The Therapy Edit - Confessions - I can't tell the difference between intuition and anxiety

Episode Date: February 7, 2025

Today Anna tackles a new anonymous Confession from the Therapy Room;"I want to know how I can differentiate between my gut feeling/intuition and anxiety? For example if I’m worried about my health how much is driven my fear and how much is driven my intuition?"Anna replies with some compassionate advice and tips that will help everyone, regardless of whether they can relate to this confession or not.Please note - the names and voices of some of the Ask Anna/Confessions contributors may have been changed at their request.

Welcome to The Therapy Edit. I'm your host, psychotherapist and author Anna Martha. I will be bringing you bite-sized episodes twice a week full of tips, wise words from expert guests and insights to support your mental well-being. Hi everyone. Welcome to today's episode of Confessions from the Therapy Room. So the confession that I have today is this. I do not know how I can differentiate between my gut feeling, intuition and anxiety. For example, if I'm worried about my health, how much is driven by my fear and how much is driven by my intuition? Oh my goodness. How many of us have thought this that we literally do not know the difference between, you know, that strong sense of foreboding anxiety that something bad is going to happen and actually that gut sense that something isn't right

here and they both can speak so loudly, can't they? They can both feel so clear and it can be really hard to know, actually, is this a fear that I don't really need to act on or is this actually my intuition telling me that something isn't right? So in response to this confession, which is kind of like a question really, isn't it? I'm going to go through five different tips that I have for you, just to kind of help determine. What is the difference between anxiety and intuition? Because there is a difference. And what do we do?

And how do we test it? And how do we know where to go when we are, yeah, just anxious about something bad happening or have a gut sense that something isn't right? So number one, like intuition and anxiety are different. And I think even then, like in the intro, I've said, you know, anxiety is worrying about something bad happening, whereas intuition is getting a sense that something just doesn't feel right. And they're really different, aren't they? The fear of something bad happening, that has this kind of bracing, that has this, you know, what am I going to do? Can I get myself out of this situation?

How can I control things? And we can just feel that adrenaline and that cortisol spiking and rushing through us. But actually, when I talk about intuition, I say, you know, know, something doesn't feel right. That's very different, isn't it? Something bad is about to happen. Something doesn't feel right. It's kind of like an invitation to inquire a little bit deeper. Oh, what does it feel right? I wonder. Why does this friendship just not feel quite right to me? Why do I not, why do I feel a little bit threatened in this environment? It doesn't have the same foreboding to it, does it? And that's because the intuition. often feels calm, clear, and grounded.

And it might point to a concern in the same way that anxiety does. It might point to a concern that actually I need to act off the back of this. So sometimes I use the example and I'm talking about anxiety and how it works in our bodies is that my kid disappears around the corner on their scooter. Okay, and something happens within me where I'm like, okay, I need to make sure they're okay. And that's anxiety, that's that reactive state saying you need to move, you need to secure safety. Safety is potentially a threat here. So that's anxiety coming up in me. And in that moment, if my gut feeling of, you know, this doesn't feel right, it's actually not as proactive as it. So

sometimes anxiety has a purpose. It causes us to react. Whereas intuition, it often feels calmer and clearer and it's, yeah, it just has us inquiring a little bit more like a steady nudge rather than this overwhelming, fearful racing thought. And anxiety, it comes with all that flood of hormones, doesn't it? It can actually feel quite repetitive, it can feel quite chaotic. We can go into that state of rumination. We can start living scenarios out in our heads in this really fearful way that have us seeking safety and maybe trying to control things or yeah just act in response you've got the

racing heart you've got the kind of the shallow breathing you've got a lot of more physical symptoms that come with anxiety in that state whereas intuition I think we call it a gut feeling don't we because it kind of like is this stirring in our gut it's this nudge it's this something doesn't feel right or actually you know sometimes that gut sense is there's a certain decision I need to make here what is that decision I need to pull out of this or I need to ask you know advice on that and it's that it's that it's less urgent number two so once you've identified is this intuition does this feel kind of calm clear and grounded like a nudge that is inviting inquiry or does it feel like this overwhelming, very physical response? So once you've

determined that, you know, just pause or reflect. Just stop. Take a deep breath. Ask yourself, you know, am I responding here out of anxiety? Am I wanting to react? Or is this kind of a persistent knowing? Because actually gut feelings tend to stay there, don't know? We can have this consistent gut feeling. Whenever we think about a certain scenario, maybe there's a gut feeling that actually my friend isn't okay. And it isn't that racing. Oh my goodness, are they right? Why didn't they text me back? Do I need to call them? I've tried to call them three times. They haven't picked up. You know, it's just that gut feeling is that kind of more calmer, slightly nagging, sometimes sense that remains whenever we think about that thing, that gut sense.

this is my sense. I need to respond. I need to inquire it a little bit more. So ask yourself, am I acting out of fear in this way? An hour later, a day later, will I still feel the same about this thing? Or will it have passed? Because anxiety often, it comes an absolute tornado and then it can just, you know, as we feel safer again, it can pass. So in half an hour and an hour tomorrow will I feel the same way? And sometimes we might even have to actually do that little test of right i know i'm feeling really anxious about this now and i really want to act and react but i'm going to choose to leave you i'm going to put it on a timer i'm going to see how i feel in an hour i'm going to check in with myself and writing things down so really just scribbling them

out in a journal on a bit of scrap paper in your phone notes just externalizing them can really help you you know process in a different way can really help you kind of spot some of those patterns or maybe, yeah, just get a little bit more clarity to see, is there any pattern here? Is this something that is quite an old narrative? Or is this something that, you know, an action is coming out of this sense of, I need to do something or something needs to change? So, yeah, pause with that feeling is so easy, especially when it comes to anxiety, just to quickly react when actually, you know, pausing is so often.

It just gives us that time to re-engate. that thinking part of our brain that kind of goes offline and we're feeling anxious. So third, you know, have a little thing, what is going on that might back up this thought that I have? Because intuition tends to be quite linked to real observations. You know, you've noticed, so the question here was around health, right? you've noticed some symptoms in your body. Something doesn't feel quite right. The anxiety part of your brain is going,

oh my goodness, what if it's this, what if that? Do I need to call a doctor? Like, you're Googling, like frantically, you know, when actually your gut sense might be like, something doesn't feel quite right here. I'm going to keep an eye on this. And maybe it crops up again and there's just that sense, that nudge,

that something doesn't feel quite right. So the anxiety is, is often the what if it's your mind rushing ahead a hundred miles an hour into a future that has not and may never happen that has you scrabbling for things to make you feel grounded again to make you feel safer again sitting in a child going ah i'm scared i'm scared or as intuition is that kind of more gentle hmm nudge so consider the evidence what is going on what are the other symptoms what are the other things that might you know just lead you to keep an eye on that and if it's anxiety and you're rushing ahead into all of the unknowns of the illnesses that that might happen,

you know, have a little thing. What is the, what is the tangible evidence here? Is there any? And if there is, is it a watch and wait thing or is it, you know, call the doctor kind of thing. But yeah, just have a little think. Is it the what if, the what if, or is it that sense actually just need to really keep an eye on that. So consider the evidence. Number four, just talk it out with someone test it you know if it's a gut sense talk it out if it's an anxiety that you're finding really hard to ground talk it out how would you respond to a friend if they were voicing this to you and maybe you actually do want to talk to a friend so they can voice their response to you yeah that doesn't sound quite like you to say that doesn't sound quite

right maybe you need to look into that or it might be Anna you often get really worried about this, don't you? Do you think it might have anything to do with what you've been through? Do you think it might have anything to do with the fact that you keep compulsively going on Google and asking what those symptoms are? And I know that you have a habit of doing that when you feel worried. Can we just check in on this tomorrow and see how you feel? So just externalising it, having that conversation with a friend that can support you in that

anxiety spiral or just affirm that gut sense. And then the fifth and final thing is, if you really still do not know, especially when it comes to health, do take the time, just to call a professional, do take the time to book an appointment. Because actually, even if you know that it's anxiety-based, and actually this is a really common fear for you, and it might be worth addressing that anxiety, because anxiety can really rob us, can't it? So yeah, I hope that that's useful next time you wonder whether it's a gut feeling around

a health concern or whether it's anxiety and if you need to put that appointment, book that appointment. Take care, guys. Thank you for listening to The Therapy Edit today. If you enjoyed it, please do take a sec to like and subscribe so we can share the words further and wider. If you have an Ask Anna question or an anonymous confession for the Confessions from the Therapy Room episodes, head to Anna Martha.com and click on the podcast tab to submit. Or grab a copy of my most recent book, The Uncomfortable Truth, change your life by taming 10 of your mind's greatest fears, or enjoy some of the video and downloadable resources on my website, tackling everything from burnout to driving anxiety. So, until the next episode, goodbye.