Owning It: The Anxiety Podcast

Welcome back to a brand new season of Owning It. Follow me on @owningitpodcast for more on Instagram. First up, former Miss Ireland Holly Carpenter joins me to talk about her long struggle with anxiety and depression and how the two interplay for her. She talks about how it manifests, what it feels like, what has helped and the difference being open about it has made. Holly hosts her own podcast, Filter Free. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the final episode of season 8 and it's just me. I'm talking through some of my biggest learnings from this season. One helpful conclusion I've come to? Maybe your anxiety is a compass. And maybe that compass is pointing you towards something important, which is your values, which makes your values not unlike your own North Star. Hear me out and let me know what you think! Lots more to come with the next season. Follow me on @OwningItPodcast. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Do you believe that you are what you think? I'm not sure I do. This week I'm talking about the manifestation trend and the law of attraction that suggests that what we think or put out into the universe, we receive. Different to positive thinking, I feel that the popularity of manifestation might contribute to anxiety. I talk to scientist Dr David Robert Grimes about the ways in which it might be harmful, why it might not be doing your anxiety any good and how liberating it might be to realise that you are not what you think. Join me on @OwningItPodcast on Instagram. Check out David's book The Irrational Ape and follow him @David_robert_grimes. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest this week is the wonderful Caggie Dunlop, host of Saturn Returns podcast and former Made in Chelsea star. She talks to me about her experience of anxiety and depression, what was going on in her life when she began to struggle, how she became brave enough to be vulnerable, how she traded in external validation for more self acceptance. Follow me for more on @OwningItPodcast. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm still on the therapy theme. Why have I decided to go back to therapy after 8 years? What type of therapy have I chosen? What do I need to talk about? How does it differ from before? Join me on @OwningItPodcast for more. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a very practical episode where I explore - with the help of clinical psychologist Dr Clare Kambamettu - the various types of therapy (not including alternative therapies) that you might encounter when seeking out help for managing anxiety. From psychologist to clinical psychologist, psychotherapist to psychiatrist, it can all become a little overwhelming at a time when, if you're looking for help, you're probably already pretty overwhelmed to begin with. Therapy is something we know little about until we start asking questions, so I hope this episode demystifies some of it for you. Join me on @OwningItPodcast for more. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Have you ever felt anxious after being judged by someone? Or perceiving that you might be judged? The fear of judgement and the impact of judgement are huge sources of anxiety. But judgement is such an enormous topic, it's a lot to unpack. Helping me do just that is @DrSoph (Dr Sophie Mort), author of A Manual For Being Human and clinical psychologist. We talk about passive aggression, gaslighting and other forms of judgement. Why we fear it, why it matters so much to us. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My most listened to guest of all time returns: Dr Micheal Keane. We're talking about how our environment - less so about the plants and the clouds, more so technology, social media, news, what we consume - feeds into this collective basal anxiety we probably all experience, even without being fully aware of it. This is such an interesting discussion that makes you think twice. We also hone in on fast fashion and consumerism. Remember Lily Allen's lyrics - I am a weapon of massive consumption, it's not my fault it's how I'm programmed to function'? Well that kind of sums up this episode. Crucially, he offers his expert advice on realigning with your values and moving towards your green circle (calming) to outmanoeuvre the machine. Visit actualise.ie for more on Dr Micheal Keane and follow me on @OwningItPodcast for more.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this episode my guest is the mega selling author Susan Cain who wrote Quiet and started the Quiet Revolution which embraces the more introverted people among us. Her new book is Bittersweet and it's about people who tend towards sadness, such as feeling a tinge of sadness, or anxiety around really happy moments out of fear that they will pass - which I experience all of the time. I ask her about all of this in relation to anxiety and we have a really interesting conversation. Bittersweet is out now and follow me on @OwningItPodcast for more. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week I am joined by clinical psychologist Dr Leah Katz, author of Gutsy and with a huge fanbase on Instagram, to talk about people pleasing. Why we do it? What it is? What is its impact in the short term and long term? Is it a kind of anxiety? Follow me on @OwningItPodcast for more. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Owning It, this time my guest is not an expert but a very wonderful and prolific writer - Scarlett Curtis - who shares her experience of anxiety and depression with me. Scarlett is the Sunday Times Bestselling author of Feminists Don't Wear Pink and Other Lies and It's Not Okay To Feel Blue and Other Lies, and daughter of Richard Curtis, who has made some films you may know, including Love Actually. She says she's always felt like a bit of a sad cloud hanging over her otherwise happy family, due to her chronic illness and bouts of depression and anxiety. Here she shares her story. We also talk about the commodification of self care, how the pressure to have a 'solution' is helping nobody, and lots more. Read more of her work on ScarlettCurtis.com. Follow me on @OwningItPodcast on Instagram for more. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we're talking all things insomnia or sleep struggles in relation to anxiety. Which came first, the crappy sleep or the anxiety? Which can we work on to improve the other? For this chat my expert guest is psychotherapist, sleep specialist and author Heather Darwall-Smith who has some really interesting takes on anxiety in general here, but particularly when it comes to sleep. Sleep in itself can be such a source for anxiety - the pressure to get the best sleep. Heather gracefully bulldozes through a lot of what you normally hear about sleep and offers very practical, reasonable advice to help take the edge off your sleep woes. Her book, The Science of Sleep is out now. Read more about Heather here and follow me on @OwningItPodcast here. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to season 8. For my first episode of the season I am joined by associate professor and psychologist at Stanford University Dr Katie Fracalanza. Katie is a world renowned expert in many aspects of anxiety, from people pleasing to OCD and lots in between but for this chat we hone in on social anxiety in particular. Why do we struggle? Why is it so commonly experienced? What's happening when we feel socially anxious? What can we do to make our social encounters easier? We unpack the science and the theory as well as offer practical advice. Follow me on @OwningItPodcast for more. More on Katie here.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

'I'd never really experienced anxiety like it until after I had my baby.' Jessica Urlichs is an incredible poet, children's book author and person from New Zealand. She became an instant source of comfort to me on Instagram when I was in the throes of postpartum anxiety, making me feel so less alone and batshit for feeling the way I was feeling. She too had a rough postpartum experience, with lots of anxiety. Here she shares her story. Follow her at @jessurlichs_writer on Instagram and follow me at @OwningItPodcast for more. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Follow me on @OwningItPodcast on Instagram for more tips, clips, explainers and helpful resources. This is a solo episode where I explore the concepts of jealousy and envy and fearing that someone else's success might take from yours in relation to anxiety. This is a particularly relevant listen for those navigating these issues in the workplace. This is an excerpt from my third book NAKED, available widely. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a solo episode where I discuss my anxiety around Covid. Before getting it, when I got it and when I was out the other side. Follow me on @OwningItPodcast on Instagram for more. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join me on @OwningItPodcast on Instagram. This week my guest is Nav Sohanpaul, a South Asian mindset coach from Windsor who has grown up in the Sikh community. She shares her experience of crippling anxiety with me and how she had to hit rock bottom to turn it all around. She shares how the expectation to be a certain way and follow a certain path led her to one day, finding herself on all fours in the grips of a panic attack and having no choice but to acknowledge that her body was trying to tell her something. How would she explain this to her family? What's it like to have mental health struggles in a community where it is still hugely stigmatised as weakness? How would she carve out an entirely new life for herself separate to what everyone else had expected of her so as to preserve her wellbeing? Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Follow me @OwningItPodcast on Instagram. Brian Falduto - known as 'that gay kid' from School of Rock with Jack Black. Brian and I recorded for both of our podcasts so here you will hear me talk a bit about my own story too which I know you've heard before. Brian tells me his experience with anxiety which - though it has been building his entire life - really only surfaced quite recently and it is only now something he is confronting. Brian talks in particular about his experience after the movie came out, the bullying he endured for the character he played - which Brian says was just Brian - and the shame and homophobia he turned back on himself as a teenager. Eventually, this coupled with other lifestyle factors, would lead to Brian experiencing some pretty rough anxiety that became quite debilitating. So he went on to Spotify to find some podcasts on the topic, and he came across me. Enjoy and do follow Brian on TheGayLifeCoach as well as his own BrianFalduto page. Support this show http://supporter.acast.c

Join me on @OwningItPodcast for more. This week it's just me and I'm talking through the feelings of overwhelm and anxiety we can get when we are trying our best to support other people. Recently I found that a lot of my nearest and dearest were going through very tough times at once and while trying to be there as much as I could, I ran myself entirely out of gas. What can we do when our empathy leaves us feeling overwhelmed? How do we support ourselves when trying to support others? I also talk a bit about what's going on for your brain when this is happening, as well as touching on the feelings of anxiety you might be dealing with as you consume news from Ukraine. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join me on @OwningItPodcast on Instagram for more tips, clips, explainers and helpful content. This week I am joined by Irish comedian and three time bestselling author Rory O'Connor to talk about the anxiety that goes along with our inner critic. Self doubt, imposter syndrome and riding the waves of doubt that come along no matter what level of success you find yourself at. Rory shares his very personal story of overcoming a gambling addiction and having been perceived as less than capable when he was growing up in school. His new book Rory's Story is out now. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.