Why does anxiety hit hardest right before something important?

Why does it get louder even when you have handled similar situations before?

What if anxiety isn't something you need to get rid of, but something you were never taught how to use?

Anxiety often shows up right before moments that matter. A test. A presentation. A game. A conversation you care about. When it does, most advice focuses on calming down or making the feeling stop. When that fails, anxiety starts to feel personal.

In this episode, Jessica Davis explains why anxiety behaves this way and why it often intensifies instead of fading with experience. You will learn how the brain mistakes importance for danger, why anxious thoughts ignore past success, and why panic is often a signal of care rather than failure.

You will also learn how confident people experience the same physical symptoms of anxiety and interpret them differently. Instead of fighting the feeling, they work with it. This episode walks you through how to make that shift and gives you practical tools you can use the moment anxiety shows up.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode
• Why anxiety spikes around the things you care about most
• The brain pattern that fuels worst case thinking
• Why fighting anxiety makes it stronger
• How to reinterpret physical panic sensations
• Three simple strategies to work with anxiety in real time
• A five step grounding checklist you can use anywhere

Got a question or feedback? Text us and share your thoughts—we’d love to hear from you!

RESOURCES:
Get your FREE Anxiety Survival Toolkit to help you when your anxiety is overwhelming!

📱 Follow Us:

Instagram | Facebook | Threads

🎙️ Presented by Davis-Smith Mental Health

This podcast was created by Davis-Smith Mental Health, offering counseling for teens & young adults in Illinois (only). We accept BCBS PPO, Aetna PPO, and self-pay clients.

Links:
Anxiety Survival Toolkit:
https://www.blockoutthenoisepodcast.com/anxiety-survival-toolkit/

Davis-Smith Mental Health:
https://www.davis-smithmentalhealth.com/

1:1 Confidence Coaching:
https://tidycal.com/blockoutthenoise/confidence-coaching

⚠️ Disclaimer: Block Out the Noise provides personal insights and practical strategies to help manage anxiety and self-doubt. The content is intended for educational and informational purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for professional mental health care, advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If you are experiencing a crisis...

If the idea of a new year makes your chest tighten instead of feeling hopeful, you are not broken.

In this episode, we talk about why planning feels so heavy when you have anxiety and what actually helps you move forward without shutting down.

Fresh starts are supposed to feel exciting. A new year. A clean slate. A chance to finally get it together. But if you live with anxiety, those moments often feel overwhelming instead of motivating.

This episode is for you if goal setting makes you spiral, vision boards make you feel behind, or planning triggers pressure, guilt, or avoidance. We break down why traditional planning works against an anxious brain and why both overplanning and avoiding plans keep anxiety loud.

You will learn why anxiety struggles with long timelines, why milestones feel like judgment instead of opportunity, and how to reset without forcing yourself to become a different person.

This is not about fixing everything or having your life figured out.
It is about meeting yourself where you are and building forward in a way your nervous system can handle.

Listen through the end for a reminder you probably need right now, especially if you feel behind or exhausted from trying to keep up.

What you will learn in this episode
• Why fresh starts trigger anxiety instead of motivation
• How milestones like new years and birthdays activate pressure and self-doubt
• The two common planning patterns that keep anxious thoughts stuck
• Why traditional goal setting makes anxiety louder
• What a reset is and why it feels safer than starting over
• How to plan in a way that reduces overwhelm
• Five anxiety-friendly steps to regain direction without pressure
• Why rest and recovery are part of progress, not rewards

Got a question or feedback? Text us and share your thoughts—we’d love to hear from you!

RESOURCES:
Get your FREE Anxiety Survival Toolkit to help you when your anxiety is overwhelming!

📱 Follow Us:

Instagram | Facebook | Threads

🎙️ Presented by Davis-Smith Mental Health

This podcast was created by Davis-Smith Mental Health, offering counseling for teens & young adults in Illinois (only). We accept BCBS PPO, Aetna PPO, and self-pay clients.

Links:
Anxiety Survival Toolkit:
https://www.blockoutthenoisepodcast.com/anxiety-survival-toolkit/

Davis-Smith Mental Health:
https://www.davis-smithmentalhealth.com/

1:1 Confidence Coaching:
https://tidycal.com/blockoutthenoise/confidence-coaching

⚠️ Disclaimer: Block Out the Noise provides personal insights and practical strategies to help manage anxiety and self-doubt. The content is intended for educational and informational purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for professional mental health care, advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If you are experiencing a crisis...

The holidays have a way of turning your body into a problem overnight.

One minute you’re fine.
The next, you’re aware of how your clothes fit, how you look in photos, what you’re eating, and what you promise yourself you’ll fix in January.

If this happens to you, it is not because your body changed.
It is because anxiety is looking for safety.

In this episode of Block Out the Noise, Jessica Davis breaks down why body anxiety spikes during the holidays, why control starts to feel like protection, and why anxiety so often targets your body when you feel watched, judged, or out of routine.

This is not an episode about weight loss, discipline, or loving your body.

It is about understanding why anxiety turns your body into a battleground and how to stop fighting the very thing that keeps you alive.

In this episode, you will learn:

• Why body anxiety spikes during the holidays
• How anxiety uses your body as a stand-in for safety and belonging
• Why control and food rules never bring the relief they promise
• What the “moving finish line” really means
• How to shift from monitoring your body to working with it
• How to approach food and movement with care instead of punishment
• How to protect your mind from comparison and overload

This episode is for you if you feel disconnected from your body, exhausted from overthinking food or movement, or stuck in a cycle of self-criticism that gets louder during the holidays.

You do not need to shrink to belong.
You do not need to earn rest, food, or comfort.
And your worth is not something you negotiate with anxiety.

Got a question or feedback? Text us and share your thoughts—we’d love to hear from you!

RESOURCES:
Get your FREE Anxiety Survival Toolkit to help you when your anxiety is overwhelming!

📱 Follow Us:

Instagram | Facebook | Threads

🎙️ Presented by Davis-Smith Mental Health

This podcast was created by Davis-Smith Mental Health, offering counseling for teens & young adults in Illinois (only). We accept BCBS PPO, Aetna PPO, and self-pay clients.

Links:
Anxiety Survival Toolkit:
https://www.blockoutthenoisepodcast.com/anxiety-survival-toolkit/

Davis-Smith Mental Health:
https://www.davis-smithmentalhealth.com/

1:1 Confidence Coaching:
https://tidycal.com/blockoutthenoise/confidence-coaching

⚠️ Disclaimer: Block Out the Noise provides personal insights and practical strategies to help manage anxiety and self-doubt. The content is intended for educational and informational purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for professional mental health care, advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If you are experiencing a crisis...