Healing Is My Hobby with Jessica Colarco, LCSW12 Okt

Your Anxiety Is Trying to Protect You

Your Anxiety Is Trying to Protect You

Healing Is My Hobby | October 12, 2026

Last week we asked, is this a problem, or is this a prediction? This week we go deeper into why anxiety shows up the way it does. Underneath the overthinking, checking, avoiding, rehearsing, and 3 a.m. wake-up calls, anxiety usually has one message: something might go wrong, and I want to make sure you're prepared.

In this episode, Jessica Colarco, LCSW, explains how your brain's alarm system works, why it can become oversensitive, and why anxiety can be protective without being accurate. You'll learn how avoidance, reassurance-seeking, and overthinking bring short-term relief while teaching your brain that the danger was real, and how to start relating to anxiety differently without fighting it.

In this episode:

Why your brain is designed to look for danger, and what happens when the smoke detector goes off every time you make toast
Why feeling unsafe and being unsafe aren't always the same thing
How past experiences teach your brain what to watch for, and why it sometimes works from old information
Anxiety can be protective without being accurate
How avoidance, reassurance, and overthinking can keep anxiety going
Why trying to shut anxiety down often leads to anxiety about anxiety
Why the goal isn't to never feel anxious

Your practice this week:

When anxiety shows up, ask yourself:

What is my anxiety trying to protect me from?
Is there an actual threat or problem happening right now?
What would I do next if I didn't need absolute certainty first?

Coming up next week: The anxiety loop: why the things that make anxiety feel better right now can keep it going.

Free resource:

Download Your Personal Care Plan, a simple place to start noticing what you need and what actually supports you, from the resource library at heal.jessicacolarcolcsw.com.

Connect:

📩 Join the newsletter at healingismyhobby.com

📷 Instagram: @healingismyhobby

▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@healingismyhobby

🩺 Work with Jessica: jessicacolarcolcsw.com

📷 Instagram: @jessicacolarcolcsw

🎵 TikTok: @jessicacolarcolcsw

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This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for therapy or professional mental health care.

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