What if your anxiety isn’t a sign that something is wrong with you—but proof that your body learned how to survive?
In this episode of Healing Is My Hobby, Jessica Colarco explores how anxiety often comes from past trauma, not just present-day stress. She breaks down how the nervous system learns to stay on high alert, why collective stress can amplify those responses, and how to gently support your body back into safety.
You’ll learn grounding and mindfulness tools, how to reframe anxiety as a protective strategy, and why healing isn’t about erasing the past—it’s about understanding it with compassion and patience.
If you’ve ever thought, “Why am I so anxious when nothing is wrong?”—this episode is for you.
Key Takeaways
Anxiety can be a trauma response, not just stress.
The body learns to stay alert from past trauma.
Reframing anxiety as a protective strategy is crucial.
Would you like to learn more about Jessica’s clinical practice? Click here.
anxiety, trauma response, nervous system, emotional responses, mindfulness, grounding practices, collective stress, media boundaries, healing, mental health
Transcripts
Jessica (:
Welcome back to Healing Is My Hobby and welcome to our This Might Be a Trauma Response segment where we talk about those why am I like this moments. We name common patterns, normalize emotional responses, and create space for compassion instead of shame. This is not about labels or diagnoses, it's about understanding. As you know, this month our focus is on anxiety. And we wanna talk a little bit about
when anxiety isn't just stress.
Sometimes anxiety isn't about what's happening now. It's about what happened before and what your body learned from it. If you find yourself feeling anxious in situations that don't seem to match the intensity of your reaction, this might be a trauma response. Not because you're weak, but because your nervous system adapted. Let's look at common ways trauma-based anxiety shows up. This might be a trauma response if
You feel on edge even when things are going well. Your body reacts faster than your thoughts can catch up. You're hyper aware of others moods or tone changes. You replay conversations looking for signs you did something wrong.
You struggle to relax because calm feels unfamiliar. Your anxiety spikes when things feel uncertain or out of control. These responses often develop when safety was unpredictable at some point in your life. Your body learned, stay alert, stay ready. Why the body does this? Because trauma isn't just about what happened.
It's about what your nervous system had to do to survive. If your body learned that people can be unpredictable, emotions weren't safe to express, mistakes had consequences, then you had to stay vigilant to avoid harm. Then anxiety makes sense. Anxiety becomes a strategy, a way to prevent pain before it happens. We can look at learning to reframe the story.
Instead of asking what's wrong with me, we can try asking what did my nervous system learn? This shift replaces shame with understanding. Your anxiety isn't failing you, it's trying sometimes desperately to protect you. We really wanna look at a gentle check-in practice. If it feels safe,
try this
next time anxiety shows up.
Place a hand on your chest and say quietly, this might be a trauma response. Then add, I'm safe enough right now. You're not dismissing the feeling. You're orienting your body to the present. Over time, this helps the nervous system update its information.
So the purpose of today's episode was really just to talk a little bit about how when you might be more of an anxious person or feeling on edge,
has come from a trauma response. And like we've been talking about, this whole month is an antidote to help with anxiety, to help with managing anxious thoughts and feelings, or to engage in the present and engage in mindfulness and grounding practices. I have a lot of different.
tips and tools that we've went through over this month. We went through tapping, we've done guided meditations, we've done visualizations. So hopefully that has helped you and given you tools to help manage anxiety this month. Now I wanna shift a little bit to looking forward to next month. Lately, so many of my clients and honestly myself have been feeling dysregulated by what's happening in the world.
So in February, Healing is My Hobby is exploring what it means to stay calm, connected, and human in chaotic times. Think nervous system tools, media boundaries, and gentle ways to care without burning out. We're zooming out from personal anxiety and looking at something many of us are quietly Carrying. How the state of the world is impacting our nervous systems. We'll talk about collective stress,
doom scrolling and how to stay regulated in a dysregulated world. If the news has been feeling heavy or overwhelming, you're not alone and we're going to build some tools together. I'll share what I'm seeing in therapy rooms, what the research says about vicarious trauma and practical ways to stay grounded without disconnecting from what matters.
the free download for those who sign up for my newsletter is the Collective Comm Toolkit. It includes a what's in my control, what's out of my control worksheet, a media boundary plan, when, where, how to consume the news, five minute grounding practices cheat sheet, and a values-based action page, how I care without burning out.
You can sign up for my newsletter at healingismyhobby.com or jessicacolarkoLCSW.com. Remember, not all anxiety is trauma-based, but when it is, it deserves care, not criticism. Healing isn't about erasing the past, it's about teaching the body that it no longer has to live there. And if this resonates with you, know this, your responses make sense. Your body has been doing its best and change is possible.
gently, slowly, and with support. Thank you for listening. If you wanna follow me or find out more about me, you can go to healingismyhobby.com. You can check out Healing Is My Hobby at YouTube and Instagram at Healing Is My Hobby. And again, you can learn more about my clinical practice on Instagram at Jessica Colarco LCSW, or at jessicakolarko, lcsw.com. Thank you. See you next week.
