no surprise that many of us who suffer from anxiety, also struggle with sleep. And in true anxiety style, before we know it we are not only having difficulty sleeping because of the original source of stress but because we are now ruminat…
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Stop Fearing Fear (Student Review) with Zohara Nguyen
37:29
37:29
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Joining Josh on the podcast today is Zohara Nguyen, one of the very first students to sign up to Josh's popular course - Stop Fearing Fear. In today's episode, Zohara takes us through her own personal struggles with anxiety, what motivated her to join the program, and the incredible progress she has made in her anxiety recovery since completing the…
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**CORRECTION: The biggest killer of men under 50 is suicide and depression** Today, Josh is joined by one of his all-time favourite people, Drew Linsalata. Fearing emotions is the topic discussed in today's episode. One that may not fit so cleanly into the category of anxiety or panic but, during their time helping clients manage their anxiety diso…
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Driving is a responsibility that should be taken seriously, but what happens when the heightened sense of alertness for driving becomes a tense white-knuckle ride while battling one's own fear? In this episode, Josh and Ella discuss driving anxiety in the context of both post-traumatic incident driving and generalised anxiety disorder (i.e the fear…
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Episode 36: Anxiety With/Without a Root Cause
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Root causes of anxiety can be traumatic events that cause us to change our behaviour in response to triggers. A root cause may also be something very minor but calcified over time to seem much worse than the first “event” that set things off. However, the idea that anxiety always has a narrative such as this is overused, and doesn’t help people who…
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Episode 35: Emetophobia feat. Kimberley Quinlan
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This episode is funny and empowering. Some of the subject matter can be shocking for people with emetophobia, but ultimately the goal is graduation from exposure, as Kimberley will explain. Emetophobia is a clinical term which describes an extreme fear around vomit or nausea. As Kimberley says, “nobody likes to vomit,” but this phobic behaviour can…
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Wondering about why we’re here, how planet Earth exists and how much of a miracle life is are normal thoughts for us to have from time to time. However, if you have existential anxiety, these thoughts can trigger an anxious response; sweaty palms, shallow breathing, tunnel vision, tinnitus, and other anxious behaviours. For people with conventional…
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In this episode, Joshua and Ella discuss when panic disorder is centred around the fear of developing a serious mental health problem. This is referred to as Mental Health Anxiety. The pattern of mental health anxiety is the disorder of mental health anxiety. Seeing thoughts for what they are (mere, passing thoughts) and remembering that “What If”s…
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Episode 32: Attention feat. The Anxious Truth
34:42
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In this episode Josh asks the question "where is your attention at?" and talks about the importance of attention with special guest, Drew Linsalata of The Anxious Truth. They draw upon some great analogies to help you understand why attention is important and what you can do with it when you're anxious and also when you're not!…
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Episode 31: Body Scanning vs. Body Awareness
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It helps to remove yourself and re-centre for a moment before you start mentally justifying why you are anxious. There’s a lot of wellness narrative around “listening to your body” but when we’re experiencing disordered anxiety then somatic experiencing isn’t easy. Say you’re at therapy and your therapist is trying to get you to notice what some su…
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Episode 30: Comfortable with being Uncomfortable ft. Ben Aldridge
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34:45
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In this episode Josh is joined by special guest, Ben Aldridge, who is the author of the popular book, How to be Comfortable with being Uncomfortable: 43 Weird and Wonderful ways to build a strong and resilient mindset. Josh and Ben discuss how being uncomfortable can push us through to feelings of empowerment and freedom, particular from the clutch…
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Episode 29: The Three Ds: Derealisation, Depersonalisation and Dissociation
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33:10
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Unlike other types of anxiety responses, derealisation and depersonalisation are stress responses which can make you feel like you are having an out-of-body or not-fully-lucid experience. Since anxious responses affect both the mind and body, experiences vary from person-to-person or relate to the situation you’re in. They are a result of stress, h…
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Episode 28: Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
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Could procrastination be a symptom of your anxiety? Is it really procrastination or a nagging feeling that's guilting you for not enjoying yourself when necessary? Did you ever consider that the disordered thinking that occurs when we’re anxious is because of the low level threat response occurring in our bodies? Generalised Anxiety Disorder (or GA…
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Josh's dog represents the adrenal response by being hyper-vigilant for part of the discussion and completely tiring out by the end. This episode is about anticipatory anxiety! Have you ever been more tired out by the dread of doing something that scares you than the actual act of doing it? How can a smaller queue on a giant roller coaster be less s…
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We’ve been posting our Instagram prompts for the end-of-year hashtag #itsjustanxiety to the Panic Pod Community since the 21st of December. Please go on and share your own answer to your instagram story for other listeners to read. Let’s help each other and share the knowledge we’ve gained about anxiety. 💪 Going into 2021, the world is going to loo…
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Starting out this week’s episode with a bit of slam poetry, Josh and Ella discuss anxious relapse. It’s a term that can evoke the feeling that anxiety is a vice that we fall back into or succumb to but, as we know, anxiety is not a wanted or enjoyable experience. On the other hand, we can consider anxiety an addiction to reassurance. It can manifes…
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When you have a panic episode, adrenaline floods the system in a way that was biologically developed to help our survival. As chronic anxiety sufferers know, this adrenal flood happens when there is no tangible threat around us, so it feels like a biological response that is "out of control". Cortisol is another hormone that makes us feel stressed,…
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Catastrophic Thinking is when we consider the spectrum of possibilities that can result from an event and believe in the most drastic, negative outcome. This pattern of thinking can affect our behaviour over time. That’s when anxiety starts to really affect us negatively. Hearing “your behaviour is the problem” when you’ve suffered an anxious episo…
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Self-discipline is something many people wish they had more of, but from Josh and Ella’s experience, people who have tenacious self-discipline can experience anxiety when their inner monologue gets drunk on power and outweighs self-compassion. When we condition our minds into using self-discipline to be productive and achieving results, we must als…
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Based on many questions we’ve received for the podcast, we wanted to put together an episode on recovery. Recovery from chronic anxiety, in essence, is when the frequent, unprovoked feelings anxiety are no longer part of a person’s day-to-day life. It does not, as some anxiety sufferers believe, mean that anxiety will forever disappear. The challen…
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In this bonus episode, Josh is joined by Hannah Strickland, a teacher trainer and lecturer from The University of Manchester. Hannah asks Josh about anxiety in both students and teachers, with particular reference to trainee teachers.
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Episode 20: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
37:46
37:46
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OCD is a widely recognised name but fairly misunderstood disorder. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) can present itself in a variety of different ways including but not limited to; an anxiety about germs and bacteria, an attempt to align symmetry or order, a tendency to hoard belongings, a repetitive checking for safety from harm, or intrusive th…
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Episode 19: Anxiety vs. Anxiety Disorders
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39:52
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In this episode, Josh and Ella discuss the difference between feelings of anxiety and when anxiety becomes a disorder. Comparing it to a sleep disorder or an eating disorder, an anxiety disorder is something uncomfortable that keeps happening, but can be overcome. An anxiety disorder occurs when one finds themselves in a downward spiral of anxious …
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Episode 18: Dr. Meg Van Deusen Author of "Stressed in the U.S.: 12 Tools to Tackle Anxiety, Loneliness, Tech Addiction and More"
44:35
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In this episode of the Panic Pod, Ella has a conversation with Dr. Meg Van Deusen, a Seattle-based psychologist and author of the new book Stressed in the U.S.: 12 Tools to Tackle Anxiety, Loneliness, Tech Addiction and More. Through the stress of the Coronavirus pandemic, climate crisis related events, and state of racial inequality and the presid…
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Episode 17: The Chronic Symptoms of Anxiety
32:18
32:18
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Josh and Ella discuss what life is like to have chronic symptoms of anxiety. One of the most common symptoms is called derealisation. If you have derealisation, all it really means is you have a heightened blood oxygen level from hyperventilation and are experiencing a “fight or flight” response. As a result you get a feeling like you are slightly …
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In this episode of The Panic Pod, we’re joined by Dr. Radha. She is a doctor, broadcaster, and author. In an inspiring conversation between Joshua and Dr. Radha, they break down one of the most common used buzzwords in self-help podcasting: “wellbeing”. Wellbeing encompasses all things that make a person comfortable, happy, and healthy, so therefor…
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Have you ever found yourself thinking, “I am using excuses to make myself feel temporarily more comfortable,”? What about, “I fear deviating away from locations which are familiar to me,”? What happens when you reach the point of realising, “I am avoiding leaving the house”? In this episode, we discuss agoraphobia. Agoraphobia is defined in the dic…
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If someone you knew was experiencing anxiety, how would you calm and reassure them? For many of us, this comes easily. Having compassion and empathy for others is something we do every day. However, when we look at how often we use the same empathic listening on ourselves for our anxiety, it can be hard to find the same amount of compassion. Perhap…
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Following up from our last episode on Imposter Syndrome, this episode has Josh explain a facet of anxiety that was studied extensively by the American psychologist Carl Rogers. Conditions of Worth is a lens in which to look through at threats to self esteem. If you feel as though you have a list of conditions you must meet in order to be a good per…
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Just because you have a feeling or a worry that you got where you are on chance, doesn’t make it true. Imposter Syndrome is the anxious feeling that we are somewhere we don’t belong. This is usually accompanied by feeling like we are not qualified or cool enough for the professional or social environment we find ourselves in. Josh helps Ella illumi…
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Episode 11: Work/Life Balance - with The Repeat Beat Poet
38:44
38:44
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The Repeat Beat Poet (a.k.a PJ) is a friend of Ella’s from the London spoken word/live music scene. Ella often times reaches out to PJ for advice, as he is a performer with a crazy schedule who always seems to keep his work in balance with his own mental health. After many frank conversations about how to keep passion and play in line as independen…
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Bonus Episode: Coronavirus (COVID-19) and Anxiety
39:58
39:58
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“The worst part about Coronavirus is worrying about getting Coronavirus,” but yet we see friends living through it, and others who are immunocompromised facing it fearlessly, so how can people with anxiety cope in this time of isolation and fear? Josh and Ella have a follow up to Episode 9: Health Anxiety in which the unprecedented nature of Corona…
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What does social anxiety make you think of? For Ella, it’s parties. For others, it’s sometimes broader regarding identity and how other people’s opinions may threaten our identity. If you’ve ever had an excited or anxious anticipation of what someone’s text reply is going to be, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have social anxiety, but you know the …
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Content Warning: We discuss the COVID-19 epidemic on the day that the WHO classified it as a pandemic (March 11th) so some things have come to light about the severity of the disease which we didn’t know on the day of recording. Please keep this in mind as you listen. We have a follow-up episode talking about the Coronavirus coming up in two more e…
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Content Warning: Pedophilia, Violence, Suicide Having the ability to let a thought pass through your mind without getting attached to it is one of the most frequent human experiences. Thoughts don’t define us like actions do, but when present in an anxious brain, thoughts can become persistent and intrusive. Josh explains what he does to manage his…
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Episode 7: Instant Gratification Ella poses the question to Josh: What if you’ve followed all of your therapists advice, read all the books, tried all the techniques and still feel anxious? Josh explains the concept of “testing” and how sometimes we have to let go of trying so hard to ‘get better’ in order to find relief for our anxiety. Mentions: …
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Avoidance in the context of panic can prevent us from growing out of our overthinking habits. Ella has a fear of word documents and isn’t afraid to share. Josh and Ella discuss what their anxiety-coping ‘patronus charm’ might be. Please send us questions at talk@thepanicroom.co.uk or connect with us on social @ellaofthenet and @joshuafletcher.autho…
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