Anatomy of Anxiety with Integrative Psychiatrist, Dr. Ellen Vora

The Root Cause Medicine Podcast

Kate Kresge

Alternative Health, Medicine, 810564, Health & Fitness

4.8 • 581 Ratings

🗓️ 13 May 2025

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In today’s episode of The Root Cause Medicine Podcast, Dr. Kate Kresge sits down with Dr. Ellen Vora to discuss a revolutionary framework for understanding anxiety—not as a disorder, but as a message from the body or soul. They explore the difference between false anxiety, which stems from physiological imbalances like blood sugar crashes, sleep disruption, and inflammation, and true anxiety, which often points to deeper emotional or existential truths. You’ll hear them discuss: - Why anxiety is the beginning of an inquiry—not a final diagnosis - The difference between “false” (body-based) and “true” (purpose-driven) anxiety - How nutrient deficiencies and gut imbalances can mimic psychiatric symptoms - The surprising mental health effects of hormonal birth control - How to use food as medicine to support neurotransmitter balance and calm - The dangers of benzodiazepines—and how to taper with the help of functional medicine - The power of psychobiotics, circadian rhythm, and inflammation reduction - Why GABA, inositol, and phosphatidylcholine are key to recovery - How to approach anxiety with both compassion and curiosity

Transcript

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0:00.0	Today on the root cause medicine podcast.
0:03.0	Here's how I distinguished the types of anxiety.
0:05.8	I think that we have anxiety based in the physical body,
0:08.7	and I think we have anxiety based in our psychospercial needs.
0:12.1	Anxiety based in the physical body, it's caused by some state of physical imbalance
0:17.9	that then generates a stress response that we then subjectively experience
0:22.9	as anxiety as a gnawing feeling in our gut as worry as racing thoughts as the inability to
0:29.8	unwind or relax we can experience it as panic attacks and that physical based anxiety is what
0:36.9	I call false anxiety or avoidable anxiety. I've come to realize that calling it false anxiety is not only triggering to think, you know, it can sound like it's gaslighting and invalidating someone's experience.
0:49.3	As someone who was in a state of what I consider it be false depression all through med school, residency.
0:55.2	To me, the suffering of a false state is not any less real. It's very real, life-alteringly real
1:02.2	suffering. The false speaks to the fact that it doesn't have to be happening. This is avoidable.
1:07.9	This is unnecessary. It's not our true essence. It's not our North Star. This is
1:13.2	unnecessary suffering that's happening as a result of physical imbalance. Well, hello there. I'm Dr. Kate Kreske,
1:20.0	your host for today. And we are talking with Dr. Ellen Bora, the author of The Anatomy of Anxiety.
1:25.7	Now, what if your anxiety wasn't something to be medicated away or to be avoided, but rather
1:30.3	something to be understood and worked with and healed.
1:33.2	Dr. Ellen Bora has a phenomenal and revolutionary approach to anxiety.
1:37.1	She groups anxiety into two different categories, false or avoidable anxiety and true anxiety.
1:43.2	And she walks us through the body-based causes of false or avoidable anxiety and true anxiety. And she walks us through the body-based causes of false or avoidable anxiety.
1:48.0	The things that are tricking us into thinking their anxiety, but really they're a medical
1:52.0	problem that can actually be diagnosed, treated, and healed.
	...

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