#951 - Dr Russell Kennedy - How To Fix Your Brain’s Addiction To Anxiety & Worry

Understanding the relationship between uncertainty and anxiety is crucial for recognizing why and how this psychological state can become a significant issue for many individuals.

Uncertainty Breeds Anxiety, Making the Unknown Intolerable

Experts in the field point out that attuning to uncertainty in childhood can cause a perpetual search for certainty in adulthood, as the familiarity with uncertainty becomes equated to security. The brain's alarm system can be triggered by the unknown, leading individuals to worry excessively and catastrophize potential negative outcomes. This is particularly severe among those who have experienced trauma or deep-rooted anxiety, often leading to a state described as uncertainty intolerance.

Uncertainty Triggers Brain's Alarm, Leading to Worry and Catastrophizing About Negative Outcomes

Russell Kennedy notes that experiences from one's past, such as childhood bullying, often trigger the brain's alarm response when faced with uncertainty in the present. This response is tied to the amygdala, which lacks a sense of time and can retrigger old alarms. Such reactivation hampers rational thinking and instead pushes individuals towards worry and negative assumptions, such as interpreting a variation in the length or intensity of a hug as a sign of impending disaster.

Worry Falsely Offers Control and Certainty, Though Often Unrealistic or Exaggerated

Despite the fact that worry often exaggerates negative outcomes and offers unrealistic solutions, it creates a false sense of control. Chris Williamson discusses the addictive nature of worry, explaining how it grants a temporary feeling of certainty. This serves as a reward, feeding the cycle and reinforcing it through [restricted term] release.

Worry Provides a [restricted term] Reward, Reinforcing the Cycle

Kennedy expands on the addictive aspect of worry, explaining the biochemical reasons—such as [restricted term] and endorphin release—that cause individuals to become addicted to it. The discussion includes how worry can create a short-term [restricted term] hit from the f ...

Traumatic or Neglectful Childhoods Embed Alarm In Body and Mind

Growing up in an environment where emotions are not communicated directly can lead individuals to become hyper-focused on micro-movements and subtle cues to decipher hidden feelings. This heightened sensitivity to signals may lead to chronic anxiety. When children experience a traumatic or neglectful childhood, they often blame themselves, creating deep-seated beliefs of unlovability that persist in the posterior cingulate cortex.

Unresolved Childhood "Alarm" Fuels Anxiety's Worst-Case Thinking to Regain Control

Kennedy explains that traumatic childhood experiences can activate both the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems simultaneously, embedding a sense of persistent alarm within the individual. This unresolved "alarm" then fuels anxiety, as the mind generates worst-case scenario thoughts in response to this lurking sense of unease.

Unrepaired Childhood Wounds Lead To Hypersensitive, Anxious Nervous System

Uncertain childhood environments, such as living with a parent with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, contribute to developing anxiety. Trauma that's overwhelming is often repressed into the unconscious and stored in the body, a phenomenon whereby the body "keeps the score." The brain interprets this body-based alarm, perpetuating worrisome thoughts.

Amygdala Triggers Bodily Alarm From Childhood Trauma to Present Triggers

Emotional triggers, such as those related to childhood bullying, can reactivate the amygdala's alarm response and the emotions felt during the initial trauma. This reaction can impede rational thought and reinforce a pattern of worst-case scenario thinking. Unresolved trauma leaves the nervous system on high alert, creating a backdrop of incessant anxiety into adulthood.

Kennedy further explains that worries serve to distract from the original cause of anxiety—unresolved alarm from childhood traumas. This alarm remains stuck in the system, often due to experiences of an abusive or neglectful environment where escape was not possible. Consequently, worrying becomes a protective coping strategy to avoid feeling the intense alarm, rendering the individual resistant to healing from anxiety.

Kennedy posits that all anxiety can be traced back to a form of separation anxiety, specifically between the adult self and th ...

Dr. Russell Kennedy describes the limitations of traditional cognitive approaches, like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), for treating anxiety and emphasizes the need to address its somatic sources.

Cbt Manages Anxiety but Often Misses Somatic Sources

Altering Thoughts Without Addressing the Physical "Alarm" Leaves Anxiety's Root Cause Unresolved

Kennedy expresses the concern that altering thoughts through CBT without tackling the somatic "alarm" leaves anxiety's root cause unresolved. He argues that thinking one can resolve anxiety through thoughts alone is ineffective. The necessity to address the somatic sources for effective treatment is evident from Kennedy's discussion on the influence of past trauma stored in the body, which continues to trigger anxiety.

Kennedy discusses how feelings of alarm are recognized by the insula through interoception, signaling danger to the default mode network, which leads to negative self-reflection without addressing the physical sensations. He explains that this contributes to the perpetuation of anxiety and suggests that most university programs dealing with anxiety are primarily cognitive and fail to address the crucial somatic, emotional part needed for resolving anxiety's root cause.

Kennedy also criticizes traditional therapies for merely helping to cope and not heal because they do not address underlying subcortical, unconscious programs from our younger selves. This implies a cognitive approach that manages symptoms without effectively healing the root cause.

Somatic Therapies: Connecting Mind to Body, Processing Emotions, and Integrating the "Younger Self" for Anxiety Healing

Kennedy advocates for a bottom-up approach involving the adult self in healing the younger version of ourselves to effectively treat anxiety. He suggests breathing into the area of pain, applying pressure, or tapping over it to disrupt the anxiety loop and engage the anterior cingulate cortex to interrupt the default mode network associated with anxiety. By healing the underlying cause of anxiety and connecting with the alarmed younger self, Kennedy believes in the necessity of somatic practices for actual healing.

Kenned ...

Kennedy explores the distinct manners in which anxiety manifests in women compared to men, attributing these differences, in part, to societal norms around emotional expression.

Anxiety in Women: Rumination, Negative Self-Talk, Hypervigilance

According to Kennedy, anxiety in women often appears as rumination and a negative self-view. They may continuously replay conversations in their mind, even those that took place years ago. This process could lead to hypervigilance and negative self-talk as women process experiences emotionally, sometimes experiencing "white knight syndrome" and people-pleasing behaviors. This tendency may be linked to deeper fears of abandonment and a heightened level of emotional engagement.

In Men, Anxiety Can Manifest As Irritability, Emotional Shutdown, and Difficulty Expressing Feelings

On the other hand, Kennedy notes anxiety in men typically presents as irritability and an inability to truly feel. Men often possess a limited emotional vocabulary when compared to women, which contributes to their anxiety and distress. Men may find it challenging to express emotions such as sadness, but they might express frustration through crying as a necessary emotional release.

Kennedy talks about using methods like car screaming to release pent-up emotions when crying isn't an option. Emotional buildups can lead to sudden outbursts in men. Furthermore, men's experiences of anxiety may present as emotional shutdown due to suppressed trauma and negativity, which leads to self-reproach.

Kennedy observes that due to men often lacking verbal skills to discuss their emotions, traditional therapy might be challenging for them. He ad ...