SOOTHING ANXIETY

Soothing Anxiety

Matthew Mann

February 13, 2017

The Academy for the Arts, Science, and Technology

Soothing Anxiety

Introduction
SOOTHING ANXIETY 2

With students constantly struggling to juggle the balance between their academics,

athletics, extracurricular activities, family, and friends, anxiety has crept subtly into the medical

field and has become a more prevalent obstacle in our society; and while scientists are still

exploring the world of anxiety, cures have been brought forth to the medical fields attention.

Most of these cures are expensive or may lead to dangerous side effects. Instead, an idea that has

been proposed in the past, mindfulness, may be the perfect cure.

Imagine sitting in class finishing up a paper and your pencil breaks a few minutes before

class ends. Immediately, you panic because you dont know if the snap of your lead has disturbed

anyone. You cant read their mind, but there is the irrational feeling lingering that they are saying

vulgar things in their head. Then you realize that you need to finish your paper, you have another

pencil in your book bag, but it's a short eraser-lacking dull pencil, and unzipping your book bag

would disturb the quiet atmosphere of the whole class. On the flip side, the pencil sharpener is on

the other side of the classroom; walking there would be quieter but there's the possibility of

somebody getting vengeance for the pencil by tripping you. You then realize that that wasnt a

full-proof plan in general; the sharpener is the loudest thing in the vicinity. Maybe you can

borrow a pencil from Molly beside you, but shes intensely hard and you dont want to blemish

the relationship that you have been forging with her just in case there is a partner assignment,

even if the teacher doesnt like idea of collaborating projects. Then you come to a great

conclusion, but it might cost your grade: ask the professor. At first you try calling her but nothing

comes out of your mouth. You raise your hand to get her attention but then the bell rings, and

class is over. You're a victim of anxiety, but you have just gotten a little taste: anxiety attacks are

a whole other level.

The Inner Workings of Anxiety

SOOTHING ANXIETY 3

Anxiety, to be defined, is when ones mind is constantly over-analyzing details which

fabricate irrational fears. Many victims have described it as a nagging voice screaming about

dangers and what-ifs. It does not discriminate with age, sex, or gender and some people who

deal with it on a daily basis dread the idea of a panic attack in the near future. The little organs

responsible for this are the amygdalae. These organs, located in the parietal lobe of the brain, are

identifiable for their almond shape. When these organs pick up on something potentially

hazardous, they become responsible for fear: the little alarm that goes off in one's head when

they sense danger. One study found that the right amygdala is present when panic disorder

occurs in their subjects, The amygdala plays a key role in this neural model of fear as it

evaluates incoming sensory stimuli with regard to potential threat (Chechko et al., 2009). When

the amygdala overworks and analyzes at an abnormal level, the fundamental signs and symptoms

of anxiety are observed, over analyzing details which leads to irrational fears. So the logical

question: does the removal of the amygdala rid anxiety?

Amygdalaectomies

A woman with the initials of SM has lost both of her amygdalae due to a genetic

mutation, Urbach-Wiethe disease, which deposited mucus membranes in her head (Asai, 2011)

according to a Yale Scientific article. When she lost her amygdalae she lost her ability to respond

to fear, which is not a good thing, as Asai explicitly states. As mentioned earlier, fear is the signal

that alerts a person when there is a potential hazard, it protects people from harm. SM didnt

necessarily become oblivious to danger, but she became fearless. This discovery has led

scientists to believe that performing an amygdalectomy on a patient could cure anxiety.

Unfortunately, this cure would be expensive, since it is brain surgery. This is more problematic

than one would think because a high percentage of our population has anxiety. Also, while it
SOOTHING ANXIETY 4

takes anxiety from patients, it also throws them on the other side of the fear spectrum and makes

them fearless, an inevitable curse. The cure the medical field is searching for places their patients

in the median, where they dont irrationalize everything, but they maintain a healthy amount of

fear.

Intro to the Alternative Cure

Ancient Greeks and Romans have had a profound influence on modern medicine today. A

great example is the father of medicine, Hippocrates. He was a Greek physician who founded the

Hippocratic Oath, a set of rules physicians must abide to in order to become the best they can

possible be. The National Center for Biotechnology Information (Crocq, 2015) wrote an article

on the Greco-Romans and their history with anxiety and what they prescribed for it: Epicurus

(341 BC Samos to 270 BC Athens) ... taught that the objective of a happy life included reaching a

state called ataraxia, where the mind was free of worry. One of the main ways to reach ataraxia

enlightenment was to invest all ones attention and focus on the existing reality, or the present,

while simultaneously ridding all negative thoughts and worries. Many Greek philosophers, like

Lucretius, agreed with Epicurus and recommended this diagnosis. This method of reaching

ataraxia has been known for centuries, and is commonly referred to as mindfulness.

Mindfulness is the Key

Mindfulness is a form of meditation where the meditator focuses on their breathing and

from there they focus on the present, forgetting the past and the future, while freeing negative

thoughts and worries. One study (Goldin and Gross, 2010) involving 16 people with panic

disorder or severe anxiety that may often lead to panic attacks, used Mindfulness-Based Stress

Reduction to alleviate the anxiety for two weeks. They reported that, Compared with pre-
SOOTHING ANXIETY 5

MBSR, post-MBSR patients with SAD [Social Anxiety Disorder] demonstrated a significant

decrease of right amygdala response prior to the cue to shift attentional focus to breath

sensation. The only downside to this study was the sample size; it would have been more valid

with more people to test MBSR on. Another experiment consistent with the previous one (Taren,

Creswell, Gianaros et al., 2013) involved 155 men and women were told to practice mindfulness

while their heads were being observed with brain scanners and neuroimaging. ...We observed a

significant negative association between dispositional mindfulness and regional gray matter

volume in right amygdala but not in the left amygdala. the study stated. These two findings

involving the right amygdala makes sense and lines up with the previous study in (Checkho et al.

2009) that claimed that the right amygdala was present during panic disorders. This study

(Taren, Creswell, Gianaros et al., 2013) also drew an inference between smaller amygdalae and

people who handled stress well, with mindfulness tying it up. People with anxiety can practice

handling stress by using mindfulness which then shrinks the amygdala.

The majority of the population that has anxiety doesnt receive medical treatment. It is

affecting our population and putting a toll on our youth. Children in high school and in college

are suffering from panic attacks. On the bright side though, anxiety awareness is becoming more

prevalent in our society and people with anxiety are being more understood and accepted. An

inordinate amount of money has poured into research to further understand what and how to treat

anxiety. Mindfulness is the cure that the medical field is looking for. It is cost effective and

proven to reduce stress. This makes it easier to treat students in high school and college. Multiple

studies have proved that it shrinks the amygdala and eases anxiety. Additionally there are no side

effects whatsoever for mindfulness has been around for centuries. Students should apply this

strategy to our schools and universities everyday after a class ends. It could help students wind
SOOTHING ANXIETY 6

down and provide them with a clear mind. By giving students the gift of mindfulness we have

given them the power to ameliorate the pain of anxiety.

References

Chechko, N., Wehrle, R., Erhardt, A., Holsboer, F., Czisch, M., & Smann, P. G. (2009,

May 20). Unstable Prefrontal Response to Emotional Conflict and Activation of Lower Limbic

Structures and Brainstem in Remitted Panic Disorder. Retrieved February 15, 2017, from

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0005537

Crocq, M. (2015, September). A history of anxiety: from Hippocrates to DSM. Retrieved

February 16, 2017, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4610616/

SOOTHING ANXIETY 7

Goldin, P. R., & Gross, J. J. (2010, February). Effects of Mindfulness-Based Stress

Reduction (MBSR) on Emotion Regulation in Social Anxiety Disorder. Retrieved February 15,

2017, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4203918/

Liz Asai, L. (2011, April 03). Fearless Literally. Retrieved February 15, 2017, from

http://www.yalescientific.org/2011/04/fearless-literally/

Taren, A. A., Creswell, J. D., & Gianaros, P. J. (2013, May 22). Dispositional

Mindfulness Co-Varies with Smaller Amygdala and Caudate Volumes in Community Adults.

February 16, 2017, http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0064574