The Science Behind Anxiety

By Clara Farres Centeno

Anyone who suffers from anxiety most likely has a convoluted relationship with their mind. For those who have this experience, the mind is constantly presenting worst-case scenarios and over-analyzations that skew otherwise-accurate perceptions. Consequently, the mind begs for reassurance. If your mind says something, then it must be important to you, and you give it the utmost trust and respect. However, you inevitably feel tortured by your own mind. 

Anxiety often gives rise to black-and-white thinking, during which we adopt the notion that situations are all-or-nothing. Something – an event or scenario – works out, or it doesn’t; it will either end badly, or it will be perfect. To escape this mindset, it’s important to remember that what applies to one situation may not be applicable to another. Additionally, you probably criticize your words, relationships, or appearance in a way no one else would ever think to do. It may also be helpful to think about the biological reasonings behind anxiety.

Because of biological evolution, we are predisposed to jump into fight-or-flight mode when something doesn’t feel right. When swimming in the ocean, for example, it’s not uncommon to feel a jolt of fear and adrenaline when something brushes your foot. If you were in danger, that adrenaline would allow you to swim to the shore much faster. This feeling of anxiety is actually useful, as your mind keeps you attentive and prepared for potential danger.

However, why does this ‘fight-or-flight’ response present itself in the form of anxiety in social, educational, or interpersonal settings? You may recount a time when you were laying in bed, stressing over the (unlikely) prospect of a negative situation, apprehensively replaying that one conversation you had earlier in the day. 

According to the National Library of Medicine, cognitive studies support the fact that a mind with high levels of anxiety is associated with stress responses and rising cortisol levels (cortisol is the stress hormone of the body). That random neuron that fires in your brain as you overthink negative scenarios sends the same feeling of discomfort and anxiety throughout your body as it would if something brushed your foot in the ocean. Your mind does not know how to differentiate imminent danger from improbable danger. The mind only knows that these threats exist and that you should be on alert. When your mind ruminates about a seemingly probable negative outcome, or you hold onto that worrisome thought about a scenario going wrong, you stimulate your body’s stress response; your mind operates an anxiety response to a possibly threatening situation. 

Keeping this information in mind when your head begins spinning with anxiety may help you to overcome these feelings. Your mind is keeping you attentive, your thoughts are responding, and you have no control over that. You do, however, have control over how you react to these thoughts. Your mind will always feed you negative thoughts; it’s okay to acknowledge them, but it’s also okay to recognize that thoughts are just thoughts. The next time you find yourself feeling anxious in a social or public setting, try asking yourself: am I actually in danger, or is my mind or body making me feel as such?

The world is not black-and-white; nothing ever turns out perfectly as preconceived; and often, situations are not as bad as they seem.