The Healing Industry Is Making You More Anxious — Here's Why

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By Jenny Peterson

Let’s talk about the elephant in the healing room.

And I’m not just talking about conventional medicine—I’m talking about the holistic, spiritual, and functional healing world too. Yep, even the well-meaning parts.

I’ve sat with this episode for a long time because what I’m about to say might ruffle a few feathers… but it needs to be said:

The healing world is making you more anxious.

If you’ve ever felt more overwhelmed after seeking help—more confused, more fragile, more fearful—you’re not crazy.

By the end of this post, you’ll understand:

• How both medical and holistic models accidentally reinforce anxiety

• Why more labels, testing, and protocols are keeping you stuck

• What to focus on instead so your body finally feels safe enough to heal

Let’s pull the curtain back on the fear factory that’s been disguised as wellness… and get real about what healing actually looks like.

When “Wellness” Triggers Fear Instead of Safety

Let’s play out a story you might know too well:

You wake up and something feels off. Your heart’s racing. You didn’t sleep great. Your stomach’s uneasy. And immediately, your brain starts scanning:

“Did I eat something wrong?” 

“Is something seriously wrong with me?” 

“Should I go get tested?”

So you book an appointment. They run tests. Maybe you get a diagnosis—IBS, anxiety, autoimmune something. You’re handed a prescription and told it might help.

Sometimes it helps. Sometimes it doesn’t. But either way, you still don’t feel right. So you dive into Google, YouTube, podcasts, Instagram. And that’s when you find the holistic world.

You think, “Finally. These people get it.”

But instead of answers… you get more labels.

Suddenly it’s mold toxicity, Epstein Barr, MTHFR gene mutations, fascia trauma, food sensitivities. Now you’re taking 27 supplements a day, tracking your poop, and terrified of your kitchen.

With each protocol comes new rules, more pressure, and the overwhelming feeling that if you mess up even one step—you’re ruining your healing.

From Wellness to Survival Mode

What started as trying to feel better becomes a full-time job. You’re not healing—you’re micromanaging.

And all these “healing” approaches, even the holistic ones, are still telling you the same story:

There’s something wrong with your body. You’re broken. Here’s what to fix.

And while they may mean well, the message your nervous system hears is: You’re still not safe.

I Was Part of the Problem Too

Let me be clear—I was once part of that fear-based world.

As a former holistic practitioner, I told people to avoid foods. I ran endless tests. I thought I was helping them make “informed choices.”

But really? I was reinforcing fear.

I was subtly teaching people their body couldn’t be trusted. That it was fragile. Broken. One wrong move away from total collapse.

It took my own rock bottom and complete burnout to see it clearly:

I wasn’t guiding people to safety. I was guiding them deeper into survival.

Functional Medicine Isn’t the Root

Holistic and functional medicine love to claim they address the root cause.

But their “root” is always something outside of you—a toxin, a pathogen, a gene mutation, your environment.

They miss the actual root: your subconscious patterns of survival.

Let’s say you’re told your detox genes don’t function well. Now you believe your body can’t detox on its own. You start scanning every room for toxins, fearing your own body.

That belief alone shifts your body into fight-or-flight.

And no liver support or binder can fix that.

The thing that’s actually “clogging” your detox pathways? Your fear. Your beliefs. The subconscious programming that says:

“I’m not safe.”

Why This Fear Loop Keeps You Stuck

Here’s the hard truth most people don’t realize:

Before you can rewire subconscious patterns, you have to unlearn all the fear-based beliefs you’ve picked up from these healing systems.

And the deeper you’ve gone into them? The more unlearning you have to do.

If you’ve micromanaged, feared, and misunderstood your body for years—it won’t just flip a switch overnight. It needs space. A clean slate. A chance to remember how to just be without being watched and corrected 24/7.

Ironically, someone who hasn’t been steeped in this fear loop might have less to unwind.

So if the idea of doing less feels scary or wrong? That’s exactly why this work is needed.

The Labels Become Your Identity

Let’s talk about the emotional cost of all these “diagnoses.”

When you’re told things like:

• You’re hard to heal

• Your genes are faulty

• You’re highly sensitive

• You’re dysregulated

You start organizing your life—and your nervous system—around the belief that you’re broken.

You don’t just have trauma. You are traumatized. You don’t just have a sensitive system. You are fragile.

And that identity keeps your body in survival.

The Subconscious Addiction to the Chase

Even more sneaky?

Your brain can get addicted to the chase. It starts believing:

“If I’m not fixing something, I’m failing.”

So you loop. You stack protocols. You micromanage.

And healing becomes your full-time identity.

This is survival, disguised as self-care.

You go from medical diagnosis… to functional diagnosis… to spiritual diagnosis…

And you don’t even realize:

You can’t heal while reinforcing the belief that you’re broken.

Are You Actually Addressing the Root?

Ask yourself honestly: What are you doing every day to heal?

A smoothie? A meditation? Journaling? Tapping? Affirmations?

But here’s the real question:

Do any of those things actually address the subconscious patterns that are keeping your body in survival mode?

Most people are doing a lot… but not doing the thing that actually gives their body permission to heal.

Josie’s Story: When Doing Less Was the Answer

Let me tell you about Josie.

She came into our 8-month EVOLVE program with every label under the sun: Lyme, mold, parasites. She was the queen of trying everything—from sleeping in a tent to avoid mold to downing binders and antivirals.

Smart. Dedicated. Exhausted.

But her body was stuck in a loop of fear.

The identity she had absorbed was:

“I am unsafe. My body is broken. Everything is a threat.”

In our program, we asked her to do the scariest thing: Stop fixing. Start trusting.

No more trigger chasing. No more stacking protocols.

Instead, one shift a day. One message of safety at a time.

At first, it felt terrifying. But over time, she returned to trust. Her nervous system settled. And her symptoms—chronic skin issues, edema, anxiety—all disappeared.

You can hear Josie’s full story on Episode 49 of my podcast.

Final Thoughts

Let’s recap what we covered:

• The medical and holistic world often fuels anxiety by reinforcing fear, not safety

• Labels, protocols, and even spiritual diagnoses can keep you stuck if they never address your subconscious

• Real healing begins when you simplify and shift subconscious patterns daily—not when you do more

If you’ve been doing “all the things” and still feel anxious, it’s not because you’re failing.

It’s because the system you trusted to help you… actually made you more afraid of your body.

That ends now.

This is your invitation to put the supplements down, find a quiet corner, and start doing less—but deeper.

Your body is not broken. You are not behind.

You’ve just been trapped in a system that profits from your panic.

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Jenny Peterson is a Chronic Illness Expert, the Founder of MBR (Mind Body Rewire), and the host of The Rebellious Healer Podcast. She helps those struggling with multiple chronic symptoms reclaim their health and freedom—without diets, detoxes, or pills.

For 10 years, Jenny worked as a holistic practitioner, relying on supplements, diet, and detox protocols to support healing. But when she faced her own chronic health struggles, those methods failed her.

When Jenny was on her healing journey, she struggled to find a protocol that provided the structure needed to rewire the subconscious. So she created her own process to heal—and that process became the foundation of the Heal & Thrive Framework, a structured, step-by-step method that helps clients identify the subconscious patterns behind their symptoms and rewire them for lasting relief.

Using this exact process, Jenny fully resolved Lyme disease, digestive issues, panic attacks, skin conditions, cystitis, and more. Her own transformation ignited a mission: to help others break free from chronic symptoms and take back control of their health.

At Mind Body Rewire, we have an unwavering belief that healing chronic health issues doesn’t have to be complicated when the focus is on the root cause: the subconscious. We believe every person is fully capable of creating the health and life they desire when they unlock the subconscious programs influencing it.

Ready to say good-bye to symptoms and hello to freedom?  START HERE