Why Do Our Brains Make Us Feel Anxious?
When our brains detect danger, they initiate a ‘stress response’. This response makes us feel scared and anxious.
What can we do to manage unnecessary anxiety?
Most of the time, the stress response keeps safe us from danger. For example, we may justifiably feel fear when we are walking next to an electric fence. However, sometimes our brains over-react and lead us to believe that we are in danger when we are not. Sometimes our brains and bodies put up huge defences when only reminders of previous stressful events appear.
We can’t entirely prevent feelings of fear or anxiety because without them we would allow ourselves to get hurt. So what do we do if we only want to be afraid when it is necessary? We have to change our relationship with anxiety.
First, we need to know how the brain works
To understand why we might change our relationships with anxiety, we have to know a little about how the brain works. The illustration below of the brain below indicates that it comprises the following regions. The regions of course are not quite as distinct as shown in the diagram but thinking about the brain in this way helps us understand how anxiety and other emotions arise.
Survival region: Structures primarily involved in our survival are generally found around the base the brain. They have a vital function, keeping us alive.
Thinking and reasoning: The cortex, found around the top and front of the head, is concerned with thinking and reasoning.
Protection: Many of the structures involved with our protection are located centrally in the brain.
The protective region is the seat of our emotions and the first to decide whether or not our lives and well-being are threatened. Structures, such as the almond-shaped amygdala that acts as a threat detector, along with other brain parts including the hypothalamus, thalamus and hippocampus, decide whether or not a situation is safe, unsafe or unfamiliar.
When the brain tells us we are safe: If the situation is considered safe, the brain continues to allow resources and messages to flow through all brain regions. This allows all parts of the brain to work in unison. We say that the brain is ‘regulated’ and our conscious thinking and decision-making is clear.
When the brain tells us we are unsafe: When the protective structures, particularly the amygdala, have decided that there is a threat, ‘up-regulation’ of the survival structures is initiated. The protective process overtakes the cortex, which is denied the resources, such as neurochemicals and blood-flow, that it needs to operate optimally. We say the brain is ‘up-regulated’. That is, it becomes more difficult to make conscious decisions about our responses because our bodily responses take over in an effort to preserve us.
When the circumstances we encounter are not familiar to the brain: If a situation is unfamiliar, it is more likely to be deemed unsafe because the brain prioritises our safety. In such cases, we might approach the situation with caution.
What happens to our bodies when the stress response is initiated?
When a threat is perceived, the amygdala fires a message to the hypothalamus that sets up a whole sequence of circuiting chemical activity. The pituitary gland releases adrenaline that causes the release of cortisol from the adrenal glands near the kidneys. Stress chemicals run through the body readying it for fight, flight or freeze.
What we notice is that our heart rate increases and we may even feel it pounding. Our chest feels tight, at times making it difficult to breath. Our pupils dilate. Blood flows to parts of our body that serve to protect us, such as our arms, and our muscles become primed to respond. When we are stressed or fearful, our digestion slows and we may feel nauseous. Other sensations we may notice are feeling too hot or too cold, losing sense of time and fainting.
Up-regulation of the sympathetic nervous system
What we can do to calm the protective stress response?
In a stressful moment, emotions are negative. It is not easy to make decisions about how best to respond as our protective activity prevents us from thinking and reasoning clearly. As the stress response is activated in milliseconds, well before we are conscious of any perceived threat, it is difficult to purposely stop this from happening. The part of our brain that supports our reasoning is not working optimally. In this state, we cannot articulate our feelings or hold conversations about what is going on. What we can do is understand and manage our responses and, in time, we may reduce the intensity of this emotional experience.
6 easy ways to calm the brain
Whatever route we take to change our relationship with anxiety, something that is helpful from the outset, is allowing the brain and mind to calm, or ‘down-regulate’. There are many ways of calming the mind and people’s preferences for activities varies. A few methods are listed below.
Mindfulness exercises that keep us in the moment and help to release us from the stress of worry about the past and future.
Breathing deeply to the belly, particularly to a previously-learned rhythm, (e.g. Inhale for 4 counts, hold for 7 counts and exhale for 8 counts), lets the brain know that you are in charge and that it can safety lower its stress response.
Touching and holding tactile objects such as stuffed toys or weighted objects
Being heard or held by loved and trusted people
Getting to a quiet, safe place where stimuli are more manageable
Spending time with animals.
Calming activities do not necessarily prevent the stress response but they do lower the effects of stress and fear, at least in the short-term. They help people to find a state in which they are ready to change their relationship with anxiety. Calming the mind is much easier to do if people have previously learned about the brain and body and develop a repertoire of favourite calming activity to use when necessary.
How can we tackle anxiety in the long-term?
Acknowledging the past and moving on
Once the brain is sufficiently calm, psychologists can help us improve our relationships with anxiety. Although in the past there has been a focus on determining the causes of anxiety, we now know that information about its origins is not always necessary, helpful or possible to find. One reason is that, although sustained anxiety is something that can remain after a sudden, unexpected and unwelcomed traumatic event, in many cases, it arises from a series of stressful events.
Finding out what keeps anxiety strong
If we want to move forward, we need to understand anxiety in terms of what is currently maintaining it. Once we have identified some current maintaining factors, we can improve our relationship with anxiety. Seif and Winston (2014) used the metaphor of fire to illustrate the need to consider current maintaining factors. They explained that when there is a wildfire, to tame it we look to what is keeping it burning. We may or may not know the cause but this does not stop us working to douse it.
A new relationship with anxiety
The aim of therapy for anxiety is not to rid ourselves of all anxiety because the function of anxiety is to keep us safe. However, we may wish to be less bothered about anxiety that emerges too often in response to lesser stressors. Fortunately, our brains can change to accommodate new thought patterns. Through the process of neuroplasticity in which neurons forge new connections along the paths most used, we can change our relationship with anxiety. We can learn to confidently face once-stressful events rather than keeping on trying to avoid situations that trigger the stress response and inadvertently strengthen anxiety.
4 ways to calm our minds in the longer-term
Developing a trusting relationship with someone who can be emotionally and, in many circumstances, physically at our side (e.g. a psychology professional, a family member, a friend, a colleague).
Developing a positive vision of our future. As we change in the direction we focus, it is more productive to seek calmness than avoid anxiety.
Building on our positive histories and current strengths and supports. We can look toward the scripting of new chapters in our lives.
Learning new pathways of feeling, thinking and acting that become dominant with repeated experience. Having repeated positive experiences helps us to build trust in the world around us.
Suggested reading
Seif, M.N., & Winston, S. (2014). What every therapist needs to know about anxiety disorders. Key concepts, insights and interventions. New York, NY: Routledge.