Dr. Jud on the You Are Not So Smart Podcast: Escaping the Black Hole of Anxiety

Overview

In Episode 161 of the You Are Not So Smart podcast, Dr. Jud joins host David McRaney for what the show describes as a sprawling, free-association conversation about the brain science behind anxiety, habits, and consciousness. As an addiction psychiatrist and neuroscientist, Dr. Jud discusses the biological origins of anxiety and negative habits, and how new techniques from his lab at Brown University can help change them.

The conversation ranges widely — from mindfulness and meditation to psychedelics to why we get stuck browsing the Netflix menu until it is too late to watch anything. Dr. Jud introduces the metaphor of anxiety as a black hole: as worry builds momentum, it becomes increasingly difficult to escape, much like approaching an event horizon. The key to breaking free, he explains, is adding new information to the system through awareness and curiosity, which gives the brain the data it needs to update outdated habit loops and propel itself away from the pull of anxious rumination.

Key Takeaways

• Anxiety has an event horizon: Dr. Jud uses the black hole metaphor to explain how worry can reach a tipping point where it becomes self-reinforcing and increasingly difficult to escape. The earlier you recognize the pattern, the easier it is to interrupt.
• New information breaks the loop: The way out of an anxiety spiral is not through willpower or distraction, but through adding conscious awareness — the brain needs new data to update its predictions and release the anxiety habit loop.
• Habits run on outdated reward values: Many of our habits persist because the brain has not updated how rewarding the behavior actually is. Dr. Jud’s lab research shows that when people pay careful attention to the results of their habits — from smoking to stress-eating — the brain naturally recalculates, and the habit loosens.

Listen to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, or online here.

Related Resources

• How Anxiety Becomes a Habit
• Curiosity: Our Superpower for Breaking Habits
• What Is the Habit Loop?
• The Craving Mind — Dr. Jud’s Book