Anxiety is the most-searched mental health topic in podcasting, and our Mental Health chart now tracks hundreds of active shows, from clinician-hosted deep dives to raw personal storytelling. Finding a podcast about anxiety takes seconds. Finding one that leaves you with something to use the next time your chest tightens takes longer. Here are ten that do, what each is good for, and which are still publishing in 2026.
The gap these shows fill
Anxiety disorders are the world's most common mental disorders: the WHO counts 470 million people living with one in 2023. In the first year of the pandemic, global rates of anxiety and depression rose by about 25%, with young people among the hardest hit, and they are podcasting's core audience. Therapist supply has lagged behind, and waits of weeks or months for a first appointment are common in the US and Europe. Podcasts fill the space between "struggling" and "in treatment": free, anonymous and available at 2 a.m., when anxiety tends to be loudest.
The ten shows
1. The Anxiety Coaches Podcast
If you want one specific answer fast, start here. Gina Ryan, a nutritionist and anxiety coach who lived with panic for some twenty years, has published more than 1,200 short episodes of The Anxiety Coaches Podcast over the past decade, each on one facet of anxiety: health anxiety, panic at night, caffeine, intrusive thoughts, the morning dread spike. Most run 15 to 20 minutes, so the back catalog works like a reference library. Search the feed for whatever is bothering you today.
2. 10% Happier (formerly Ten Percent Happier)
In 2004 Dan Harris had a panic attack live on Good Morning America, in front of roughly five million viewers. He turned it into the bestselling book 10% Happier and then into 10% Happier with Dan Harris, which he has run full-time since leaving ABC News in 2021. His skeptical-journalist manner keeps it grounded: he asks meditation teachers the questions a nonbeliever would ask. For anxiety, look for his conversations with Dr. Judson Brewer, the Brown University neuroscientist behind Unwinding Anxiety, on worry as a habit loop. If the meditation side appeals, our guide to meditation and mindfulness podcasts goes further.
3. Depresh Mode and The Hilarious World of Depression
John Moe has two feeds worth knowing. The Hilarious World of Depression, his interviews with comedians and artists about depression and anxiety, ran from 2016 to 2020 under American Public Media, and its archive is one of the best things made in this category. Moe then started Depresh Mode, still weekly on Maximum Fun. In August 2026 he bought back The Hilarious World of Depression and relaunched it, revisiting earlier guests such as Wil Wheaton and Jenny Lawson. For many listeners these interviews, funny and devastating in the same breath, were the first time they heard their own inner monologue described out loud.
4. Feeling Good Podcast
The densest show on the list, deliberately so. Dr. David Burns, adjunct clinical professor emeritus at Stanford, wrote Feeling Good, the cognitive behavioral therapy classic therapists have handed out for four decades. The Feeling Good Podcast works as free advanced CBT training, with technique walkthroughs and full therapy sessions recorded with consent and dissected afterward. Psychologist Dr. Rhonda Barovsky co-hosted for years; since May 2026 Kevin Cornelius has hosted alongside Burns.
5. Mental Illness Happy Hour
Paul Gilmartin, a comedian and former TV host, has run the Mental Illness Happy Hour since 2011, and it goes where most podcasts avoid: trauma, shame, compulsions. The anonymous listener surveys he reads on air are often the strongest segments, with strangers admitting the thoughts everyone has and nobody says. Heavy at times, and deeply de-isolating.
6. Unlocking Us with Brené Brown (archive)
Treat this one as a library. The latest episode of Unlocking Us with Brené Brown dates from October 2024, yet the back catalog maps closely onto everyday anxiety: perfectionism, people-pleasing, fear of being found out. Brown, the University of Houston researcher behind one of the most-watched TED talks ever, recorded a 2020 conversation with psychologist Harriet Lerner on apologies and anxiety in relationships that makes a good entry point.
7. The Happiness Lab
Yale professor Dr. Laurie Santos built The Happiness Lab out of Psychology and the Good Life, the most popular course in Yale's history (about a quarter of undergraduates enrolled in its first year). Anxiety is one theme among several, and the episodes on rumination and why suppressing thoughts backfires are excellent, evidence-cited and gently funny.
8. Therapy in a Nutshell
Emma McAdam, a licensed marriage and family therapist with one of the largest mental health channels on YouTube, brings the same structured teaching to Therapy in a Nutshell: the nervous system, the avoidance cycle that keeps anxiety alive, how exposure works, why reassurance-seeking backfires. It is the closest thing here to a free course in the mechanics of your own panic response.
9. Owning It: The Anxiety Podcast
Caroline Foran's Irish hit grew out of her bestselling book, and she speaks as someone who has been through it. Owning It: The Anxiety Podcast covers flying, social anxiety, public speaking and holding down a career while your brain is on fire, in a warm, jargon-free voice: a friend who gets it. New episodes come in runs (the latest ended in June 2026), and the archive holds more than 200.
10. On Purpose with Jay Shetty
By audience, the biggest show here. Shetty, a former monk turned media entrepreneur, brings anxiety and mental health into mainstream conversation on On Purpose with Jay Shetty through interviews with athletes, founders and celebrities. Purists file it under self-improvement, fairly. As an entry point, though, it reaches people who would never search for a "mental health podcast".
Match the show to the anxiety
| Show | Format | Best when... |
|---|---|---|
| Anxiety Coaches | 15 to 20 minutes, one topic | one symptom needs an answer now |
| Therapy in a Nutshell | Short lessons | you want to understand the panic cycle |
| Feeling Good | CBT teaching, recorded sessions | you want techniques |
| 10% Happier | Long interviews | wellness talk makes you roll your eyes |
| The Happiness Lab | Narrative science | rumination is the main problem |
| Mental Illness Happy Hour | Raw interviews | shame makes you feel alone |
| Depresh Mode / Hilarious World | Comic, serious interviews | you need company and a laugh |
| Unlocking Us (archive) | Conversations | perfectionism drives the worry |
| Owning It | Practical, friendly | anxiety hits at work or in social settings |
| On Purpose | Celebrity interviews | you want an easy first step |
Online therapy platforms: what to check
Anxiety podcasts are often sponsored by online therapy services, and hosts tend to read those ads themselves. These platforms match you with a licensed therapist for video, phone or text sessions, usually on a weekly or monthly subscription. They differ in ways that matter. Some accept insurance and others are cash only. Some let you choose a clinician by specialty, while others assign one for you. Text-based plans mean waiting for written replies, which suits some people and frustrates others. Before paying, check that the therapist is licensed where you live and ask whether they use CBT or exposure work for anxiety, the approaches Feeling Good and Therapy in a Nutshell explain. Read how billing and cancellation work, and look at the privacy policy, since mental health data is sensitive. Research on therapy keeps finding that the fit with your therapist matters, so asking for a new match is reasonable if the first one feels wrong.
A listening path for the hard moments
The 2 a.m. spiral. This is the hour for company. An old Hilarious World episode, a Mental Illness Happy Hour interview or a short Anxiety Coaches episode on night-time panic beats a dense CBT walkthrough. If you mainly can't get back to sleep, our guide to sleep podcasts has shows built to put you under.
The commute. One Therapy in a Nutshell episode on the avoidance cycle, or a Happiness Lab episode on rumination, gives you one idea to try that day.
The week before a first therapy appointment. Two or three Feeling Good episodes let you hear a CBT session from the inside, which takes the mystery out of the first visit. Harris's talks with Judson Brewer give you words for describing your worry patterns.
When to go beyond a podcast
Every host here says a version of the same thing: a podcast supplements care and cannot replace it. If anxiety is getting in the way of your sleep, work or relationships, talk to a professional. Online therapy has made that first step easier, and our guide to therapy podcasts and finding help online covers the shows that explain how it works. In a crisis, call or text 988 in the US, or call Samaritans on 116 123 in the UK and Ireland.
Rankings referenced are based on Reason.fm's daily-updated Mental Health category chart.
This article looks at how podcasts discuss the topic and is not medical advice. Talk to a doctor or other qualified clinician about your own situation before starting, changing or stopping any treatment.