A neuroscientist gives the keys to relieving anxiety and deactivating intense emotions: “It is not an easy task”

In a recent post on Instagram, neuroscientist Alejandra Saavedra has shared a method based on neuroscience for manage anxiety and defuse intense emotions.

As he explains, anxiety arises when the amygdala, the brain region responsible for emotional responses, becomes overactive due to the accumulation of energy. The key, according to Saavedra, is in divert that energy to other areas of the brainlike the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for reasoning and logic.

“When we start to overthink things, our amygdala is extremely active,” says Saavedra. «The trick to calm this emotional reactivity is to activate other areas of the brain, and An effective way to do this is to verbalize what we feel,” adds the famous ‘instagramer’.

Saavedra explains that putting emotions into words is not an easy task, since it requires a cognitive process that involves memory and reasoning. This effort helps move energy from the amygdala to the prefrontal cortex. «Choose the exact words to describe what we feel forces the brain to use other functionswhich considerably reduces anxiety,” says the neuroscientist.

The effective tool to combat overthinking

Likewise, Saavedra suggests that writing down your thoughts is an effective tool to combat overthinking. “Reading what you’ve written instead of hearing it over and over in your head gives you a different perspectiveallowing you to get away from the problem and find solutions,” he concludes.

Although the technique does not promise eliminate anxiety permanentlyoffers significant relief in times of high emotional tension.