The Anxiety Party by The Neuro Babe

#18 High-Functioning Survival Mode: The Hidden Reason You're Still Anxious, Exhausted, and Stuck

High-functioning survival mode is still survival mode. In this episode of The Anxiety Party, Kerry shares the truth most high-achieving women don't want to hear: just because you're getting everything done doesn't mean your nervous system is okay. If you're successful on paper but secretly exhausted, overwhelmed, anxious, emotionally drained, or dealing with chronic symptoms that won't go away, this episode is for you. Kerry shares personal stories from her own life, including recovering from major spinal surgery while refusing to slow down, working as a clinical supervisor while simultaneously building her private practice, and the years she spent living on pure adrenaline without realizing she was trapped in survival mode. You'll learn: • What high-functioning survival mode actually looks like • The difference between stress and chronic nervous system dysregulation • Why anxiety, burnout, exhaustion, overwhelm, and many physical symptoms often have the same root cause • Signs you're living in functional freeze without realizing it • How overworking, overperforming, people-pleasing, perfectionism, and self-abandonment keep you stuck • Why healing isn't sticking even though you're trying so hard • The hidden ways work, business, relationships, and family dynamics keep your nervous system trapped in survival mode • What changes when you finally get out of survival mode If you've ever thought: "I should be able to handle this." "I look successful, so why do I feel so bad?" "If I slow down, everything will fall apart." This episode will help you understand why your nervous system may be telling a very different story. Connect with Kerry: Instagram: @kerrygreenofficial Enjoying the show? Leave a review and send a screenshot to Kerry on Instagram for free access to her 7-Day Anxiety Reset Blueprint — seven days of audio training designed to help you break free from survival mode and start regulating your nervous system from the root.

#17 The Panic Party Era

If you've ever blacked out mid-presentation, spiral-texted someone at midnight, hyperventilated thinking you're dying, or convinced yourself someone's bad mood meant the relationship was over...this episode is for you. Kerry's pulling back the curtain on her panic party era: the hyperventilating on Grandfather Mountain, the Zoom workshop she clicked out of mid-panic attack, the rapid-fire texts she couldn't stop sending, and the anxiety nobody in the meeting could see. Real stories. No filter. But this isn't just a confessional — it's a roadmap. Because panic isn't only the hyperventilating, can't-breathe kind. It's the crawling out of your skin. The tornado of physical sensations. The absolute certainty that everything is ending. And it's the slow, invisible way it shrinks your world until you're avoiding the walk, the vacation, the new project, the next moves in your business — because not doing the thing feels safer than feeling what you think you're gonna feel. In this episode Kerry gets into: * What panic actually looks like beyond the dramatic version you picture * Why your nervous system isn't broken — it's just trying to get your attention * The survival mode identity that's keeping your world small (and how to get out of it) * Why avoiding never gets you out of the anxiety cage — and what actually does * What life looks like when you're no longer white-knuckling through your own day * If you've been wondering whether healing is actually possible for you — this is the episode that will make you believe it is. Connect with Kerry: Instagram: @kerrygreenofficial Website: theneurobabe.com [http://theneurobabe.com]

#16 Why Anxiety Healing Sometimes Feels Like You're Back at Square One (you're not)

You were doing so well. Making progress. Feeling better. Riding the high. And then one thing happened. A bad day. A physical symptom. A moment of anxiety you thought was behind you. And suddenly your brain is telling you that you were never healing in the first place. That you shouldn't have gotten your hopes up. That this is just who you are. This episode is about why that happens. And why it is not the truth. Kerry shares a story straight from a client session this week: a woman in The Neuro Babe Club who had been thriving, got dizzy, and spiraled into full "I'm regressing" territory. Kerry walks through exactly how they worked through it together. First, by proving the thought had no real evidence behind it. And then by getting to the real reason this happens to almost every woman who is actively healing. The answer? Your old identity is trying to pull you back. And once you understand that, everything gets so much easier. ---------------------------------------- In this episode: * Why your brain uses a bad day as proof that you were never healing (and why that is not evidence of anything) * How to find the real explanation for a physical symptom before letting your nervous system decide it means the worst * Why healing setbacks happen to almost every client Kerry works with, and what is actually going on underneath * Ego death: what it is, why it happens during healing, and why it is a sign you are doing something right * The operator visual: how to separate yourself from the spiral in real time using old identity vs. new identity * Why your old identity is basically a stalker peeking through your windows. and how to make her go away for good * Why healing does not have to be as hard as you are making it ---------------------------------------- If you're ready to get out of your anxiety cage and join The Club, head to theneurobabe.com [http://theneurobabe.com]!

#15 You're Not a People Pleaser. It's Your Nervous System

If you've been calling yourself a people pleaser for years, this episode is going to change everything. Because people-pleasing isn't your personality. It's not who you are. It's a survival strategy your nervous system learned when you were young. And that distinction changes everything about how you heal it. In this episode, Kerry breaks down exactly why you say yes when you mean no, why setting boundaries sends your body into full panic mode, and why trying to just "be more assertive" or "say no more often" will never actually work. Because you can't think your way out of a pattern that lives in your nervous system. You'll walk away understanding where people-pleasing really comes from, what it's actually costing you (including the physical symptoms your doctor can't explain), and the three-step process that makes boundaries feel natural instead of terrifying. ---------------------------------------- In this episode: * Why people-pleasing is not a personality trait. It's a nervous system survival response called the fawn response * How your childhood environment wired your brain to put everyone else's needs first (and why it made complete sense at the time) * What's actually happening in your body when you try to set a boundary and immediately want to take it back * Why the guilt spiral after saying no is not a character flaw. And what it's really telling you * What your physical symptoms (gut issues, migraines, chronic fatigue, mystery pain) have to do with people-pleasing * What life actually looks like on the other side, in real, specific, everyday moments * The 3-step process to healing people-pleasing at the root: regulate, rewire, practice ---------------------------------------- Connect with Kerry: * Instagram: @kerrygreenofficial [https://instagram.com/kerrygreenofficial]. Kerry would love to connect with you

#14 Intrusive Thoughts (Why You Have Them & How To Let Go)

If you've ever had a thought come completely out of nowhere and make you go — wait, WHAT was that, am I okay — this episode is for you. We're talking about intrusive thoughts. Not the "ugh I'm a little worried" kind. The vivid, intense, out-of-nowhere kind. The ones that scare you. The ones that make you wonder if something is wrong with you. Spoiler: nothing is wrong with you. In this episode, Kerry breaks down exactly what intrusive thoughts are, why they happen, and why the thing you've been trying — logic, affirmations, journaling the same thought for the fifth time — literally cannot work when your nervous system is in survival mode. You'll walk away understanding your brain in a way nobody ever explained to you. And that understanding? It's the first step to it actually stopping. In this episode: * The actual difference between regular anxiety and intrusive thoughts * The 4 nervous system states — and which ones are generating the dark, scary thoughts * Why you cannot logic your way out of an intrusive thought (and why that is 100% not your fault) * Why affirmations, journaling, and even therapy can leave you understanding your anxiety without it actually changing * What works — and why the order you do it in matters more than anything Connect with Kerry: * Instagram: @kerrygreenofficial * If this episode resonated, leave a review — it helps more women find the show and Kerry reads every single one