Asking For Anxiety Help (Episode 156)

Asking for help can be difficult, especially when you are struggling with anxiety, panic disorder, OCD, or agoraphobia. In this episode, Drew and Josh break down the nuances of asking for anxiety help. There is a fine line between asking for genuine support and looking for compulsive reassurance or soothing to make the discomfort disappear.

Drew and Josh discuss why so many people feel like a burden when asking for support and how anxiety often twists the desire for help into a demand for certainty. You will learn how to shift away from asking for short-term fixes and instead ask for the encouragement and reminders you need to tolerate difficult feelings and build long-term psychological flexibility.

--

Want talk about this episode with Josh and Drew and others that share your experience in a supportive environment? We're hanging out on the Disordered Community space.

https://disordered.fm/community

--

The guys also share inspiring "Did It Anyway" stories from the community, demonstrating how learning to accept discomfort—and sometimes even choosing to do less or rest—is a vital part of the recovery journey.

• Reassurance vs. Support: Understanding the difference between asking for tools to cope and asking for temporary soothing to make the feelings go away.

• Overcoming the "Burden" Myth: Why anxiety makes you feel like an inconvenience and how to reframe asking for help as a step toward growth.

• Asking for Encouragement over Certainty: How requesting reminders of your past success and capability can help you step into feared situations.

• The Courage to Do Less: Why sometimes the best way to do it anyway is to give yourself permission to rest and step off the productivity treadmill.

---

The Disordered Guide to Health Anxiety is available as a paperback or on Kindle

https://www.disordered.fm/the-disordered-guide-to-health-anxiety/

---

Struggling with worry and rumination that you feel you can't stop or control? Check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Worry and Rumination Explained⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, a two hour pre-recorded workshop produced by Josh and Drew. The workshop takes a deep dive into the mechanics of worrying and ruminating, offering some helpful ways to approach the seemingly unsolvable problem of trying to solve seemingly unsolvable problems.

-----

Got a question or did it anyway to share? Send us an email or voicemail on our website.