Your Brain and Emotions
Three parts of your brain are especially important to your anxiety. Your hypothalamus, a pea-sized structure in your brain’s central core, controls biological rhythms that influence sleep cycles, energy levels, pleasure, and other important emotional experiences. When your hypothalamus isn’t functioning properly, you may feel fatigued, yet still have problems sleeping.
Your limbic system, which surrounds the hypothalamus, is often called the “emotional brain.” It’s a launching pad for felt emotions. When you feel afraid or anxious, the experience is set in motion by chemical activity taking place in the limbic system. This set of structures also inhibits and controls emotional actions.
Normal functioning of your brain is dependent on the appropriate action of neurons (nerve cells) responsible for turning particular brain centers on and off, somewhat like turning a TV or computer on and off. The neurotransmitting chemicals released by particular nerve cells are given the name of that cell. Thus, a dopamine nerve cell is a cell that manufactures and releases dopamine, while the nerve cells that release serotonin are called serotonin nerve cells, and so on. The list of nerve cells, neurotransmitters, and amino acids implicated in affecting mood and behavior is growing and includes: serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA), glycine, histamine, acetylcholine, glutamate, and aspartate. (See post 5 for more information on how the food you eat can help you to develop healthy neurotransmitters.)
One of your brain’s many jobs is to produce chemicals that help you remember, go to sleep, think clearly, and feel good. Endorphins are your brain’s painkiller, and they are three times more potent than morphine.
Another opiate-like chemical in your brain and spinal cord is serotonin, a hormone. When your serotonin level is low, depression usually follows. When your brain produces serotonin, tension and anxiety are eased. When your brain produces dopamine or norepi-nephrine, you are more alert and react more quickly.
It is theorized that a dysfunction in just a tiny percentage of total brain cells can lead to a psychiatric disorder. What has not been proved is whether these chemical changes are responsible for causing the psychiatric disorder. Some experts, including Breggin and Cohen, believe psychiatric drugs like xanax can cause brain-chemistry imbalances and set off subsequent attempts by the brain to compensate that can create lifelong damage .
