Why Am I Like This?!
We are a therapist and a psychiatric nurse practitioner and we want to share a simplified view of these complex concepts that are often misunderstood, avoided, and even feared.
This is a podcast about being human, adapting to life, and learning from our unique experience.
We try to provide the answers to question: Why am I like this?
Why Am I Like This?!
Why Do I Keep Trying Self Help Hacks?!
We dig into why mental health hacks feel so tempting, which ones actually help, and when they quietly make things worse. We share how to set goals, spot toxic positivity, work with trauma-aware pacing, and choose therapy that fits.
• appeal of quick fixes, privacy and control
• stigma fears and the urge to go it alone
• readiness over resistance and avoidance loops
• self-connection and compassionate self-talk
• toxic positivity versus true validation
• habits that help ADHD and daily stress
• limits of behavior change with trauma
• using goals, metrics and timelines
• choosing a therapist and seeking the right fit
• sustainability, balance and being okay enough
If you like our show, please leave us a rating and review on your favorite podcast platform, follow the show and share it with your friends
Laura's Free Course on Emotional Development and Regulation:
https://benavieri.com/neuroception-sign-up/
This show is sponsored by:
Core Self
Benavieri Counseling & Coaching
www.benavieri.com
Active Healing Psychiatric Services
www.activehealingpsych.com
Hello. Welcome to Why Am I Like This? The podcast for those who didn't get enough public. I'm Laura Wood and I'm a Trauma Therapist.
Michaela Beaver:And I'm Michaela Beaver, I'm a psychiatric practitioner.
Laura Wood:Why are we doing this podcast?
Michaela Beaver:I'm so glad you asked. We want to help you understand yourself a bit better. How the things you learned about yourself and the world in the past is still affecting you today. We want to figure out why are we like this? Those random things about ourselves that we might wonder about like, why am I so jezid? Why am I so anxious? Why do I think everything perfect? Why are my thoughts so negative? Why do I fix everything all the time?
Laura Wood:Yeah. And today we're talking about self-help. Mental health hacks are everywhere. Some of them are brilliant, some of them are useless, and some they actually make things work. So we are going to try to answer the following question. Why are mental health hacks so appealing? Which hacks actually help and which ones backfire? And how can you tell if a hack is helping or if it's hurting you? So let's get started. What do you think? Why are they so appealing? These mental health hacks, the self-help stuff.
Michaela Beaver:Yeah. Well, I think that everybody's doing it, everybody's talking about it. And so we think like, well, maybe I should be doing it because it's like the popular thing to do. Yeah, for sure.
Laura Wood:I mean, I think about my Instagram feed, right? Like, and then even my business's Instagram feed, and I'm like perpetuating the self-help stuff. Like when I put stuff out there, you know, like, hey, here's three ways to regulate your emotions. Here's three ways to help regulate your kids' emotions. Like, those are some of the things that I put out there all the time. So, you know, I'm contributing to the self-help world a little bit.
Michaela Beaver:You are. Well, and I think that like, you know, people are always looking for ways to just help themselves feel better because there's a lot of stress. We live a really stressful life, and you know, our human existence ha just comes with stressors and hard things, and we're all just trying to figure it out.
Laura Wood:Yeah, for sure. We're in a world where there is a lot of distress, there's a lot of pain, there's a lot of suffering. Um, and we often just keep it inside and we don't want to share with anyone else. Like, so it's appealing to not have to connect with another person, but like to be able to kind of secretly like fix yourself so that no one ever can know like what you're going through. I don't know.
Michaela Beaver:Oh, yeah, for sure. Well, and I think that it's scary. Like, what if I go to therapy or what if I go see this like medication person and they're gonna tell me I'm crazy?
Laura Wood:Yeah, like does a diagnosis mean I'm crazy? Um, and does like this person think that I'm totally am I is what I'm going through normal? Um, like I asked I got asked this question recently from a teenager. She was like, Well, what do most people say to that answer, right? Like, or to that question, because I asked some question about like what their anxiety feels like or whatever, and they were like, Well, what do most people say when you ask them that? And I'm like, Well, most people don't say anything, everybody has a unique experience, but I also can like appreciate that you want to make sure that what you're saying to me is the quote unquote normal, right? Like, I think that's it can be scary when you're exposing your your secrets or your fears or your shame.
Michaela Beaver:Um the other thing that I think I've heard too, which is totally the opposite, is like they need to be special in their suffering, right? And if you tell me that this is normal, like what does that mean about me too?
Laura Wood:Yeah. Oh, I've had that happen before. One time um I had a client who I shared that. I was like, you know, you seem like you're doing okay, right? Like everything seems like you are using your skills, like this is great, like you've got all this going for you, like kind of strengths-based, right? And they were really upset with me because they felt like I was invalidating their experience and their emotions in general, right? Like I think um, you know, I remember feeling really guilty about that, like feeling like I was minimizing their distress, but I wasn't, I was really just highlighting their strengths. And so I think when you're talking to another person, it can be misinterpreted or it can be, you know, anytime you're bringing another person into the mix instead of like doing a self-help kind of thing and working on it on your own, you're running the risk of being misunderstood.
Michaela Beaver:Yeah. And vulnerable. It's scary to like not know if we're gonna be accepted or not. You know, what if they don't, what if they don't like me? What if, you know, what if I do something wrong? What if I say this thing and now my kids are like my I'm gonna get my kids taken away from me, whatever. Like there's a lot of fears that people can have, and they think that like it's not a safe setting. And I I think that that goes back to kind of what I was thinking when you were talking and we're saying the word crazy. It's like we've come a really far ways with mental health, and like, but like there are still some things about you know, mental health care that are stigmatized. And I think that that is another reason why people want to just try to do it on their own. They think like, I got this, like I can get myself out of this, like, you know, you know, I don't need any help.
Laura Wood:Yeah, like I can handle, or what's even worse than that is I should be able to handle it on my own, right? Like, so we tell ourselves we should, and when we should on ourselves, we end up in trouble. We end up kind of making our lives a little bit harder, making our lives a little bit worse, um, filling ourselves with shame and blame when we're not achieving what we think we should do. I'm using air quotes for those of us, this is an audio medium.
Michaela Beaver:Um well, I I think too, like it's control, right? Like, I don't want to trust my like stuff with somebody else. Like, I want to be in control of what I do. They're gonna tell me to get on medicine and I don't want to take medicine, so I'm not gonna go do that, you know. And so they, you know, there's a lot of like preconceived notions too about what they're gonna get and that they're gonna make them do something.
Laura Wood:Oh, for sure. And I think too, you know, it's appealing to be able to do things on your own time. Like when I think about like self-help, it's like, oh, I can read this book and I can internalize it, and then I can go do all the things, and then I can just be better, like it's a quick fix, right? Like it's like um, it's just a simple solution to a simple problem. But I think, you know, kind of going into does this really help? Like sometimes solutions are simple, but the problems are really complex. So, like every time, because I thought about as a therapist, like writing um, you know, a manual or a book or like a write down this solution for this problem. And then every time I do, I'm like, well, but what about this? What about this? There's so many nuances, which is why I'll probably never publish anything, because I get wrapped up in the nuance of like there's so much individual, um, you know, unique uh uh components of any given problem that like not all solutions are one size fits all. And so I think when we're reading self-help, like, or when we're trying to do self-help, like we're actually exposing ourselves to feel like a failure.
Michaela Beaver:Yeah. Well, and that makes me think that like maybe it's an avoidance strategy, right? Like I'm not ready to get better, I'm not ready to change. And so maybe that's another reason why someone wouldn't want to go because it's like that's gonna be hard, and I don't want to do hard things yet.
Laura Wood:Yeah, or I'm not ready to do that particular hard thing yet, right? We we're, you know, in therapy we talk about resistance sometimes, but um, I recently read something that was really framing resistance as the readiness, which I loved, right? Because it's not resistant, I'm not resistant to getting help. I'm not resistant to therapy. I'm just not ready for that. I'm not ready for that layer for to be uncovered. I'm not ready for that particular um avenue to be explored. I need to like find the doorway in that I'm ready for before I can just start making those changes. Like they're stages of change that everybody kind of goes through for a lot of different problems. We're not all in the same place.
Michaela Beaver:I love that. That's so like less shamey and like negative sounding than other ways that we could have put that. So I really like that.
Laura Wood:Yeah, the word resistance makes me think like that's a therapist ego issue. Right? Like they're resisting my help. Like, no, they're not, they're just not quite ready yet.
Michaela Beaver:Yeah, it's a strategy. I think then more than anything else, it's just you know, I like that I'm not ready for that, you know? Um, so we we think about like the hacks that like what can work, right? What could work? What are things that are out there that might like be promising for people?
Laura Wood:I like anything that tells you to connect with yourself first. Like I'm a big, and this is just because this is like my core belief, right? So this not this might not be something for everyone, but I like things that sort of um help you explore your own authentic connection with yourself. So, what I mean by that is like your relationship with yourself, how are you talking to yourself? How are you um interacting with yourself internally? Like, are you arguing with yourself? Are you shaming yourself? Are you berating yourself? Are you belittling yourself or reenacting, you know, um negative self-talk that you learned in childhood? Like anything that kind of helps you reframe some of that in a positive way, like, or even I positive is not always necessary. Sometimes it's about getting to neutral. Like toxic positivity is a real thing. So, like, we don't need to go down that road. Um, and I think when we start thinking about, okay, those are some things that work, or those are some things that might be helpful, is like this relationship with yourself. Something on the other hand that might backfire or like not be helpful is that toxic posity. Like, do you feel like you see that in people, like that toxic positivity?
Michaela Beaver:I guess I'm not actually familiar with that specific terminology, but what I think you're trying to say is like that we believe that like at our baseline, like everybody should be happy. And that's not in like that's not like a real thing. Most of us are are like kind of in that neutral zone, like I like we can, you know, flow from like one to the other, or is that not what you mean?
Laura Wood:Yeah. So like what I mean by toxic positivity is like the people who say, like, well, at least, right? Or like look on the bright side, or like look for this, like silver linings, bright side, like love it, right? But there's not always a positive need, there's not always a need to be positive, kind of like what you're saying. Like, this baseline of happiness is not necessarily real and it's not necessary, it's not required for us to be okay all the time. I like to say, okay enough. Like I'm okay enough right now, right? Like, I am not necessarily okay, but I'm okay enough to like get through the day or like get through the next minute or get through the next five minutes or whatever. You know, we don't have to be okay all the time. Like, I know that's kind of cliche, like it's okay not to be okay, right? But that's true. And I think toxic positivity is um often kind of comes from this place of like I can't tolerate other people's distress. Right. Like I can't see you be upset. So I need to like make you not upset anymore, right? Like I need to like make sure that you're okay again. I need to make sure that you're not upset, I need to make sure that you're not sad, I need to, you know, change the way that you're I need this to be resolved. Right. And that comes to me, I imagine like a parent-child relationship or like a spouse relationship, you know, where it's like, you know, you could like instead of just listening and being there and attuning to someone's distress, like if I'm coming home and I'm saying, like, man, I had a really hard day at work, you know, I just like really struggled, like I feel like, you know, I didn't get all the things done that I needed to or whatever. And then my spouse or my partner or whatever says to me, Well, you know, you worked really hard, so it's okay. Like you didn't, you know, you always say negative things, like just be positive about it. Like, look, you know, have a better outlook. And it's like, well, I'm not, I'm not like saying that everything is terrible and like I'm not like dooming doomering, I'm just saying, I had a tough day, right? Like that can be validated where it's like, oh, I'm sorry you feel that way. Like, I'm sorry you had a tough day, you know. Like, let's how let's, you know, hang out together and just relax, or let me uh let me take something off your hands or whatever. I don't know. Like there are different ways to like support someone than to tell them that their thinking is wrong and that they shouldn't be upset about something.
Michaela Beaver:Well, I think that that like it just is very much like that um man versus woman kind of thing. Like the, you know, we have and it's not just men, I guess I but like tick, like stereotypically, right? We think of like that like men like to be fixers. They want to like, you know, there's people out there that just want to fix the problem, they want to solve it for you. And if I could just solve it for you, then you can be okay. And it's like, well, I don't, I don't really want to have a solve, like I can solve this on my own. I just want to vent, and I just want you to say, I'm so sorry. Like that must have been really difficult, right? Like, let's let's hang out and and do something fun. Let's take your mind off of it, you know, let's whatever. Or you know how do you want to tell me about it? Yeah, you know, and so we we want to be we want to be able to vent because it makes us feel better to like get things off our chest, right? But but then like, yeah, as a as a parent, like we want to fix all the things for our kids, we want them to be okay. So I could totally see that that being a thing that I would do.
Laura Wood:Right. Like it's so hard to tolerate when our kids are upset. And like I don't want to always like go back to like parent-kid relationship, but so much of our experience comes back to a parent-kid relationship, like whether we're the parent or we're the kid in that situation, right? Like I learn whether or not it's okay for me to be in distress if my parents accepted my distress when I was young, right? So, like one of the things about the one of the things about going to therapy, I think is if I'm gonna go to uh another person for help, like, is that okay, right? Am I allowed to ask for help? I think that's kind of what whether I choose self-help or if I choose therapy, I'm actually like basing that off of a belief, maybe that I maybe I do deserve or I don't deserve to be helped and it's okay for me to ask and it's not okay for me to ask, right?
Michaela Beaver:Do you think that someone like uh as an adult, if their parent, when they were a kid, if they were the like one upper type, not like really one upper, but like they're kind of like they have to like always share something about themselves, right? Or they like want to like tell you how they're just they had that experience. Do you think oh when I was a kid or yeah, yeah, yeah, or like, oh, I felt like that all the time, or whatever. Do you think that that person is more or less likely to seek out care?
Laura Wood:I don't know, I could see it both ways. So I think they're probably less likely to seek out care because they might think to themselves like they're minimizing their own pain. So they might say to themselves, like other people have it way worse, right? Like, I don't have it that bad. I shouldn't need anything, I shouldn't um be complaining, like it's right, like that's maybe a mindset that I might have. But then I also think that person might feel like minimized and be like seeking validation and support. So like they also might like try to go to um a therapist and like seek out support because they want someone to tell them that their problems are real, right? Like they're they're like, I well, nobody's ever validated my problems, and like that's a therapist's job, right? Is to like validate their problems. So I could kind of see it going both ways, but I think you know, they also might be very interested in, you know, like a hack that kind of gives them like normalizes, like so. I think about self-help or like life hacks or whatever that normalize what you're going through, that make it okay for you to like have your experience. Like, um, I see this a lot in probably like Gen Alpha, where it's like they very much like validate each other's experiences and very much like say like everybody's stuff is important, right? So like I could see that kind of line too, where it's like I want people to validate my experience. I want people to normalize what I'm going through.
Michaela Beaver:Sure. Well, I think that the other thing that people like might seek help for that could be helpful would be where we're looking for like little habits that we can change so that like we can meet meet a goal. So like changing one thing at a time, you know, having like one goal that we're setting. So I think of like ADHD stuff, right? Like that could be really helpful where you know they're learning little things that they can do to help themselves manage their symptoms. Like, well, I always okay, I'm gonna start by just always putting my keys, I'm gonna hang them up in the same spot every time I come home so that I know where they're at, right? And so that like I can imp that's something I can easily implement, and that might make me never lose my keys again. So that's a good like hack, you know, or you know, self-help type of uh area that could be really helpful is like just trying to work on behavioral changes, changes like that.
Laura Wood:Yeah, like behavioral strategies I think can be really helpful where I go into like the um where it might not be as like on the flip side, right, where it might cause harm or like might not feel as helpful would be if you're struggling to then change those behaviors and then you're trying kind of like shaming yourself through it. Like I think about cognitive behavioral therapy sometimes as both incredibly research-based and helpful, and then also like insufficient for some people, right? And so, like if you're that person where I can know, like if you're a person who's experienced a lot of trauma or especially complex trauma, childhood trauma, changing a behavior is not a simple thing. And when I don't, when I can't change that behavior because there's something going on inside of me that is preventing me from changing that behavior, like, you know, um there is a thousand reasons, but if I were, you know, doing a thing because of some unknown like survival mechanism, like if this is a strategy, a survival strategy, which is like a response to a traumatizing situation, I can't just change that behavior without healing the trauma, right? And so I could see myself feeling like, why can't I just yeah, you know, well, I kind of tell people this all the time.
Michaela Beaver:I'm like, okay, here's what it feels like, right? Especially like you think about like that DBT kind of like why is mine thing. I'm like, you know, I kind of like picture this like Venn diagram, and I'm like, okay, you're over here and you're stuck in your emotions, right? And you can see the logic and it's over here, and you know it's there, and you and you like tell yourself, but this doesn't make sense, but you can, you're just so stuck in this emotional sense that you don't have the skills to help yourself regulate and and calm your nervous system so that you can access that logical thought and actually use it, you know. And so I kind of tell people like that's what's going on for you, is like you can see it, but you're stuck here so strongly that you're unable to get unstuck. And I think that that's really common in trauma because they're getting into that trauma network, you know.
Laura Wood:Right. And our trauma network is keeps us like it keeps us safe by either like we talk about the survival responses or the responses to danger, like fight, flight, freeze, spawn, submit, like all those different things, but we don't really think about them in terms of like behaviors, right? So sometimes like depression, for example, I think um there's a concept called behavioral activation for treatment of depression, which can be super effective and helpful. But if the depression is a result of like complex trauma, maybe it's not just like your standard run-of-the-mill clinical depression that's coming from, you know, a genetic component or whatever, but it's actually exacerbated by this trauma and it's a freeze response, or maybe it's a flight response, or maybe it's a shutdown response, right? And it's not it's not as simple as just like, you know, taking a shower every day. Not as simple as just taking that one behavior step because it's an actual survival response that's designed to keep you safe. And so until we uncover that and really make the connection, it can be really hard to make those behavioral changes.
Michaela Beaver:Yeah, especially if you're one of those people that have been in, you know, like fight or flight activated for so long. Now we're going into shutdown because our body literally has nothing left. And then you are like, but I literally just can't get out of bed.
Laura Wood:I can't.
Michaela Beaver:Yeah. I literally can't just go for a walk. I know that that sounds great, and you know, but that's not happening for me.
Laura Wood:Yeah, it can be really, really hard. And um, and so I think when it comes to certain like life hacks or or mental health hacks, right? We're talking about, you know, things that are supposed to make us feel better, but then they end up making us feel worse because they feed on that shame and like failure, right? And so we have to really be open to the idea that not being able to do one of the things that's suggested in some of these mental health hacks or in some of these self-help books. We have to be open to the idea that it's not because I'm a failure, it's just because that's not working for me, right? That that's not for me. It doesn't not everything is for everyone.
Michaela Beaver:Well, and I think that too, like you have to, you know, have some insight into the actual stuff that's going on. And like sometimes it can be really hard to see things clearly. And so sometimes, like, you know, you think about like we o we only have the perspective that we have from our current life experience. And so you hear kids say, like, well, I didn't know it wasn't, I didn't know that this wasn't normal. I didn't know that this is what other people's lives were like in childhood. Yeah, because you only what you know is your is your reality. And so when that happens, it's really hard for us to sometimes get a different perspective in the first place because we only know what we know.
Laura Wood:Right. We only have the frame of reference that we have. And so I always tell people, like like my clients and stuff, I kind of explain it like I can't see my own face without a mirror, right? Like I can only see what I have right now in front of me. And in order to, you know, know what my face looks like, know what, like if I have something in my teeth, like I need to be able to have a mirror to look at and to reflect back at me that like that information that I can't get without having that external perspective. Like we need an external perspective sometimes. And one of the things about therapy that's helpful, and you can also get this a little bit from the self-help books, I think, or from the you know, mental health hacks. Like, I think you can get that a little bit when it gives you when you have that light bulb and you're just like, oh, you know, like that. I haven't thought of it that way before. Um, but the thing about a therapist is that they can mirror back to you what you just said and help you see what you just said from a different perspective. So it's not even just saying it differently. It's like, so you're telling me that X, Y, Z, right? If like like someone says back to me exactly what I just said, I hear it differently than I heard it when I said it.
Michaela Beaver:Yeah, I love that. That's definitely a good thing. And then I know that like sometimes I'll be talking to people and they're like, oh my gosh, I've seen three different therapists and nobody's ever framed it like that before. And it's like, yeah, that's just because that's what the stuff that I know from my brain, I'm able to pull and make my own case conceptualization on it and come up with a different way of thinking about it, which may or may not be correct. I mean, I don't know, but you know, sometimes it is, sometimes it resonates with them. And, you know, that can be really helpful to have that other perspective.
Laura Wood:Yeah, I agree with that. I think because you always want to find the right fit when you're working with a therapist, and that's maybe one of the reasons why people don't go to therapy, like they don't know if um if it's the right fit for them, but it's worth finding the right fit. Like I recently went back to therapy and I went back to the same therapist that I had, you know, years and years ago, because I was like, she is the one. Like I need her specifically. And so I I really wanted to find her again, but I thought, you know, one of the things that was like, do I want to go back? Is like, is she taking new patients? Like, I don't know if she's gonna be able to see me. I don't know what her schedule is. Like, is she gonna want to see me again? Like, I had all these thoughts, right? And so that kind of made me think about what people might be going through who are looking for a therapist or who are looking to go back to therapy after a long time of being away, is like that they can't get back into their original therapist and they have to find someone new because that can be really hard, you know. I didn't want to do that, I didn't want to find someone new.
Michaela Beaver:No, it's it's a lot to start over with somebody new, which is one of the even the frustrations with like psychiatric prescribers is like come and go from practices so much that they people get tired of starting over again. It's just it's really hard.
Laura Wood:Yeah.
Michaela Beaver:So obviously, those are reasons why we would want to avoid and try to um do some kind of self-help thing. So, how can we know if a hack is helping or hurting? So, one of the things that I'm thinking is like, you know, is it actually helping me build resilience? You know, is it helping me feel better or am I just is it perpetuating me avoiding?
Laura Wood:Mm-hmm. Yeah. Am I moving forward or am I spinning my wheels? Like, is this, am I actually doing the thing? I kind of think, you know, sometimes we're sometimes we're learning our way out, we're trying to like learn our way out of a problem. And so we're doing so much, we're consuming so much information and we're not actually doing anything. Right. So like I think if that's what's happening, that's hurting us. Like, we're not, we're getting it's analysis paralysis, right? Yeah, we're just learning and thinking and reading and and consuming, but we're not actually making a change. Sure.
Michaela Beaver:Or like, you know, what's my goal? If my goal is to like feel more calm and feel like I can handle my stressors easier, am I actually feeling that way? How am I measuring that? Like, and or is it just leaving me feeling more anxious and ashamed and bad about myself? Right.
Laura Wood:Is it keeping me stuck or is it helping me move forward? I think is a good question. I think too, what you said about the goal is so important. I really like the idea of creating a goal in the beginning and saying, like, this is what I want to get out of this. This is why, why am I choosing this particular hack? Why am I choosing this particular book? What do I want to achieve? What do I want to change? Do I want to change the way I feel? Do I want to change the thing I do? Do I want to change the way I think? Um, what is it all three? So kind of examining a little bit more about why you're doing this and you know, why you're embarking on this journey can be really helpful in determining if the thing that you're doing is actually helping or hurting you.
Michaela Beaver:Yeah. And then like maybe setting a time frame, and it's like if I haven't reached my goal by this time, then I'm gonna either try something different or I'm I'm gonna ask for help, you know.
Laura Wood:Yeah, like maybe that that's how I know this thing isn't working. Um, and then another thing that's hurting you, you mentioned like the shame and blame and like that cycle. I think that if you're feeling worse and you know, things aren't getting better, things are just getting worse, and you are noticing that you're having even more negative thoughts, and you're noticing that you're feeling even more sad, or you're noticing that you're even more depressed. Like that's when it's time to go get help.
Michaela Beaver:Yeah. And then I wonder like, is it something that is like actually sustainable? Is it something that you're like, you know, is it something that you are gonna be able to do regularly, or is are you trying to put too many different things on your plate? Are you trying to make, you know, five changes at one time? Or, you know, do you have um, you know, the ability to do the thing that you're trying to do?
Laura Wood:Yeah, that's such a good point. When we try something new, we often go like way too hard. Never, I've never done that before.
Michaela Beaver:That is not me, right?
Laura Wood:Like all of a sudden, you know, like recently or in the beginning of this year, like in January, I did like the protein diet and I went like super hard, right? I was like, I'm only eating protein, I'm not eating anything else. And it was like for two weeks I could make that work, and then I had to branch out and like eat other stuff. I just couldn't do it. Like it's just not sustainable. You have to think about whether or not you're doing something that is going to be too strenuous, too boring, um, too extreme, too all or nothing. If it's any of those things, then the odds are you're not gonna be able to keep it going. We need balance. I think balance is really important when it's when you're trying to help yourself.
Michaela Beaver:Sure. So not all hacks are bad, but they still aren't gonna be therapy.
Laura Wood:No, they're certainly not therapy.
Michaela Beaver:Yeah. What other takeaways do you think that are that you have from this conversation?
Laura Wood:I think that I'm gonna be more mindful of what kinds of hacks that I even choose to use, like what kind of content I try to consume, so that I can tell if that content is uplifting or if it's shamey or making me feel um less than or inadequate. I'm just gonna pay more attention. I think that's what I might do. Mm-hmm.
Michaela Beaver:Yeah, that sounds good. And then, you know, we should set goals and find the type of hack that's going to actually fit that goal instead of just being like I'm scrolling through or I'm watching a bunch of TikTok videos, and all of a sudden it says, the thing that's gonna cure your anxiety is drinking celery juice. That's the thing to fix your anxiety. That's all you gotta do.
Laura Wood:Right. Use some critical thinking skills too.
Michaela Beaver:Yeah, yeah.
Laura Wood:Well, I think that's a great place to end it. Thank you so much for this episode, as always. And thank you so much for listening to Why Am I Like This. If you like our show, please leave us a rating and review on your favorite podcast platform, follow the show and share it with your friends. This episode was written and produced by me, Laura Wood, and Michaela Bieber. Our theme song is Making Ends Meet by Thick as Thieves and a special thanks to Core Self, Benavieri Counseling and Active Healing Psychiatric Services for sponsoring our show.
