The Anxious Achiever Break The Anxiety Habit with Dr. Jud Brewer and Charles Duhigg
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Apr 9, 2026 
Charles Duhigg, journalist and author who studies how habits form, and Dr. Jud Brewer, psychiatrist and researcher focused on anxiety and habit change, unpack why worry becomes a practiced loop. They explore how anxiety masquerades as problem-solving, the cue-routine-reward habit model, and practical ways to interrupt rumination and replace short-term relief with better alternatives.
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Host’s Example Of Working Through Anxiety
- Morra shares a personal example of turning to work when anxious after her son's hospital stay, skipping self-care to 'work it out.'
- She notes this reflex can sometimes be adaptive but often reinforces overwork and burnout.
Why Worry Feels Productive But Isn’t
- Worry feels productive because doing something (even mentally) gives the brain a sense of action and control.
- That sense is often illusory: worrying narrows thought and can impair planning and creativity.
Plan Without Worrying Experiment
- Differentiate planning from worrying: plan by assessing probabilities and solutions without the emotional loop of catastrophizing.
- Experiment: plan without worry and compare emotional/physical cost to habitual worrying.
