22. Rethinking Anxiety. Nothing to fear.
04. Exposure therapy
How Memory Interacts with Our Experiences of Anxiety
Our understanding and response to anxiety are significantly influenced by our memory systems. Here’s a breakdown of how our memory functions and interacts with anxiety:
Types of Memory and Their Functions.
Sensory Memory: Acts as the initial storage for sensory impressions, lasting about a second. It includes all sensory inputs like visual and auditory memories.
Short-term Memory: Information is stored temporarily and can quickly disappear if overshadowed by new information. However, repetitive meaningful information transitions to long-term memory.
Long-term Memory: This is where information is stored for extended periods, from hours to a lifetime, including knowledge, memories, skills, etc. It has unlimited capacity and plays a crucial role in our reaction to anxiety.
Memory’s Role in Anxiety
When we first experience signs of anxiety, sensory memory records these initial feelings and movements, transferring them to short-term memory.
Working memory then assesses if similar memories exist in long-term memory. If we’ve previously experienced anxiety, the new experience is also stored in long-term memory, reinforcing the anxiety response.
Memory Deception in Anxiety
Our memory does not preserve experiences in their entirety, which means it constantly evolves. Neural pathways and connections, forming the basis of our memory, change over time, altering our recollection of events. Specifically, in the context of anxiety.
Parts of the anxiety experience are stored and may be inaccurately recalled, contributing to the perpetuation of anxiety.
Our memory, therefore, deceives us into believing we’ve experienced anxiety in a certain way, reinforcing the anxiety response through false or exaggerated recollections.
Impact of Memory on Anxiety Perception
The memory of past anxiety episodes shapes our perception of new anxiety-provoking situations. If we had no memory of anxiety, we wouldn’t react anxiously in future similar situations. This means that our memory determines whether we experience anxiety in a given scenario. The more we reinforce the memory of anxiety through repetition, the stronger and more debilitating our anxiety response can become.
Implications for Managing Anxiety
Understanding the interaction between memory and anxiety offers insights into managing anxiety more effectively. By recognizing that our memories of anxiety can be distorted, we can challenge and reframe our perceptions of anxiety-inducing situations. Techniques such as positive thinking as part of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) aim to modify these memory associations and reduce anxiety by altering how we interpret and respond to these memories.
This interplay between memory and anxiety highlights the complexity of anxiety disorders and underscores the importance of addressing both our memories and our current perceptions in the management of anxiety.
