Anxiety Recovery: Relapse ... setback ... and reversion (Episode 022)
Disordered: Anxiety Help
Josh Fletcher and Drew Linsalata
4.9 • 665 Ratings
🗓️ 11 August 2023
⏱️ 46 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week on Disordered Josh and Drew address the topic of setback or relapse. What is it? Does it even exist, or is a "setback" just another experience along the way to recovery? Of special note is the concept of "reversion" which frames this issue not as failure or return of some anxiety monster, but as a return to hold habits. Did you get triggered and fall back into old habits? No problem! You're human like everyone else and this can happen to all of us. When you see that you're back in those old habits, now you can make new choices and "get back on that horse".
Being triggered or feeling intense anxiety after having a long break is certainly discouraging and disappointing. You're allowed to have emotions about that. Just don't set up permanent residence in "It's back, I'm powerless, and I've failed" land. That's not fair to you.
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Disclaimer: Disordered is not therapy or a replacement for therapy. Listening to Disordered does not create a therapeutic relationship between you and the hosts of the podcast. Information here is provided for psychoeducational purposes. As always, when you have questions about your own well-being, please consult your mental health and/or medical care providers. If you are having a mental health crisis, always reach out immediately for in-person help.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | If you feel like you're having a relapse or it's back, you've lost the willful and willful tolerance. |
| 0:09.0 | I don't like the word relapse because it's an indicator that somehow it happens again or it comes back. |
| 0:15.0 | It's not it came back. It's just, well, you're having experiences that human beings will have sometimes. And then one day, yeah, you know, I had a panic attack. And I didn't like it. I lost my confidence and my willingness to tolerate it. And then I started falling back into old habits. And you forgot how scary it was. And so you just revert back to the old habit. Oh my God, this is so scary. I got to get away from it. Keep going. You're going to start old habits. You can't stop that. |
| 0:39.3 | But you can always intervene, stop, turn and make a new path that's not going to get you all boggy and muddy. |
| 0:46.3 | It's not a relapse upon which you have no influence. You do. |
| 0:50.3 | Welcome to Disordered. |
| 0:54.5 | This is episode 22 of the podcast, and today we're going to be talking about setbacks, relapse, |
| 1:00.6 | and what I call reversion, which is a popular topic in our community. |
| 1:04.0 | I am Drew Linzalado, one of the co-hosts of Disordered. |
| 1:07.0 | I'm a graduate student in clinical mental health counseling, a therapist in training, an author, |
| 1:11.4 | and podcaster on the subject of anxiety disorders, and I am in New York. |
| 1:16.0 | And I'm Joshua Fletcher. |
| 1:17.2 | I'm a psychotherapist based in the UK. |
| 1:19.9 | I go by the social media name Anxiety, Josh, and I, yeah, specialize in working with anxiety |
| 1:25.6 | disorders and a previous sufferer. |
| 1:27.4 | Oh, I should have said that disorders and a previous sufferer. |
| 1:29.0 | Oh, I should have said that. |
| 1:30.0 | Yes, previous sufferer. |
| 1:31.9 | Anyway, welcome back, dude. |
| 1:33.4 | How have you been? |
| 1:35.8 | Good, busy, as always, but that's okay. |
| 1:41.7 | Did you ever have prolonged periods of, oh, I feel like I'm on top of my anxiety now. And then suddenly, oh, God, I'm having a relapse setback. |
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