Drew Linsalata
346 episodes listed below
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Struggling with panic attacks, agoraphobia, or other anxiety problems? The Anxious Truth will educate you, empower you, encourage you, and inspire you to get your life back! * Featured in the New York Times: "6 Podcasts to Soothe An Anxious Mind" (April 27, 2024)* Featured in Vogue Magazine: "The 15 Best Mental Health Podcasts Recommended by Therapists" (October 2023)Listen to the podcast, read the books, join the social media community, and get on the path to recovery.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · June 2026
The Anxious Truth gives anxious listeners a practical, skeptical map for panic, OCD, rumination, mindfulness, and emotional tolerance.
The Anxious Truth is a focused Health & Fitness show for listeners dealing with anxiety, panic, OCD, emotional avoidance, and recovery. Drew Linsalata, its creator and host, speaks from the dual perspective of therapist and former sufferer.
You want anxiety advice that side-eyes neurohacks before your panic buys a cold-plunge routine.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A sober correction to the idea that Stoicism can cure anxiety by force.
This episode pushes back on the easy habit of turning Stoicism into a neat self-help system, especially when people with anxiety disorders are told they should simply master thoughts and feelings.
The episode argues that acceptance matters more than control when chronic anxiety starts to feel like a management job.
The episode argues that acceptance matters more than control when chronic anxiety starts to turn into a full time management job. Drew keeps the point grounded in panic, OCD related thoughts, ER urges, ice packs, and the habit of trying to keep the nervous system on a short…
A practical reset for people who have tried exposure on their own and come away blaming themselves.
The episode gives exposure a needed reality check. It treats the method as sound, then gets into where people trip over it when they try to manage it alone. Safety behaviors, expectations of quick relief, and the habit of trying to force fear away all get called out plainly.
Recovery begins with action, even before confidence arrives.
The episode pushes back on the idea that recovery depends on the right mindset, the right belief, or a burst of motivation before anything can change. It makes a plain case that a negative or defeatist mindset can still be the starting point, and that action can come first.
A direct case for dropping avoidance and sitting with anxiety instead of trying to outrun it.
Drew Linsalata argues that anxiety and fear rarely quiet down when people chase safety, avoid triggers, or keep adding rules around discomfort. He sets that against a slower approach that he says works better, though it takes more time and is much harder to carry out.
Mindfulness is framed as a skill to practice before panic takes over.
This second half of a conversation among anxiety therapists stays focused on where mindfulness and mindful acceptance fit in treatment. The point lands plainly: once anxiety has taken over, the mind is already on autopilot, so the better move is to notice the choice point…
A clear, grounded look at when reassurance becomes another way to dodge anxiety.
The episode looks at a common anxiety trap: reaching for soothing content, reassurance, or validation the moment discomfort shows up. Drew Linsalata frames that reflex as a safety behavior, one that can quietly nudge anxiety recovery toward avoidance instead of tolerance.
A clear look at mental compulsions, uncertainty, and the loop rumination keeps alive.
This episode looks at mental compulsions in OCD and anxiety, with Drew Linsalata joined by Lauren Rosen, an OCD and anxiety specialist practicing in California and the author of The Mental Compulsions Workbook for OCD.
Jonquilyn Hill chases one listener question per episode to the experts who can answer it.
Three hosts and psychologist Dr Emily talk vulnerability, therapy, and imperfection with guests.
Fearne Cotton interviews guests like Boy George and Bryony Gordon about mental health and identity.
Dr. Joy Harden Bradford pairs therapy insight with Black TV recaps, maternal health, and history.
Drew Linsalata argues that individual anxious fears—like fear of heart attacks, passing out, or insanity—are not special or unique, despite feeling intensely personal.
This episode discusses how bad weather events like snowstorms and hurricanes can trigger and worsen anxiety, leading to hypervigilance and agitation from anticipation through resolution.
Drew Linsalata’s The Anxious Truth episode 315 focuses on driving anxiety, panic in the car, and exposure methods for people whose fear is tied to how they feel while driving.
Anxiety shows up, and then values get a vote.
The Anxious Truth episode 322 follows host Paul Dooley from 25 years of panic disorder, agoraphobia, OCD, and depression to a night in Potter County, Pennsylvania, where he finally saw the dark sky he remembered from age nine.
Drew opens Episode 330 of The Anxious Truth by saying that when “bad things really do happen” — like a loved one dying, a long-term relationship ending, or a job loss — anxiety can be a normal human response.
Anxiety gets a hard look here.
The Anxious Truth episode 321, recorded in July 2025, centers on what happens when “a problem-solving mind” turns on itself and treats internal experience as a problem to solve.
Drew Linsalata says living with anxiety disorder or OCD is like living with “a cult leader” in your head, and he spends episode 340 mapping that metaphor onto cognitive fusion, compulsions, and exposure therapy.
Drew Linsalata says the phrase “nothing works for my anxiety” usually points to a pattern of control and avoidance, not a broken nervous system.
Marcus Aurelius gets pulled out of the marble and into the anxiety conversation.
The episode pushes back on a familiar recovery myth.
Drew opens by naming a familiar anxiety habit.
Drew opens by naming the problem: mental compulsions are easy to miss.
The Anxious Truth brings Joanna Hardist on to talk about the anxiety that can show up around parenting.
Drew Linsalata opens by challenging a familiar belief: exposure is the gold standard for anxiety, but a lot of people get the idea wrong when they try to do it on their own.
Part two picks up the conversation with Lauren Rosen and Joanna Hardis.
Drew Linsalata opens by asking what changes when OCD and anxiety show up in kids.
Drew Linsalata says anxiety feels bad, chronic anxiety tends to feel even worse, and a lot of online wellness culture has built itself around helping people feel good about feeling bad.
The show leans into the place where anxiety, treatment, and science language get all tangled up.
Drew Linsalata talks with two anxiety specialists about how mindfulness shows up in real anxiety treatment.
Drew Linsalata takes on a question that sounds simple and ends up being anything but: how do you calm anxious feelings?
Drew Linsalata discusses why acceptance-based strategies are more effective than control and management approaches for chronic anxiety disorders, citing evidence, peer experiences, and clinical data.
Drew Linsalata opens The Anxious Truth episode 320 by saying people ask him every day whether they can recover from anxiety without medication, whether medication is necessary, and whether taking it is “cheating.” He says he will not answer those questions because doing so can collide with personal beliefs, autonomy, and the different experiences people have with psychiatric medication.
In this Q&A episode, Drew Linsalata answers common questions from the anxiety recovery community, covering topics like the difficulty of allowing discomfort, the role of exercise, perfectionism, the Stockholm syndrome-like relationship with anxiety, and managing intrusive thoughts.
Drew Lentz opens episode 335 of The Anxious Truth by saying anxious people can feel like they have a growing list of fears and triggers, but those fears point to one underlying fear: how they feel.
Drew Linsalata says episode 338 of The Anxious Truth is about why some people cannot access acceptance, floating, tolerance, or exposure even after reading the books and listening to the show.
Drew Linsalata uses The Anxious Truth episode 332 to argue that coping skills can backfire when they are used to control internally generated anxiety.