Home Podcasts Anxiety Rx
Anxiety Rx

Anxiety Rx

Russell Kennedy 132 Episodes Oct 6, 2025

Dr. Russell Kennedy, a medical doctor and neuroscientist, shares his personal journey from severe anxiety to healing through unconventional methods. He discusses how LSD helped him find a path to recovery, though he emphasizes that listeners don't need to take it themselves. The podcast offers counterintuitive and non-traditional approaches to overcoming anxiety.

Episodes

136:  Why Thinking Can't Heal Your Anxiety Oct 6, 2025 22:01 What if worrying is just your mind’s way of trying to stop you from worrying?In this episode, I pull apart the myth that positive thinking can cure anxiety. The alarm in the body and the worries in the mind feed each other in a loop that never ends. Childhood separation leaves a mark when you aren’t seen, heard, or protected, and that’s where the alarm takes root. Growing up with a father who ha
135: How Money Triggers Anxiety & What You Need to Chase Instead Sep 29, 2025 25:25 What if the real scam isn’t the robocall, but the idea that your worth is measured in dollars?In this episode, the lie that money can replace human connection takes center stage. A medical system built on billing codes pushed me to trade care for speed, and that disconnection fueled my own anxiety. Scams, ads, and constant grabs for attention keep the nervous system on high alert. The “monetiza
134: How Highly Sensitive People Can Heal Anxiety Sep 22, 2025 19:44 What if being “too sensitive” isn’t a flaw but the hidden root of your anxiety?In this episode, I unpack what it really means to be a highly sensitive person and why that trait so often shows up alongside chronic anxiety. I walk through Dr. Elaine Aron’s DOES framework and how depth of processing, overstimulation, emotional reactivity, and sensing subtleties can both fuel alarm and unlock creativi
133: Why These Popular Hacks Won't Heal Your Anxiety Sep 15, 2025 25:36 Ever pushed yourself to eat clean and work out, hoping it would calm your anxiety, only to feel even worse? Here’s why it happens…In this episode, I dig into why gut health, exercise, and diets, while helpful, aren’t the cure for chronic anxiety. They can lower the intensity, but they don’t touch the root. The real work is creating safety in your nervous system and reconnecting with the younger ve
132: What Burnout Really Is & How to Prevent It Sep 8, 2025 23:52 What if burnout isn’t failure, but your body’s protective shutdown?In this episode, I open up about burning out as a doctor and why it went far beyond just being tired. Burnout showed up as a split between my mind pushing forward and the younger part of me saying, “I can’t do this anymore.” The mask of “Dr. Russell Kennedy” gave me income, status, and validation, but it also crushed my sense of
131: 5 Things That Are Preventing You From Healing Anxiety Sep 1, 2025 23:53 What if the very things that feel like they’re protecting you are actually keeping you stuck?In this episode, I break down the five unconscious strategies that block healing from anxiety. I call it MADDS: medication, addiction, distraction, dissociation, and suppression. Each of these starts as a survival tool, but over time they numb us, disconnect us from our bodies, and cut us off from the youn
130: Why Anxious People Can't Manifest Their Dream Life (And How To Fix It) Aug 25, 2025 19:29 Why does manifestation backfire when you need it most?In this episode, I look at why affirmations and vision boards don’t land when your body is stuck in protection and alarm. That state makes it almost impossible to think positively, no matter how many times you repeat the words. The nervous system drives what you’re able to manifest, and when it’s wired for survival, positivity just slides off w
129: The Reasons Why Everyone Feels More Anxious Nowadays Aug 18, 2025 22:07 In this episode, I cover why chaos feels so familiar and why we keep getting pulled into it even when it makes us anxious.Today’s uncertainty from news, politics, money issues, AI, and climate change mirror the unpredictability many of us grew up with. That early wiring can make us attracted to chaos, even as it increases our alarm. The pull of distraction, overstimulation, and loneliness keep t
128: The Truth About Anxiety TikTok Trends Aug 11, 2025 22:39 In this episode, I unpack why your TikTok anxiety hacks might actually be keeping you stuck.I get into the good, the bad, and the harmful when it comes to viral mental health content, like anxiety dance trends, “cortisol cocktails,” and trauma confessionals set to sad songs. I talk about why these things can help in the short term, but also why they fall short if you’re serious about actually hea
127: Do NOT Follow This "Advice" To Reduce Anxiety Aug 4, 2025 28:32 What if someone can make you feel something, and the real problem is pretending they can’t?In this episode, I talk about a phrase I used to hear all the time: “Nobody can make you feel anything.” I break down why I no longer believe that’s true, and what actually happens in the brain and body when we’re triggered. I get into how emotional responses are often reflexive, how easily anxiety hijacks i
126. How Can We Overcome The Fear of Connection In Social Anxiety? Jul 21, 2025 22:46 Welcome back! In today’s episode of Anxiety Rx, we’re diving into the real root of social anxiety…and spoiler alert: it’s not just about being shy at parties. Social anxiety is often misunderstood as a surface-level fear of people, but it runs much deeper than that. It’s a fear of connection - especially with yourself. In this episode, I break down how social anxiety stems from a body-ba
125. Panic Attacks Explained: The Collision of Two Alarms and How to Break Free Jul 14, 2025 19:37 Hello everyone! You’ve probably heard me talk about alarm - that raw, uncomfortable sensation in the body that actually drives anxiety. But in this episode, I break it down further into two distinct types: foreground alarm and background alarm. Foreground alarm is the big, loud stuff (like someone jumping out and scaring you, or feelings of unease before a big presentation). It’s sharp,

Recommended