Chronic Anxiety Isn’t What We Think It Is: A Lesson From the Playroom

Before I ever became known for quantum biology and anxiety recovery, I was a child and family therapist. And in those early years, sitting on tiny carpet squares surrounded by puppets, sand trays, and shelves of small figurines, I learned something that has shaped everything I believe about healing:

A child who does not feel safe will not play.

Not in the session.

Not in their world.

Not even with the toys designed to help them express what words cannot.

Play is a child’s natural language. It’s how they process, express, integrate, and build confidence. When safety is present, play emerges effortlessly. When safety is absent, play disappears.

And as I was reminded again just yesterday, this truth isn’t just about children. It’s about adults, too.

When Adults Stop “Playing”

Adults don’t “play” the way children do ~ but we do have our own equivalents:

• Resting
  
• Sleeping deeply
  
• Engaging creatively
  
• Feeling joy
  
• Feeling spacious instead of constricted
  
• Thinking clearly
  
• Pursuing growth instead of survival
  

And just like children, when an adult’s nervous system does not feel safe, these capacities disappear.

If the body is operating from danger—even subtly, even unconsciously—sleep becomes shallow or elusive. Decisions feel overwhelming. Emotions get louder. The mind loops. The body tightens.

We do not thrive when our mitochondria are signaling danger.

We cannot “perform” our way out of threat physiology.

And this is where our current approach to anxiety often falls short.

Anxiety Has Many Contributors—But Just One Root

Of course, anxiety is multi-factorial. The list is long and real:

• Mold or environmental toxins
  
• Chronic infections (Lyme, viruses, long-COVID)
  
• Asthma or respiratory challenges
  
• Nutrient deficiencies
  
• Metabolic dysfunction
  
• Unresolved traumatic stress
  
• Relationship dynamics or psycho-social loads
  
• Spiritual disconnection or emotional overwhelm
  

All of these matter.

All of them deserve attention.

And almost always, there is an emotional component woven somewhere in the fibers of chronic anxiety.

But what most people don’t realize—including many clinicians—is this:

Anxiety is an energy problem.

More specifically, anxiety is a signal of lost energy.

It is the body losing electrons faster than it can replenish them.

It is mitochondrial distress masquerading as psychological distress.

This is why circadian rhythm repair, natural light exposure, nutrient-dense food, and proper movement are non-negotiable. They directly improve mitochondrial efficiency, reduce reactive oxygen species, and strengthen cellular safety.

Most mental health training doesn’t address any of this, nor does most medical training.

And yet, this is the missing link in so many cases.

But Here’s the Part We Really Need to Understand…

In the quantum health world, I see people doing everything “right”:

• sunrise light every day
  
• prioritizing nutrient-dense foods
  
• optimizing metabolic and gut health
  
• cleaning up toxins
  
• addressing inflammation
  
• walking after meals
  
• grounding, red light, cold exposure
  
• stabilizing blood sugar
  
• lifting weights
  
• prioritizing sleep
  

And still…

Still…

Still…

They experience persistent anxiety.

When that happens, I can almost always tell what’s going on:

There is unprocessed emotional material that the body is still carrying.

Not necessarily a “Big T” trauma, or a dramatic story, or something that even seems meaningful at first glance.

Sometimes, it’s just:

• a small grief the mind minimized
• a long pattern of self-abandonment
• an identity transition to which the body hasn’t caught up
• a relational rupture we tried to “handle” instead of heal
• the pressure of holding everything together for too long

And almost always, it’s something the mind says, “This shouldn’t be affecting me this much.”

But the body tells the truth.

My Son Taught Me This the Hard Way

When my son’s anxiety spiraled a few years ago, I (despite 30+ years in mental health) didn’t recognize it as anxiety at first.

We went down every medical rabbit hole: mold, immune dysfunction, mast cell activation, long COVID. Because his symptoms didn’t look like “traditional anxiety.”

But chronic anxiety often doesn’t look traditional when the allostatic load is high, and the stress bucket is overflowing.

I know this now. I didn’t realize it then.

And even when all the physical contributors were addressed, there were still emotional layers waiting for both of us. Emotional truths that needed to surface before his system felt safe again.

This is the lesson:

Quantum health can resolve the biological danger.

But emotional healing resolves the human experience of danger.

You need both.

We all do.

If You’re an Adult Struggling with Anxiety (or a Practitioner Trying to Help Someone)

Here’s what truly supports recovery:

1. Address the physical contributors.

Nutrition, gut health, metabolic health, inflammation, circadian alignment, mitochondrial repair ~ all of it matters because it builds cellular safety.

2. Address the emotional contributors.

This part is often overlooked, especially by people who prefer to research their way out of feeling.

When the quantum protocols aren’t enough, this is usually why.

3. Understand that anxiety is not a flaw—it’s communication.

A danger signal.

A request for energy restoration.

A plea for safety at the cellular and emotional levels.

4. Approach healing as a whole-system process.

Biology + psychology + relationship + meaning + environment + energy.

Not one piece.

Every piece.

A Final Thought

When children don’t feel safe, they don’t play.

When adults don’t feel safe, they don’t sleep, create, connect, or thrive.

Anxiety isn’t evidence that you’re broken.

It’s evidence that your body is asking for more energy, more support, more coherence, and more truth.

And the moment we stop treating anxiety as a purely psychological problem, or a purely physical problem, and start treating it as the whole-system signal it actually is, healing stops feeling impossible.

Then safety becomes something we can build, not something we wait for or hope will eventually come.

Are you ready for the whole-system approach to anxiety recovery? Discover my LIGHT Method™️inside the 7-week Anxiety Recovery Course

Practitioners, are you looking to level-up your practice? Here are two powerful resources to explore: Mentorship Intensives & Foundations in Amxiety Recovery Coaching .