The Spin Cycle The Anxiety Sisters

Mary Laura Philpott, award-winning writer and Anxiety Sister extraordinaire, is our guest on today's episode. Listen to our discussion about Mary Laura's latest memoir as well as how she manages her anxiety and perfectionism. We do a lot of laughing, but there are some really poignant moments, such as when Mary Laura shares her struggles as a parent of a child with a chronic illness and our conversation about being caregivers for both aging parents and young children. We dare you not to fall in love with Mary Laura's warmth and sense of humor!

Meet Cali Werner, award winning collegiate distance runner, licensed clinical social worker, and fellow Anxiety Sister who has been diagnosed with OCD. Her areas of expertise include perfectionism, burnout, anxiety, and obsessive thinking; we dive into these topics and more during our conversation which is searingly honest and revelatory. If you've ever lived with (or wondered what it's like to live with) debilitating anxiety, this podcast is for you!

For those of us who suffer from anxiety, depression and other mental illnesses, romantic partnerships can be real minefields. This episode features Allison Raskin, an expert in the intersection between anxiety and relationships and author of the book Overthinking About You: Navigating Romantic Relationships When You Have Anxiety, OCD and/or Depression. Listen in as we chat about real world ways to help yourself and your partner manage your anxiety disorder. We even tackle our own personal romance disasters and what we now know in hindsight.

This is absolutely one of our favorite episodes we've ever recorded because we are joined by our friend and fellow mental health advocate Gabe Howard, host of the podcast Inside Mental Health. Having suffered from bipolar disorder since he was a child, Gabe definitely walks the walk. He understands what it is like to live with persistent mental illness and also how to manage it and live well anyway. Gabe does not sugar-coat anything--he tells it like it is and we love him for it. Do not miss this informative and often hysterical conversation.

In our first episode of Season 6, Abs & Mags chat about the anxiety superstorm that comes with parenting. This BFF-cast focuses specifically on launching children (into daycare, kindergarten, college, a new job or whatever life transition crosses their paths) and how to manage all that surrounding anxiety. Do we hear the whirring of helicopter blades????

Our discussion in this episode is with Dr. Pauline Boss, the researcher who coined the term "ambiguous loss" in order to study unresolved grief--which is so anxiety-provoking and difficult to manage. Listen in as we talk about the pitfalls of resilience, the myth of closure, and how the pandemic has shaped our view of grief and anxiety. We also discuss concrete ways to process ambiguous loss and the anxiety it creates.