If your stomach drops every time your doctor's office calls, or you find yourself spiraling into worst-case scenarios before a test result comes back, you're not broken and you're not overreacting. Medical anxiety is real, and it's especially common for people who've spent years navigating chronic illness, uncertain diagnoses, or being told their labs are "normal" when they know something is wrong.

Why this episode matters

Most anxiety advice tells you to "just breathe" or "stop worrying." That's not helpful when your nervous system has been shaped by years of appointments, imaging, and being dismissed. In this episode, Dr. Su shares three strategies he uses himself, and has learned from over a decade working with his own therapist and from countless conversations with patients, to actually work with medical anxiety instead of just pushing through it.

What you'll learn

• Why confronting the anxiety directly, rather than avoiding or running from it, is the hardest but most effective first step
• How to flip the "what if" spiral in the opposite direction, and why grounding yourself in the feeling of good news matters as much as the logic of it
• The "so what" game, a simple but revealing exercise for uncovering the real root cause underneath your medical anxiety
• Why the fear you're carrying into an appointment is often about something deeper than the appointment itself

Dr. Su's perspective

Dr. Su doesn't position himself as a therapist, and he's clear about that in the episode. What he offers instead is the perspective of someone who has walked this road personally and who has sat across from hundreds of patients carrying the same dread. These are the strategies he's seen actually move the needle, not textbook talking points.

Connect with Dr. Su and RootSeek Health:

Download the free Lab Results Guide:
If your labs keep coming back "normal" while you keep feeling anything but, this guide will help you understand what might be getting missed.

Download at https://labsoptin.rootseekhealth.com/labs/

Have a question for Dr. Su?
Once a month, Dr. Su opens one hour to five people only. Real questions, real answers, real direction.

Book your spot: https://go.rootseekhealth.com/askdrmark

rootseekhealth.com | @rootseekhealth | @drmarksu

Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only. Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.