Is Calming Anxiety and OCD Even Real? | EP 356Is Calming Anxiety and OCD Even Real? | EP 356
The Anxious Truth - A Panic, Anxiety, and Mental Health Podcast
Drew Linsalata explains why compulsions, safety behaviours and calming rituals in anxiety and OCD are emotional theatre that only alters feelings, not real danger. The episode focuses on breaking the anxiety cycle by questioning imaginary connections and relying on the natural rise and fall of emotions.
31:30•4 Nov 2026
Anxiety, OCD and Why Your Calming Rituals Might Just Be Theatre
Episode Overview
- Compulsions, rituals and safety behaviours mainly change how you feel in the moment and do not affect real-world outcomes.
- Anxiety disorders and OCD focus responses on internal experiences rather than external triggers or practical problems.
- The mind creates imaginary connections between fear and events, making calming actions feel essential despite having no actual impact.
- Emotional states, even intense fear, are transient and will rise and fall without constant attempts to control them.
- Recognising these behaviours as theatre can help break the anxiety cycle and reduce reliance on short-term calming strategies.
“All that stuff you do, the compulsions, the rituals, the escape, the reassurance seeking… only leads to feeling better. But that does not confirm that you fixed anything.”
What drives someone to seek a life without being ruled by anxiety and OCD? This episode of *The Anxious Truth* tackles a core idea that might flip how you think about panic, compulsions, and calming rituals: what if all that frantic "doing" is just theatre? Therapist and host Drew Linsalata breaks down the anxiety and OCD cycle step by step, showing how a trigger leads to intense internal sensations, frightening thoughts, and a desperate urge to act.
You’ll hear him describe compulsions, safety behaviours, reassurance seeking, Googling, and even using chat tools as "control strategies" aimed purely at feelings, not at real danger. As he puts it, "All that stuff you do… only leads to feeling better.
But that does not confirm that you fixed anything except the feeling that you had in the moment." Using a funny example about craving apples and "biting at the air", Drew explains imaginary connections: the mind insists that rituals prevent death, insanity, moral failure, or some vague sense of being "overwhelmed", but in reality those actions have zero impact on actual outcomes. They just nudge emotions around for a while.
The episode is aimed at people living with anxiety disorders or OCD who feel stuck in endless cycles of checking, escaping, and calming. It’s honest about how hard it is to drop safety behaviours, yet gently points to the evidence from recovered people who now look back and say, "I can’t believe how much time I spent on that." The tone stays practical and human, mixing clinical clarity with humour and plenty of validation.
If you’ve ever wondered whether calming anxiety is truly a skill or just a temporary trick, this conversation might help you question what’s really keeping you trapped—and what you’re braver than you think. How different might your recovery feel if you treated those rituals as stage props instead of lifesavers?
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