Anxiety is not caused by a lack of awareness of the surroundings. On the contrary, the brain of people with this disorder detects danger everywhere.
- In France, one in five people suffers from an anxiety disorder during their lifetime.
- Chronic anxiety or anxiety disorder is characterized by a feeling of fear, loss of self-control, irritability, sleep disturbances, etc.
- It is the result of a combination of biological, psychological and environmental factors.
Occasional anxiety is inevitable, faced with a danger or a problem, it is normal to feel stressed. For some people, it persists over time and becomes a handicap, it is then an anxiety disorder. British researchers wanted to better understand the causes of this pathology. In their study, published in Communications Biologythey used virtual reality to identify the consequences of anxiety on the brain.
Virtual reality to better understand anxiety disorder
60 people took part in this research: half of them had previously been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. All were equipped with a virtual reality helmet, while the researchers performed an MRI to observe their brain activity. In the headset, participants were projected into a game where they had to pick flowers in a field. Half of the meadow had flowers without bees, the other half had flowers with bees that could sting them. With each prick, the participants received a mild electrical stimulation of the hand. “This is the first time we’ve looked at learning to distinguish in this way.”, explains Benjamin Suarez-Jimenez, lead author of this study. He and his team found that participants were able to distinguish safe zones from dangerous places, but medical imaging showed increased brain activity in chronic anxiety patients even in safe zones. “Patients with an anxiety disorder might rationally say – I’m in a safe space – but we found that their brains behave as if they weren’t.“, specifies the scientist. The only observable differences were the results of brain imaging, patients with chronic anxiety did not have excessive sweating for example.
Necessary support
“These results tell us that anxiety disorders could be more than a lack of environmental awareness or ignorance of safety, but rather that people with an anxiety disorder cannot control their feelings and behavior even when they want it“, adds Benjamin Suarez-Jimenez. For him, these results are proof that treatments are necessary to help patients regain control of their bodies. Treatment can take place at several levels: it can be medicinal but also psychological Complementary techniques have also shown their interest such as meditation, hypnosis or acupuncture.
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