The Brain and Anxiety: What Causes It?
Anxiety is one of the most common mental health conditions in the world. There are many potential causes and triggers, and it can look different for everyone. But, what about digging deeper?
Because anxiety is a mental health condition, it impacts the brain. What actually causes the brain to have anxiety? Which areas of the brain are affected?
The more you understand about the brain and anxiety, the easier it can be to let go of things like guilt or fear that something is “wrong” with you. That can help you take better care of yourself and get the help you need.
So, what causes anxiety in the brain?
The Amygdala and Brain Communication
For a long time, researchers believed that anxiety was strictly caused by an overactive amygdala. The amygdala is the part of the brain responsible for making decisions and holding on to emotional memories. It also is the part that controls fear and panic responses. So, it makes sense that it would control feelings of long-term anxiety and worry.
Today, it’s more widely recognized that there are several parts of the brain that contribute to anxiety. While the amygdala does play a role, anxiety is actually caused by constant “noise” between different areas of the brain.
One example of this suggests that there are two parts of the brain – emotional and cognitive. When the emotional part of the brain overtakes the cognitive area, it leads to anxiety. For example, if you’re stepping onto an old elevator, the emotional part of your brain might be a little nervous. The cognitive part tells you it’s perfectly safe. But, if the emotional part takes over, you could start thinking about every negative scenario possible about the safety of that elevator. You might even come up with situations that couldn’t possibly be realistic.
How Does Anxiety Impact the Brain?
Even though anxiety is common, that doesn’t mean it should ever be ignored. Studies have shown that long-term anxiety can actually cause damage to the brain.
Because the amygdala is still an important part of anxiety, it tends to get bigger when you deal with long-term anxious thoughts. Unfortunately, the bigger the amygdala gets, the easier it is for the emotional brain to take over. It creates a sort of vicious cycle that can be toxic to brain cells.
Additionally, the hippocampus area of the brain shrinks with long-term anxiety. The hippocampus is responsible for long-term memory function. It’s also important for creating new memories. When it shrinks, your brain isn’t able to store new memories as easily. That allows your anxious thoughts to have an even greater impact on how you feel.
What Can You Do?
It can be overwhelming and even a little scary to consider how anxiety impacts your brain and how your mind can trigger such invasive thoughts. It can be even worse to think about the long-term effects anxiety can have on your brain, especially if you’ve already been dealing with it for a while.
But, don’t let those worries create an even bigger spiral. If there is a silver lining to anxiety, it’s that it’s often very manageable and even treatable. However, it’s not an easy battle to tackle on your own. Understanding how anxiety impacts the brain can make it easier to see.
With that in mind, don’t hesitate to reach out for help. Things like self-care and symptom management are important. But, working with a therapist will help you get to the root cause of your anxiety. From there, you can work on effective ways of overcoming it, rather than just masking symptoms.
If you’re tired of letting anxiety control your mind and your life, don’t hesitate to reach out to set up an appointment soon for anxiety treatment.
