Can Coping Make Anxiety Worse? (Podcast Sp 332)

Anxious people love coping skills and coping strategies. Everybody loves to cope. But when you're dealing with an anxiety disorder, coping strategies can actually backfire and become part of the problem instead of part of the solution.

This episode breaks down why coping skills that help with regular life stress can go off the rails when you're dealing with chronic, disordered anxiety. We'll look at the difference between internally and externally generated anxiety, how coping as a control strategy reinforces the problem, and what conditional okayness really means for your recovery.

If you've been stuck in the trigger-cope-trigger-cope cycle for months or years and you're still terrified of the next episode, this video will help you understand what's actually happening and what you might consider doing differently.

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Introduction
01:35 What is coping?
02:28 Internally vs externally generated anxiety
06:39 Why coping can backfire in anxiety disorders
12:23 The conditional okayness problem
16:29 A different approach to coping
22:30 Wrapping up

If you found this video helpful, please like, subscribe, and share it with someone who might benefit from it. It really helps other people find the content and get the help they need.

For full show notes on this episode:
https://theanxioustruth.com/332

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