Why Your Brain Makes Anxiety 10x Worse (And How to Stop)Why Your Brain Makes Anxiety 10x Worse (And How to Stop)
Path to Peace with Todd Perelmuter
Todd Perelmuter explains how mental stories and perfectionism make anxiety feel far worse than it is, especially in social settings. He shares practical ways to use awareness, acceptance, and authenticity to befriend anxiety and find greater calm.
21:46•19 Sept 2026
Why Your Brain Turbocharges Anxiety and How to Calm It Down
Episode Overview
- Anxiety, especially social anxiety, comes from believing mental stories and valuing imagined opinions of others above your own.
- Perfectionism and self-criticism intensify anxiety and are closely tied to stress-related health problems and addictive behaviours.
- Resisting or fighting anxiety makes it stronger; accepting and even befriending it reduces its power.
- Grounding attention in the present moment—through sensations, surroundings, and genuine listening—shrinks overthinking and self-consciousness.
- Authenticity and self-acceptance allow words and actions to flow naturally, easing the pressure to be perfect and calming the mind.
“Unawareness may be the cause of anxiety, but awareness is the cure.”
What drives someone to seek a life without constant worry and self-judgement? In this episode of Path to Peace, Todd Perelmuter takes a candid look at why the brain can make anxiety feel ten times worse than it really is, especially in social situations. Speaking directly to people who struggle with stress, anxiety, addiction, and perfectionism, Todd blends practical wisdom with gentle humour.
He shares a simple scooter story—forgetting to turn off a signal—to show how harshly people judge themselves compared with how little others actually notice. As he puts it, "Almost nobody is thinking of us… it is this intense need, this grasping for the ideal of perfection that does not exist" that fuels social anxiety. Todd argues that anxiety springs from believing mental stories instead of observing reality, and from placing other people’s imagined opinions above our own.
He links this mental pressure to stress-related health problems, pointing out that stress “weakens our immune system” and ripples into every part of life, including addictive behaviours. You’ll hear him explain how resisting anxiety only strengthens it, like resistance training in a gym. Instead, he suggests a radically different approach: befriending anxiety. "When we create a loving gesture towards anxiety… we are going to embrace you," he says, describing how acceptance turns anxiety from an enemy into a companion.
Todd then walks through practical ways to shift out of overthinking: paying close attention to bodily sensations, grounding in the present moment, focusing on people’s faces, voices and surroundings, and letting conversation flow naturally.
For him, "Authenticity is the antidote to anxiety," and awareness is the key: "Unawareness may be the cause of anxiety, but awareness is the cure." If anxiety and perfectionism are holding you back on your recovery or wellness journey, this calm, story-driven talk offers a fresh way to relate to your own mind. Could befriending anxiety be the step that finally softens its grip?
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