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What is Anxiety? A Brain-Based Explanation

A neuroscientist’s perspective on anxiety

According to LeDoux, anxiety is a “conscious feeling.” It can arise from either (1) “activity in the [brain’s] defense circuits” or (2) “higher [order brain] processes that conceptualize worry.”

— Joseph LeDoux, Anxious: Using the Brain to Understand and Treat Fear and Anxiety (New York: Penguin Books, 2016), 257–258.

About Ryan

Ryan writes for weary pilgrims learning to follow Jesus through the wilderness. He served as a lead pastor at a church in Southern California for 8+ years. Before that, he worked as a software engineer for a decade. Today, he lives with his family in Escondido, California.

The Weary Pilgrim

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False Patriotism

Esau McCaulley reflects on Frederick Douglass’s critique of America

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