Around this time of year, something shifts. If you're like many of my clients, you might feel your anxiety climb, your energy crash, and your emotions may feel like a roller coaster that you didn't sign up for. One day you're buzzing with excitement about your plans, and the next you can't even pull yourself out of bed. And it's not because you're weak. Anxiety that goes untreated often snowballs into depression. Seasonal changes, school stress, and for us here in the Midwest, the unpredictability of the weather, goodness, it all adds up. If right now you feel out of control, anxious, or weighted down by sadness, this episode is for you. But research shows there is a way to get some control back, even when life feels completely chaotic.
Hi, and welcome to Block Out the Noise, a space for teens and young adults who are ready to quiet the noise of anxiety, self-doubt, and overthinking, and start building a life filled with confidence, courage, and purpose. I'm Jessica Davis, a licensed therapist, mindset coach, and the creator of the Courage Method. I specialize in helping teens and young adults with anxiety, overthinking, and low self-esteem. If you want practical tools to help you in this fight, download the free anxiety survival toolkit. You can find the link in the show notes. Also, before we dive in, remember, this podcast is here to support and guide you, but it is not a replacement for talking to someone in real life. If you're struggling with your mental health, please reach out to a therapist. And if you're in crisis, contact emergency services or a local helpline. You don't have to go through it alone. Today I'm sharing three evidence-based proven ways to beat the anxiety and depression slump that often shows up this time of year. All right, let's cut through the noise and get started. The past couple of weeks in my sessions, I've noticed this pattern. Clients who were managing and doing well in August are suddenly sinking. The anxiety that they've been pushing down is starting to look like depression, low motivation, hopelessness, thoughts that are spiraling hard and fast. Someone recently said to me, I'm trying my best and it's just not good enough. My stomach sinks, and honestly, my heart aches when people feel
this way. That's how depression, masquerading as anxiety, feels. Almost like you're running on a treadmill that keeps speeding up, but you feel as if you're getting nowhere and yet you're completely exhausted by the end. Here's the truth: every fight you take on, every time you challenge your thoughts instead of giving in, you're teaching your brain that you are stronger than the storm. That fight, those small daily wins is where control starts to come back. And I'm not trying to sugarcoat this. It's hard to fight when you really feel like you're constantly losing, but you can get better. Even when it feels like there's no hope, there's always a way through. In fact, I've been listening to psychologist Dr. Scott Eilers talk about how depression often isn't just about distorted thinking, it's about living in a way that drains your sense of purpose. When you're only consuming, he said, like scrolling, watching, even hiding, we lose our sense of impact and start to feel invisible. But the opposite is also true. Tiny acts of creation, even small ones, can begin to flip that switch. You don't need a huge project, you need a spark. That's what we're going to talk about today. How to start finding that spark, even when it feels
like it's gone. Let's jump into three evidence-backed tools you can use today, even if you're exhausted, even when you feel like there's no point. This isn't about trying to fix everything overnight. It's about helping you to take one real step forward when you feel stuck. When you're overwhelmed, your brain lies to you. It says you don't have energy, nothing you do will matter. Better to stay in bed, stay on your phone, and wait it out. That's the consumption spiral. Creation breaks it. Why? Because even the smallest app, like writing one line, making a snack, or doodling, proves I can still make something happen. And that little reminder, it chips away at the feeling of being powerless. But let's try and make this practical. Here's what to do when you're feeling overwhelmed step by step. Shrink it down. Don't think about it in the project. Think about it as a way of setting yourself a timer for 30 seconds or even a minute. And that time you can write one sentence in a journal. Today feels heavy, but I dot dot dot dot dot fill in the blank. Or draw one silly doodle on a piece of paper. Make yourself toast and put peanut butter on it. Yes, that is a creation. Don't challenge me on this. Or record a 10-second voice memo about how you feel. You don't even have to share it. Next, anchor it to something you're already doing. If you're lying in bed, take time to open your notes app and journal or do a voice memo to yourself. If you're sitting at a desk, draw something that brings joy. If you're about to make a snack, take an extra minute to plate it in a way that feels fun. The point isn't to add a whole new task. It's to turn tiny everyday moments into proof that you can still create. And celebrate the smallest win. It doesn't matter if no one sees it. The goal isn't to create to impress someone. It's to remind yourself you can put something out into this world, not just take everything in. When you're anxious or depressed, one of the hardest parts is the numbness. Nothing feels fun, nothing
feels rewarding. Your brain says, why even try? It won't make a difference. But here's the secret: you don't wait for motivation to show up. You create it. And I know you're thinking, you're using create a lot right now, but hang with me, I'll get there. One of the best ways is to pair a tiny effort with an immediate reward. So here's how it works: Step one, do one small effort, make your bed, walk to go get the mail for your parents, or stretch your arms for 30 seconds, review what homework assignment you have to do. Step two, immediately follow it with something you enjoy. It could be getting or eating a favorite snack. I know people who are dieticians are probably gonna not like that statement, but food helps. Play your favorite song or watch a funny TikTok clip. Whatever will feel like a reward for you. Why this works. Depression and untreated anxiety throw off your brain's reward system. By stacking effort and reward, you retrain your brain to notice when I do something, I get something. That creates a feedback loop. So think of it this way don't wait to earn big rewards with big effort. Make the bar low, really low. Then give yourself permission to celebrate it. Think of it like rewiring your brain to remember that life isn't just heavy work, it can be effort followed by relief, even joy. The effort cracks the numbness. The reward reminds you why the effort matters. If you've been listening and thinking, okay, Jessica, these tools sound great, but I know myself. I'll forget them the second I need them. That's exactly why you have the anxiety survival toolkit. It's a free download with go-to tools written out. So when your brain goes blank in the middle of a spiral, you don't have to think. It's right there, step by step. Grab it in the show notes and keep it on your phone. Trust me, you'll thank yourself the next time your anxiety hits.
One of the hardest things about anxiety is the expectations we put on ourselves. It's not just fear of what could go wrong, it's also the pressure about what we think should happen. Steve Bartlett shared this story on a diary of a CEO.
I think it was like behind the scenes, but I felt compelled to share this because I feel like it was such a great example of expectations. He said he was sitting in first class on a plane. And I really hope I have that experience one day. I hope you do too. But he said that he was frustrated because the Wi-Fi wasn't working. And next to him was a woman who was on her honeymoon. And she was absolutely just super thrilled to be in first class, right? She's checking everything and she's asking questions and she's just really excited about the experience. And in that moment, he realized something. They were sitting in the same section on the same plane, going to the same destination, but they were having two completely different experiences. And what was different? Their expectations. And that really hit me because I see it in my clients as well. Take school, for example. Let's say Rachel walks in the class thinking, I have to get an A on everything. And then you've got Marcus who walks in the class and he's just thinking, I'm showing up. And that's enough. And let's say they both get a B plus on the test. Rachel is frustrated. Marcus is excited and he keeps moving forward, right? They got the same grade, but they have a totally different emotional reaction because of their expectations. So here's the real tool: check the story you're telling yourself before you even step into the situation. Instead of asking, how do I make this perfect? How do I make this a thousand times better than what it is? Ask yourself, what's the experience I actually want to have here? Right. If you're going out on a date and your expectation is I, you know, have to impress her, you're putting a lot of stress on yourself. But if you go into the date saying, I just want to get to know her, that's a completely different expectation. And you're going to go in it differently. You're going to communicate differently. Now, here's the part that I love about this when you put it all together. When you lower the unrealistic pressure, the unrealistic expectation, you don't lower your effort. You're actually freeing yourself up to focus, to create, to have fun, to grow. Like Dr. Scott Eiler says, depression and hopelessness grow when all we do is consume. But when you shift your expectations, you give yourself space to create again, to act, to try, to be part of the world instead of stuck in your head. If you take anything from today,
let it be this anxiety and depression don't mean you're broken. Most of the time, they're just signals, signals that your expectations are crushing you, or that you've been stuck consuming instead of creating, or that you've been waiting for the perfect moment instead of just starting. But you don't have to fix everything overnight,
and you can't fix everything overnight. You just need to take one shaky step. Maybe that's sending a text message, maybe that's journaling for five minutes, or it could be shifting the story you tell yourself about what good enough looks like. So be gentle with yourself. Show up in small ways and know this you're not alone in this fight. And you're far stronger than the noise in your head wants you to believe. Thank you so much for listening. Until next time, keep moving forward, trust yourself, and never forget you have what it takes to block out the noise.