The Anxiety Algorithm
Why we get anxious, and 4 counterintuitive ways to rewire worry.
Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health problem in the world today. Nearly 20% of the population suffers clinical anxiety disorders at some point in their lives, and far more deal with chronic worry and rumination on a regular basis.
Most people assume constant worry and overthinking is an inevitable part of being human. But luckily, decades of research now give us the ability to reverse engineer anxiety and rewire our tendencies to panic and worry.
The Real Reason for Anxiety
Modern science tells us that the reason for the many traits and tendencies that make us human comes down to genetic adaptation. In many ways, humans are like survival and reproduction robots that were programmed by natural selection.
Some find this fact depressing, but it can actually be a source of inspiration and empowerment. If we can understand how our minds were programmed, we can become our own designers and transform the mental “algorithms” that don’t serve us into those that do.
Fear is good for our genes. It prevents us from taking risks that could threaten our survival, social status, and romantic prospects. Fear can serve as a helpful reaction to acute threats.
But because we live in a world in which most of our decisions are made for future goals, many of us experience anxiety, a prolonged and future-oriented version of fear. Anxiety exists as a kind of alarm to let us know to avoid threats, but more often than not, it ends up resulting in useless false alarms.
In a conversation with Robert Wright, evolutionary psychiatrist Randolph Nesse describes a reason for this. He says that our threat detection system, like many other bodily responses, is shaped by natural selection to be hypersensitive. It errs on the side of overreaction to ensure that it goes off when it needs to. He adds,
This is why we put up with smoke detectors. They don’t warn us about a fire but once in a lifetime, but they warn us about burnt toast every week.
- Randolph Nesse
I think Dr. Nesse should probably adjust the settings on his toaster, but his smoke detector principle is nonetheless a valid explanation for much of our suffering, especially when it results from anxiety. These false positives become increasingly likely as our world resembles that of our ancestors less and less.
Unfortunately, what’s best for our genes is not always what’s best for us. Most of us don’t need constant alarm bells in our minds to avoid dangers and meet deadlines. And the risks that anxiety keeps us from taking are often the opportunities that can best promote our growth. It is possible to rewire our relationship with anxiety, but first, we need to understand its basic components.
The Anatomy of Anxiety
What we call anxiety can be broken down into 4 A’s (who doesn’t love a good alliteration?): an antecedent — or trigger, arousal — or a bodily response, an appraisal — or interpretation, and an action — or a fight or flight behavior. Each of these A’s represents an opportunity to step in and alter the anxiety.
1. The Antecedent
Anxiety generally begins with a real-world input, which is often called an antecedent. Some examples are hearing the cabin doors close on a plane, merging onto the interstate, or walking into a crowded room. Some people report that their anxiety comes out of the blue with no warning, but this generally means they either haven’t identified the trigger yet, or the trigger is an imagined scenario their brain thought was real.
When we are aware of the triggers for our anxiety, we can use them to our advantage. Our natural instinct is to avoid the things that make us nervous. But the trick to programming out fear is to do the opposite and seek out the environments that scare us. We have to teach the emotional part of our brains that this trigger is not an actual threat.
To do this properly, start small and gradually expose yourself to the thing that scares you. Make sure you feel uncomfortable and your anxiety is activated in the situation. Then, simply allow the anxiety and remain in the situation until it decreases to about 50% of its peak. Take your time leaving the situation so your brain learns that it isn’t scary. Then raise the stakes slightly and repeat until your brain no longer associates the antecedent with danger.
2. Arousal
Arousal refers to the bodily response that comes with anxiety — and it’s not the fun kind of arousal. It often consists of highly unpleasant reactions like rapid heartbeat, sweating, and difficulty breathing. Once these symptoms are activated, people often start to worry that they are having a heart attack or other serious condition. Once again, this part of the process reveals an opportunity to bypass a panic or anxiety attack.
Though our natural tendency is to freak out when we notice these issues, the key lies in taking the counterintuitive route. Not only should we accept and stop resisting these reactions — we should welcome them and even ask for more.
This may sound like bad medical advice, but this proven method is known as paradoxical intention and is the basis for Barry McDonagh’s book Dare, which has cured many people of anxiety disorders. Challenge your anxiety and physical symptoms to hit you with all they’ve got. If you really commit to “riding the wave of anxiety,” you will notice the symptoms quickly back down and return to normal.
3. The Appraisal
Appraisal refers to our mental interpretations of our situation and feelings, and the appraisal stage is where our thoughts often sneak in and sabotage us. When we find ourselves having constant worries and thoughts that say “this is bad” or “what if this happens,” this is cognitive appraisal at work.
Our appraisal of a situation and feelings often escalates our anxiety. This is why you see a spiral in the diagram. Arousal and appraisal can feed into one another, causing a vicious cycle of panic.
But our thoughts don’t have to be our enemies. Healthy people who don’t struggle with anxiety often find themselves in uncomfortable situations too, but the difference is that they have a different relationship with their thoughts. There are countless methods for transforming thoughts and altering beliefs, found in ancient philosophy and modern neuroscience alike.
Many have found it helpful to internalize a simple phrase, articulated by the Buddhist monk Shantideva:
If the problem can be solved why worry? If the problem cannot be solved worrying will do you no good.
- Shantideva, Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life
Though this may seem obvious to some, chronic worrying is often fueled by an underlying belief that worrying is useful and necessary. Planning, preparation, and action are often beneficial and healthy, but the emotional experience of worry does nothing to help you.
If you can program yourself to remember the futility of worry as soon as it arises, you can gradually eliminate it from your emotional vocabulary. This change will free up your mental bandwidth to focus on the best course of action instead of being paralyzed by panic.
4. The Action
When in the midst of anxiety, we naturally want to leave stressful situations right away. Or if we are simply at home in bed when anxiety hits, we tend to remain idle and stew over the bad feelings. Though understandable, these reactions are the exact opposite of what will help us through the situation.
If you are in a fear-inducing situation, be sure to stay in the situation long enough for the anxiety to subside. If you make the mistake of leaving quickly, it will teach your brain that it was right to be afraid. It’s like telling your brain “this is a real threat.” But if you wait out the fear, you let your brain know it is a false alarm, and you should no longer get anxious in these situations.
If you are in a safe space and your anxiety seems unrelated to your current environment, the last thing you should do is stay still and ruminate. Distract yourself and engage in another activity that interests you, even if you don’t feel like it at the time.
Idleness and constantly checking in on your anxiety will keep the spiral going. After you have acknowledged and embraced the anxious feelings, simply move onto another activity as if to tell the anxiety you are no longer interested in it.
Final Thoughts
The anxiety algorithm is deeply embedded within our minds. It is not something we can simply will away through brute force. Whether you suffer from a panic disorder or simply worry and overthink too much, you must use creative strategies to program it out.
Though these four strategies only scratch the surface of ways to rewire worry, each part of the anxiety algorithm — the antecedent, arousal, appraisal, and action — can become an opportunity to take control of your anxiety and live a life of tranquility to your full potential.
If you want to learn more ways to rewire the mental tendencies that hold you back, you can download a free, 50-page guide on psychitecture, the process of designing your own mind and changing your emotional algorithms.
