Anxiety Affects the Brain to Distort Perception of Threat

"When someone struggles with anxiety, it alters their perception of the world around them. Their brain may seek out-and more easily notice-information that supports whatever threat they're currently struggling with, making it incredibly difficult to move past the intrusive thoughts that accompany their worries. That can lead to interpreting neutral situations as threatening in some way, which only serves to increase agitation."

"The cognitive distortions that accompany anxiety can cause anxiety sufferers to fall into vicious cycles of worry and distress: They sense a potential threat, view information around them in a way that suggests that threat is viable (even when it is not), and interpret situations as hostile, threatening, or unsafe. From there, anxiety quickly eats away at not just a sense of self but also at relationships, social interactions, and more."

"Anxiety sufferers typically struggle with intrusive thought patterns that just won't go away, no matter what activity they engage in. Those thoughts beat steadily in the background of their lives, but they steal so much more than just a sense of security. They detract from life's best moments as well, sacrificing the present for fears of what "could" happen in the future."

Anxiety alters brain chemistry and neural activity, shifting attention toward perceived threats and changing chemical patterns. Attention bias leads people to notice information that confirms feared outcomes, making intrusive thoughts persistent and hard to dismiss. Cognitive distortions create vicious cycles: sensing potential danger, interpreting neutral cues as threatening, and responding in ways that reinforce worry. These processes undermine self-concept, damage relationships and social engagement, and encourage withdrawal from the world. Intrusive thoughts dominate background awareness and diminish enjoyment of the present, while overthinking and negative expectations can produce self-fulfilling outcomes that worsen real-world interactions and situations.

Read at Psychology Today