Question 1

What is an anxiety set point, why do we have it, and how can we change it?

Joseph LeDoux · Accepted Answer

If you think about people you know, you know they are a certain way. Research shows that our so-called personalities may differ in different situations but are fairly stable in similar situations. To the extent that anxiety is a personal characteristic, people are just how they are. It might be better to learn to accept what your setpoint is rather than changing it. From my own experience, I believe you can probably tweak your anxiety a bit, but drastic changes may not be realistic. This is partly because of innate 'wiring,' but it's also because of life itself. We all have different experiences and come to see the world differently. Take all this with a grain of salt since I am not a therapist.

Question 2

What do you think is the myth that most professionals have about anxiety? Why?

Joseph LeDoux · Accepted Answer

We have been led to believe that emotions like fear and anxiety are innate states of mind encoded in a fear or anxiety center in the brain. Emotions are states of mind, but they are not encoded in a fear or anxiety center. They result from the cognitive interpretation of situations, and those interpretations are one part genetic, but also one part personal and one part cultural.

Question 3

How can you change fearful ideas and beliefs that are not letting you function properly even though you know that its irrational.

Joseph LeDoux · Accepted Answer

It has long been believed that there are three components to emotions: behavioral/physiological, cognitive and subjective (conscious).  Each has to be controlled for therapy to be effective. But it may be necessary to work on each separately, as the brain is better at working on one thing at a time. And it may be important to work on them in the right sequence. I think that the sequence should be behavioral/physiological, cognitive, subjective. Take this with a grain of salt since I am not a therapist.

Question 4

What is the brain circuit involved in anxiety? Is the amygdala the fear centre?

Joseph LeDoux · Accepted Answer

The answer depends on what you mean by anxiety and fear. The usual answer is that behavioral and physiological responses controlled by an innate anxiety or fear center are what the anxiety or fear is all about. By this way of thinking, changing the behavioral and/or physiological response will 'cure' the anxiety. But I believe that fear and anxiety are cognitive interpretations of situations, as opposed to states the arise from innate centers. So no, the amygdala is not a fear center. But you could say one of its many functions is to control behavioral and physiological responses that co-occur when we are afraid. The fear itself, in my view, is the cognitive interpretation.

Question 5

What is your opinion on the assumption that anxiety comes after or as a result of cognitive appraisal?

Joseph LeDoux · Accepted Answer

In my humble opinion, anxiety is the cognitive interpretation. The other stuff just affects the volume of the state.

Anxiety Set Point and Why It Matters

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