Owning It: The Anxiety Podcast

This is a solo episode. I struggled to fully explain it in the title but it's dedicated to a close friend currently in the trenches of health anxiety with plenty of additional anxiety on top. It's everything I want her to know. Everything that might help her ride this wave including a step by step roadmap for overcoming anxiety. If you would like to support this podcast you can do so by subscribing to my Substack (with 20% off for all pod listeners) at this link.

This is one of the hardest areas of anxiety to get on top of: health anxiety. Whether it's general health anxiety where you're prone to spiralling about what could or might go wrong with your health, or you suffer with OCD or body related conditions such as Trichotillomania, this episode is probably the most helpful thing you could listen to. With anxiety expert and CBT therapist Kimberley Quinlan (she's huge on Instagram here), we go through it all, if it can be overcome and how to manage something that feels so all consuming. We also talk about self compassion and how to get it right. Sign up to my Substack Substack, with 20% off forever at this link.

On this episode of the series I am joined by international bestselling author and reporter with The New Yorker Charles Duhigg who wrote The Power of Habit. Here we talk about his new book Supercommunicators and how to crack social anxiety with some really practical tools and insights.

Join me with guest Laura Guckian, life coach, host of 'Momfessions' and creator of Mind Mommy Coaching as we talk about postpartum anxiety, which, for her, was so significant she decided to check herself into a psychiatric hospital. How did the anxiety show up for her? What does a hospital level of mental health support look like? We talk about whether the problem for new mothers is the lack of support or the skewed perception of early motherhood that pervades social media. Read more of my essays on motherhood over on my Substack, with 20% off forever at this link.

This week I have a powerful episode with Terence Power, co-host of the super successful Talking Bollox podcast. We try to unpack his experience of anxiety, growing up in an environment affected hugely by poverty, alcohol and drug abuse, crime and violence. How did he cope? How did he come out the other side? Was anxiety behind all of it? Terence talks through his story with such impressive vulnerability, it will no doubt help another young person in a similar position.

My guest for this episode is the mega bestselling author of Dopamine Nation and her name is Dr Anna Lembke. She's an American psychiatrist and Chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic at Stanford University. She is a specialist in the opioid epidemic in the United States. Here we talk about the relationship between anxiety, pleasure and pain. The pleasure pain balance and the way in which we move toward pleasure to solve anxiety and it works short term, but for many of the things we do to - such as picking up our phone to scroll - we only create more anxiety longterm. we talk about medication, addiction - and not just addiction to drugs or alcohol. We talk about our intolerance of boredom, the importance of what she calls 'pro social shame' and her go-to self binding strategies. Sign up to my Substack and get 20% off forever at this link.

For this episode we're hearing from someone who's felt severe anxiety and figured out how to manage it. My guest is the brilliant Vicki Notaro, bestselling author of her debut novel Reality Check. A prominent journalist and editor in Ireland, Vicki has an eerily similar story to me, having been floored by anxiety for reasons she struggled to understand at the time, in her mid 20s. Here we unpack where it might have began (hormones might play a significant role) and what works for her today. Sign up to my Substack with a listener discount here.

On this first episode of my new season I am joined by Dr Nicole Vignola, neuroscientist and author of brand new book REWIRE. We talk about the steps required to break the anxiety cycle, understanding the role of our default mode network and how it relates to our executive network, the things that we think won't make a difference but really do and the science behind them and so much more. Sign up to my Substack with a listener discount here.

On this episode, the final of this season, I am joined by clinical psychologist Dr Claire Conlon (The Caterpillar Clinic) for a very specific conversation that I hope will be useful for those among you who are parents. This mirrors my own current experience, and my last year and a half. It's about the overwhelming anxiety you can carry as a parent when you're worried about your child and the ways in which they appear to be struggling, when you're not sure what or if something is at play for them, where to go to for support and wondering if it's something that will just pass with time or if it's something you need to look into. We also talk about the problem with self-blame and the importance of regulating yourself as a parent. I draw on my own experience a lot for this. I hope you find this episode reassuring and helpful and I'll be back very soon for a brand news season. If you are looking for more information on things like cost and exactly what to expect from a private psychological asssessment for your child, I'm including the link to my article here: https://carolineforan.substack.com/p/whats-involved-in-having-your-child Get 20% off my Substack.