Life Kit (NPR): "Why Anxiety is a Superpower"

Host: Marielle Segarra
Guest: Britt Frank, psychotherapist & author of "The Science of Stuck"
Date: September 23, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Marielle Segarra explores the idea of anxiety as a hidden superpower with psychotherapist Britt Frank. Rather than viewing anxiety as a debilitating disorder, they discuss how it can serve as an important indicator—like a check engine light—alerting us to internal and external issues that need attention. The episode is packed with practical, research-backed techniques for calming anxiety in the moment and using it as a guide to better understand yourself and your environment.

Key Points & Insights

1. Reframing Anxiety: From Adversary to Ally

• Anxiety as an Indicator:
  • Britt Frank (00:57): “Anxiety is an indicator light. It is something that happens in our body in response to either an unsafe situation, to an injury from the past, or to a perceived or real threat coming from the future.”
• Anxiety is not an enemy to be battled, but a message from your body, pointing toward something needing attention.

2. What Happens in the Body During Anxiety

• The Amygdala's Role:
  • Britt Frank (03:23): “When we’re feeling anxious, we have the amygdala. And the amygdala is the panic signal of the body. When that goes off, it’s preparing our body to fight or flight or flee.”
• We don’t control which response activates or how intense it is.

3. Practical Tools for Managing Anxiety in the Moment

The "Sticky Three-Step Thing" (03:51)

1. Trust Your Brain:
   • Assume your brain knows what it’s doing (“Because my brain is braining.”)
2. Identify Micro Yeses/Resources:
   • Name three small things (people, places, thoughts, or things) that can help you feel a bit safer right now.
3. Choose One and Do It.
   • Take action on one of the small things identified.

• Familiar Comforts:
  • Marielle Segarra (04:40): “For me, I like to watch shows like Gilmore Girls... it feels familiar. It feels like the problems get solved...”
  • Britt Frank (05:04): “My version of Gilmore Girls is the West Wing... I know exactly what’s gonna happen. There’s no surprises.”

Sensory Grounding Techniques

• Engaging the Senses:

  • Britt Frank (05:46): “Using your senses is the way to do that. Holding onto ice cubes, sticking your face in a bowl of cold water, smelling something really, really strong, sucking on things like hot tamales or really sour lemon candies can sort of snow globe your brain just a little bit…”

• Notice Five Things Exercise:

  • Marielle Segarra (06:34): “Notice five things you can see or hear or touch or smell or taste.”

• Chew Toy for the Brain:

  • Britt Frank (06:53): “Giving language to our experience again, gives your brain something to do. I think of it like a chew toy for the brain.”

4. Managing Physical Sensations and Chronic Pain

• Noticing What’s Neutral:
  • Marielle Segarra (07:16): “Maybe you’re like, okay, my face feels really hot and itchy right now. And then you look for a place in your body where you feel... nothing but, like, neutral, calm nothing.”
  • Britt Frank (07:51): “What we want to do is...give yourself permission to feel your pain and also noticing that your pain is not global, that can help dial down the intensity.”
• Science Backed:
  • Britt Frank (09:02): “I was such a cynic… you’re telling me I paid how much money to learn how to just bring my attention to, like, my left leg…and it does. It works.”

5. Anxiety Fire Drills: Training for Calm

• Practicing Calming Strategies Ahead of Time:
  • Britt Frank (09:45): “We’re not taught to practice for when the crisis hits... so an anxiety fire drill would be make a list of five people, places, thoughts, or things that help you feel safe...and then practice doing them.”
• Practicing With Others:
  • Marielle Segarra (11:45): “It might be helpful to have one of your anxiety fire drill people be someone else who has anxiety.”
  • Britt Frank (11:57): “That is a double neuro bonus because laughter is going to deactivate your panic response.”

6. After the Storm: Understanding the Message

• Symptoms Are Clues:
  • Marielle Segarra (13:09): “It seems like we wanna reflect on maybe why that happened...the anxiety that people feel, it can seem like it’s attached to one particular thing... but there’s usually something going on...”
  • Britt Frank (13:51): “Symptoms point toward a problem. They’re a problem, but they’re not the problem.”

Unpacking the Real Source

• People & Feelings List Exercise:
  • Marielle Segarra (14:24): “Take a piece of paper and list all the stressful people in your life...and for every person, write: my real feelings about her or them or him are ____. And then at the bottom write: I have a right to my feelings.”
  • Britt Frank (15:08): “When you start listing out how many stressful people are in your life...you’re going to look at that list and go, oh, my gosh. Okay, my anxiety makes a little bit more sense to me now...Is it possible that your anxiety is actually a bunch of feelings that you have not given yourself permission to feel?”

Taking Action & Boundaries

• Making it Manageable:

  • Marielle Segarra (16:04): “Does it help then to say, okay, well, this is what I’m gonna do…”
  • Britt Frank (16:20): “Let’s separate it into smaller components ...what’s the reality of these relationships? Then in a perfect world, what would be your decision? And then…what do you realistically willing and able to do boundary wise?”

• Authenticity & Growth:

  • Marielle Segarra (17:23): “Have you noticed that your client’s anxiety has diminished significantly once they make decisions that are more authentic to them?”
  • Britt Frank (17:34): “It kind of gets worse before it gets better... there is a large degree to which we amplify our symptoms by not acknowledging what’s true for us and about us...”

7. Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• “Anxiety is a superpower. I hate it, and it’s awful. But imagine not having it... we need it.”
  — Britt Frank (19:26)
• “We’re taught to fear our Physiology. If you think of our language, right, we fight depression and we battle the scale, and we’re being attacked by our anxiety...I am saying it helps to start with the assumption that your brain is on your side.”
  — Britt Frank (18:46)
• “I think of [naming sensations] like a chew toy for the brain.”
  — Britt Frank (06:53)

Important Timestamps

• 00:57 — Anxiety as a check engine light/indicator
• 03:23 — What happens in the brain and body during anxiety
• 03:51 — Britt Frank’s 3-step process for calming anxiety
• 05:46 — Using senses and comfort as grounding
• 07:16 — Noticing pain and finding neutral sensations
• 09:45 — Practicing “anxiety fire drills” with and without others
• 13:09 — Reflecting on the sources of anxiety
• 14:24 — The “stressful people and feelings” exercise
• 16:20 — Setting boundaries and authentic decisions
• 19:26 — Anxiety as a superpower

Episode Recap & Takeaways

• Anxiety is a natural response that can guide us to make important changes if we learn to interpret its signals.
• In-the-moment techniques:
  • Practice identifying and using resources (people, places, comforting things)
  • Use sensory grounding to disrupt anxiety’s “alarm”
  • Practice calming exercises before crises hit (“anxiety fire drills”)
• Longer-term strategies:
  • Reflect on recurring sources of anxiety—often deeper, overlooked issues or relationships
  • Use exercises like listing stressful people and feelings, and explore setting boundaries gradually
• Anxiety, though uncomfortable, is a protective mechanism—a signal, not just a symptom—pointing us toward what needs to change for greater authenticity and safety in our lives.

For more resources and episodes, visit npr.org/lifekit.