Everything you’ve been told about managing anxiety? It’s probably making it worse. In this episode, Hilary is tearing up the mainstream advice playbook—because counting backwards, meditating through a full-blown panic spiral, or just “getting more sleep” isn’t going to cut it. Anxiety isn’t the real problem—it’s a symptom. A flashing red warning light. And until you fix what’s actually going on underneath, you’ll be stuck dealing with it forever. The good news? You are both the problem and the solution. Which means you don’t have to keep living with this. Episode Highlights: Why symptom-focused anxiety hacks don’t work (and what does) The real root cause of anxiety that no one talks about How self-betrayal, avoidance, and ignoring your gut are fueling your anxiety The mindset shift that will actually eliminate anxiety for good A simple but powerful way to turn anxiety into self-trust and inner peace Episode Breakdown: [00:00] Why Everything You’ve Heard About Anxiety Is Wrong [04:48] The Real Cause of Anxiety (Hint: It’s Not What You Think) [09:02] Game-Changing Questions to Calm Anxiety Instantly [09:55] How to Build Unshakable Self-Trust & End Anxiety for Good This isn’t about managing anxiety—it’s about eliminating it at the source. No fluff, no gimmicks, just the truth that no one else is telling you. 💫 Listen now & step into your power! 🎧 Subscribe & watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HilarySilver?sub_confirmation=1 🔥 Grab my FREE training, This Changes Everything: https://hilarysilver.com/guides/ 👉 Follow Hilary on Instagram: @iamhilarysilver 💡 Want more? You’ll love the Five Core Concepts of the Self-Centered Movement playlist → https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0RHQvSfQrdhYziTx1PqymciC0EQLC9cl&feature=shared 💬 Drop a comment: What’s the worst piece of anxiety advice you’ve ever heard? Let’s laugh (and unlearn) together! 👇🔥
Chapter 1: Why is mainstream anxiety advice ineffective?
This may sound crazy, but everything you've been told about how to free yourself from anxiety is probably making it worse. That's because all of the mainstream advice is focused on treating the uncomfortable symptoms of anxiety, such as get plenty of sleep, exercise regularly, count backwards from five, take meds, and my favorite, meditate.
because it's nearly impossible to meditate when you have anxiety and your brain is like a runaway train. Here's the thing. Symptom control does not cure anxiety, and it will only keep you stuck dealing with it for the rest of your life.
The restlessness, agitation, being distracted, feeling uneasy, this discomfort that you have, this dis-ease in your body, and living with a chronic low-grade hum in the background, or worse, full-on panic attacks. And in my opinion, that is just no way to live. So here is what no one else is actually saying. The truth is that anxiety is in itself a symptom.
It is a symptom of a much bigger and deeper problem. And until you start addressing what causes anxiety in the first place, it will never go away. And you'll never really be able to solve such a solvable problem. So I'm going to do that for you in the next seven minutes.
Chapter 2: What is the real root cause of anxiety?
I know that sounds like a bold statement, but it's actually that simple because we're going to go to the root of what actually causes anxiety in the first place so you can solve it once and for all at the source. Hi, it's Hillary. Welcome to the Hillary Silver Podcast.
Chapter 3: How can anxiety affect your sleep?
For me, anxiety would hit the hardest in the middle of the night because during the day, I can distract myself with work and family and life, but once my head hit that pillow and it was just me and my brain alone in the dark, it would be pretty bad. Maybe you know what I'm talking about.
You're lying there exhausted and you just want to sleep so badly, especially so that you can function the next day. But your brain decides this is the perfect time to think about all the things you've been avoiding or too busy to think about during the day. What if this happens? What if that happens? Why did you do that? Why didn't you do that?
Maybe you should do this thing instead or that thing instead. For me... This is the moment that my inner critic would strike, because of course she would. My defenses are down. I swear it's the worst to start beating up on myself for not doing better or not knowing better. It's hard to make it stop in those moments, like almost impossible. It's like torture.
And in those deep, dark, soul-of-the-night moments... What made it worse for me is how isolating it would feel. It's like the loneliest night on earth when it seems like everyone else in the world is sound asleep and you're the only one up, worrying and stressing and feeling stuck, unable to do anything about it because it's 2 a.m.
I have felt in those moments like I needed a lifeline, someone or something to pull me out of that mental quicksand. It's no surprise that anxiety is the leading cause of insomnia. So yes, it is worth addressing the symptoms of anxiety because it's very uncomfortable and inconvenient.
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Chapter 4: What is the relationship between anxiety and deeper emotional issues?
However, if that is all that you are doing to deal with anxiety, there will be plenty more sleepless nights and all the other symptoms that you have to live with that just keep you from living your highest quality of life. As I said earlier, and what no one else is really saying is that as problematic as anxiety is, It is not the real problem. It is itself a symptom.
It's the symptom of a much deeper issue that is being ignored, denied, and repressed. I call it a secondary problem, not the primary problem. It's a secondary emotion, not the primary emotion. And then the secondary problem becomes the focus of all your attention because it's easier to deal with, interestingly enough.
Chapter 5: How does anxiety act as a warning signal?
It becomes a distraction from the deeper issue that is more profound and perhaps more challenging to actually deal with. There are a lot of other similar secondary problems like weight problems or alcohol problems. that hijack your attention so you focus on it rather than what is causing the problem in the first place, the primary problem.
Anxiety is like your warning indicator light going off, alarm bells going off. And what it is, it's your deep self, your deep, self, and your body's way to get your attention. It's screaming at you to listen and pay attention. It says, hello, something is going on. I need you. Help me. Hey, you, you're not dealing with this.
So I'm going to make you really uncomfortable until you deal with this real problem that we have right now. And until the primary problem is dealt with, Anxiety will just never, ever go away. So what is the primary problem you're wondering?
What I've come to know, like really truly know to be true because I've experienced this for myself and in witnessing the transformation for my clients over the last 25 years is this. Anxiety is caused by one thing and one thing only. Your unhealthy, dysfunctional relationship with yourself.
Likely you have spent years betraying yourself, dismissing yourself, neglecting and abandoning yourself, not listening to yourself, not being your true self in this world, and not doing what you need to do to get your own back and make yourself a priority. You've ignored your own feelings,
disregarded your intuition, doubted yourself, haven't given yourself the well-deserved credit for all that you are, who you are, and what you are capable of. Let that sink in for just a moment. And let me ask you this, how can you actually trust yourself when you've betrayed yourself like this over and over again?
But here's the good news in all of this and how we are going to eliminate your anxiety forever. If you've been tuning into my podcast and my videos, then you've heard me say this a lot. You are the problem here. Yes, you. And that also means that you are also the solution and have the power to solve this for yourself right now. Right here and right now, it is literally a decision.
you can decide to change this relationship that you have with yourself and develop a rock solid, unconditional, unshakable relationship with yourself, which is to know that no matter what happens in this life, you can trust yourself to handle it. You can rely on yourself to do what is required and whatever it takes to keep you safe and protected.
You give yourself the certainty you need, the safety you need. You guarantee yourself that your needs will be met, your values will be honored, and your boundaries will be respected. All of that is up to you, by the way, and no one else, which is how you know it will be done because you are in control of this. It's not up to anyone else.
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