Difference between revisions of "Anxiety"
From OptimalScience
AyeshPerera (talk | contribs) |
AyeshPerera (talk | contribs) |
||
Line 3: | Line 3: | ||
*[[Anxiety is caused by consistently avoiding a trigger.]] | *[[Anxiety is caused by consistently avoiding a trigger.]] | ||
** Avoidance trains your amygdala to label things as threats. | ** Avoidance trains your amygdala to label things as threats. | ||
− | ** The amygdala detects threat labels. | + | ** [[The amygdala detects threat labels.]] |
** The amygdala sounds the alarm upon detection. | ** The amygdala sounds the alarm upon detection. | ||
** The amygdala watches your response. | ** The amygdala watches your response. |
Revision as of 16:27, 25 May 2020
Key Claims
- The brain is the organ most responsive to behavior.
- Anxiety is caused by consistently avoiding a trigger.
- Avoidance trains your amygdala to label things as threats.
- The amygdala detects threat labels.
- The amygdala sounds the alarm upon detection.
- The amygdala watches your response.
- Approach retrains the amygdala to be less triggerable: habituation.
- While approaching a threat trigger, the anxiety level will increase, peak, and decrease as long as the approach behavior is maintained.
- The time scale for habituation is 90 seconds to 90 minutes.
- The difference between the top of the curve and the bottom is called within-session habituation.
- On the next approach session, the peak will be less if sufficient time has passed from the first trial.
- The difference in peak between the curves, e.g., from day to day, is called between-session habituation.
- How long habituation takes in a given exposure is a function of how much you are welcoming the experience (reframing and mindfulness).
- Further avoidance trains your amygdala to be more triggerable: sensitization.
- With sensitization, you will have a higher starting point for the curve
- Anxiety disorders all involve having a phobia of anxiety or a component of the threat response.
- Adrenaline is the ideal stimulant for the brain.
- Adrenaline increases IQ, fluency of speech, connections to others, executive function.
- The Yerkes-Dodson curve shows the relationship between abilities and arousal.
- Arousal here refers to the amount of adrenaline present.
- Abilities refers to the performance of the task.
- There are actually two curves, one showing high performance with high adrenaline, and one showing low performance with high adrenaline.
- Yerkes-Dodson originally posited that the high curve is for easy tasks and the low curve for difficult tasks.
- Adrenaline is essential for flow.
- Anxiety is simply adrenaline with a negative appraisal.
- Excitement is adrenaline with a positive appraisal.
- Beliefs about adrenaline are self-fulfilling prophecies (like all self-concepts).
- Reframing flips you from low to high performance.
Other Claims
- Emotions are best processed when felt in the chest.
- Feeling an emotion or urge sends a “message received” signal through the same vagus nerve back to your amygdala.