1212: Why Trying to Fix Anxiety Can Make It Worse: What Helps Instead
The Anxiety Coaches Podcast
Gina Ryan
4.6 • 1.9K Ratings
🗓️ 18 January 2026
⏱️ 18 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In today's episode, Gina discusses why anxiety can be resistant when trying to address it directly. Through acceptance and curiosity, we can come to better understand our anxiety without causing it to flare up and become worse. Listen in for strategies on how to attend to your anxiety gently, with an open heart, and without undue force.
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Chapters
0:26 Welcome to the Anxiety Coaches Podcast
2:59 The Trap of Fixing Mode
7:20 Understanding Anxiety's Persistence
9:50 Changing Your Relationship with Anxiety
13:49 Practical Strategies for Relief
15:25 Healing Through Compassion and Patience
Summary
In this insightful episode of the Anxiety Coaches Podcast, I delve into the often misunderstood relationship between anxiety and our efforts to manage it. I explore the counterproductive nature of trying to "fix" anxiety and how this can inadvertently reinforce its presence in our lives. Instead of viewing anxiety as an adversary to conquer, I encourage listeners to reconsider their approach and shift to a mindset of coexistence and understanding.
Drawing on the themes from our recent discussions, I highlight that anxiety, while challenging, is a natural human experience. It’s important to differentiate between healthy stress that comes and goes and anxiety that lingers, causing distress. Many of us fall into the trap of fixing mode, believing that we must eliminate anxiety entirely before we can lead fulfilling lives. This perspective can lead to constant self-monitoring, excessive reassurance-seeking, and avoidance behaviors that ultimately entrench our anxiety rather than alleviate it.
The episode emphasizes the paradox that comes with the insistence to fix anxiety. Every time we obsessively monitor our feelings or seek validation from others, we signal to our nervous system that something is amiss, thus heightening our anxiety rather than softening it. I propose a radical shift in our mindset—inviting listeners to treat anxiety not as a problem, but as a companion on the journey of life. By putting anxiety in the backseat, we can focus on meaningful experiences and activities, regardless of its presence.
#Anxiety #Stress #MentalHealth #AnxietyCoachesPodcast #GinaRyan #AnxietyRecovery #NervousSystem #Safety #Mindfulness #Healing #SelfCare #InnerPeace #Calm #Psychology #Wellness #Acceptance #CarlJung #OvercomingAnxiety #PanicAttack #MentalWellbeing #HolisticHealth #AnxietyTips #MentalHealthMatters #HealthAnxiety #MindBody #RecoveryJourney #EndResistance #Allowing #Compassion #EmotionalIntelligence #Neuroscience #SelfHealing #AnxietySupport #MindfulLiving #StressRelief #VagusNerve #MentalHealth2026 #BreakTheLoop #ACP
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the anxiety coaches podcast, a relaxing and informative show where we explore anxiety, panic, and PTSD, sharing how you can overcome them for life. |
| 0:23.1 | Aloha. |
| 0:24.2 | Welcome back to the Anxiety Coaches podcast. |
| 0:27.6 | I'm your host and coach, Gina Ryan, and I am so happy to be with you again today |
| 0:34.0 | as together we can consider the many ways to bring your mind and body back to its |
| 0:40.5 | natural peace and calm. In today's episode, I'm talking about why trying to fix your anxiety |
| 0:47.4 | can make it worse and what we can do instead. These last few episodes that we've been doing here at the beginning of January, |
| 0:57.7 | 2026, has been about reviewing, reviewing what makes anxiety so much of a problem for us, |
| 1:08.5 | instead of it just being a part of life where it comes and brushes |
| 1:13.6 | up against us and then is gone again stress just brushes up against us and then we |
| 1:20.1 | resolve things and we are back to our normal inner peace and calm again but i know that if you've been listening to this show and you are |
| 1:30.7 | listening to this particular episode, there's a chance in your life that you have spent time |
| 1:35.9 | trying to fix your anxiety, fixing it by doing things like trying to calm your body down, |
| 1:43.3 | fixing it by trying to control your thoughts, fixing it by trying to control your thoughts, |
| 1:46.6 | fixing it by trying to figure out the root cause, or fixing it by trying to do the right thing. |
| 1:53.6 | And I have air quotes around right, whether that be the breathing or the mindset or the right |
| 1:59.2 | routine. And if anxiety is still there, |
| 2:03.6 | you're then wondering, what am I doing wrong? Well, today I want to offer a different perspective. |
| 2:11.1 | And this is one that might feel counterintuitive at first, but hang in there with me. |
| 2:16.6 | What if the constant effort to get rid of anxiety |
| 2:20.2 | is actually a part of what keeps it alive? Not because you're failing, not because you're doing |
| 2:29.1 | something wrong, but because anxiety responds to how we relate to it, not how hard we try to eliminate it. It's about our |
... |
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