I have always had a fascination with the brain.
Struggling most of my life with anxiety made me curious about why my brain operates the way it does.
Am I doomed? Can I “fix” it? Change it?
These were three of the many questions I had about my anxiety and the brain, so I began doing some research.
Reading dozens of books, researching online academic articles, and talking to friends who worked in mental health and neuroscience, I began piecing together essential factors that we’re contributing to my anxiety.
There was a lack of adequate sleep, which was a big one for me. I never had a regular sleeping schedule and tended to stay up too late and sleep in too long. Then my diet, which was not exactly stellar. Late night snack binges, junk food, and overeating are just a few of the many nutrition mistakes I was consistently making. Another area I improved upon was exercise. I began taking my exercise routine more seriously and also implemented meditation into the mix. All of this helped me to manage my anxiety better.
But there was one particular area of research that stood out to me.
I read a book called ‘Rewire Your Anxious Brain’ by Catherine M. Pittman, Ph.D., and Elizabeth M. Karle, MLIS.
The book centers on a better understanding of neuroscience to help alleviate worry, panic, and anxiety. As I was reading and absorbing the information, one of the key elements that kept surfacing was the importance of our amygdala related to our anxiety.
WHAT IS THE AMYGDALA?
It is the region of the brain primarily associated with emotional processes.
The brain’s two almond-shaped amygdalae are located deep in the brain’s left and right temporal lobes.
These two amygdalae are crucial for several aspects of thought, emotion, and behavior and are involved in various neurological and psychiatric conditions.
Although both amygdalae work together, there also appear to be various aspects of amygdala function where one overrides the other.
The amygdala is involved in what’s known as fear conditioning. Fear conditioning is when humans and many other animals learn to associate a negative stimulus, such as a hot stovetop, with another factor. Also, the amygdala is strongly connected to the emotional response to pain.
But interestingly enough, the amygdala is also involved in the experience of other emotions. These different emotions include positive emotions such as those triggered by reward. The amygdala is also connected to behavior and psychiatric disorders.
In summation, the amygdala plays a large role in many areas of life.
But how does it relate to anxiety?
THE PROTECTOR
The amygdala can cause us unneeded anxiety by overreacting to situations that aren’t as dangerous as they seem or aren’t dangerous at all.
Let me explain.
The amygdala is trying to protect you from any potential danger that might be lingering.
In many cases, the amygdala’s assumption that you need to be protected from some type of danger is incorrect. The human amygdala seems to be predisposed to respond to certain stimuli as if they are potentially dangerous: snakes, spiders, heights, and angry facial expressions are just a few. Yet children are rarely scared of bikes or basketballs. Over thousands of years of evolution, the human amygdala has been “programmed” to fear things such as insects and snakes because it served in survival at some point.
But the fear that is programmed into the amygdala can be changed.
You do not have to be a prisoner of your past emotional experiences that reside within the amygdala. Conversely, many objects and situations aren’t naturally feared by the amygdala, meaning they weren’t programmed into the amygdala at birth. Instead, the amygdala learns to fear them as a direct result of life experience. For example, a child doesn’t naturally fear flames, but if a flame burns that child, he or she will naturally begin to fear anything associated with fire: candles, lighters, sparklers, bonfires, and so on. That is the amygdala at work. But since the amygdala can be “reprogrammed,” the child can, over time, learn not to fear certain stimuli.
EMOTIONAL MEMORIES
The amygdala forms emotional memories, but not in the way that you may think of memories.
The amygdala will form an emotional memory of an experience and attach it to, for example, a smell or an object, yet have no awareness of it. Meaning, you might fear that object or smell without any conscious memory to back it up. Many people who have been in a serious car accident become fearful of sitting in the same seat in the car when the accident occurred. For example, suppose you were sitting in the back seat behind the passenger seat during a serious accident. In that case, you may develop a sense of dread anytime you sit in that exact seat in another car, without fully understanding why.
That is the emotional memory of the amygdala at work.
FIGHT FLIGHT OR FREEZE RESPONSE
The amygdala is responsible for activating what is known as the fight, flight, or freeze response. During this response, there’s an activation of motor systems, an increase in neurotransmitters’ levels, and energization of the sympathetic nervous system, a release of chemicals such as cortisol and adrenaline into the bloodstream. Your body will undergo immediate changes such as increased heart rate, tensing of muscles, and dilated pupils. You may start to tremble and feel sweaty palms, heart-pounding, and bowel issues. Activating the fight, flight, or freeze response is a primary role of the amygdala.
The amygdala’s “language” is based on association.
But what does this mean, exactly?
Think of a little child. That child walks into a room and sees a teddy bear that frightens him or her. Now, the teddy bear itself is not threatening, but every time that child sees any teddy bear, he or she becomes filled with fright. That is the amygdala associating that teddy bears with a fearful emotion and activating the fight, flight, or freeze response in that child.
Emotional triggers begin to develop around these associations. Whenever you contact any stimuli associated with an emotional response in your amygdala, you will then become triggered. And after becoming triggered, you will want to avoid those specific stimuli to avoid feeling any negative emotions. Avoidance can cause problems because as you grow older, the number of stimuli will also increase, and if you haven’t managed them properly, you will be one overly-anxious person (trust me, I know!).
HOW THE AMYGDALA AFFECTS OUR ANXIETY
The amygdala affects our anxiety in many different ways.
The primary reason it has such an effect is that it plays a central role in emotional regulation and behavior.
When the amygdala becomes “aroused,” it can trigger the fight, flight, or fear response. As stated above, this is a fear-based response meant to protect us from any potential threat or danger that may be lingering around us in the external world.
Many years ago, when humans lived in the wild amongst the rest of the natural world, this response was crucial for survival. If a wild animal or potential threat was approaching, the amygdala would trigger the fight, flight, or stress response, which allowed the person to escape any potential danger. Without it, there would have been many more” human meals” for the various predators in those days.
But in this modern, technologically advanced society, physical dangers such as a wild animal attack aren’t much of a threat anymore. This is where the problem arises.
The amygdala still reacts as though there is a threat even when there is not.
This causes anxiety.
Why does it react this way?
- Emotional memories (explained above)
- The cortex triggering the amygdala with a fearful thought
- Emotional triggers (originating in the cortex)
- Fight, Flight, Or Freeze response
The amygdala, at times, has difficulty differentiating between a real threat at an imaginary one.
And because of this, people struggle with bouts of anxiety based on nothing more than an overreacting amygdala.
AMYGDALA ANXIETY EXAMPLES
When I was in middle school and high school, I had my fair share of issues. Like most teens, trying to fit in and be popular was a challenge at times. I was the new kid from out of town, didn’t know a soul, and wanted desperately to be liked – but I was shy at first, gangly, and filled with anxiety.
I can remember one specific classmate who would make fun of me in front of our other friends to get a laugh. Now, this is not uncommon amongst friends and for middle and high schoolers. But what he would say was beyond the usual “joking around.” He would become mean, almost as if I threatened him in some way.
Over the years, I began to feel a sharp burst of anxiety anytime he would walk into a room I was in. No matter what the situation, I would feel the tension swell up inside of me.
My legs would shake, my posture would tense, and my palms would sweat.
This reaction is a classic amygdala based response.
For a while, I didn’t even realize why I would become this way in front of him. Then it dawned on me – I was so used to him making mean comments to me that my body was emotionally trained to react with a fight, flight, or fear response.
The amygdala, storing the emotional memory of being mocked and feeling deep hurt, would become aroused anytime I was in his presence.
That is the power of the amygdala.
THE AMYGDALA AND THE CORTEX
It’s important to understand that anxiety can originate from both the amygdala and the cerebral cortex.
The cerebral-cortex is the furrowed outer layer of gray matter in the brain’s cerebrum, associated with the higher brain functions, as voluntary movement, coordination of sensory information, learning and memory, and the expression of individuality.
The difference between where your anxiety is originating is essential; because there are different ways to manage each.
Think of the amygdala as the more “primal” state of anxiety; the physical sensations, increased heart rate, sweaty hands, trembling voice, and all the physical effects of anxiety pertain directly to anxiety originating in the amygdala.
Whereas anxiety originating in the cortex is based more on “overthinking.” The cortex can create all sorts of crazy future scenarios and drum up memories from the past, both of which can cause anxiety.
Since amygdala-induced anxiety is based more on the primal state of specific “programmed” fears and emotional associations, the most efficient way of handling anxiety is by creating a state of calmness within the body.
CALMING THE AMYGDALA
- Regular exercise
- Adequate sleep
- Deep breathing
These are excellent ways to ease anxiety originating in the amygdala.
For example, exercise helps reduce activation of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), aka the fight, flight, or freeze response. Regular exercise lessens the effects of the SNS, such as decreasing its impact on heart rate and blood pressure. Aerobic exercise, specifically, has been shown in studies to reduce anxiety. Exercise decreases muscle tension for up to an hour and a half and decreases anxiety for up to four to six hours after a twenty-minute session. When you consider that a mere 20 minutes of exercise can effectively reduce muscle tension and anxiety for hours afterward, the rewards become clear.
Of course, if you haven’t exercised in a long time, consult your doctor and make sure you’re physically okay.
Sleep is another big one. Poor sleep and lack of sleep have detrimental effects on the human brain. Studies have shown that people who don’t get enough sleep or sleep poorly (sleep apnea) have trouble with memories, difficulties concentrating, and poorer health in general. Getting to bed and waking up at the same time is crucial in developing a healthy sleeping pattern. Also, monitoring your REM sleep is essential, as it helps with memory and replenishing neurotransmitters. Researchers have found that more REM sleep is associated with lower reactivity in the amygdala. So practicing good sleeping habits is crucial.
Deep breathing is another way to calm down the amygdala. Deep breathing can be felt quickly, which makes it an effective way to calm amygdala-based anxiety. There are many different types of deep breathing that you can do but start with these three techniques. In this Harvard article, they recommend abdominal breathing. Try a few other methods out and see which works best for you.
IN REVIEW
The amygdala is there to help us.
Many times the amygdala saves us from potential danger.
That is the beauty of the amygdala and its control of vital threat responses.
The downside is that it can also cause us a great deal of worry, stress, and anxiety. Learning how the amygdala operates and what sets it off is essential in managing and reducing the anxiety it produces. Remembering that often, you may not know precisely why you are reacting the way you are to your external environment. If the amygdala has an emotional memory associated with certain external stimuli, it will react without you being consciously aware.
The key to calming the amygdala is more physical-based than mental. Deep breathing, relaxation techniques, getting out in nature, and exercise can positively affect calming the amygdala.
Now that you know a bit more about what the amygdala is, how it functions, and what it does, you can make better decisions about your amygdala based anxiety to lessen the burden and free yourself from unnecessary suffering.
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