Unwinding Anxiety With Dr. Jud Brewer

Mar 8, 2021

Dr. Jud Brewer, a psychiatrist and neuroscientist, dives into the complexities of anxiety amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He discusses the neurological underpinnings of anxiety, linking it to habits and addiction. Highlights include the efficacy of the RAIN method and habit mapping for personal growth. Dr. Brewer emphasizes the limitations of willpower and the transformative power of curiosity in overcoming anxiety. The conversation also touches on the struggles facing teens today and introduces innovative, app-based programs for managing anxiety effectively.

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INSIGHT

The Role of Worry

Worrying, a mental behavior, provides a sense of control or distraction from anxiety.
It can create a feedback loop, intensifying anxiety when control is perceived as lost.

ADVICE

Mapping Habit Loops

Map out your habit loops by identifying triggers, behaviors, and results to understand your anxiety.
This awareness is crucial for breaking free from ingrained patterns.

ANECDOTE

Habit Mapping for Weight Loss

A patient, initially anxious and overweight, mapped his habits and realized anxiety drove stress eating.
This realization led to significant weight loss and reduced anxiety, highlighting the power of habit awareness.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has been a perilous global moment that has indelibly changed all our lives. As we approach the one-year anniversary of societal shut-down, I find it opportune to reflect on how we are reacting, responding and adapting to it—for better or worse.

In other words: How is your anxiety level? What habits, good or bad, have you formed in these past 12 months to cope with the insanity and uncertainty of having life upended and placed on indefinite hold? And most importantly—how are these habits serving or not serving you?

I posit these questions as context for today’s conversation with my friend Dr. Jud Brewer—a psychiatrist and neuroscientist specializing in habit change who has extensively studied anxiety, and what science tells us about how we can break the cycle of fear and worry that affect all of us to some degree or another.

Dr. Jud is the Director of Research and Innovation at the Mindfulness Center, a research affiliate at MIT, and an associate professor in Behavioral and Social Sciences and Psychiatry at the Schools of Public Health & Medicine at Brown University. You might have stumbled upon his TED talk, A simple way to break a bad habit (which has racked in 16+ millions of views) or caught him on 60 Minutes with Anderson Cooper. He’s also been featured in TIME magazine, NPR, Forbes and many other places.

Our previous conversation (RRP 471) focused on addiction and how mindfulness can help us break bad habits. Today we extend that exploration to Dr. Jud’s latest book Unwinding Anxiety—an evidence-backed primer on understanding what causes everything from mild unease to full-blown panic, the relationship between anxiety and addiction, and the many ways we can actually train our minds to feel, perform and live better.

This exchange provides actionable steps to help you uproot stress. Break habit loops. And end the cycle of fear-based decision-making. Most importantly perhaps, you will learn how to identify your triggers in order to respond mindfully rather than react impulsively.

Dr. Jud is among the very best and brightest at the intersection of neuroscience and habit change — and given that hundreds of millions of people suffer from anxiety, my hope and instinct is that you will find this conversation quite useful.

FULL BLOG & SHOW NOTES: bit.ly/richroll586

YouTube: bit.ly/judbrewer586

May Dr. Jud’s words serve, soothe, and inspire.

Peace + Plants,

Rich