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...

In December 2016, 36 year-old Chester resident Sara Jane Harvey started producing educational, yet entertaining videos about what it's like to be autistic. She is a proud parent to her eleven year-old son, who is also autistic. With lively interviews, video essays, weekly vlogs and live streams; Agony Autie aims to share and foster autistic pride and culture, raising not just awareness but true understanding of autism, whilst advocating for autistic people's rights and identity. Sara holds...

Summer is here and it's the time of year when many people and families are heading of on their annual vacation. For those struggling with disordered anxiety, what 'should' be a nice relaxing time away with loved ones can feel like a panic-stricken week full of challenges. This topic has been requested by my audience and so this week, I'm joined by one of my favorites, Drew Linsalata. We discuss the various struggles anxiety sufferers face when going on holiday, our own experiences with...

Today, you have the pleasure of listening to my northern accent for 30 minutes. There is no special guest this week but I am covering an incredibly important topic. Many anxiety sufferers also experience depression. But what I want to bring to your attention today is the difference between experiencing depression and having a fear of depression. As anxiety sufferers, our minds are skilled at ruminating and stewing over those 'what if' thoughts. Depression often becomes a source of worry...

Talking about poo, is taboo. Yet, it is very common for anxiety sufferers to experience symptoms of IBS. Today we are joined by Dr Sula Windgassen as we talk about all things irritable bowel syndrome. We cover everything from the basics of IBS, how it is interlinked with anxiety, and how to identify symptoms. Although it can often be an embarrassing topic for many, it is one that needs to be addressed. Without further knowledge and understanding of how our anxiety may affect our stomach and...

OCD is often misunderstood and because of this, many feel a great deal of shame surrounding their obsessions and compulsions. So, I am pleased to have qualified OCD specialist, Jenna Overbaugh on The Panic Pod today to discuss the ins and outs of OCD. We're covering all ground in this introductory episode to OCD: What is OCD? What are compulsions? What are intrusive thoughts? What are the lesser-known (but still highly common) OCD subtypes? Jenna has battled with her own anxiety throughout...

Joining me today on The Panic Pod is special guest, Kimberley Quinlan. I do not consider myself an expert on eating disorders so it is a privilege to have Kim on the show today who is not only an expert in her field but has also lived with and overcome her own battle with an eating disorder. Not only does Kim help us identify the symptoms of eating disorders, but she also busts some common myths that keep people from going undiagnosed and shares her own personal story. I hope you enjoy...

Mindfulness is a hot topic at the moment, but is there a 'right' way to do it? According to our special guest today, Dr Leah Katz - yes, there is! Today we discuss the difference between formal and informal mindfulness and alternative approaches to focusing on the breath, which can often increase anxiety and panic for anxiety sufferers. Dr. Katz is a am a clinical psychologist practicing in Portland, Oregon. Originally from New York, Leah completed her doctorate training at Ferkauf...

"We don't have to be in danger to feel afraid" - Dr. Dave Carbonell. We have a very exciting episode for you today on The Panic Pod, as I am joined by someone I hold in very high regard, Dr. Dave Carbonell. Dr. Dave and I cover two topics in this episode - rumination and the fear of going crazy. Dr. Carbonell offers some incredible insights that will resonate and benefit so many of my listeners. We touch on the truth behind anxiety, which is that we aren't often afraid of the trigger...

The language we use in anxious recovery is so important and yet it is one of the things I see clients not giving the attention it requires. The language you use to describe yourself in anxiety, or yourself during recovery, is so crucial to your progress because the brain is always listening. I often need to gently remind my clients to look at how they are speaking to themselves and ask them to reframe their words in a more positive and helpful way. One of the main pillars of my teaching is...

Dental anxiety is a big topic of conversation among The Panic Pod and School of Anxiety community, and for understandable reasons. Today on the Panic Pod we are joined by guest expert, Dr Niall Neeson a.k.a The Calming Dentist. Niall has a wonderfully empathetic approach to supporting those of us with dental anxiety to navigate our experiences in the dentist's chair. Niall offers up some great tips and ways of communicating with your dentist in order to have the most comfortable experience...

This week, we are joined by Dr Henrik Nordahl and Dr Lora Capobianco. Both guests today are experts in the field of metacognitive therapy. We often discuss a range of different modalities and treatments on the Panic Pod, yet metacognitive therapy is still a lesser-known form of therapy (especially in the UK). Metacognitive therapy (MCT) is a psychotherapy focused on modifying metacognitive beliefs that perpetuate states of worry, rumination, and attention fixation. In today's episode, we...

Today we welcome a special guest, Seerut K. Chawla onto the podcast. Seerut is a fellow psychotherapist and self-confessed Lord of the Rings nerd. She has amassed a following of over 235,000 on Instagram for her straight-talking and IG-therapy busting content. Seerut works using an integrative model (which means incorporating different therapeutic styles) depending on the client and the circumstances. Her main modality is psychodynamic psychotherapy which is derivative of the psychoanalytic...

Today on the Panic Pod, Josh is joined by counsellor, Louise Tyler to talk about anxiety and sleep. It comes as no surprise that many of us who suffer from anxiety, also struggle with sleep. And in true anxiety style, before we know it we are not only having difficulty sleeping because of the original source of stress but because we are now ruminating on our lack of sleep. It's a tough cycle to break and a loop that is easily strengthened by the belief that a lack of sleep is dangerous and...

Joining Josh on the podcast today is Zohara Nguyen, one of the very first students to sign up to Josh's popular course - Stop Fearing Fear.  In today's episode, Zohara takes us through her own personal struggles with anxiety, what motivated her to join the program, and the incredible progress she has made in her anxiety recovery since completing the course. In this in-depth and delightful discussion, Zohara explains how her fear of panic was impacting her life. She explains how she has been...

**CORRECTION: The biggest killer of men under 50 is suicide and depression** Today, Josh is joined by one of his all-time favourite people, Drew Linsalata. Fearing emotions is the topic discussed in today's episode. One that may not fit so cleanly into the category of anxiety or panic but, during their time helping clients manage their anxiety disorders, both Josh and Drew have noticed an overlapping theme that's worth a mention. And that theme is the fear of our emotions. Or perhaps we...

Driving is a responsibility that should be taken seriously, but what happens when the heightened sense of alertness for driving becomes a tense white-knuckle ride while battling one's own fear? In this episode, Josh and Ella discuss driving anxiety in the context of both post-traumatic incident driving and generalised anxiety disorder (i.e the fear of having a panic attack while driving). When was the last time you heard of someone losing control driving while having a panic attack? Although...

Root causes of anxiety can be traumatic events that cause us to change our behaviour in response to triggers. A root cause may also be something very minor but calcified over time to seem much worse than the first “event” that set things off. However, the idea that anxiety always has a narrative such as this is overused, and doesn’t help people who just want to untangle and understand their anxiety disorder. Sometimes anxiety does have a root cause, but when it doesn’t – which Josh says is...

This episode is funny and empowering. Some of the subject matter can be shocking for people with emetophobia, but ultimately the goal is graduation from exposure, as Kimberley will explain. Emetophobia is a clinical term which describes an extreme fear around vomit or nausea. As Kimberley says, “nobody likes to vomit,” but this phobic behaviour can cause anxiety in people's lives which can present different behaviours. It can even stop someone from doing things they love for fear it might...

Wondering about why we’re here, how planet Earth exists and how much of a miracle life is are normal thoughts for us to have from time to time. However, if you have existential anxiety, these thoughts can trigger an anxious response; sweaty palms, shallow breathing, tunnel vision, tinnitus, and other anxious behaviours. For people with conventional anxiety, leaning into hard feelings is easier. When you’re in the midst of an anxiety disorder, you have to have a different approach. Being...

In this episode, Joshua and Ella discuss when panic disorder is centred around the fear of developing a serious mental health problem. This is referred to as Mental Health Anxiety. The pattern of mental health anxiety is the disorder of mental health anxiety. Seeing thoughts for what they are (mere, passing thoughts) and remembering that “What If”s can’t lead you towards further anxiety or depression are important things to note when one feels they are in a pattern of mental health anxiety...

In this episode Josh asks the question "where is your attention at?" and talks about the importance of attention with special guest, Drew Linsalata of The Anxious Truth. They draw upon some great analogies to help you understand why attention is important and what you can do with it when you're anxious and also when you're not!

It helps to remove yourself and re-centre for a moment before you start mentally justifying why you are anxious. There’s a lot of wellness narrative around “listening to your body” but when we’re experiencing disordered anxiety then somatic experiencing isn’t easy. Say you’re at therapy and your therapist is trying to get you to notice what some subtle sensations in the body are telling you about how you feel talking about something. A chronically anxious person may have to respond with, “As...

In this episode Josh is joined by special guest, Ben Aldridge, who is the author of the popular book, How to be Comfortable with being Uncomfortable: 43 Weird and Wonderful ways to build a strong and resilient mindset. Josh and Ben discuss how being uncomfortable can push us through to feelings of empowerment and freedom, particular from the clutches of anxiety disorders. Ben shares some absolutely fascinating achievements he has done, too (which are really quite inspiring). Josh on...