How do you navigate the dating world when your fight or flight response tends to kick in right before a first date? What do you do if you head into new relationships already thinking about the breakup? What happens if the romantic energy you bring to a relationship is more ‘Netflix and spiral’?
is a new podcast from SBS Voices that guides you through the world of dating and relationships when you’re already partnered up with anxiety.
Hosted by Kevin Jin, a comedian with lived experience of anxiety, this six-episode podcast will explore the many aspects of love and anxiety, from first dates, to sex, break ups, ghosting and what happens when you’ve found someone to live anxiously ever after with.
Jin will speak to some of his friends, and others who live with anxiety, to hear their first date horror stories; details on how they cope with breakups; what makes a happy relationship; and advice on when to reveal your anxiety to a new partner.
Host of Love Me Love My Anxiety, Kevin Jin, with his dog Chewie. Source: Darren Taing
Anxiety adds a big f--king layer to dating. It’s a big wet blanket, or a big shell to try to come out of.
What makes Jin qualified to host the podcast? He once had an anxiety attack on a first date, which you will hear all about as the podcast unfolds. He even invites the woman on the receiving end of that date to relive the horror and tell her side of the story. But don't worry, as he says in the first episode, he's now happily engaged, "which makes me a fully qualified [relationship] expert."
Each episode also sees Jin speak to actual mental health experts, such as psychologist Smruthy Nair and psychiatrist Dr Kamran Ahmed, for their advice on how to manage anxiety before a date, how to steel yourself to leave a relationship, and how romantic partners can offer support.
In episode one, dropping on Thursday March 24, Jin shares his own experiences with anxiety and speaks to his long-time friend and comedian Jenny Tian about how her tendency to think about the worst case scenario can sabotage relationships from the beginning. “Every time I enter a new relationship, I’m already thinking about the break up,” Tian admits.
Psychologist Smruthy Nair Source: Supplied
This podcast will help anxious listeners know they're not alone as they search for love.
Among the line-up of guests this season, Jin speaks to mental health advocate Emily Unity, comedians Lauren Bonner and Anthony Locascio and artist Samuel Leighton-Dore.
“Anxiety adds a big f--king layer to dating," says Jin. "It’s a big wet blanket, or a big shell to try to come out of.” This podcast will help anxious listeners find ways to come out of their shell, and most importantly, know they're not alone as they search for love.
Comedian Jenny Tian is a guest on the podcast. Source: Supplied
Love Me, Love My Anxiety launches with and on Thursday March 24. Listen in the , , , , or wherever you listen to podcasts.
