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_98fj | 8 years ago
Since fight/flight behaviour is regulated by the amygdala and basal ganglia, you can say:
Anxiety stems from our amygdalae getting started up, because they sense a threat where none is, and effecting inappropriate behaviour thereafter.
Actually, the threat is often correctly sensed, it's just the behaviour (running away, attacking, feigning death/freezing) that's not useful in the modern world.
The therapeutically interesting question is how to change that.
Compared to the rational parts, those emotional mechanisms are much deeper and better wired to the rest of the brain. At the same time they aren't very sophisticated. Some people refer to them as "reptilian complex".
We can't adjust emotions directly and in general we have to wait much more time (think: weeks, sometimes months) to let new ideas like not being afraid of something sink into the subconscious.
But knowing and accepting that makes it possible to grow.
smallnamespace|8 years ago
Finding ways to channel your 'negative' energies into positive, constructive action is basically the foundation to every self-help book ever written.
I'd wager that the first, and often most difficult step is to identify a path that will lead to eventual success (eliminating the threat). Unfortunately, sometimes that's simply not possible.
Like, if you don't have a degree, have a family to support, and the factory you work at is closing down soon, your brain is going to 1) correctly identify a major threat and 2) try to spur you into action. But what if there's no clear path open that will avert the disaster?
I'd wager at least some of this is responsible for the rising rates of chronic illness, drug abuse, and suicide in many parts of the US.
Modern life often constantly exposes us to and reminds us about threats that we can personally do little about.
coldtea|8 years ago
That, soppy quotes and a desire for a quick buck.