Anxious people love coping skills and coping strategies. Everybody loves to cope. But today we're

going to talk about how coping can go off the rails become part of the problem instead of

the solution. So let's get to that right now. Hello everybody. Welcome back to the anxious truth. This is episode 332 of the podcast. We're recording on December 1st of 2025 in case you are watching or listening from the future. I am Drew Linzalata, creator and host of The Anxious Truth. I am a therapist specializing in the area of anxiety and anxiety disorders. In New York, I'm a former sufferer of the very problems we talk about here on The Anxious Truth, a three-time author on this topic, psychoeducator, advocate, social media guy, all around sort of proponent of people who are trying to get better when they are struggling with chronic and disordered forms of anxiety. If this is your first time here at The Anxious Truth, whether it's as a podcast episode or a YouTube video, welcome. I hope you find the podcast helpful. I hope you hang around and consume more of the content for sure. And of course, if you're a returning viewer or listener, welcome back. I'm happy that you are here. Well, I'm not happy that you have to be here, but I am happy that you are here with me today. Anyway, today we're going to talk about coping. Coping skills, coping strategies.

When we talk about coping.

Coping skills, coping strategies.

When we talk about anxiety, chronic and disordered states of anxiety,

coping skills and coping strategies invariably are going to enter the conversation at some point,

especially if you're seeking help, whether it's online help in an online community or maybe from an influencer or a wellness influencer or a coach or somebody like that or possibly even a therapist.

We're going to start to hear words like coping strategies or coping skills.

Now, why is that important?

Let's talk about that.

What is coping?

Well, coping is what we call,

we call it when you try to find a way to get yourself through what appears to be or feels like

or is operationally an overwhelming situation. Coping skills are designed to help us get through

those things. But in an anxiety context, when we are talking about chronic or disordered states of anxiety,

where the anxiety tends to be internally generated because we learn to fear our own bodies and minds.

And if you're new to this, by the way, you should go back and listen to a lot of old content

or read my books because it explains all that.

But when we have learned to be afraid of ourselves, our own bodies,

physical sensations, stress responses, normal physiological functions, or we're afraid of our

own minds in the form of thoughts that might come up that are disturbing or big powerful

...