Disordered: Anxiety Help "Anxiety Recovery OCD?" (Episode 127)
Can your focus on getting better actually make things worse? In this episode, we explore what happens when the recovery process itself becomes an obsession - coining the term "Recovery OCD" to describe the fixation many people develop around their anxiety recovery journey.
We dig into the counterintuitive reality that constantly checking "Am I recovered yet?" or "Am I doing this right?" can actually signal to your brain that anxiety is still something urgent and important to monitor. When recovery becomes the thing you're obsessing about, complete with checking behaviors, rumination, and compulsive information-seeking, you may have fallen into this particular trap.
What we cover:
- The obsessive-compulsive patterns that can emerge around recovery
- Why asking "Am I recovered?" might mean you've answered your own question
- How metrics and comparisons can feed the recovery obsession
- The difference between recovery as a state versus recovery as function
- Why uncertainty tolerance is the real skill being developed
- Practical ways to recognize when you've become obsessed with recovery itself
Key insights:
- Recovery isn't about reaching a perfect state - it's about building distress tolerance skills
- The more you fixate on recovery, the more you're teaching your brain that anxiety matters
- Real progress often looks boring and unmeasurable
- Sometimes the question "Am I recovered?" isn't the right question to ask
We also share inspiring "Did It Anyway" stories from listeners who demonstrate what it really looks like to move forward while uncertain, anxious, and imperfect - including someone who performed on stage despite a massive adrenaline flood and another who went to a Pokemon card convention while experiencing depersonalization.
This episode challenges common assumptions about what recovery should look and feel like, offering a more realistic and sustainable approach to anxiety recovery that doesn't require constant self-monitoring or perfect emotional states.
The content in this episode aligns with evidence-based, third-wave therapeutic approaches including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and mindfulness-based treatments for anxiety disorders.
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Struggling with worry and rumination that you feel you can't stop or control? Check out Worry and Rumination Explained, a two hour pre-recorded workshop produced by Josh and Drew. The workshop takes a deep dive into the mechanics of worrying and ruminating, offering some helpful ways to approach the seemingly unsolvable problem of trying to solve seemingly unsolvable problems.
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