What Are Your Symptoms Trying to Tell You? A New Way to Understand Psychological & Physical Patterns
Episode 82: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube
View transcript on Buzzsprout
Ever found yourself saying, “I just need this symptom to stop”—whether it’s spiraling thoughts, tightness in your chest, gut issues, or chronic fatigue? Me too. One of the biggest shifts in healing anxiety and depression is learning to stop fearing your symptoms and start understanding them. This episode helps you reframe both psychological and physiological symptoms as messengers—not problems—so you can move through them with more clarity, compassion, and effectiveness.
What We Cover in This Episode
- Why symptoms aren’t bad or wrong—they’re messengers with positive intent
- How your body uses symptoms to get your attention
- The feedback loop between psychological and physiological symptoms
- How shifting your mindset can reduce symptom intensity
Redefining Symptoms: From Problem to Message
Amanda starts by naming a common frustration in healing: the fear or shame we carry around our symptoms. Whether it’s anxious spirals or gut issues, most of us are taught to fix or avoid them. But what if those symptoms are actually trying to help?
Psychological symptoms—like perfectionism, shutdown in conflict, or spiraling thoughts—are often rooted in protective strategies we learned early in life. They once kept us safe, even if they’re no longer serving us now. Meanwhile, physiological symptoms—like headaches, digestive problems, or fatigue—can be signs of unmet needs or imbalances in the body. Either way, your system is communicating.The key reframe: “Every symptom either serves you now—or it served you then.”
This perspective allows you to approach symptoms with less fear and more curiosity. And that shift alone can reduce the intensity of what you’re feeling.
The Feedback Loop: Mind and Body in Conversation
Amanda unpacks how physiological symptoms can create psychological ones—and vice versa. For example, an imbalanced gut microbiome might send distress signals to the brain, fueling anxiety. Or chronic stress might send those same signals in reverse, disrupting digestion. This feedback loop reinforces the need for a whole-human, whole-life approach to healing.
Client examples and real-life metaphors bring these concepts to life: the anxiety about anxiety that triggers panic attacks, or the tension headaches that stem from dehydration and go misinterpreted as “random pain.”
Meeting Symptoms with Compassion (Not Judgment)
What often makes symptoms worse is not the sensation itself—it’s the fear, judgment, or urgency we attach to it. Amanda explains how noticing, naming, and meeting symptoms with neutrality (or even curiosity) can break the cycle of activation or shutdown.
Instead of thinking, “Why do I always shut down during conflict?” try asking, “Huh, what’s going on here? When did this pattern start? What need is this meeting or protecting?” This invites a compassionate, resourced way of working with your symptoms instead of against them.
Before we move into the takeaways, remember: your symptoms aren’t your enemy. They’re information. You don’t have to love them—but you also don’t need to fear them. And when that relationship shifts, your healing deepens.
Three Tangible Takeaways
- Reframe your symptoms as messages. Whether they’re mental or physical, your symptoms are trying to tell you something. Get curious about what they’re signaling instead of trying to silence them.
- Connect the dots between your thoughts, feelings, and sensations. Use tools like journaling or somatic tracking to notice how your psychological and physiological symptoms influence one another.
- Meet symptoms with neutrality before trying to fix them. The moment you feel a symptom, pause. Instead of judging or rushing to change it, ask: “What’s this trying to tell me? What need might be unmet?”
Looking for more personalized support?
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Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or qualified mental health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
