Anxiety Affects the Brain to Distort Perception of Threat |
Anxiety’s impact on the brain has been carefully documented by research: It can cause fluctuations in neurotransmitters, change activity in different regions of the brain, and, according to new research in the field, may even impact our brain’s chemical patterns.
When someone struggles with anxiety, it alters their perception of the world around them. Their brain may seek out—and more easily notice—information that supports whatever threat they’re currently struggling with, making it incredibly difficult to move past the intrusive thoughts that accompany their worries. That can lead to interpreting neutral situations as threatening in some way, which only serves to increase agitation.
The cognitive distortions that accompany anxiety can cause anxiety sufferers to fall into vicious cycles of worry and distress: They sense a potential threat, view information around them in a way that suggests that threat is viable (even when it is not), and interpret situations as hostile, threatening, or unsafe. From there, anxiety quickly eats away at not just a sense of self but also at relationships, social interactions, and more. When........