Mental Health
A Shift from Anxious to Confident and Calm Mind in Two Steps
I offer practical lifestyle strategies to tame the amygdala and empower the neocortex to lessen the damaging effects of anxiety.
Purpose of the Article
Anxiety is a widespread and complex mental health issue touching on psychology, psychiatry, neurology, endocrinology, and other health disciplines.
Covering all aspects of it in an article is impossible. However, providing a specific perspective is possible.
Therefore, in this article, I focus on a specific angle looking at anxiety symptoms from two brain regions and offering possible lifestyle solutions based on experience. This piece is not a scientific paper.
The first is the amygdala, where the original anxiety construct is created. The second one is our cognitive system which also can create anxiety and activate the amygdala.
So, it resembles a catch-22 situation.
A combination of the primitive brain and neocortex might cause significant anxiety leading to mental disorders if not appropriately and timely addressed.
Anxiety starts in the brain as a mental activity but spreads through the body, creating a physical effect. The mental activity manifests as unpleasant feelings.
From my experience and studies, there are viable solutions that individuals might use to reduce anxious thoughts and feelings.
I offer a two-pronged approach to reducing the effects of anxiety in our daily lives based on my experience.
Anxiety in the Mind and Body
Anxiety forms in the brain as mental activity and escalates to the body and other brain parts. Thus it is a psychosomatic event.
Even though anxiety is a chemical and electrical process in the brain, we feel it as an emotion in the body through hormonal changes.
The frequency and number of anxious thoughts and feelings might create significant stress for the body. Therefore, anxiety and stress are tightly related.
An anxious mind can also be a stressed mind and a stressed body.
In addition, as we get older, our anxiety symptoms can increase for various reasons, as I explained in this article titled Anxiety Increases As We Age.
Understanding Causes and Symptoms of Anxiety
We only experience anxiety symptoms after the amygdala is activated for biological or psychological conditions.
The amygdala works on various senses, such as images, sounds, smells, tastes, and bodily reactions creating feelings.
The amygdala acts much faster than the neocortex and can shut it down in extreme cases. Thus, we lose control of our thoughts and behave instinctively.
So, in addition to our thoughts, activities in the nervous system, defense system, endocrine system, and overall metabolism can trigger the amygdala and create anxiety symptoms.
Therefore, our lifestyle habits, including eating, sleeping, exercising, resting, and relationships, can have a significant impact on anxiety creation. Stressful situations in these habits might initiate anxiety symptoms.
The best approach is to prevent amygdala activation. However, it is not always possible. Life is full of risks and unexpected events. Thus, we need to learn how to deal with anxiety symptoms.
Why do we get so anxious?
The answer is in understanding the function of the amygdala and exploring viable solutions with the help of the neocortex and the body.
1 — Tame the Amygdala
The amygdala, despite its small size, is a complex system in the brain. The primary role of the amygdala is to deal with anxiety and fear.
Even though fear and anxiety are generated in the same region, both are different and have distinct characteristics. Fear is associated with the known dangers threatening our survival. In comparison, anxiety is linked to perceived threats.
In addition, fear and anxiety can have a hormonal effect on the body and can change the neurotransmitters in the brain.
The amygdala is part of the limbic system and has a hard-coded script for life-threatening situations such as sudden noise, excessive heat, pain, discomfort, and life-threatening physical conditions.
However, the script is updated with life experiences. So, for example, if we are afraid of a situation and suffer from it, the amygdala registers the experience and intensifies it.
More importantly, even though each of us is born with a similar pre-code, we all might have different scripts in our amygdala. Therefore, some people can deal with fear and anxiety better than others.
As a survival mechanism, the amygdala has reliable and fast neural connections to our nervous system, endocrine system, and organs.
It is not possible to access the amygdala directly. There is no direct connection between the cortex and the amygdala. However, it is possible to tame the amygdala using the body and neocortex.
The best way to influence the amygdala is through our emotional experiences. Even though the neocortex can talk to the amygdala indirectly, the effect might not be as strong as emotional experiences.
Let me introduce two possible solutions.
a — Exposure to Perceived Risks
One proven technique is gradually exposing the amygdala to perceived risks. It is a method to train the amygdala with our emotional experiences.
Let’s assume we are anxious in a crowd. Exposing ourselves to small gatherings in a short time, we can feel the anxiety but start rationalizing as no threats to our survival.
As we do this multiple times, the brain starts re-wiring the amygdala. So the script changes, intensity decreases, and similar anxiety symptoms gradually disappear.
b — Move the Body Consciously
From my experience, exercise is the best tool to address anxiety. Even though exercise is a physical activity, it can make a single mental impact.
When we move the body, we can reduce the effects of anxiety. One of the benefits of physical exercise is burning anxiety-creating chemicals.
For example, physical exercises such as walking, jogging, and running can quickly burn excessive adrenaline, providing temporary relief.
2 — Empower the Neocortex
By empowering our neocortex, we can significantly reduce the causes and symptoms of anxiety.
However, unfortunately, as we don’t have direct control over our biology, it is impossible to have complete control. It is the weakness of humans.
Nevertheless, fortunately, we have direct access to the neocortex with our intentions. It is a magnificent human trait. We need to be grateful for this capability.
Let me introduce a few possible solutions. The first solution is for therapeutic reasons. I exclude medication as this article is only about lifestyle changes.
However, medication is an essential option for some people experiencing severe anxiety. Therefore, getting support from qualified healthcare professionals such as psychiatrists is critical.
a — Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a practical and therapeutical approach to coping with anxiety symptoms. Interestingly, CBT might be as effective as anxiety medications.
Even though it is possible to learn CBT techniques and do self-therapy, assistance from qualified practitioners in severe cases can be more effective.
CBT focuses on both symptoms and causes of anxiety.
b — Cognitive Lifestyle Habits
From my experience, mindfulness practices are the most effective way to deal with anxiety symptoms, also contributing to eliminating causes.
By living mindfully, we can significantly reduce anxiety symptoms. Observing our thoughts and feelings with full attention is a great start.
Allowing thoughts to pass without judgment is the next best approach to dealing with anxiety symptoms. In addition, questioning the validity of perceptions can reduce the effects of anxious thoughts and feelings.
I systematically use positive self-talk during anxious moments, even though some people perceive it as crazy.
I documented my self-conversation technique in a short article titled This Was How I Talked to Myself Yesterday.
Expressive writing also helped me reduce my anxiety symptoms as a cognitive and therapeutic measure.
I documented my finding about expressive writing in an article titled Science-Based Therapeutic Value of Expressive Writing for Mental Health.
In addition to self-talk and expressive writing, the most helpful anxiety-busting tool in my mental health kit is daily meditation. The primary purpose of meditation is to strengthen the neocortex by improving focus and attention.
In an article titled Why I Meditate Every Eight Hours for Decades, I documented the compelling reasons to meditate regularly.
Finally, I also found music and dance as valuable tools, which are both mental and physical activities.
Final Words
Anxiety is a complex mental health problem affecting our biology and psychology. Every human being feels anxiety. It is inevitable as the body and the brain are hard-coded to generate and feel anxiety.
However, uncontrolled anxiety can increase stress in the body and brain. Thus, it might lead to other mental health conditions disrupting our hormones, neurotransmitters, and even genes.
Therefore, we need to deal with anxiety proactively and diligently to maintain homeostasis in the body. We cannot discard all symptoms, but we can reduce the effects significantly.
We all deserve to live with a confident and calm mind giving us a happy and satisfying life.
I hope these practical techniques can give you valuable perspectives and inspire you to find your customized solutions.
As serotonin and dopamine are critical for our mood, I documented my studies in articles to inform you. I hope you benefit from these stories.
The Vital Role of Serotonin for Health and How to Optimize It Naturally
The Role of Dopamine in the Brain and How to Optimize It Naturally
Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.
If you are a new reader and find this article valuable, you might check my holistic health and well-being stories reflecting my reviews, observations, and decades of sensible experiments.
Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.
As a new reader, please check my holistic health and well-being stories reflecting my reviews, observations, and decades of experiments optimizing my hormones and neurotransmitters. I write about health as it matters. I believe health is all about homeostasis.
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