Last week, we saw how our ingrained fear response can occasionally lead us to feel threatened and anxious even when we are objectively safe. But these fear responses are also incredibly important survival mechanisms that can keep us alive and kicking in terrifying and dangerous circumstances. Many people who go through extreme traumas retain only fragmented and distorted memories of the actual traumatic event. This memory loss occurs because the brain shuts down the areas responsible for careful thought and processing, which can distract us from reacting to the threat efficiently. Meanwhile, our bodies gear up to fight, run, or…
Comments closedTag: Anxiety
Has your anxiety increased in the last year? If so, you’re not alone. Over the past year, the social, personal, and environmental stressors of the pandemic have caused a dramatic increase in the prevalence of mental disorders—most commonly anxiety and depression. We discussed depression last week, so we know that environmental triggers can worsen or even cause episodes of depression. Perhaps even more than mood disorders, anxiety disorders are strongly impacted by social and psychological context. Anxiety disorders—which include phobias, panic disorders, and trauma disorders—are innately tied to our sense of self-preservation. Evolutionarily speaking, an attuned sense of fear and…
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