Let’s face it, humans are complicated and the life we live is becoming even more complex. With all the demands of daily life stress and worry come as a natural accompaniment to that. Usually, we can overcome these and worry, stress, and anxious feelings will subside. But what happens when worry persists, in thought such as:

“I’ve overcome these demands but who knows when it might come back?”

“Will I be able to cope?"

Becoming vigilant prepares us to physically respond to a threat. So when we are in physical danger, this response serves us well. It is a primal response designed to keep us physically safe. The brain tells the body to fight, flee or freeze. Then the brain keep’s scanning the environment for this danger, keeping the body ready to respond and maintain its safety. The anticipation of the danger persists long after the threat is gone and so do the symptoms. However, anxiety is the persistent worry, irritation, restlessness and feelings of dread that put us in high alert for danger and remain in the absence of a tangible threat. This can be accompanied by difficulties concentrating, increased fatigue, and sleep difficulties. It may persist all the time and it may come in waves, as a conscious or subconscious response to a thought, person, sound, image, smell. Except that it becomes overwhelming to control and can interfere with day to day tasks.

Paradoxically, most of our modern stresses and problems require problem solving, planning, and organisation, which is inhibited by anxiety. So how is anxiety serving us? How do we understand these feelings and overcome them to be able to respond thoughtfully and consciously?

QEEG (Qualitative Electroencephalogram) is a brain imaging technique that allows us to explore the electrical waves of the brain. It analyses how fast and how powerful these brain waves are at 19 different locations. Based on this, we can see how regulated each areas is in performing it’s function.

For example, dominance in the power of slow brain waves reflect reduced functioning and increased power of faster brain wave patterns indicated increased (and some times excessive) activity and functioning. All brain waves serve a purpose in everyone, but when there is a dominance of one or the other in certain areas, we can understand the strengths and challenges associated with this.

So let’s look at some common brain waves that might be observed in people experiencing anxiety:

Excessive power of fast wave activity. This is most commonly associated with anxiety when seen at rest. The brain is constantly processing information, scanning the environment, analysing the danger, and ready to act and respond. As a result, the brain does not have a chance to relax and repair. It is hyper focused on the here and now and keeping the body safe.

This is commonly seen over emotional processing parts of the brain in the right frontal lobe and is commonly associated with symptoms of rumination, overthinking, worry and sometimes emotional explosivity such as rage or fear response.

When seen over motor and sensory areas, it can present with symptoms of insomnia, sensory hypersensitivity (think of a larger startle response or reduced tolerance to physical sensations – internal and external), and physical restlessness or always being on edge.

Excess slow and idling brain rhythms over the right temporal parietal area. If you put your right pointer finger on the top of your right hand and move it a few centimetres behind your ear, this is the general area we are talking about. In this area, the brain processes social and emotional information such as body language, facial expressions and tone of speech.

When this area is not functioning optimally, it is harder to interpret or understand others and their intentions. This can contribute to social anxiety as it can be harder to predict what others might do and whether we can respond and stay physically or emotionally safe and comfortable. As a result, slowing in this area might cause a person to withdraw or avoid social situations due to potential or perceived threats.

Excess slow and idling brain rhythms over frontal areas of the brain. This can indicate a range of general difficulties with planning, organisation, reasoning, problem solving, and being flexible. These higher order thinking skills can make it difficult to reason with anxious thoughts and self-regulate on a cognitive level.

If the frontal lobe is under active, we may have difficulties with finding solutions to a problem, thinking about a situation differently, anticipating the outcome of an event, and believing in our capacity to cope with changes in a plan or environment. It is also likely to impact attentional skills and engaging in daily activities or planning may become more difficult.

A brain that idles faster at rest (fast background alpha). Imagine a ceiling fan spinning very fast on the highest setting. While it may not appear chaotic, the minute something enters it’s orbit it will come flying out in any direction.

Alpha rhythm’s are the brain’s resting rhythm when conscious and relaxed. If too slow, the brain may take longer to process things, if too fast, then we can re-visit the fan scenario above.

While fast alpha in a regulated brain can indicate better semantic and declarative memory, it is also prone to a higher arousal state that may predispose anxiety.

QEEG and Neuroplasticity

By now, you may be getting a better picture how differently anxiety can present in the brain. It may affect your ability to concentrate, focus and plan due to reduced activity in the frontal lobe. It may create increased irritability, restlessness and sleep difficulties due to over activation of sensory areas. Maybe social situations are more difficult due to having a hard time accurately perceiving others. Perhaps it is having a baseline that is high energy, hyper alert, and ready to over-respond to any information. However, the brain can change, a process known as neuroplasticity. Pathways to accessing this ability in the brain include interventions such as counselling, neurotherapy, or -our preferred approach due to its effectiveness- a combination of both.

The important question to ask is, ‘how is this serving me?’ Is this helpful in my current life? Or is it a challenge that I’m constantly having to overcome? Understanding what is driving our thoughts, emotions and behaviours on a deeper level and asking these questions can be a huge catalyst to change.

If you or your loved one is experiencing anxiety and are ready to get support, contact our psychology clinic in Tweed Heads, where counselling is available for children, teens, adults, couples and families. Often the first step is the hardest, but Brain Care is here to support you through the rest of your journey.

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