1
00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:07,400
Speaker 1: Welcome to brain stuff from how stuff works. Hey, brain stuff,

2
00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:11,559
Speaker 1: it's Christian Sager here. Listen. I get anxious. You do too,

3
00:00:11,640 --> 00:00:15,320
Speaker 1: But hey, it is a totally normal and healthy response

4
00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:18,919
Speaker 1: that keeps us from doing things that might actually be dangerous,

5
00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:21,799
Speaker 1: like sticking your hand in a fire, for instance. But

6
00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:25,000
Speaker 1: when anxiety is so pervasive that it interferes with your

7
00:00:25,079 --> 00:00:29,520
Speaker 1: daily life, it becomes a disorder, and most researchers believe

8
00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:34,040
Speaker 1: that disorder begins in your brain. There's several types of

9
00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:37,800
Speaker 1: anxiety disorders. Phobias, PTSD and o c D are just

10
00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:41,919
Speaker 1: a few, and some forty million American adults suffer from

11
00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:46,160
Speaker 1: an anxiety disorder, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

12
00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:50,760
Speaker 1: But let's focus today on general anxiety disorder, which affects

13
00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:54,000
Speaker 1: close to seven million adults and is twice as likely

14
00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:58,840
Speaker 1: in women. You're constantly anticipating a threat or disaster that

15
00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:02,840
Speaker 1: isn't actually present. Maybe you're worried about money, health, family,

16
00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:06,880
Speaker 1: or work, and despite reality, you'll expect the worst. The

17
00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:13,640
Speaker 1: symptoms include restlessness, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, irritability, muscle tension, and

18
00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:18,440
Speaker 1: sleep disturbances. The symptoms officially become a disorder when you

19
00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:22,400
Speaker 1: can't control your worry for at least six months. You

20
00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:25,920
Speaker 1: may still be social or even employed, but people with

21
00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:30,160
Speaker 1: general anxiety disorder can have difficulty carrying out even the

22
00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:35,240
Speaker 1: simplest of daily activities. Experts believe that general anxiety disorder

23
00:01:35,319 --> 00:01:40,160
Speaker 1: is caused by both biological factors and life experiences good

24
00:01:40,160 --> 00:01:43,920
Speaker 1: old combination of nature and nurture, But anxiety is also

25
00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:48,559
Speaker 1: recognized by many as an emotional response with neurobiological roots.

26
00:01:49,120 --> 00:01:52,520
Speaker 1: Simply put, the neural pathways in our brains sometimes lead

27
00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:57,560
Speaker 1: to irrational anxiety, and stressful situations encourage us to develop

28
00:01:57,560 --> 00:02:02,480
Speaker 1: associations with those pathways by in fluencing which neurochemicals passed

29
00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:05,320
Speaker 1: through them. The same way you learn to tie your shoe,

30
00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:09,240
Speaker 1: you can also learn to be anxious. The neurons in

31
00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:12,680
Speaker 1: your brain fire, and over time they get wired together.

32
00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:16,440
Speaker 1: One stressful thing like being stuck in traffic, leads you

33
00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:19,560
Speaker 1: to think of another stressful thing, like a car crash

34
00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:22,720
Speaker 1: you once survived, and this activates a part of the

35
00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:27,320
Speaker 1: brain stem called the locus ceruleus. This triggers the symptoms

36
00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:31,120
Speaker 1: of anxiety by releasing neuro epinephrin into your spinal cord

37
00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:34,680
Speaker 1: and parts of your brain while hormones like adrenaline and

38
00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:38,640
Speaker 1: cortisol spread through your body. It's supposed to initiate an

39
00:02:38,680 --> 00:02:43,119
Speaker 1: analgesic response to suppress pain and initiate defense when you're

40
00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:46,560
Speaker 1: under threat, like if you were actually in a car

41
00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:50,880
Speaker 1: crash and injured. But when there isn't any actual threat,

42
00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:54,560
Speaker 1: all were left with is the jitters of anxiety. A

43
00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:58,399
Speaker 1: couple other things about the brain contribute to anxiety. Researchers

44
00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:01,239
Speaker 1: at Massachusetts General HOSTI but WILL have found that people

45
00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:06,040
Speaker 1: with a thicker ventrol medial prefuntal cortex are less likely

46
00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:10,800
Speaker 1: to get anxiety. Basically, some brains have more armor against

47
00:03:10,880 --> 00:03:15,320
Speaker 1: anxiety inducing situations than others. We don't have enough time

48
00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:18,399
Speaker 1: in this episode for a full accounting of the treatments

49
00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:22,040
Speaker 1: available for anxiety disorders, but you should know that only

50
00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:25,480
Speaker 1: one third of the people suffering from anxiety are actually

51
00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:30,399
Speaker 1: getting help, even though it's highly manageable. Treatment usually involves

52
00:03:30,440 --> 00:03:34,680
Speaker 1: a combination of cognitive behavioral therapy a k a. Talking

53
00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:39,000
Speaker 1: to a therapist, and medications to relieve the symptoms. Other

54
00:03:39,080 --> 00:03:45,280
Speaker 1: treatments include relaxation techniques like meditation, improve nutrition, exercise, and

55
00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:50,480
Speaker 1: adequate sleep. Medications will change your brain chemistry temporarily, and

56
00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:53,920
Speaker 1: some even dispute that, but they are not a cure

57
00:03:54,040 --> 00:03:57,160
Speaker 1: for anxiety. For that, you'll need to change your neural

58
00:03:57,200 --> 00:04:03,080
Speaker 1: pathways associations by learning new behaviors through therapy. This method

59
00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:07,800
Speaker 1: of learning new everyday strategies can be slow going and repetitious,

60
00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:11,560
Speaker 1: but scan show that you can literally change your brain

61
00:04:11,920 --> 00:04:20,600
Speaker 1: with enough practice. Check out the brainstuff channel on YouTube,

62
00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:22,839
Speaker 1: and for more on this and thousands of other topics,

63
00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:38,159
Speaker 1: visit how stuff works dot com