Anxiety -New Ground Breaking Research
Plus a Few Tried and True Ideas for Fending Off AnxietyApril 21,
2011
Robert D. Hawkins
Anxiety is our natural fight or flight mechanism. When anxiety occurs a
signal is sent by the brain to the adrenal glands to produce the hormones adrenaline and noradrenalin. This
causes the body to go on high alert which oftentimes only last for a matter of seconds or minutes.
When anxiety occurs digestion slows, pupils dilate, blood flow increases, and we
become singularly focused on the threat. Anxiety in itself is not necessarily considered to be a bad thing unless
it lasts for too long, is too intense, or occurs too frequently.
In fact this natural response mechanism we call anxiety generally helps us accomplish
tasks a little faster and more efficiently than normal. For example getting ready for work when we are running a
little late or finish that important project just before the deadline.
That said, sometimes anxiety crosses the line into what are known as anxiety
disorders which can range from mild to the severe and are the most common types of psychiatric illness affecting
one out of every four people at some point during their lifetime. Examples of anxiety disorders are generalized
anxiety disorder, phobias, obsessive compulsive disorder, and post traumatic stress disorder.
But research partially supported in part by the National Institute of Mental Health
may be on the verge of discovering how to turn problem anxiety and/or fear off. This research is so futuristic it
boggles the mind and uses the unlikely combination of light, genetics, and a virus to turn on and off pathways in
the anxiety producing part of the brain known as the amygdala
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