Mental Blockage Caused By Anxiety, What Can You Do?

When you experience a mental block caused by anxiety, you may get stuck in the middle of a sentence. It is a psychological phenomenon that prevents you from thinking clearly and making decisions. This failure in your reasoning and flow of thought is mediated by a state of great emotional intensity. In fact, your brain feels like it has reached its limit.

This happens to all of us at some point. Nevertheless, it is both annoying and worrying. In many cases, you may even feel rather strange. This is known as depersonalization. It is a state where you suddenly feel separated from your mind without really understanding what is happening.

This disruption in brain treatment is directly related to states of stress and anxiety. However, it is also associated with psychological realities such as lack of self-esteem and even medical problems like fibromyalgia. Let’s take a look at it.

Mental blockage caused by anxiety

A mental block caused by anxiety means that you are not able to think or remember what you did or said. It can be a one-time course or last for several days.

In the latter case, you experience some deceleration when you think. It’s like being surrounded by a certain mental fog where you have a hard time working, deciding, being creative and even interacting socially.

It is clear that although this is a common phenomenon, it is also an extremely limiting phenomenon. In fact, mental blockage caused by anxiety makes it impossible for you to follow your processes or thoughts.

This directly affects your ability to react. For example, you may not be able to take an exam, continue with a public speech, or even remember where you are going while driving.

The next question to ask is: Are these experiences serious? The answer to this depends on its origin. Although the trigger is usually emotional (anxiety), it can actually also be due to a nutritional deficit (vitamin B12), not getting enough sleep or a side effect of certain medications.

Maladaptive anxiety and its effect on cognition

Today, anxiety is extremely common. It is a condition that tends to overwhelm you and make you feel like you are no longer in control. However, it is an inherent part of life. It actually serves a purpose and is necessary. The problem, however, is that you tend not to handle it properly and it gets maladapted.

The University of Maryland (USA) conducted a study that suggested anxiety disorders have a major impact on cognition (thought processes). Therefore, when emotions are very intense and the brain only functions in a state of survival, mental blockages are common. It is a defense mechanism against an overload of emotions.

When the imbalance between neurotransmitters is so intense, different areas of the brain begin to fail. The areas most affected are areas of geographical orientation and prefrontal region, which allow us to make decisions. A mental block / slow thinking is almost like putting yourself on standby. It is a defense mechanism to reduce excessive emotional strain.

Mental blockage caused by anxiety is motivated by personality

Anxiety is often a result of your personality. For example, perfectionists tend to suffer many mental blockages due to anxiety. With their constant need to take care of every possible detail and seek excellence, they often go to unhealthy extremes.

Another trigger may be fraudulent syndrome, which is often caused by low self-esteem. In this case, the person never feels that they are good enough or competent enough. This leads to situations of great emotional intensity where they experience frequent mental blockages.

What can you do in these situations?

Having a mental block caused by anxiety now and then is not really a problem. In fact, these kinds of experiences simply remind you of the need to control your emotions a little better. However, if the phenomenon is constant, you should consult a specialist.

Sometimes there can be an underlying health problem. Nevertheless, whatever the cause, there are also some simple strategies to deal with these types of psychological effects that are orchestrated by stress or anxiety.

Return

When you are stuck without knowing what you said or did, try to remember what you did before or what led you to that situation. For example, if you have a conversation with someone and you have lost the thread, ask the person what the last thing they said to you was.

Visualize to reduce emotional charge

A mental block caused by anxiety is never solved by more worry. In fact, you need to change your approach to reduce the intensity of it.

The ideal is to practice mental visualization (mental imagery) for a moment. Imagine, for example, a completely calm scene. This allows your brain to restart and balance your production of neurotransmitters.

Exercise moderate physical activity to avoid mental blockage caused by anxiety

When emotions run wild, it is helpful to resort to physical exercise. In fact, a walk or a jog promotes oxygenation of the brain as well as the production of serotonin and endorphins.

Finally, you should try to see a mental block caused by anxiety as an alarm. Every time you experience one, you actually have to tell yourself that it’s time to live life at a different pace.