Anxiety and the Amygdala
- Saniya Jain
- Apr 30, 2021
- 3 min read
What do you do when your dumb sibling throws a pipe at you and shouts “snake!”? Well, if you’re anything like me, you’ll probably let out a scream and jump back to prevent being attacked by the pipe you perceived as a snake. This is the work of your amygdala.
The amygdala is a small almond-shaped part located in the central area of the brain, a part known as the emotional circuit.
The amygdala, also known as the ‘sentinel of fear’, is most prominent in fear processing functions in your brain. When exposed to fearful stimuli, information about such stimuli is readily sent to the amygdala, which then sends signals to the hypothalamus to trigger a “fight-or-flight” response. Such a response activates the body’s sympathetic nervous system to stimulate adrenal glands to release catecholamines (including adrenaline and noradrenaline). This chain of reaction results in increased heart rate, blood pressure and breathing rate.
This explains why your body, when faced with a threat, responds by taking quick actions and increases the heart rate.
Along with a network of brain regions, the amygdala functions in a similar way to cause anxiety. Unlike fear, which is a response to a present threat, anxiety is the anticipation of a potential threat--which may or may not materialise. The brain processing of anxiety is still unfamiliar but it is known to be caused by the interaction of many different brain regions.
Two main brain regions involved are the cognitive brain and the emotional brain. The former consists of the frontal lobe (responsible for higher cognitive functions such as memory, emotions, impulse control, problem-solving etc.) and the latter includes the amygdala among other brain regions. A theory suggests that we only feel anxiety when signals from the emotional brain overpower the cognitive brain and alter our consciousness.
Therefore, one of the most common coping techniques for anxiety is to “rationalise” and bring yourself back to reality by convincing your brain that the anxiety-inducing thoughts are only apprehensions and may not even materialise. This way the signals from the emotional brain are dampened, and the cognitive brain takes over. However, this method is relatively difficult to master. It takes practice and awareness.
Our anxiety generating thoughts work as fearful stimuli that lead to a “fight-or-flight” response, resulting in adrenaline pumping through our veins. Adrenaline increases your heart rate for more oxygen to reach the muscles to make the body ready to react. This is why restlessness and agitation are common symptoms of anxious moods.
Hence, one of the best ways to overcome this anxiety is to exercise. Move your body.
Exercise instantly reduces the levels of the body’s stress hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol. By using the body’s elevated heart rate and extra energy to exercise, you break a sweat and the anxious symptoms tend to evade. Furthermore, exercise stimulates the production of endorphins, chemicals of the brain which are natural painkillers and mood elevators.
These effective coping techniques work well for most people. Rationalising does take a while to get a hang of, but it is worthwhile. Exercise, on the other hand, requires no practice to reap fruitful benefits—just do on-the-spot jumping-jacks or lunges—however, in some cases, it may lead to an increase in anxiety. Hence, it is important to ensure that your coping methods are tailored to your bodily needs and comforts, as different methods work for different individuals.
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