Before it Had a Name
Before It Had a Name explores the history behind mental health diagnoses like ADHD, anxiety, depression, and trauma. Each episode traces how culture, science, and society shaped the labels we use to understand the human mind today. Hosted by mental health counselor and broadcaster Jon Watkins, this narrative podcast examines what existed before diagnosis, and how changing language continues to shape how we see ourselves and others.
Before it Had a Name
Anxiety: The Age of Nerves
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Long before anxiety became a diagnosis, people were already living with a persistent sense of unease, a mind that couldn’t fully relax, and a body that seemed to anticipate danger even when none was present.
In this episode of Before It Had a Name, we explore the history of anxiety, from early philosophical ideas about fear and temperament to the nineteenth-century “age of nerves” and modern understandings of panic and uncertainty. Along the way, the story shifts from survival and instinct to something more complex: a mind trying to predict and control an uncertain future.
When does fear become something more? And what does it mean when the body reacts before the mind can explain why?
Before It Had a Name explores the history of mental health diagnoses and the stories behind the labels.
Follow Jon Watkins on Instagram: @JonWatkinsHost