What if the very things that feel like they’re protecting you are actually keeping you stuck?
In this episode, I break down the five unconscious strategies that block healing from anxiety. I call it MADDS: medication, addiction, distraction, dissociation, and suppression. Each of these starts as a survival tool, but over time they numb us, disconnect us from our bodies, and cut us off from the younger self that needs our attention. I get real about the role medication plays, why worry itself can become addictive, and how dissociation becomes a default setting for many of us. Most importantly, I show how awareness, acceptance, and compassion can start to break the cycle so we can finally move toward real healing instead of just coping.
You’ll Learn:
- The five nervous system strategies that quietly block anxiety healing
- Why medications can help in crisis, but often numb long-term emotional recovery
- The surprising link between worry and the brain’s dopamine reward system
- How addictions form as self-medication for the body’s stored alarm
- The subtle ways distractions like social media pull you further from your body
- What it feels like to live in dissociation and why it’s so hard to stop
- How suppression of emotion can lead to deeper anxiety and physical illness
- The role of awareness and acceptance in breaking the anxiety coping cycle
- A simple ABC method to reconnect with your younger self and release the need for coping strategies
Timestamps:
[00:00] Introduction
[03:30] The role and limits of medication in healing anxiety
[09:17] How addictions and worry become coping mechanisms for anxiety
[13:00] How distraction masks anxiety and deepens disconnection
[14:58] How dissociation protects us from pain but blocks healing
[17:10] How suppression of emotions leads to disconnection and illness
[19:11] How awareness and self-compassion break the cycle of anxiety coping strategies
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