Owning It: The Anxiety Podcast

Welcome back to a brand new season of Owning It. Follow me on @owningitpodcast for more on Instagram. First up, former Miss Ireland Holly Carpenter joins me to talk about her long struggle with anxiety and depression and how the two interplay for her. She talks about how it manifests, what it feels like, what has helped and the difference being open about it has made. Holly hosts her own podcast, Filter Free. Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the final episode of season 8 and it's just me. I'm talking through some of my biggest learnings from this season. One helpful conclusion I've come to? Maybe your anxiety is a compass. And maybe that compass is pointing you towards something important, which is your values, which makes your values not unlike your own North Star. Hear me out and let me know what you think! Lots more to come with the next season. Follow me on @OwningItPodcast. Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Do you believe that you are what you think? I'm not sure I do. This week I'm talking about the manifestation trend and the law of attraction that suggests that what we think or put out into the universe, we receive. Different to positive thinking, I feel that the popularity of manifestation might contribute to anxiety. I talk to scientist Dr David Robert Grimes about the ways in which it might be harmful, why it might not be doing your anxiety any good and how liberating it might be to realise that you are not what you think. Join me on @OwningItPodcast on Instagram. Check out David's book The Irrational Ape and follow him @David_robert_grimes. Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest this week is the wonderful Caggie Dunlop, host of Saturn Returns podcast and former Made in Chelsea star. She talks to me about her experience of anxiety and depression, what was going on in her life when she began to struggle, how she became brave enough to be vulnerable, how she traded in external validation for more self acceptance. Follow me for more on @OwningItPodcast. Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm still on the therapy theme. Why have I decided to go back to therapy after 8 years? What type of therapy have I chosen? What do I need to talk about? How does it differ from before? Join me on @OwningItPodcast for more. Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a very practical episode where I explore - with the help of clinical psychologist Dr Clare Kambamettu - the various types of therapy (not including alternative therapies) that you might encounter when seeking out help for managing anxiety. From psychologist to clinical psychologist, psychotherapist to psychiatrist, it can all become a little overwhelming at a time when, if you're looking for help, you're probably already pretty overwhelmed to begin with. Therapy is something we know little about until we start asking questions, so I hope this episode demystifies some of it for you. Join me on @OwningItPodcast for more. Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Have you ever felt anxious after being judged by someone? Or perceiving that you might be judged? The fear of judgement and the impact of judgement are huge sources of anxiety. But judgement is such an enormous topic, it's a lot to unpack. Helping me do just that is @DrSoph (Dr Sophie Mort), author of A Manual For Being Human and clinical psychologist. We talk about passive aggression, gaslighting and other forms of judgement. Why we fear it, why it matters so much to us. Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My most listened to guest of all time returns: Dr Micheal Keane. We're talking about how our environment - less so about the plants and the clouds, more so technology, social media, news, what we consume - feeds into this collective basal anxiety we probably all experience, even without being fully aware of it. This is such an interesting discussion that makes you think twice. We also hone in on fast fashion and consumerism. Remember Lily Allen's lyrics - I am a weapon of massive consumption, it's not my fault it's how I'm programmed to function'? Well that kind of sums up this episode. Crucially, he offers his expert advice on realigning with your values and moving towards your green circle (calming) to outmanoeuvre the machine. Visit actualise.ie for more on Dr Micheal Keane and follow me on @OwningItPodcast for more.Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this episode my guest is the mega selling author Susan Cain who wrote Quiet and started the Quiet Revolution which embraces the more introverted people among us. Her new book is Bittersweet and it's about people who tend towards sadness, such as feeling a tinge of sadness, or anxiety around really happy moments out of fear that they will pass - which I experience all of the time. I ask her about all of this in relation to anxiety and we have a really interesting conversation. Bittersweet is out now and follow me on @OwningItPodcast for more. Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week I am joined by clinical psychologist Dr Leah Katz, author of Gutsy and with a huge fanbase on Instagram, to talk about people pleasing. Why we do it? What it is? What is its impact in the short term and long term? Is it a kind of anxiety? Follow me on @OwningItPodcast for more. Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Owning It, this time my guest is not an expert but a very wonderful and prolific writer - Scarlett Curtis - who shares her experience of anxiety and depression with me. Scarlett is the Sunday Times Bestselling author of Feminists Don't Wear Pink and Other Lies and It's Not Okay To Feel Blue and Other Lies, and daughter of Richard Curtis, who has made some films you may know, including Love Actually. She says she's always felt like a bit of a sad cloud hanging over her otherwise happy family, due to her chronic illness and bouts of depression and anxiety. Here she shares her story. We also talk about the commodification of self care, how the pressure to have a 'solution' is helping nobody, and lots more. Read more of her work on ScarlettCurtis.com. Follow me on @OwningItPodcast on Instagram for more. Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we're talking all things insomnia or sleep struggles in relation to anxiety. Which came first, the crappy sleep or the anxiety? Which can we work on to improve the other? For this chat my expert guest is psychotherapist, sleep specialist and author Heather Darwall-Smith who has some really interesting takes on anxiety in general here, but particularly when it comes to sleep. Sleep in itself can be such a source for anxiety - the pressure to get the best sleep. Heather gracefully bulldozes through a lot of what you normally hear about sleep and offers very practical, reasonable advice to help take the edge off your sleep woes. Her book, The Science of Sleep is out now. Read more about Heather here and follow me on @OwningItPodcast here. Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to season 8. For my first episode of the season I am joined by associate professor and psychologist at Stanford University Dr Katie Fracalanza. Katie is a world renowned expert in many aspects of anxiety, from people pleasing to OCD and lots in between but for this chat we hone in on social anxiety in particular. Why do we struggle? Why is it so commonly experienced? What's happening when we feel socially anxious? What can we do to make our social encounters easier? We unpack the science and the theory as well as offer practical advice. Follow me on @OwningItPodcast for more. More on Katie here.Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

'I'd never really experienced anxiety like it until after I had my baby.' Jessica Urlichs is an incredible poet, children's book author and person from New Zealand. She became an instant source of comfort to me on Instagram when I was in the throes of postpartum anxiety, making me feel so less alone and batshit for feeling the way I was feeling. She too had a rough postpartum experience, with lots of anxiety. Here she shares her story. Follow her at @jessurlichs_writer on Instagram and follow me at @OwningItPodcast for more. Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Follow me on @OwningItPodcast on Instagram for more tips, clips, explainers and helpful resources. This is a solo episode where I explore the concepts of jealousy and envy and fearing that someone else's success might take from yours in relation to anxiety. This is a particularly relevant listen for those navigating these issues in the workplace. This is an excerpt from my third book NAKED, available widely. Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a solo episode where I discuss my anxiety around Covid. Before getting it, when I got it and when I was out the other side. Follow me on @OwningItPodcast on Instagram for more. Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join me on @OwningItPodcast on Instagram. This week my guest is Nav Sohanpaul, a South Asian mindset coach from Windsor who has grown up in the Sikh community. She shares her experience of crippling anxiety with me and how she had to hit rock bottom to turn it all around. She shares how the expectation to be a certain way and follow a certain path led her to one day, finding herself on all fours in the grips of a panic attack and having no choice but to acknowledge that her body was trying to tell her something. How would she explain this to her family? What's it like to have mental health struggles in a community where it is still hugely stigmatised as weakness? How would she carve out an entirely new life for herself separate to what everyone else had expected of her so as to preserve her wellbeing? Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Follow me @OwningItPodcast on Instagram. Brian Falduto - known as 'that gay kid' from School of Rock with Jack Black. Brian and I recorded for both of our podcasts so here you will hear me talk a bit about my own story too which I know you've heard before. Brian tells me his experience with anxiety which - though it has been building his entire life - really only surfaced quite recently and it is only now something he is confronting. Brian talks in particular about his experience after the movie came out, the bullying he endured for the character he played - which Brian says was just Brian - and the shame and homophobia he turned back on himself as a teenager. Eventually, this coupled with other lifestyle factors, would lead to Brian experiencing some pretty rough anxiety that became quite debilitating. So he went on to Spotify to find some podcasts on the topic, and he came across me. Enjoy and do follow Brian on TheGayLifeCoach as well as his own BrianFalduto page. Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join me on @OwningItPodcast for more. This week it's just me and I'm talking through the feelings of overwhelm and anxiety we can get when we are trying our best to support other people. Recently I found that a lot of my nearest and dearest were going through very tough times at once and while trying to be there as much as I could, I ran myself entirely out of gas. What can we do when our empathy leaves us feeling overwhelmed? How do we support ourselves when trying to support others? I also talk a bit about what's going on for your brain when this is happening, as well as touching on the feelings of anxiety you might be dealing with as you consume news from Ukraine. Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join me on @OwningItPodcast on Instagram for more tips, clips, explainers and helpful content. This week I am joined by Irish comedian and three time bestselling author Rory O'Connor to talk about the anxiety that goes along with our inner critic. Self doubt, imposter syndrome and riding the waves of doubt that come along no matter what level of success you find yourself at. Rory shares his very personal story of overcoming a gambling addiction and having been perceived as less than capable when he was growing up in school. His new book Rory's Story is out now. Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Follow me on @owningitpodcast for more tips, clips, explainers and videos. For this episode I'm joined by the wonderfully articulate Josh Trent, all the way from Austin Texas. Josh is the CEO of Wellness Force Media and the creator of BREATHE a course (for which he offers Owning It listeners a discount towards the end of the episode) and here we talk about the influence of media on our anxiety - conscious versus unconscious content - his own experience of anxiety that led him down this business route and then we get to the power of breath work for managing anxiety moment to moment. Josh shares his expertise on the art and science of breathwork, the physiology and biology of stress reduction, vagal toning, relaxing the default mode network and more. Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Follow @owningitpodcast on Instagram for more. This week Dr Clare Kambamettu returns (although apologies again her sound isn't 100%) to discuss a topic that is so important: anger. Sometimes anxiety manifests as anger. Anger is the 'fight' in 'fight or flight' and it's often misunderstood. Anger is something we're taught never to show, but it is a valid emotion. How do we know when anger is really anxiety at work? Here Dr Clare, clinical psychologist, explains. Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Follow @owningitpodcast for more anxiety related content and resources. I'm joined here by the wonderful Dr Julie Smith, number 1 bestselling author and clinical psychologist, social media superstar and very lovely person. We talk about her book, she breaks down anxiety, the difference between anxiety and stress and she answers some listener questions too! Check out her book, Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before here. Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join me on Instagram for more resources, tips, clips and more: @owningitpodcast.This week I am joined by someone who gives me actual LIFE on social media: @mamastillgotit's Louise Boyce. Louise has amassed a huge audience for normalising life with toddlers, she is a tonic for any parent fed up with the more sanitised portrayal of parenthood that pervades social media. Here she shares her experience of anxiety with me, from her teen years as a model, where it manifested as an eating disorder, right through to becoming a parent of three children and the anxiety that hit many of us like a tonne of bricks: Covid. For Louise, and for all of us watching, humour and her brilliant videos became her release. This episode looks at anxiety from a body image perspective (as we did with Jessica Megan) as well as general stress and overwhelm due to Covid. Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Here's another psycho-educational episode to help you understand what you're working with. We've heard of the fight or flight response, even the freeze response but what about the fourth response - fawn? Here psychotherapist Katie McKenna breaks down the fawn response, which includes a lot of the behaviours, triggering anxiety, that you'll be familiar with, including people pleasing. Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Front man of global music sensation Kodaline - Steve Garrigan. - shares his personal story with me. When you're the lead singer of a band performing in front of thousands of people, and feeling so at ease while doing so, it might sound odd that that same person would be gripped with panic attacks and anxiety behind the scenes. After years of suffering in silence, Steve has shared his experience of anxiety, how it manifested for him and what made him seek help - and also what actually helped - in his new book High Hopes, out now. Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Therapist, coach and number 1 bestselling author Jack Williamson joins me to talk about The Shitty Committee, his incredible book which has been given the stamp of approval by Oprah herself and is number 1 book on Amazon throughout the whole of the UK at the moment. The Shitty Committee includes 3 things that impact our anxiety - internals, externals and consumables. Jack explains all here. He also gives a great insight into the changes in mental health within the music industry, a space notoriously tough to be working in. Read his book here. Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One of the main characteristics of anxiety is that when you feel it, you believe that you will always feel it, that it will always be there. You can't accept that a day would come where it wouldn't dominate, when it's become chronic for you. I had these fears and worries too, I thought I would never be okay, and that there's so much in life I'd never get to experience from travel to love to having a child to public speaking, but do you know how many of these things anxiety has held me back from? None. In this short solo episode I talk through the fears I had, the things I thought I would never be able for but, because I owned my anxiety, I was eventually able to achieve. I hope you find this episode uplifting and hopeful if you are struggling with chronic daily anxiety at the moment. Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Body positive influencer, model and activist Jessica Megan joins me on Owning It this week to talk through the anxiety that so many of us grapple with - women in particular - that centres around our image. What we see in the mirror, how we talk to ourselves about how we look, what we think we 'should' look like. Jessica shares her story, detailing her turbulent teenage years where she was surrounded by diet culture and slimming world meetings, some tools and mindset swaps that she finds helpful as well as us talking through my own difficulty with being kind to my body after having a baby and feeling anxious to 'bounce back'. Given the timing of our discussion, we also talk through how she's handling Covid related anxiety. Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this episode I am joined by a friend, Simone Gannon (also known as Simone Scribes on Instagram). She's big on social media for her skincare expertise and has amassed a huge following. Simone recently took to Instagram to share something she wouldn't normally: chats about her experience of crippling anxiety that saw her in and out of hospital with symptoms of a suspected stroke. Here she shares her story with me, as she is passionate too about normalising anxiety and also talking about it while we are still in the thick of it. Her experience of anxiety follows a traumatic experience she had involving her son. As is very common, when we experience something really tough, we are filled with adrenaline and our bodies have our backs while we 'get through' what needs to be done. When the dust settles, the anxiety can swoop in and force us to process things we hadn't yet addressed. This is Simone's story and I hope it's of some comfort to you those of you listening who have been in similar situations. Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, and as we are at the very beginning of the new year, I'm tackling the subject of anxiety and change. I've covered this subject before but this time I am joined by Dr Harry Barry, author of Embracing Change, and one of my most listened to guests on the podcast thus far (he was on a previous episode where we unpacked anxiety at a more basic level). The change that requires you to take action and the change that comes at us out of the blue; we cover both. Also in this episode we go off on a helpful tangent, talking about our (mostly MY) need to be in control. What's happening in my mind when I get anxious when I can't control things exactly how I want to? And what can I do about it? Read Dr Harry Barry's latest book here. Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Word of warning: My guest's audio wasn't ideal for this episode, there was very little I could do about the feedback issue on Dr Clare's side of the audio, so I hope you can forgive this. Hopefully next time I record with Clare we can be in person in studio.For this episode of Owning It: The Anxiety Podcast, clinical psychologist Dr Clare Kambamettu joins me to discuss the impact that consuming news around the clock can have on our minds and bodies. Maybe that's social media, maybe that's news on your TV, and it's especially relevant now with Covid. We are facing a very legitimate threat with Covid and keeping tabs of all of the latest news surrounding the virus has become a coping mechanism for many of us. We think it benefits us but if you're aware of it, it might be making you feel more anxious. So what can we do about it? How do we stay informed without overwhelming our threat system? Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Christmas can be a time of high anxiety. In this solo episode I talk through my approach to this time of year and how Covid has given us an opportunity to practise setting boundaries and putting our needs first. Episode includes my coping mechanism and mindset swaps that makes Christmas a far more enjoyable experience. Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this bonus episode I was so thrilled to sit down with (virtually) Millie Mackintosh. I have long been a fan of Millie's, particularly since becoming pregnant and seeing how open and honest she is about the experience. She keeps it real. Millie has had her fair share of anxiety down through the years and here she shares her story with me. We talk everything from the Made in Chelsea days when panic attacks were a common experience, to pre and postnatal anxiety, the anxiety of having millions of people watching and judging you on social media, IBS and so much more. As she's about to have her second baby, I'm so grateful to Millie for taking the time to chat and be so honest as always and allow herself to be vulnerable.My books: Owning It: Your BS Free Guide To Living With Anxiety / The Confidence Kit: Your BS Free Guide To Owning Your Fear / NAKED: Ten Truths To Change Your Life all available on amazon.Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this final episode of season 6, I am joined by the very lovely Cressida Bonas - actor, writer and more recently podcaster. Her podcast Fear Itself is earning rave reviews and features guests such as Ellie Goulding, Sir Richard Branson, Dr Pippa Grange and many more. Her focus is on fear and how fear might actually be at the root of all of our main emotions. Joining me here she tells me her experience of anxiety - including some pretty debilitating catastrophic thinking - as well as navigating a life as a very shy person for whom much of their work is public facing. Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this episode I am explaining a few key tools that I use again and again when feeling anxious about an upcoming event or a change of some kind. Fear hacking - using catastrophic thinking to work in your favour - followed by positive visualisation which involves a tool in itself called 'anchoring' and much more. This episode is just me and the content I'm discussing is based on what you'll find laid out in my 13 part toolkit in The Confidence Kit, my second book to have been published. Available now on audiobook and in hardback/paperback online and in book stores. Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this episode I am going back to where it all started for me: with gut issues. Diagnosed and plagued with IBS for most of my teenage years, I had no awareness that a lot of what I was experiencing was anxiety manifesting in this way. My tummy issues made me anxious, my anxiety made me have tummy issues. I am joined here by the world renowned author of The Mind Gut Connection, Dr Emeran Mayer. (I wrongly title it the gut brain connection in my intro so apologies for that!) He is not just a gastroenterologist but a neuroscientist too and where these two disciplines overlap, you know there is a lot to be learned. I hope you find this episode helpful and validating. Dr Emeran Mayer's new book is out now, The Gut-Immune Connection.Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sometimes in life, things change or thing go drastically downhill, without any forewarning. For Jane Enright, author of Butter Side Up, big, negative life changes occurred to her 3 times within the space of one year. 3 changes that would leave almost anyone in the throes of anxiety, negativity and hopelessness. But Jane realised she already had a lot of the skills necessary to get through this, if she just tapped into them, now that she really needed them. In this episode she shares her story with me, and how she handled the anxiety that went along with such traumatic incidents as well as how we can better process the things in life that happen that we do not see coming, so that they don't swallow us up. Her book, Butter Side Up, is available widely now.Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Happiness anxiety sounds oxymoronic but it's a real thing: it's known as Cherophobia which sounds sinister but really it's just the anxiety that can arise intermittently (or it can also be quite all consuming) when you fear that if things are going well, something has to go wrong. For me it manifests as feeling so grateful for what I do have in life that I think it will be taken away from me or that I don't deserve it. For others it can be an actual aversion to joyful experiences which require an element of letting go and being comfortable with being vulnerable and the idea that things are transient and not everything works out. For this episode I am joined by clinical psychologist Dr Malie Coyne to unpack Cherophobia, what it is, why we might struggle with it and crucially what we can do about it.Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this episode I am joined by Katy Milkman, award winning behavioural scientist and Wharton University Professor to talk about anxiety and more specifically how to change, and how labelling will impact your behaviour in a way that exacerbates your anxiety. Katy is a legend and explains everything so well. Her new book, How To Change is out now. My books are NAKED: Ten Truths To Change Your Life, The Confidence Kit and Owning It: Your BS Free Guide To Living With Anxiety, all widely available online. Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this episode I am joined by the founder of Happy Not Perfect the app plus the new book of the same name, Poppy Jamie. She has an incredibly illustrious career behind her with a refreshingly honest story. As much as I know about anxiety today, Poppy said many things that really gave me an a-ha moment, making me think twice bout things. She offers in this podcast, a step-by-step approach to dissolving anxiety in the moment. Most notably, she's all about employing curiosity as her most reliable tool for quelling anxiety when it rises. I found her insights here incredibly helpful and I'm sure you will too. A conversation I didn't realise I needed to have until I'd had it.Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I am joined by Dr Soph for this episode, she is absolutely fantastic, I have adored following her for years now. She is a clinical psychologist and now author of A Manual For Being Human. She breaks down anxiety in way that make it so easy to understand and move forward with. Here we talk through her approach for understanding why you're here (feeling anxious), what's keeping you here and how to move forward. We talk about therapy and therapists, how to flip social comparison on its head and lots more. I'm sure you will find her as wonderful as I do. Her book is out now.Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Johann Hari is a really interesting if somewhat controversial character. He is a prolific journalist, an NYTimes bestselling author and his Ted Talks on the reasons why we might be anxious/depressed has been viewed a staggering number of times. He too also struggled significantly with anxiety and depression. He has some really hard-to-argue-with insights on the various reasons why we collectively struggle so much: we have a series of unmet needs, or as his book title suggests, we are suffering from various lost connections. Here he chats to me about some of the key reasons why we struggle (according to him and the research he has done around the world chatting with experts) as well as what we can do about it: social prescription, questioning our junk values and more. A very interesting guy, did I say that already?Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I asked my followers on Instagram where in their life anxiety was most likely to pop up, the most common response was at work. Dealing with a difficult boss, a confrontation colleague that you don't get along with, anxiety about proving your worth in your role and so much more. Lynda Barry - communications expert and career consultant - has been on the series before when we discussed career related anxiety, but that was around getting a job, moving jobs, wondering what to with your career on the whole. Here we drill down further into the job you are in, the day to day anxieties that crop up and can wreak havoc on our wellbeing. Lynda offers plenty of practical advice that should help.Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this episode I am joined by life coach and all round straight shooter Mark Fennell. We unpack the whole idea of mindset, which is a word that gets thrown around a lot. What is it? Does it influence anxiety and vice versa? Is it a fixed thing? Can we change it? What would a good mindset be? Buy my anxiety journal here. Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to season 6! Dr Judson Brewer is legit amazing; he has his own neuroscience lab in which he and his team carry out lots of research to back up everything you'll find in his latest book Unwinding Anxiety, which is probably one of the best books I've ever read on the subject. In it, and in our conversation here, Jud puts forward the idea that maybe anxiety is simply a habit loop we've got stuck, something that plays out several times a day in the format of trigger, behaviour, result. It's a really interesting and empowering idea because when you start to wrap your head around it, it becomes something you can better manage or almost hack. My journal - OWN IT: THE ANXIETY JOURNAL, is available to order here.My books are all here on AMAZON. Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this bonus episode of Owning It, brought to you in partnership with NIVEA, I am joined by Claudia Hammond. Claudia is an award-winning broadcaster, she is visiting Professor of the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Sussex and the author of four books, most recently The Art of Rest.  We talk about the significance of human touch - something we've been seriously missing since lockdown - when it comes to lowering our anxiety in particular. It's not just something that feels nice, it has a real impact on your body at a biological level, boosting the nice hormones and dissolving the bad ones. We talk through the science behind it, the findings from an incredible piece of research called The Touch Test, and how we can gently reintroduce human touch back into our lives as things begin to open up. We also talk about the natural apprehension we're likely to experience as things return to 'normal', and how to circumvent this. NIVEA Cares beyond Skin, to find out more about NIVEA's #CareforHumanTouch initiative visit nivea.co.uk/humantouchOrder yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this final episode of Owning It The Anxiety Podcast (season 5), I am joined by Dr Clare Kambamettu who was actually my very first guest ever on Owning It. A clinical psychologist and wonderful speaker, Clare distills anxiety into something we can very easily understand. For this episode we look at the 5 Ps to help us better understand where our anxiety is coming from, what keeps it going and how we might find a way beyond it. It's a common exercise within CBT, a psychological formulation that many therapists will explore with their clients. Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this episode I am joined by Amy Thomson, fellow anxiety sufferer and founder of the hugely successful (globally) Moody Month App and Moody, her new book by the same name, that explores how hormones impact our everyday experience. Here we hone in on anxiety in particular, the hormones involved - how it all happens in the body - as well as Amy's personal experience, which led her down this particular career path. We also talk a lot about the impact of our menstrual cycle on anxiety, and so it as an episode particularly relevant to those who experience periods. Enjoy!Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this episode, I am joined by Layla O'Mara, founder of Nuanua.com, a wonderful online resource with courses that nurture mamas in their postpartum journey. Layla was someone I turned to in a moment of desperation, when I found myself, having come home from hospital with my new baby boy, feeling as though I had plummeted to the depths of anxiety. I didn't feel happy or excited or relieved, I felt consumed by anxiety, physically and emotionally. It's not nice to say this out loud, but it took me a while to feel happy. Layla here explains where this postpartum anxiety comes from, why it makes complete sense and how you, as a listener, can help yourself if you find yourself in the same position. I hope you find this helpful. Order yourself (or for a friend) a copy of my new book, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety: A Roadmap out of the Overwhelm and Back to Yourself here Follow me on Instagram @CarolineForan and @OwningItPodcast, on Tik Tok hereSubscribe to my weekly Substack here (not always anxiety related, often parenting related)Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.