Anxiety and OCD: The Strategy Mismatch Issue | EP 351

About this episode

Send in a question or comment via text. Anxiety disorders and OCD are what you get when a perfectly functioning brain applies its usual problem-solving strategies to the wrong problem. Your brain is good at solving things. The trouble is it keeps trying to solve something that isn't actually the problem, and that's what keeps you stuck in the loop: trigger, fix, feel better for a while, repeat. In this episode I want to introduce the concept of strategy mismatch. The things that seem to need fixing in anxiety and OCD (the intrusive thoughts, the physical sensations, the worries about health or relationships or moral character, the uncertainty you can't seem to resolve) are not the actual problem. The actual problem is the fear and discomfort those things produce, and the endless attempts to eliminate that discomfort are what keep the disorder running. How do you know? Because when you escape, avoid, reassure yourself, or perform a compulsion and feel better for a little while, the problem isn't solved. You just bought temporary relief until the cycle starts again. The strategy doesn't match the problem in front of you. I talk through what the right strategy looks like, why it's