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When we think of , we generally think of them as uncomfortable emotional responses to threat. These responses may include symptoms such as palpitations, shortness of breath, sweating, trembling, or absolute paralysis. While there is nothing inherently wrong in thinking about anxiety this way, pointed out that there is an entirely different way of thinking about anxiety that may be even more helpful. According to psychologist Kalina Christoff and her colleagues, anxiety may be more appropriately thought of as 鈥渕ind-wandering gone awry.鈥�

The advantages of mind-wandering

In your brain, there are and . In fact, these very circuits help you maintain , more accurately, become more , and even . Without your mind-wandering circuits, your brain鈥檚 , and you would be disconnected from yourself and others too.

In addition to the for your mind to stray, it also has automatic constraints too, to ensure that it does not stray too far. When daydreaming during a boring lecture, for example, your brain may jerk you back into reality.

When mind-wandering goes awry

One of the things that a wandering mind is in search of is . By , it helps you compose a narrative to connect the dots in your life. This narrative is constantly being updated. But sometimes, the wandering mind can encounter threats. Rather than proverbially 鈥渨histling in the dark,鈥� the brain can overreact to these threats.

In the brain of an individual with generalized anxiety disorder, for example, the anxiety processor (the amygdala) . Although it has strong connections to the 鈥渋nner eye鈥� (attention), it lacks a connection to the brain circuits that signal how important or significant a threat is. Without the ability to assess the significance of threats, they can all feel the same.

As a result, the 鈥渋nner eye鈥� gets fixated on negative thoughts. This fixation is a way of constraining the mind too, but it is not actually helpful. Anxious people in an exaggerated way. They become glued to the threats. Anything from being teased to being ticked off feels much more troubling than it would to someone without an anxiety disorder. And it鈥檚 not just conscious threats that grab your attention. It鈥檚 too! Threats, of which you are completely unaware, capture your brain鈥檚 attention. A mind, once free to wander, is desperately forced to stop in its tracks in what can be construed as a confusion of constraints.

Let your mind wander away from perceived threats

When your brain has automatically grabbed your wandering mind, and fixed your attention on threat, rather than getting a proverbial 鈥済rip鈥� on reality, you actually have to loosen your grip on your threat-focused reality 鈥� allow your mind to wander! As Christoff and colleagues put it, you de-automatize your constraints.

Because your brain鈥檚 inner eye has its resources fixed on the threat, it gets too. You can鈥檛 really summon it to help you suppress the anxiety, or get your mind off of it. Instead, you have to reactivate your mind-wandering circuits to give your attention a break.

Practically speaking, there are a few ways to do this. First, that has occurred like a pothole into which you have fallen on a mind-wandering journey. Simply name the feeling you are feeling and recognize that you need a mental reset. Rather than deliberately trying to suppress the feeling, , and that the fixation on threat is not the constraint solution you are looking for.

To counter this constraint, up the ante on the mind wandering 鈥� wander even more. If you鈥檙e at work, you could keep a and start using it just when anxiety strikes, or if at home, you could go out and do some . is also an effective way to get out of the fixed threat hole.

So when you鈥檙e next feeling anxious or wired, try allowing your mind to do what it naturally does 鈥� wander! You can bring it back to task gently, without fearing that you have lost your way. Or you can expect that it is between wandering and focused states, and it will eventually come back on its own. The more you with this switch, the more adept your brain will become at initiating it.