When Anxiety Feels Automatic (Episode 70)
Disordered: Anxiety Help
Josh Fletcher and Drew Linsalata
4.9 • 665 Ratings
🗓️ 12 July 2024
⏱️ 45 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Even when you understand that changing your reaction to anxious thoughts, feelings, and sensations is the way out ... you may feel that this is impossible because those thoughts, those sensations, and your reactions feel completely automatic and unchangeable.
This is a common concern for almost anyone struggling with anxiety disorder recovery so this week Drew and Josh are talking about how anxiety, anxious thoughts, symptoms, and reactions can feel - and really are - automatic. But even when things happen automatically, there is a choice point in every anxious situation where we are aware of what is happening. That awareness gives us power to choose a different path, even when that path is a difficult one to choose.
It is critical to practice self-compassion in this context because it can be easy to fall into the trap of declaring failure or setback when you can't "control" automatic things. Remember that we're not trying to control automatic things, we're working on building awareness of our automatic thoughts, sensations, and reactions, so that the NEXT actions we take after that can be intentional and directed at recovery rather than retreat.
---
Disordered Roundtable is coming! Think of it as "Disordered Live", a way for members of our audience to spend time with us in an intimate virtual setting (attendance is limited) to engage in real time sharing and discussion on specific anxiety disorder and recovery topics. To be notified when new Disordered Roundtable sessions are scheduled, visit our homepage and get on our mailing list.
---
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 unsolveable problems.
https://bit.ly/worryrumination
-----
Want to ask us questions, share your wins, or get more information about Josh, Drew, and the Disordered podcast?
Visit us on the web at https://disordered.fm
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | It all feels so automatic. |
| 0:03.7 | What do you mean, like, change the way I respond to this? It's automatic. I have to respond |
| 0:07.3 | that way. What we talk about when everything feels so automatic is like, yeah, sometimes you |
| 0:12.4 | can't stop thoughts or even your behaviors and choices. People will often, like, really |
| 0:16.4 | berate themselves. Like, why can't I get it? How come I still have that thought? But we start from the premise that you can't stop a thought or you can't choose to not have a thought and you can't choose to not have a feeling. So thoughts and feelings are definitely automatic. Biggest part of recovery for me was noticing that my focus was automatic. Where do we have the power? If you have gotten to the point where you're actually asking, how do I change that? |
| 0:39.3 | Because it feels automatic, then you are aware. That's the first step. |
| 0:42.3 | That awareness is progress. |
| 0:44.3 | You're not failing because you did the automatic thing. I can't say that enough. |
| 0:52.3 | Welcome to Disordered. This is episode 70 entitled, but it all feels so automatic. |
| 1:00.0 | My name's Joshua Fletcher, also known as Anxiety Josh, and I'm a psychotherapist specializing |
| 1:05.1 | in anxiety disorders in Manchester in the UK. I'm an author, a podcast co-host, and a tall man with weird posture. |
| 1:14.2 | And I am Drew Lin Salata. I am a therapist in training in the US in New York with a specialization, |
| 1:19.4 | also in anxiety and anxiety disorders. I got all the same stuff as that guy, but my posture is |
| 1:23.3 | probably better and I'm not as tall. But also an author, former suffer, a podcaster, educator, |
| 1:27.6 | psycho educator, social media dude, you know, the whole thing. Welcome. |
| 1:31.6 | It all feels so automatic. I can relate to that, can you? Oh, yeah. It does feel absolutely |
| 1:38.5 | automatic. But what do you mean, like, change the way I respond to this? It's automatic. I have to |
| 1:43.1 | respond that way. |
| 1:46.0 | Yeah, it's a really interesting one. And for me, when I was, what we talk about when everything feels so automatic is like, yeah, |
| 1:51.9 | sometimes you can't stop thoughts or even your behaviors and choices. |
| 1:55.4 | Maybe you're someone who's struggling with compulsions. |
| 1:58.0 | Maybe you're really annoyed with the anxiety and maybe Craig the critic |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Josh Fletcher and Drew Linsalata, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Josh Fletcher and Drew Linsalata and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.