Starting out this week’s episode with a bit of slam poetry, Josh and Ella discuss anxious relapse. It’s a term that can evoke the feeling that anxiety is a vice that we fall back into or succumb to but, as we know, anxiety is not a wanted or enjoyable experience. On the other hand, we can consider anxiety an addiction to reassurance. It can manifest in our behaviour as safety behaviours: carrying first aid kits, emergency snacks, or other tools with us when we fear our anxiety will resurface, seeking out people that comfort us, or avoid things that challenge us. These are the compulsions that ..read more

Catastrophic Thinking is when we consider the spectrum of possibilities that can result from an event and believe in the most drastic, negative outcome. This pattern of thinking can affect our behaviour over time. That’s when anxiety starts to really affect us negatively. Hearing “your behaviour is the problem” when you’ve suffered an anxious episode is probably the last thing an anxious person can cope with hearing, but as Josh illustrates, these small acts of bravery - changing our behaviour in spite of our anxiety - can help to remind us what we’re capable of, and slowly re-pattern the anxi ..read more

In this bonus episode, Josh is joined by Hannah Strickland, a teacher trainer and lecturer from The University of Manchester. Hannah asks Josh about anxiety in both students and teachers, with particular reference to trainee teachers ..read more

If someone you knew was experiencing anxiety, how would you calm and reassure them? For many of us, this comes easily. Having compassion and empathy for others is something we do every day. However, when we look at how often we use the same empathic listening on ourselves for our anxiety, it can be hard to find the same amount of compassion. Perhaps then, self-compassion deserves more space in our personal struggle with anxiety. How can we go about achieving this? Ella and Josh discuss the proactive and reactive nature of caring for oneself and some things we can do to manage our inner critic ..read more

“The worst part about Coronavirus is worrying about getting Coronavirus,” but yet we see friends living through it, and others who are immunocompromised facing it fearlessly, so how can people with anxiety cope in this time of isolation and fear? Josh and Ella have a follow up to Episode 9: Health Anxiety in which the unprecedented nature of Coronavirus’s effect on society is discussed. Ella follows a model provided by Josh for assessing thought patterns triggered by health anxiety. Josh shares strategies for helping your own mental health, as well as making the environment you share with othe ..read more

Content Warning: We discuss the COVID-19 epidemic on the day that the WHO classified it as a pandemic (March 11th) so some things have come to light about the severity of the disease which we didn’t know on the day of recording. Please keep this in mind as you listen. We have a follow-up episode talking about the Coronavirus coming up in two more episodes. Stay strong, and stay tuned. Two episodes on the same day! We're here to help you through social distancing. Health Anxiety, or "hypochondria", is the chronic and persistent anxiety about ones' health. How does health anxiety affect those wi ..read more

Episode 7: Instant Gratification Ella poses the question to Josh: What if you’ve followed all of your therapists advice, read all the books, tried all the techniques and still feel anxious? Josh explains the concept of “testing” and how sometimes we have to let go of trying so hard to ‘get better’ in order to find relief for our anxiety. Mentions: Alan Watts Lecture - Wu Wei (YouTube) Get in touch with us to ask a question, you’d really help our podcast help others! talk@thepanicroom.co.uk Find us on instagram at @ellaofthenet and @joshuafletcher.author ..read more

Content Warning: We do discuss the moment-to-moment sensations of a panic attack in this episode, so if this is sensitive for you please make an educated decision before you listen. “What If…?” is a common intrusive thought for those experiencing chronic anxiety. It is frequently experienced alongside a sense of dread or doom. In this episode, Josh provides us with tools to recognise when one’s fears are irrational, and how to remind yourself that panic is not danger. Do you want to get in touch with us? We'd love to hear from you at talk@thepanicroom.co.uk On instagram? Follow us @joshuafletc ..read more

Many of the people Josh sees ask, "Where does anxiety come from?". In fact, when Josh and Ella first met, Ella asked the same question. Is it something you develop? Can you "give" someone anxiety? Why does it seemingly appear out of nowhere? Using a metaphor to describe the threshold of anxiety, we can better manage our relationships with fear and anxiety ..read more

Shaun Flores is an OCD advocate, public speaker, former model and influencer, aiming to have the right influence on the world. focusing on mental health, well-being, and lifestyle. He is also a public speaker with two TEDx Talks,  TEDx 2022 & TEDx 2018. A third TEDx Talk remains in his periphery to help raise awareness of OCD, and in turn, raise funds for a mental illness that remains severely underfunded and under-researched. He is determined to be the worst thing to ever happen to OCD. He also is a volunteer advocate for Orchard OCD, the only UK-based charity that is researching fas ..read more