In this post we’ll be looking at anxiety from a Neurophysiological perspective- ‘Interoception and Neuroception’. A sneak peak of what anxiety does to your brain and what you can do about it.
The American Psychological Association (APA) defines anxiety as, ‘An emotion characterized by feelings of tension, worried thoughts and physical changes. Our generation is overly familiar with anxiety, given the emphasis placed by the society, on the need to be ‘productive and successful’. This in turn gives rise to increased stress levels, unhealthy coping, burn out, constantly feeling exhausted and discontented with our lives.
What happens to our bodies when we are anxious? Our fight, flight or freeze response gets activated i.e. Sympathetic Nervous System. This automatic response stems from our autonomous nervous system to respond to a perceived possible threat in our environment. In the flight or fight mode the heart rate may increase; sweating, trembling or even dizziness may be experienced in the body. On a cognitive level, you become extra alert and cautious and your defense might be up. Sometimes freezing in threatening situations is also an observed response, in which you may not be able to physically move away from the threat.
It is important to distinguish between fear and anxiety. Fear is the emotional response related to a specific, observable danger. But anxiety is the anticipation of a threat that is feared. This ‘threat’, more often than not, may be unknown or vague. When we are mindful of these physiological reactions we can take control of our responses. This is Interoception - when you’re able to observe your bodily changes, give them words and understand what you’re experiencing. Mindfulness exercises and breathing exercises help with managing anxiety because we are consciously taking action to relax our bodies when it feels like it’s under attack, but in reality isn’t.
Now let’s look at this from a neurological perspective. Remember we learned that anxiety is perceived threat? This is because perception is a cognitive process and we have the power to intercept this. This is where Neuroception comes into play. The threat response in our body activates because the fear response bypasses the prefrontal cortex and goes straight to the amygdala. The prefrontal cortex is where all our higher level thinking happens.
So how do we use this information to tackle anxiety? When you notice that your body is getting worked up, look around your environment and try to determine thoughtfully whether you are in danger or if it is a perceived threat. You may ask yourself questions like ‘Can I control this?’ or ‘Is there something that I can do to stop this from happening’.
Stephen Porges says that when Neuroception tells us that an environment is safe and that the people in it are trustworthy, our mechanisms of defense are disabled.
When we understand that these changes are taking place in our body, we can engage in behaviors that enables us to feel calm and ground ourselves/ to remind our self that we’re not under attack. This can include talking to someone you trust, going to a space where you feel safe, doing deep breathing.
Here's a mindfulness activity, that you may have heard of; a great tool for grounding:
Five Senses
The five senses technique requires us to ask ourselves five questions.
1. What are 5 things you can see?
Look around you and name five things that you see, it could be the fan or the ceiling, whatever strikes you, visually.
2. What are 4 things you can feel?
Perhaps it's the chair you’re seated on, or the bed or floor you are lying down on, the clothes on your body, anything that you can tangibly feel.
3. What are 3 things that you can hear?
Try listening to the sounds around you, the wind, people talking at a distance, birds chirping.
4. What are 2 things you can smell?
Sometimes it could be pleasant smells like coffee or flowers or the smell of something you like being cooked, and sometimes it could be unpleasant smells. Focus on it.
5. What is 1 thing you can taste?
Do you have a beverage next to you? Perhaps chocolate? Take a sip of it or bite into it and pay attention to your taste buds.
And of course, don't forget to take a deep breath!
Wish to know more about this topic?
Here’s to taking the first step towards becoming aware of our mental health!
DISCLAIMER: This blog is created ONLY for information purpose and NOT for self diagnosis. There is a lot more to the concerns we talk about here. In case you identify with these experiences in your or your loved ones life, please reach out to a mental health professional or our team at HerMoveMeant, for further assistance.
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