What To Do When Your Family/Loved One Triggers Your Anxiety

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What To Do When Your Family/Loved One Triggers Your Anxiety: Show Notes

Relationships can be a significant anxiety trigger.  Your anxiety could be triggered by the fear of conflict, feeling pressure or expectations from your loved ones or family members, or possibly from a fear of disappointing them…

These are just a few examples as to why you might feel anxious around your family or loved ones.

The thing is… the opinions of the people that are closest to you matter.  As a result, when your loved ones have strong opinions or there are negative consequences when you don’t agree with them, it can cause a lot of emotional discomfort for you.

Today we’re going to talk about all of this and more to help you understand- how do you calmly cope when your family or loved ones trigger your anxiety?

Takeaways you will have from this episode:

  • The causes of anxiety that is triggered by family members and loved ones
  • The top 4 ways to cope with anxiety or overthinking that is triggered by family and loved ones
  • How to effectively speak up for yourself to prevent anxiety from building up
  • AND an Action plan with concrete takeaways to help you put these tips into action

Calmly Coping is a self-improvement podcast for overthinkers who struggle with anxiety. Unlike other podcasts in the anxiety space, Calmly Coping is not about fixing you, it’s about uncovering the amazing person that is already there (and that you are just too afraid to let out).

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This episode is brought to you by my FREE guide: how to be more productive without burning out.  Inside this free guide, you will learn: 

  • How to create the optimal environment for productivity
  • How to create a routine to maximize your productivity & focus
  • My secret to motivating yourself when you just can’t focus

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Intro/outro music:

Rescue Me (Instrumental) by [email protected] (c) copyright 2018 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/tobias_weber/57990 Ft: Copperhead

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What If Your Family Triggers Your Anxiety Or Overthinking?
What to do when your family triggers your anxiety

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The Comments

  • james andropoli
    September 1, 2022

    Hi, i’m a middle aged middle brother who since my father died I have been getting tremendous anxiety around my brothers especially my younger brother. I feel like i’m being judged and i haven’t felt like this since childhood. It came back with a veangeance. I had social anxiety until around 15 when It just when away only to resurface to the point where I don’t even want to go out. How do i tell my brother who i love we cant go anywhere together because you give me severe anxiety.

    • Tati
      > james andropoli
      September 9, 2022

      I’m sorry to hear that you’re struggling with this, James! Do you feel comfortable being open with your brother and sharing what you just did in this comment? If possible, I think being open about it can be helpful, especially if he is receptive to hearing you out. If you’re able to I think getting the support of a therapist in your area might also be helpful to help you work through the social anxiety.

  • Kath
    January 26, 2023

    I always get triggered with my husband’s sister…everything has to be on her terms. I have tried for many years to get on with her but I’m finding it hard In how to deal with my feelings. It was my oldest sons 21st birthday the other day, and he’s at Uni so couldn’t see him… what triggered me is that my husband’s sister didn’t send him a card or wish him a happy birthday… she’s his aunty and godparent but doesn’t even think to send him a card…. when we have given her children cards and money….don’t know how to handle my feelings…

    • Tati
      > Kath
      February 1, 2023

      That sounds like a challenging situation, Kath! It can be so common to take the actions of others as personal and interpret them as being disrespectful, inconsiderate, etc… And although that can sometimes be the case, it’s not always and I think, although challenging, it can help to think of other reasons for a person’s behavior (they forgot, are stressed, don’t have the same values as you, etc.). Although that may not justify or excuse the behavior, it can help to look at things from a different perspective which can sometimes help with the feelings that can come up!

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